(L) Akb0048

[Midonin]

Experimented with two different subs this morning. The first kept the general plot points, but had some translation choices that, while sort of accurate, were clearly going for the most offensive/4channish interpretation possible (and not in a good way). The second one was serviceable, and will be the one I'm sticking with.

AKB0048 01 - In the Not Too Distant Future...

My only exposure to AKB48 has been through parodies. One was a quick sight gag, another was more in depth, but also more... let's say, scandalous, for lack of a better word. So I'm going into this treating it like any other series, brand name or not. And it's giving me the same vibes as, of all things, Sengoku Collection. The world is gritty and unforgiving, but the characters, in personality and art style, are cute, and stand out against the landscape.

The dancing isn't nearly as creepy as I thought it would be. There's enough 2D segments to not completely freak me out with the weird 2.5D stuff. The characters are likable, with Yuka being the one that catches my attention the most so far, though I also want to see the pros voiced by the voice actors I'm more familiar with. Not a lot of backstory was given on the world, but the scenery tells what happened clearly enough. It's the kind of setting that always intrigues me, for reasons I'm not entirely sure of.

And the actual idol elements - idol singers + robots and some pseudo-magical-girl elements... these are the things I got into anime for. The things that set it apart from similar genres. So overall, a pretty positive first impression.

[mochichan]

Originally Posted by Midonin

Experimented with two different subs this morning. The first kept the general plot points, but had some translation choices that, while sort of accurate, were clearly going for the most offensive/4channish interpretation possible (and not in a good way). The second one was serviceable, and will be the one I'm sticking with.

AKB0048 01 - In the Not Too Distant Future...

My only exposure to AKB48 has been through parodies. One was a quick sight gag, another was more in depth, but also more... let's say, scandalous, for lack of a better word. So I'm going into this treating it like any other series, brand name or not. And it's giving me the same vibes as, of all things, Sengoku Collection. The world is gritty and unforgiving, but the characters, in personality and art style, are cute, and stand out against the landscape.

The dancing isn't nearly as creepy as I thought it would be. There's enough 2D segments to not completely freak me out with the weird 2.5D stuff. The characters are likable, with Yuka being the one that catches my attention the most so far, though I also want to see the pros voiced by the voice actors I'm more familiar with. Not a lot of backstory was given on the world, but the scenery tells what happened clearly enough. It's the kind of setting that always intrigues me, for reasons I'm not entirely sure of.

And the actual idol elements - idol singers + robots and some pseudo-magical-girl elements... these are the things I got into anime for. The things that set it apart from similar genres. So overall, a pretty positive first impression.

Can I recommend this song then? It's the song that turned me from a "eww....." hater to "omfg i love akb!" just because you don't see alot of girl group decapitating themselves or growing swords out of their arm.

http://vid48.com/watch_video.php?v=9H57KYAMR8DO

And if that got your attention then this one that's actually dedicated to tsunami victims, and in the description is all their efforts to relief. Alot of news about AKB (especially the scandalous) tend to get more attention than all the amazingly good things they did. :\
http://vid48.com/watch_video.php?v=9G64O86RUM48

[Ultimadrago]

Deliciously terrible, laughed a great deal. I must watch more.

[Sol Falling]

Pfft. I haven't been following this thread, but I'm under the impression that the initial outlook on this show from most anime fans this season probably faced a lot of prejudice. Alternatively, I've been looking forward to this show for quite some time as (for me) one of this season's expected highlights.

Although to be honest, lol, that was only after I was basically forced to from taking a look over the names on the cast. I'm not particularly familiar with AKB48 itself.

Glad to see this anime surpassing people's expectations. As for myself, I did enjoy it, but the themes of the show actually made me go full cynical on three separate occasions:

The first was, lol, the suggestion that it would actually be bad to have a society with no entertainment. The reason why it's funny is that generally I would never endorse a perspective based on such an extreme (after all, as for entertainment, here I am watching anime right now); but the purely emotional rather than logical argument for "entertainment" presented in the episode actually inclined my thoughts in that direction.

The next part was the "religious"/ritualistic formality of the procedure of choosing new AKB0048 members. And the last was Nagisa's monologue where she declared her love for an organisation (AKB0048) beyond her friends and her parents.

Beyond that though, however, I will be freely enjoying this show as a bit of kinetic nonsense. It certainly has a number of elements to keep me engaged and satisfied. High expectations for what's to come.

[ookamigirl]

So this is a futuristic mecha idol anime.
Kinda a cross between The idolm@sater and Symphogear.
Girls worked hard on their auditions and it gave results.
Nagisa had parent problems, but it kinda worked out.
They all made it in the nick of time.
This one is not half bad, has potential.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

The first was, lol, the suggestion that it would actually be bad to have a society with no entertainment. The reason why it's funny is that generally I would never endorse a perspective based on such an extreme (after all, as for entertainment, here I am watching anime right now); but the purely emotional rather than logical argument for "entertainment" presented in the episode actually inclined my thoughts in that direction.

Japan instituted a ban on entertainment during the Tenpō Reforms of the 1840's. They're described in the Wikipedia article on the Reform's architect, Mizuno Tadakuni. "The Reform tried to stabilize the economy, through a return to the frugality, simplicity and discipline that were characteristic from the early Edo period by banning most forms of entertainment and displays of wealth." The ban, and the popular resentment that it generated, are the basis for the excellent and often hilarious anime Oh! Edo Rocket. Mizuno and other historical figures appear in that show.

Censorship is a recurring issue in recent anime like the noitaminA series Toshokan Sensou. It's being remade into an animated movie that will be released in June. Apparently the re-release of the original light novels last year have sold quite well. Given the recent efforts by Ishihara and other conservative politicians to rein in the manga and anime industry, I'm not too surprised to see censorship as a theme in AKB0048.

[Sol Falling]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Japan instituted a ban on entertainment during the Tenpō Reforms of the 1840's. They're described in the Wikipedia article on the Reform's architect, Mizuno Tadakuni. "The Reform tried to stabilize the economy, through a return to the frugality, simplicity and discipline that were characteristic from the early Edo period by banning most forms of entertainment and displays of wealth." The ban, and the popular resentment that it generated, are the basis for the excellent and often hilarious anime Oh! Edo Rocket. Mizuno and other historical figures appear in that show.

Censorship is a recurring issue in recent anime like the noitaminA series Toshokan Sensou. It's being remade into an animated movie that will be released in June. Apparently the re-release of the original light novels last year have sold quite well. Given the recent efforts by Ishihara and other conservative politicians to rein in the manga and anime industry, I'm not too surprised to see censorship as a theme in AKB0048.

Haha. If you ask me, there's a pretty huge difference between censorship (of specific categorizations/forms of content) and a prohibition on entertainment. After all, the way I see it, entertainment is in some form inherently superfluous. Well, thank you in any case for the information about the Tenpou Reforms and the background on Oh! Edo Rocket. I always appreciate learning a bit more about Japanese history.

[Julio C]

That was terrible and yet great. It has a nice dark look to it and yet such terrible cgi scenes with too many colors and stuff. I actually want to see what happens next. So what the hell happen to that fourth girl, the one with the blue/green hair?

[mochichan]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Japan instituted a ban on entertainment during the Tenpō Reforms of the 1840's. They're described in the Wikipedia article on the Reform's architect, Mizuno Tadakuni. "The Reform tried to stabilize the economy, through a return to the frugality, simplicity and discipline that were characteristic from the early Edo period by banning most forms of entertainment and displays of wealth." The ban, and the popular resentment that it generated, are the basis for the excellent and often hilarious anime Oh! Edo Rocket. Mizuno and other historical figures appear in that show.

Censorship is a recurring issue in recent anime like the noitaminA series Toshokan Sensou. It's being remade into an animated movie that will be released in June. Apparently the re-release of the original light novels last year have sold quite well. Given the recent efforts by Ishihara and other conservative politicians to rein in the manga and anime industry, I'm not too surprised to see censorship as a theme in AKB0048.

Interesting..they actually tried to ban entertainment? That's insane..:O

Originally Posted by Julio C

That was terrible and yet great. It has a nice dark look to it and yet such terrible cgi scenes with too many colors and stuff. I actually want to see what happens next. So what the hell happen to that fourth girl, the one with the blue/green hair?

I'm assuming by the time they grew up, she already moved somewhere else.

You know what's hilarious...the whole divination scene Mariko did to pick the girls. And she called on the great being as "sensei" AkiP title since he's a VP at Kyoto University of Art lulz
I wonder how he will appear as?

Spoiler for The great AkiP:

[Flower]

Umm ... what? lol!

I kinda liked it ... but it was ... umm ... a mess and somehow odd all at the same time? Hrm ... I think it may take a few more eps to decide on this one.

Bizarre.

[xizro345]

I don't even know what to think about this. It's so absurd yet it'a actually working.

[DmonHiro]

Huh... I expected this to be many things. "Good" was not one of them. Symphogear meets Macross F. I'm watching this.

[FlareKnight]

I thought that was a pretty solid first episode. At the very least have to keep on watching this. Pretty entertaining really that they need to carry around their own combat force (and really need the idols to be able to defend themselves from ground forces).

Curious to see what happened to the other girl. Pretty much felt like the leader of that group and very much gone when time skipped. Even managed to not even mention her once in order to hint as to what happened.

[sa547]

As I see it, this show is possibly an industry first, never attempted before by any studio, and as such Satelite's treading on uncharted territory.

[Midonin]

Does Natsuiro Kiseki count? It was definitely made with Sphere in mind, but I believe that show could stand on its own fairly well with the Sphere elements removed. This show, however, is tied to AKB48 in a near inseparable way.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Midonin

Does Natsuiro Kiseki count? It was definitely made with Sphere in mind, but I believe that show could stand on its own fairly well with the Sphere elements removed. This show, however, is tied to AKB48 in a near inseparable way.

If a show uses the actual names of personalities involved, even as caricatures being voiced by someone else, it gets the "celebrity toon" trope.

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Flower

Umm ... what? lol!

I kinda liked it ... but it was ... umm ... a mess and somehow odd all at the same time? Hrm ... I think it may take a few more eps to decide on this one.

Bizarre.

This, bizarre describes this series for me pretty well, really at a loss on what to think here.

There are alot of weird and wonderful things in anime but that concert at the start really left me open mouthed in a way

[Midonin]

Originally Posted by sa547

If a show uses the actual names of personalities involved, even as caricatures being voiced by someone else, it gets the "celebrity toon" trope.

Then I suppose Natsuiro's out.

[ars89]

I think i missed something, where is the fourth girl?

[sa547]

^
As her family is wealthy, she moved out probably to Akibastar, (and judging from the conceptual art, which showed the city as clean and ultramodern) the opposite of grime-stained Lancastar.