(L) Akb0048

[Bombo]

lol they got me in ep3
I thought what going gone with the dark side in AKB!? the main singing and little girls slaughters from the machine ....
Well done well done Amazing episode

[SeijiSensei]

I happened to be reading this piece on attitudes among Americans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a sobering reminder about the real effects of warfare on even well-trained personnel.

At the back, John Rush, 44, sat with a brace on an injured leg. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after two tours in Iraq. "The explosions, the bombs going off. You're scared, you're mad. The stress wears you out."

The Pentagon counts more than 6,300 American dead and 33,000 wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Rand Corp study estimates that as many as 300,000 post-9/11 veterans suffer from PTSD or major depression, and about 320,000 may have experienced traumatic brain injuries, mainly from bombs.

[One veteran] chokes up when he recalls "the geek-faced kid" from Oklahoma who was brought in to fix office computers in [an] Iraq bomb dismantling unit. The young man, with no combat training, was sent into the field to hack into terrorists' laptops. Within weeks he suffered a mental breakdown. Returning stateside, he shot his two children to death and killed himself.

PTSD probably doesn't happen after just one exposure to the horrors of warfare, but I find it unlikely that real-life fourteen-year-old girls would not succumb rather quickly.

[sa547]

The girls only had ten days to prep, and from there they can decide whether to leave or stay, depending on the results of their final test... so the only trauma those rejects could be getting is having the shock of being thrown into such mock combat, being tagged, and finding that they're ill-suited for the organization's requirements.

A few more thoughts and ideas:

Spoiler:

As I watched the second half of the arc on streaming, and suddenly the girls have to fight off a heavy mech assault unit out to crash the party, I remembered my readings of Starship Troopers, as well as my viewings of the film G.I. Jane (and maybe even Battle Royale 2), in which the initial large batch of raw FNGs are trained for a length of time before being dispatched into a live-fire exercise and/or the infamous "Hell Week"; whatever is left of this batch are selected for further training and specialization.

Makes me think that in real life a girl trying to make it into the most famous of idol groups is like joining an elite commando unit, and even after joining up the physical and mental exertion being endured from Day 1 is no joking matter (as depicted in AKB49 and in the documentary).

I could only imagine which of the characters would be most useful in advancing AKB's objectives: Orine is great with anything mechanical, and could fix a mech or a vehicle in a jiffy; Sonata can easily sneak in and out without making a noise, which makes her suitable for intelligence gathering; Suzuko can have no problem diving into intel work and analysis, and could piece together seemingly incompatible pieces of information; Kanata is without a doubt a close-in combat specialist, and could equal or exceed Chieri (given that she's a heiress to a military-industrial complex supplying the DGTO regime), who knows jack about handling assault weapons and good fighting skills; and Yuka has possibly no-nonsense leadership skills and courage...

Given that they're now rivals, I think Yuka and Chieri could be locked in conflict as to who should make Captain of this 77th batch.

This leaves us with Nagisa, Mimori and Makoto, so where they should fit in? If I were to be Tsubasa, I'll assign Makoto to corpsman training (so she doesn't have to bear arms except in extreme cases), and single out Nagisa and groom her to become a candidate Center.

Yet I predict that given her additional talents (as seen in the OP), I suspect that Mimori could be Nagisa's potential rival.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by sa547

so the only trauma those rejects could be getting is having the shock of being thrown into such mock combat, being tagged, and finding that they're ill-suited for the organization's requirements.

Or being tossed into the air by a concussive grenade, suffering various physical injuries and losing their hearing, potentially for life, as a result.

[mochichan]

LOL...Katyusha..
Isn't Katyusha the name of a Russian Rocket too?

And it's anime.
I wouldn't worry about serious things like PTSD :P

But anyway at this point I wonder what is Makoto contribution to the group..she's easily freaked out and obviously can't handle pressure.

[ookamigirl]

The process for the election of the 77th generation continues on board their ship.
It was pretty LOL watching their trainings.
Guess the girls thought it would be singing & dancing training, they sure were surprised.
From normal girls to soldiers, now that's a transformation!
Good thing it was just an audition ^^

[asaqe]

Spoiler for Mimori, Makoto, Nagisa:

Mimori pretty much still has her family connections, unlike Chieri who ran away from home Mimori is pretty well off and have a lot of pull despite being an idol. Makoto pretty much have to learn a lot, but who knows what she will be good at. Nagisa is pretty much going to become the new Acchan and inhereit all the wonderful things about her.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Tempester

I feel that way, too. Which is why the scene where that one idol told her "Keep it up, and you won't pass the selection round" was a real "what the hell?" moment for me.

I wasn't that surprised. Chieri had a good understanding of what the girls had to do, but was missing key parts at the same time. You see her sitting there by herself with the viewpoint that its her against the world. Is anyone going to trust someone like that to watch their back when they are actually performing during a real firefight? She got focused on the skills and lost the human aspect of it. Could have seen her getting dropped because she wasn't a team player. Unfortunately she kind of brushed up on the wrong skills for this test. They weren't judging them based on combat ability which can be taught later, but on the ability to adapt, cooperate, and protect their 'comrades.'

It all seemed pretty obvious to me.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

They weren't judging them based on combat ability which can be taught later, but on the ability to adapt, cooperate, and protect their 'comrades.'

And she did all that. In fact, what she told Nagisa before going out to distract the enemy were the same exact words that Tsubasa used to describe the purpose of the test at the end. This shows Chieri really understood the test, even if she didn't know it was a test.

If Mayuyu thought that Chieri was isolating herself and that was an issue, she was right, but she was wrong thinking that would make her fail, because even if she didn't tell her anything, Chieri still would have found the answer on her own. She's that kind of person, or at least that's how she seems to me. She isn't perfect, but she has an incredible ability to adapt and learn, even if what she needs to learn is to be more of a team-player. She's already changing in that expect too, as shown by that heartfelt embrace with Yuka at the end of the episode.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by mochichan

LOL...Katyusha..
Isn't Katyusha the name of a Russian Rocket too?

Yup. It's basically a pipe filled with rocket fuel and a cap on one end, with the launcher mounted on a pickup truck. They're so easy to make that they're still in use in many parts of the world.

[ars89]

Oh man, they got me, thought it was getting dark.

[SolarAquarion]

Originally Posted by ars89

Oh man, they got me, thought it was getting dark.

You mean Kawamori got you?

He got me too.

Kawamori is taking the idol genre and well past 11 via his drugs.

[mochichan]

considering AKB have a habit of making dark stuffs in their dramas like the psycho Gekikara in Majisuka Gakuen, or cutting like in Tegami no Kara Sakura, I'm really hoping this anime do more dark stuffs
Nothing more awesome than lolis and guns lol

[xizro345]

Again, the whole concept of the test was absolutely mad, but since everything in this show is absolutely insane, I'd say it works. Still the voice acting nags me big time, and the biggest offender is still Nagisa...

[Kazu-kun]

Chieri version:

[Chiaki_chan]

It's crazy girls with guns are too great!!!

[duckroll]

Mayuyu having a quiet one-on-one word with Chieri is hilarious. This is such a deep show! Lol.

[Chiaki_chan]

haha yes it's true

[Sylphic]

Man. At the end of that scene I was thinking. Oh no Chieri is gone already? Oh well I guess she can add motivation to Nagisa and friends. That's good too! That scene looked like they were sending her to heaven.

The battle scene was great, but what exactly were the girls supposed to do against giant robots with nothing more than small caliber assault rifles and hand grenades vs the equivalent of a main battle tank. Hmmm...

I introduced this show to a bunch of otaku I know. Some of them ran away immediately after hearing Aitakatta, but a few stuck around. Maybe this show can bridge the gap between ota and wota?

Even I'm having this strange fascination with AKB right now. Spent al night watching AKBINGO. Minegishi is amazing. Why is she not top 10 grrr

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Sylphic

Man. At the end of that scene I was thinking. Oh no Chieri is gone already? Oh well I guess she can add motivation to Nagisa and friends. That's good too! That scene looked like they were sending her to heaven.

I thought so too at first, but then I remembered Tsubasa was watching over them, and that sort of tipped me off. Also, Chieri's character is a little too "expensive" (as in, too much effort has been put into her design and characterization), to just let go of her like that. Nagisa might need motivation and all but not at the cost of a character that is arguably better crafted (writing wise) than herself. They can always kill off Yuka for that .