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:
When she was an understudy, Yuuko’s used to get frustrated that she was often kept on Akibastar – she felt like she was being restricted, and wanted to get out and do more guerrilla concerts. Now, she’s grown to appreciate the planet – and the group’s main stage – more than she used to, and she’s throwing herself into doing what she can to become the next Center Nova. But her plans are interrupted when DES and Zodiac launch a full-scale attack on the planet…
Lots of threads finally coming together with this episode, with Yuuko being the one to essentially pull them all together – from the ‘idol ambition’ side of the show, it’s her desire to be the next Center Nova that’s driving her efforts and pushes her into taking the action she does during the DES raid, while that raid – with Chieri’s father pulling the strings behind it – also gives us another excuse for the battle concerts that have always been the show’s high point for me. Oh, and which also serve as the trigger for the ‘Center Nova Phenomenon’, that both Zodiac and Mii-chan are looking to trigger for very different reasons.
On the one hand, we seem to have the drive for resources – dualium, specifically (which should probably be filed with Unobtainium in the ‘sketchy details’ department); while on the other there’s the fate of the previous Center Novae who have fallen victim to the phenomenon in the past, and who Mii-chan now reckons she can save.
No shortage of things going on, then, and even though Yuuko’s clearly the star of the show and the moment and the person that events are focussing on, there’s still a decent amount for the other girls (particularly Nagisa) to do. For once, the girls aren’t getting things their own way, either, with the episode ending on a decided down note and cliffhanger. This lot are used to being ‘freedom fighters’, come to save the day with their music, and this time around they don’t even get close to being on the winning side as their home city is laid waste around them. Hopefully that’ll be used as an opportunity for some good story development, and not get quickly brushed over within the first few minutes of the next episode. We’ll see.
In Summary:
AKB0048 always felt a bit disjointed, with a clear gap between the idol and freedom fighter aspects of the show. This episode finally brings the two of them together, in dramatic style, and sets things up nicely for the climax of the series.
Content Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 27” Apple iMac, 2.9GHz Core i5, 32GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.8.2
