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AKB0048 + Next Stage (TV).


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Volibear



Joined: 29 Nov 2011
Posts: 344
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:47 am Reply with quote


AKB0048 (TV)
AKB0048 next stage (TV)

Genres: drama, science fiction
Themes: idols, mecha, music

Plot Summary: At the start of the 21st century, an interplanetary war broke out. Earth's ecosystem was damaged, and humanity was forced to flee the planet. In this new society, things that "disturb the heart" like music and art are forbidden. 48 years later, a legendary idol group is resurrected as AKB0048. Labeled as terrorists, they must take up arms to defend their careers and their fans.
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Ep. 1
Saw this when i woke up this morning and i hadn't planned on watching it but decided to give it a go whilst i mustered the energy to get out of bed and i have to say it wasn't half bad. For what seemed like abit of a gimmick series it seems to have been well thought out. Although i personally don't like the idea of using an actual idol group to promote a series i can see that it is a smart, mutually beneficial idea and the fact that it seems they have also tried to make a good series regardless the use of AKB48 as its main selling point makes me forgive them for it. I can kinda see where the series might go with storylines, and as long as it keeps up an actual story and characters then i might come back to it and catch-up when my exams finish


Last edited by Volibear on Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:25 am; edited 3 times in total
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24099
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:09 am Reply with quote
I'm still waiting for my fansub aggregator streaming site to provide me with a non-raw version, but I intend to check it out. It is the last show of the Spring season to debut and it's been bugging my OCD-receptors that I haven't been able to move it from my "Upcoming" category to "Currently Airing."
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dirkusbirkus



Joined: 10 May 2008
Posts: 699
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:19 am Reply with quote
I've been a fan of AKB48 for a while now, so this has been one of my most anticipated releases this season. Actually 'fan' is probably too strong a word... I'm more interested in the idol industry and the marketing techniques involved. The music and dancing is often pretty cheesy and lame, but they're worshipped by millions upon millions of people. AKB48 are a slightly different take on the traditional idol group, as they're billed as 'idols you can meet'. The positions of prominence in their music videos are decided by the fans voting or by Rock-Paper-Scissors (no, really). It's an interesting concept and this anime is the latest extension of the juggernaught that is AKB.

I'll reserve judgement on the anime til I've seen the first episode but as soon as the production team and seiyuu were announced, it was obvious they were going to make a real go of it. The girls playing the fictional group are all first time seiyuu, elected from the real AKB48, so it'll be interesting to see how well they come across. I expect the inserts to be as polished as any other AKB track, and from the PVs I've seen, I know I'll already get on with the animation.

So yeah, cautiously optimistic here.
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3667
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:23 am Reply with quote
Merits, writing, art, etc.... I can't see any of it. Someone, somewhere had to say "Yes, you can license our idol group's name for a show which shamelessly posits that being idols is somehow an incredibly subversive challenge to an interstellar authoritarian government," and I can't unrealize that. Everything that you could imagine being wrong with a show of this sort is wrong with it. The incredibly self-serving take on what they do. The inexplicably incompetent "soldiers of boring." It would be like presenting a Macross show where making song-centered anime is the only way to stave off total destruction.

But hey, the voice acting isn't as bad as ICE, so that's something.
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Svidrigailov





PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:57 am Reply with quote
dirkusbirkus wrote:
The music and dancing is often pretty cheesy and lame, but they're worshipped by millions upon millions of people.
So like Macross sans transforming jet-mechs? I'm not going to lie, that sounds pretty awful.

Yttrbio wrote:
The inexplicably incompetent "soldiers of boring." It would be like presenting a Macross show where making song-centered anime is the only way to stave off total destruction.

So like Macross Frontier, once again sans mechs? Or are there mechs? Still, I have to say this doesn't sound the least bit promising.
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4630
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:11 am Reply with quote
To be accurate.
They're not using an Idol group to sell an anime.
They're using anime to sell an idol group.
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dirkusbirkus



Joined: 10 May 2008
Posts: 699
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:15 am Reply with quote
Svidrigailov wrote:
dirkusbirkus wrote:
The music and dancing is often pretty cheesy and lame, but they're worshipped by millions upon millions of people.
So like Macross sans transforming jet-mechs? I'm not going to lie, that sounds pretty awful.


My own comment was specifically about the music of the actual AKB48 idol group. I can't vouch for the quality of the songs in the show until I've seen an episode, but I suspect they'll be in a similar vein to their real-life counterparts.

Spastic Minnow wrote:
To be accurate.
They're not using an Idol group to sell an anime.
They're using anime to sell an idol group.


Exactly. This is just another one of the AKB48 marketing hydra's many heads. They're plenty rich though, so if nothing else the production will be up to scratch.

(Edit: Okay, up to speed now. It was... alright. Some of the girls impressed as first time seiyuu (Satou Amina as Yuuka and Nakaya Sayaka as Orine were both pretty good), the inserts were actual AKB songs so it was business as usual on that front. No issues with the animation, I liked how the dreary industrial town was portrayed. Storywise, a few tried and tested cliché pieces, some generic characterisation but I really wasn't expecting the new Madoka here. It was inoffensive enough that it'll get the obligatory three episode watch. It's certainly not bereft of ALL merit.)
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:12 pm Reply with quote
Like I'm not already fed up of little girls in my anime. There's no way I'll be picking one with 48 of them. Turn it into something like Bokurano and I may just give it a shot.
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Boomerang Flash



Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 1021
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:23 pm Reply with quote
This is actually a really interesting premise. It sounds like something that would be in a science fiction story from shortly after the Golden Age of Science Fiction, though admittedly the premise would likely have been a short story or novella at best instead of a full length novel. It does make me think that the story wouldn't be fleshed out sufficiently to support the entire length.

...It also tempts me to go to SF forums and promote this series to see how the visitors react to the way this series handles the premise.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24099
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:40 pm Reply with quote
I liked it. Interesting clash between cutesy character designs and a fairly convincingly rendered dystopian landscape. Yeah, story is whatever, but I went with it, agreeable sod that I am. By the way, did I miss something? spoiler[What happened to the Blue Haired Girl who was with them in the beginning? Are we to assume she died or something?]
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dirkusbirkus



Joined: 10 May 2008
Posts: 699
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:50 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, spoiler[leaving her out entirely without any hint of what might have happened is a little clumsy. I assume her story will be addressed in later episodes, but I think she has a much bigger part to play later on. Whether that be in retrospect because she's no longer alive or if she meets up with them later, I can only speculate.]
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:31 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
Like I'm not already fed up of little girls in my anime. There's no way I'll be picking one with 48 of them. Turn it into something like Bokurano and I may just give it a shot.


This. That's pretty much what I originally thought too.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:32 pm Reply with quote
Mamoru Nagano wrote a manga in the 80s called "Fool For the City" that shared the premise with AKB0048, where rock and roll and music are dangerous and subversive. The style and aesthetic in that work are more in line with Macross 7 than anything, I wonder if Kawamori's ever read it.
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GoodLuckSaturday



Joined: 30 Oct 2003
Posts: 567
Location: Indiana
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:17 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
spoiler[What happened to the Blue Haired Girl who was with them in the beginning? Are we to assume she died or something?]


spoiler[I'd be of the belief she'll show up later, given they established her as Chieri. I wouldn't imagine they'd write off an entire character given what the show is trying to do in addition to what it's trying to do, but they can certainly involve her in a number of ways.]

Also, I've seen nothing to suggest there will be 48 girls in this show seeing as there are nine promotional characters and what appear to be another 9-10 "legendary/out of reach" ones..
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dirkusbirkus



Joined: 10 May 2008
Posts: 699
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:22 pm Reply with quote
GoodLuckSaturday wrote:
Also, I've seen nothing to suggest there will be 48 girls in this show seeing as there are nine promotional characters and what appear to be another 9-10 "legendary/out of reach" ones..


Mm, 9 were elected to be seiyuu and they voice the 'amateur' group, and the ten 'legendary' ones are representing the media senbatsu. It's extremely rare you get all of AKB together for any event, and the anime is no exception to this rule. The most you'll have to keep track of is the nine girls.
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