What They Say:
At the start of the 21st century, an interplanetary war broke out. Earth’s ecosystem was severely damaged, and humanity was forced to flee the planet. On several planets of this new society, things that ‘disturb the heart’ like music and art are forbidden. That is, until AKB0048 is resurrected…
The Review:
Chieri and Nagisa have stowed away on a Zodiac freighter and reached Saggitariusstar, where Chieri hopes to confront her father. The other girls have followed them in the Flying Get, knowing that a rescue mission is likely to be needed sooner or later – and in the meantime, they’re planning how best to re-take Akibastar. Meanwhile, Nagisa’s father has been summoned to Zodiac HQ…
AKB0048 has had something of a pattern this season – one episode of properly exciting stuff, followed by one episode of treading water and letting everyone catch their breaths. Rinse, repeat. Usually, the treading water is done by focussing on the idol side of things – this time around, for a bit of a change, we get to see Chieri and Nagisa wait to see Chieri’s dad, time they pass by having a bath, trying on clothes, and talking about times past.
Not exactly riveting viewing, really. There are a few other things going on to break things up a bit – the meeting between Nagisa’s and Chieri’s fathers, Tsubasa’s planning for the raid on Akibastar, and a little more detail on what Chieri’s father is up to – but those scenes are all talk with no real substance, and with the added annoyance of a few lines of dialogue that seem supposed to carry ‘meaning’ while making no real sense at all.
So yes, not exactly overwhelmed by this week’s episode – but with only two episodes to go, this surely has to be the last of the treading water episodes. The final scenes of the episode throw an unexpected spanner into the works, one that will surely affect Chieri in her quest to be Center Nova, and sets us on the course for the retaking of Akibastar – and with AKB0048’s record at doing that sort of action scene, combined with the Center Nova Effect the girls are relying on triggering, there should be plenty of fun to go around.
In Summary:
AKB0048 can do a lot better than this, and it always disappoints me when the show sits back and takes it easy. I want the signature high-energy craziness every week, please. This week feels unnecessary, bar a few minutes of it, and just left me wishing next week – and the expected beginning of the end – would come a little quicker.
Content Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
27” Apple iMac, 2.9GHz Core i5, 32GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.8.3
