Best girl of the series. She needs more screentime.
First off, some random advertising. I recently did a cover of AKB48's Manatsu no Sounds good!. I'm not that good at singing but if you'd like to listen to it, you can find it here. I plan to cover Oogoe Diamond next. Also, lots of stuff happened in this episode so prepare for a long post.
In this content-packed episode of AKB0048, we see the continuation of a rivalry, the revival of a drama-filled conflict, and a heartwarming story of love. Yes, this show brings virtually everything to the table. And although the focus jumped around a bit throughout the episode, many common questions were answered in the end and the episode itself was excellent. It even managed to almost bring me to tears—something that generally never happens. The main insert song was once again lyrically powerful and is starting to become one of my favourite AKB48 songs. Looking forward, with only one episode left, AKB0048 is definitely a series I will miss editing and watching every Sunday.
Information on insert songs used in this episode can be found below.
Starting off with the main conflict, the twist in which Nagisa suddenly lost her voice was surprising. I had expected her to not only get over her worries, but succeed in putting on a performance that would impress even Chieri, before going on to one day obtain the title of Center Nova, similar to how Maeda Atsuko of AKB48 eventually rose to the top of the group despite her initial doubts regarding her own abilities. While I'm happy that Chieri is now given the chance to shine, I also feel slightly sorry for Nagisa given that it's not her fault that she's in this state now; I was really shocked when her father refused to be rescued by the understudies. In the end, I believe Chieri will be the one who snaps Nagisa out of it with her sharp but helpful words of advice. And when that time comes, I'm quite certain that it will be Nagisa and Chieri succeeding Acchan and Yūko respectively, re-creating the one-two punch that AKB48 had in Maeda Atsuko and Ōshima Yūko.
As for the Takamina-Kanata conflict (which isn't really a conflict anymore), the thought that all Takamina fans have been hoping not to hear has finally been said by her. Given the successors' captain's never-give-up mentality, this was probably one of the better ways she could have phrased her final decision. Instead of it seeming like she's giving up on herself, what Takamina said was more on the positive side of things as she's giving her mentee the opportunity to be promoted while also showing that she's willingly giving up her dreams not because she feels incompetent. However, at the cost of Takamina coming to terms with her current situation, I think Yūko may possibly follow suit, despite sounding so adamant about her goal to obtain the center position. The composition of the new song has obviously dampened her spirits and caused her to question her and the successors' abilities. And even though I don't want to see her go, I can't think of anyone else that is fit for Chieri to succeed, taking into account the current story.
Lastly, the long put off conflict between Yūka and Mamoru has finally been resolved for the most part, and in an emotional way at that. It appears him liking Suzuko was just a cover up (for what reason is still unknown) and that he still loves Yūka, even though she became an idol. And like Yūka said, it is kind of like a dream—seeing a wota and an idol in a relationship is probably extremely rare nowadays due to the controversy that it would create amongst fans and the idol group itself, especially if said idol is popular. It's just unfortunate that DES had to interrupt their little moment of happiness, causing the concert to be suddenly cancelled. That "farewell" didn't sound too reassuring either as it slightly implies that this may be the last time that they see each other. On an equal level of tear-jerkingness (yes, I made that word up) was the wota leader's praising of Kanata's father at one point in which Sonata innocently chimed in with "Daddy was that awesome?". I don't know why, but that scene nearly brought me to tears.
One notable, non-conflict-related event was the appearance of a new Kirara. This one seemed to have been born through Yūka's love for Mamoru, though that may not necessarily be the case. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see if this new Kirara will appear again. Will it end up following Yūka, similar to how Chieri has one following her, or will it never be seen again? I can't believe next week is going to be the last episode. It better be good...
| Insert Songs | |||
| Kanji | Romaji | English | Links |
| 渚のCHERRY | Nagisa no CHERRY | Cherry of the Sea Shore | Lyrics | Video (Mayuyu ♥) |
| 大声ダイヤモンド | Oogoe DAIYAMONDO (Oogoe Diamond) |
Diamond Shout | Lyrics | Video |
"Maeda Atsuko of AKB48 rose to the top of the group despite her initial doubts regarding her own abilities."
ReplyDeleteYou seriously think Acchan pulled off some impressive performance when she was given the position of Center? It took her years to get somewhat good. It's not like she had some hidden talent or something like that. She didn't even have much personality either. She only started training seriously after getting the promotion.
Don't be fooled by the show. Nagisa is nothing like the real Acchan. Acchan didn't have any talent or skills, and was pretty shy and aloof. Nagisa on the hand is at least above average, and has a pretty good personality too.
The only reason why the show is showing that Nagisa has "talent" is because of the emphasis that the Kirara glow when she's there. To be honest, I think Nagisa is actually below average. I personally believe she's annoying and beats up on yourself way too much, but that's just more of a bias towards Chieri.
DeleteAnd regarding Acchan, although I'm not a hardcore AKB48 fan (yet), there's no doubt she was the face of AKB48 at one point, hence my "rose to the top" point. This is proven by the election results where she never placed lower than 2nd. Maybe I was unclear by not adding an "eventually".
If you make me choose between Nagisa and Chieri I'd choose Chieri without even thinking about it. There's no doubt that she's the most talented and skilled of all the girls, plus she's the cutest and sexiest (Mimori and Kojiharu aside). Even the characters themselves take that as a fact. I also love her relentless passion for what she does, and how she pushes herself to the limit when practicing (remember when she was going to skip on meals to keep training?). But all in all I think Nagisa is at least average, specially in comparison with girls like Makoto or Orine, who are clearly one notch below.
DeleteAcchan was more like a Makoto, or even worse. She was made the center of the group because watching an untalented and unskilled girl struggle to fit into that role was in line with the group's concept. That was in 2006, and she didn't become popular until some years later (the first election was in 2009).