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AKB0048
So I recently finished this show. It's a pretty good show. Not quite the best thing ever, but at least I enjoyed it, on par.
This is a review of the first season of AKB0048. If you don't want it spoiled for you, stop reading now.
I liked the music. There's definitely some very nice songs in here, among them being the OP (Kibou ni Tsuite), ED (Dreams are like Reincarnation), River, Beginner, and Aitakatta. The way this show got to showcase these was pretty awesome.
However, the show felt rushed and too packed. As others here have mentioned, there are a lot of characters, and some of them had subplots that just felt...like they happened and then blew over. Like, Chieri had that subplot where the others discovered something about her father. Then basically she moped for half an episode and then it was over and everything was peachy again. The biggest drama came in the last two (or three) episodes and several characters confront their pasts. I admit I teared up at the end with the scenes with that one character's relatives. But even that felt hurried. I didn't feel there was enough time for me to get used to the characters, to really get a feel for them, to understand them deeply enough for me to make emotional connections to them and then feel the pain they went through in the story.
Plus, there was a tad too much random comedy for a show that had such a serious premise. The bright colors and happy songs are not the problem--that is part and parcel of the setting and makes complete sense. It's the stuff like Makoto complaining about her breast size (or lack thereof) that annoys me after a while. Even just once wasn't a problem--it only got annoying the second time (or was it third?) she did it.
The premise of the series--that there are public entertainment bans on various planets--is pretty silly. Though, if you instead think of them as bans on particular styles or forms of entertainment (which is suggested by the "NO IDOL" signs), and think of the planets more like countries (which in real life have in fact variously banned certain styles or composers of music, such as Iran banning various western genres), it feels a lot more reasonable.
However, as silly as that premise is, I think that the show would have worked better if it had focused on it. I felt the show really shined during the episode 3 military exercise, and was hoping that it would continue the conflict between gritty realism and optimistic idealism as one of its central themes. I'd also have appreciated a stronger focus on the politics of the entertainment ban, and taking a strong stand against it, but then again I apparently enjoy political undertones more than the usual anime fan (note my really liking Kiddy Grade for its political undertones about social justice, for example).
On the other hand, I didn't really enjoy the inter-idol drama, and I just didn't like the mystique about S4 and the Center Novae disappearing and the Kirara and stuff. I can understand the inter-idol drama, and I would have enjoyed it had it been done better, such as with better pacing and more time for me to get inside the minds and hearts of the characters. (I felt at times I was straining to understand Chieri, but still had trouble doing so.) On the other hand, the mystical stuff was just distracting from what I felt were the themes of the show.
As for the setting details:
I think I'll rate the show 7/10. It's good, but has some flaws that prevent me from thinking it's awesome. Still, I look forward to the second season.
I also hope that they don't "explain" the entertainment ban as being a precaution against whatever crazy accident happened. Because that would severely undercut the political theme.
Comments
I clicked the thread thinking this was about a funny thing you could type on a calculator and giggle when you look at it upside down. I was disappointed to find it was just some animu about magical popstars.
Now, this has potential.
It's a decent animu about magical guerilla military popstars.
Weird how you started the thread the day the Next Stage PV came out.
No, that's Symphogear. Kirara may or may not be science of some sort...
It's actually "Dreams are Forever Reborn", that line is just part of the lyrics.
Oh, and the last Center Nova was Acchan the 13th (Reference to a real life thing) who is also the Center Nova in the ship talking to the girls in Episode 13.
My guess is Center Nova's eventually disappear into the Kirara's collective hive-mind existence and the process requires both an idol's inner glow to be extremely bright (measured by the Kirara, as evidenced when Tsubasa and camera lady are surprised to see the girls continue to exist despite their glow) and dualium to be present.
Watch Un-Go already.
Fourth. Or fifth. The PV promises at least seventy more times.
I have this hope that the entire Center Nova General Election for Acchan the 14th thing will be episodes 14&15 and then we'll settle into Chieri's father, Orine's feelings about factory work, visiting both Kanata and Linda's home planets and finally finding out why Mayuyu is a cyborg. Also, what about an identity crisis thing involving the idol's realizing they don't want to be dead people for the rest of their careers?
Of course, I'm betting none of this will even be considered.
But the new Trainee outfit is awesome.
For some reason, the "Suzuko's mad." line cracks me up. In a good way. In a way, her odd personality is growing on me, with its astute observations of stuff from the sidelines. ("I'm placing my bets early.")
Now unfortunately for people who were expecting me to keep with tradition and fave the blue-haired girl, I have to say that Chieri was a bit underwhelming in terms of what she was like, even if she is so cute when she doesn't give a fuck.
Instead, my favorite character is Kanata, who, I should add, really looks most natural in informal clothing, like a tank top or something. (Did I mention that I really don't have much love for the stage costumes?) Her forceful yet kind personality is my favorite. She's awesome as a leader.
Sonata is...amusing, I guess. I am disappointed by the lack of characters named, say, Baraadu, Konshieruto, Inpuronpatu, and so forth. And her sister isn't named Kantata.
I love the stage outfits and Chieri's casual stuff. Though I'm admittedly a big nerd when it comes to clothes.
As cool as Kanata is, I'm always going to be at odds with her character arc (or lack thereof). A single episode is no decent way to solve her plot, which I felt would've taken more time.
In fact, this is another problem I have with AKB0048, we're given reasons to care for certain characters (Kanata, Orine, Chieri, Linda, Yuuko) but those are never followed up on, instead we focus on characters who aren't very interesting (Nagisa's entire family plot, especially when I assumed she would leave and that was it since her father wasn't given nearly enough time to develop outside of "NO NO NO DO WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS").
In hindsight, my favorite character might be Orine, who honestly is the every-girl if there ever was one in this show. In the beginning (maybe even now), she doesn't have the ambition to be an idol, she just wants a better standard of life for her and to show the women who worked at the factory with her that even factory girls can achieve something. In fact, she's carrying all these peoples hopes without realizing it!
Then we come to her focus episode, where I feel that she's not only surprised that somebody hates her, but that somebody even noticed her in the crowd of faces that forms the new trainee set. She's a girl who doesn't expect much of herself, and that's how she views the world, a place for people who are more assertive than her to shine.
This doesn't turn her into a cheerleader, she faces the distraught fan and shows him what she can really do. Yet, in the end, she doesn't view herself as special as any of the others.
And that last moment when she's threatened by a machine that she helped build just opens up lots of doors for further characterization.
Also, I still want to see how Yuuko reacts to all the Center Nova business that doesn't include her. She really wanted that position, you could almost feel her determination through the screen.
Yeah, I guess I'm starting to agree with you that Orine is actually a very interesting perspective character (if she were to be considered such).
There was ever anything but two passing mentions of it?
Also, I'd like to see that hater fan again sometime.
Half of Episode 4 was spent on it, IIRC.
That translation makes me feel like Orine is a ganster rapper.
Upon reexamination I've realized that it's actually Makoto who says "Suzuko's mad", not Sonata.
What song is this? http://vocaroo.com/i/s1xB7CzAHFWc
Say, how does this compare to other things you watch? I'm just a bit curious about how you rate stuff. Do you very rarely rate anything above 7? Have you ever given something a zero?
My lowest rating so far is Jinki: Extend which got a 3, because of very significant structural flaws which prevented me from even making sense of the story. It had some redeeming aspects, such as a rather unique first-half setting and protagonist, but then again it also had aspects that, at least when put together with the fact that I couldn't make sense of the story, just seemed to be bad fanservice.
My next lowest rating is End of Evangelion, which got a 4 because, while the plot was coherent, I felt it really did not fit the core narrative of the Evangelion TV series, which was Shinji's coming-of-age story.
I've rated nothing at 10, but I have two 9s, for Eureka Seven and Time of Eve, because they repeatedly demonstrated excellent grasp of dramatic pacing and presentation, and were able to very effectively draw me into the setting and make me care about things that I didn't previously even know.
I kind of want to watch this now, because I feel like this is a really strange criticism, and also because "not being able to make sense of the story" is not necessarily a flaw. It's only one if you're supposed to be able to make sense of it but can't anyway.
On the other hand, Time of Eve is great.
If you want I can help point you toward it. If you're curious about my full assessment of it, you should also read my thread here on IJBM about it, though that contains spoilers explaining the show.
Both would be appreciated.
I'm honestly unsure I'll have time to watch it, but I can try.
Time of Eve is pretty short, and available on Crunchyroll (although I don't know if it's available where you are).
Yeah, Time of Eve is only 6 episodes long, and the first 5 are between 15-17 minutes long. 6th is 27.
They are actually successively longer and longer though what Saig said is also true.
Also, @Naas_H_Sapiens: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/GlennMagusHarvey <-- contains a lot more ratings from me
Also, the song I posted earlier is "Niji no Ressha" by the AKB48-associated subgroup NO NAME.
At the end of the refrain of Oogoe Diamond, listen carefully and you might hear a motif from the Magnificent Seven theme.
I think Kanata is my favorite character. Apologies to Chieri, she's second.