AKB0048 — First Impression

In the future, the only form of “entertainment” becomes concerts by J-POP idols. For the sake of the world, society at large takes the only reasonable response left: total warfare.

Along with ubiquitous “no idol” signs scattered throughout the city, the government invests in the technology to develop “no idol” missiles and other lethal weaponry to combat this deadly threat to world peace and stability.

The responsible members of society fight the good fight against idols with the help of the government. Everyone realizes that idols are pointless and stupid.

Boys wisely break up with girls who want to become idols. The inherent goodness of humanity sallies forth in one last desperate effort.

Unfortunately, foolish, young, rebellious teenagers will always disobey the wisdom of their elders and run away from home. Hopefully the rest of the show will be a journey of growth and discovery as our young heroines learn that wearing too much makeup and lip-syncing to shitty music isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

My enjoyment of the show was further aided by the superb translation:

On the positive side, I will say that the setting is kind of cool. It’s like the world of the industrial revolution, but in space.

Some of it is pretty dumb though. Like people using QR codes after space has been colonized. Right. Then we have the phone that’s shaped like a rice ball. Um… what?

This show’s biggest problem, however, is that it’s about idols. I am not a fan of idols. Idols are dumb. In particular, the only genre of music worse than  generic pop is J-pop. Why would anyone listen to this stuff? If they had idols who played bluegrass or a mariachi band I’d be all over this shit.

18 thoughts on “AKB0048 — First Impression

  1. If you want fighting in SPACE and singers, may as well watch Marcoss Frontier, its better than this crap.

    Aside from that, I didn’t enjoy AKB0048 whatsoever since the premise is so stupid. Also, the dancing CG almost made me vomit.

        1. I’ve fallen behind, but as of episode five it didn’t get any better. The lead girl’s voice continues to grate.

  2. I’m not much interested in idols and I don’t like idol music either. The “no idol” premise is funny enough, though, to keep me watching for at least a few eps.

    Agreed re the interesting setting. The backgrounds were very nice and detailed. They kind of reminded me of Resonance of Fate if you happen to know this game.

    Actually I spent quite some time watching AKB48 footage and PV’s on youtube after I watched this ep as I knew almost nothing about this franchise. To my surprise AKB48 seems to be successfully promoting bad (crooked) teeth (best example I found: http://tinypic.com/r/qxw37d/6 from this old PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHHZwru7WvI ). Fangs seem to be popular not just in anime.

    1. Yep, I’ve played that game, that’s a great way to describe it. Which reminds me, I should finish it at some point…

      And wtf about the teeth? That’s gross!

      1. I haven’t finished it either yet. I was mainly interested in Reanbell’s outfits and found the fights increasingly hard and bothersome. But I don’t know many anime style PS3 games so I might finish it one day, as well.

        Re the teeth: I found it gross as well at first. But after a while I think I started to understand some of its appeal and admired once more the Japanese’ refined sense for cuteness. The pic is a bit extreme, though.

        1. I just finished Tales of Graces F, it’s pretty good. I liked Valkyria Chronicles as well, if you’re up for half rpg / half shooting game. The PS3 Star Ocean isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either. Otherwise, yeah, pretty slim pickings.

          A little bit of crookedness in the teeth is ok, but that particular picture is just gross, she should have seen an orthodontist 10 years ago.

  3. “If they had idols who played bluegrass or a mariachi band I’d be all over this shit.”

    FUND IT.

    I don’t particularly mind idols (i.e. Macross, Symphogear). But these stupid promotion shows bother me. If Mizuki Nana was in it, then that would be a different story. 😛

    1. I’ll fund it once I become a billionaire. I’d definitely get a good return on my investment.

      I mind idols like in Macross and Symphogear less because they actually have their own personalities, none of this group crap. And Symphogear the music wasn’t your usual J-Pop, some of it was actually half decent.

  4. The fact is banning entertainment is not just dangerous, it’s stupid. Who’s the screwball that mix idol anime with sci fi and dystopia.

  5. hmph. This show is nothing but a disreputable sight. Someone just ban “AKB0048” before things go from bad to worse. On top of that, I never like lip synching as well as lip synching is considered cheating in the entertainment industry in real life.

    1. I don’t know much of anything about idols in real life, but I think they do do lip-synching like this. So at least the show is “realistic” in that regards. I was never able to finish this.

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