AKB0048 / First Impressions

「禁じられた星」 (Kinjirare ta hoshi )
“The Forbidden Star”

Gosh darn. This series just never ceases to surprise in some shape or form. One moment it’s the understudies being wiped out from doing too much promotional activities and the next it’s an epic multi-pronged attack on a planet completely under the Entertainment Ban (and its military stronghold too!). Combine that with the concert (with Heavy Rotation, River, Boku Dake no Value as inserts) and the over the top antics only this series can provide. Just one of the most enjoyable episodes of this season.

Really though, it’s quite ridiculous how epic this episode ended up. The adrenaline rush was just on full blast all episode—kept afloat by a lot of piew piew, the infiltration, and crazy underground casinos betting on the success or failure of our AKB heroines. Phew* I’m just out of breath just thinking back to it all, but I guess it just shows the heights this series can reach and how enjoyable the series is.

In any case, Makoto gets her chance to shine this episode and seizes it in a style only she could—one filled with false starts and clumsy falls, but inevitably the same results: success. Of course, we got Suzuko and the rest stealing DES mechs and Nagisa shootin’ em up with Sonata too, and it was pretty action packed to say the least. I didn’t expect the Private to play as big of a role as he did, but I suppose the signs were in the cards the second he was singled out midway through the episode. It’s gotta be nice finding fans wherever you go eh?

Moving on though, the end of this episode just highlights how big of a role Chieri’s father and the Zodiac Corporation are likely to play during the remainder of the series. Because it sure seems like he allowed (and planned for) the events of this episode to happen in order to gather more data about the Kirara. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he was probably making a killing from the casino to begin with, but hey. One still wonders what he the ultimate result would be if he succeeds in artificially creating Kirara… but I think it’s safe to say that it won’t spell great news for our heroines. Our gals just seem to be falling right into his hands at this point, and one can only hope they can find their way out of em’ by the time it’s all said and done.

29 Comments

      1. Makoto is really amazing in this episode. I love her more than ever and I love her new long hair look.

        Why do I feel that this episode is also about Yuuko and Mimori trying to steal Chieri from Nagisa while she was away? Poor Nagisa. Anyway, Nagisa is amazing too, gun-blazing around.

        JohnHayabusa
        Reply

  3. I told Makoto before, it was the “realness” of her personality that would win her fans, and so it did. From the beginning, what the viewers saw onscreen from her is 100% real, and they could tell. She wasn’t hiding her real personality behind something faked up to gain fans. She didn’t have to put on her “game face” when she got onscreen. Her behavior, as clumsy and cowardly as it tended to be, was still her real behavior, and that could resonate with people.

    And so it did. And so, even the self-proclaimed failure among our girls has gained her own kirara, and thus become an idol in truth. Well done, Makochii.

    PS: Keep your hair down like that. You look gorgeous that way.

    Wanderer
    Reply

    1. I agree, it’s that realness that would draw people to her. Plus despite the fact that she runs into failure and gets down on herself, she still manages to keep on going and has made it this far. A good inspiration to anyone who has those lapses in confidence. And yeah in the end they know that what they see is what they get with her. Not going into an idol mode, Makoto is Makoto. Glad she got an episode like this.

      FlareKnight
      Reply

  4. Nagisa was shooting ’em up with Yuka. Sonata was in the mech with Suzuko and Orine.

    But yes, in general 77th kicked all sorts of ass this episode, without ever getting on the stage. That’s why I love 0048 on its own merits.

    Really really hoping that this isn’t the end of the Makoto arc. Then again, Sasshi’s scandal is probably going to lead them to downplay Sasshi as an important member in the future, so I doubt this is going where I think it’s going. (or should go.)

    Love how even Makoto’s kirara is fail: it can’t be bothered to be a proper compact Kirara shape.

    Other favorite moment was the use of chatroom instead of speaking to each other and risk being overheard. Why isn’t that more of a thing?

    Arbitrary_greay
    Reply

    1. Other favorite moment was the use of chatroom instead of speaking to each other and risk being overheard. Why isn’t that more of a thing?

      You’ve never sat next to someone and had a conversation with them by text? It’s very useful when you don’t want people to hear what’s going on!

      Angelus
      Reply

  6. This is what I’ve been looking forward to, more idol ass kicking! In this case, Metal Gear AKB0048, seeing the 77th infiltrate entirely on their own was awesome. Its difficult to remember that these girls are trained like special forces.

    Makoto was probably the least characterized of the 77th so far so this was a good episode for her. Its nice to see that she has GAR potential too. I’m a little worried for that soldier who helped her though, I don’t think DES will be very forgiving of him.

    fragb85
    Reply

  9. I understand why AKB0048 came out so well, all the staff must be fans. When Kanata said “chapu-chapu” at the beginning I was like, “OMG. Someone must be a Milky fan. Nice touch!” Good episode, I liked the focus on Makoto.

    Fuu
    Reply

  12. Really hope the villain gets more interesting soon. Right now, he’s just the typical: “I STILL HAVE ALL THE CARDS” type, and that’s really boring… (just my opinion)

    8-bitPenguin
    Reply

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