It’s time for the General Election results. And not a shaved head in sight.
What They Say:
At the start of the 21st century, an interplanetary war broke out. Earth’s ecosys-tem was severely damaged, and humanity was forced to flee the planet. On sev-eral planets of this new society, things that ‘disturb the heart’ like music and art are forbidden. That is, until AKB0048 is resurrected…
The Review:
The General Election results are announced, to much excitement, with each of the girls in the top 10 getting their chance to come forward and say a few words. To Chieri, the results are potentially bad news – she’d already told Tsubasa that if she was in the top 10 she’d quit the group, as she felt it would be the result of her father’s promotion efforts and not her own. Sure enough, her name comes up – leaving her with a decision to make…
I’ve mentioned previously that the shenanigans surrounding the real-world ABK48 seemed somewhat creepy to me. Given events this week, it’s probably a good time to point that out again – especially as this episode, by unhappy accident, also focusses on things that are less “freedom fighter of the future” (the side of the series I like) and more typically AKB48-ish, in the form of the general election results.
The announcement of the results takes up the full episode, and really focusses on the changing reactions of Nagisa and Chieri to what’s unfolding around them. Both girls start the results show fearing what will happen, but their feelings change as the results unfold – through fear, nervousness, elation (even for Nagisa, even though she doesn’t feature in the top 10) and more besides, it’s a roller-coaster of an event. For all of the girls, really, but they’re the stars of the show for the moment. But there’s a message the episode is giving that’s best explained by watching Nagisa: she starts off noticing how all the girls around her are so unhappy, a result of the pressure of the occasion, and talking to herself about how this isn’t good. But a few minutes later, after seeing one of the other members crack under the pressure and burst into tears, she’s somehow seeing it as a good thing. “A place where the normally cheerful can cry their eyes out – the General Elections are amazing!”
Her logic escaped me, I’m afraid, and reinforced a niggle I’ve always had with this series: when it sticks to the fantastical, to its action scenes and freedom fighting, it’s great. It makes no sense either, but it’s done in a way that’s simply damned good fun. When it gets to the idol side of the show – which fair enough, can’t be avoided, given its roots – it fares a lot less well, ands tries to pitch messages that, personally, I find at best dubious (see also the ‘haters’ episode in season one). And often worse.
With the girls’ focus now being on the fight to become a successor / become Center Nova, depending on where in the hierarchy they are, that’s a problem that’s only going to get worse, I think. It’s a flaw that’s inherent in the show, and one it really can’t avoid. And that’s a damned shame.
In Summary:
The first episode of this season of AKB0048 that hasn’t struck a good chord with me, I’m afraid, and given the direction the series is going in, probably not the last. Freedom fighting is what it does best, but that aspect of the show is being sadly neglected at the moment.
Content Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 27” Apple iMac, 2.9GHz Core i5, 32GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.8.2