AKB0048 Episode 7: The Kirara of Succession

“The original Takamina…turned into Kanata…why wasn’t it me?”

Summary

AKB0048’s upcoming concert clashes with a peace ceremony they’ve been invited to, however they cannot cancel either one. Tsubasa decides to restart the under system in which kenkyuusei temporarily replace the position of selected members, selected on a skill basis. Kanata is chosen to replace Takamina, with Mimori replacing Kojiharu and Chieri replacing Yuko. Upon hearing the choice for Yuko, the 76th generation kenkyuusei quickly get jealous over a 77th gen being picked as an under, and dig into Chieri’s connection to the DES. Chieri almost ends up leaving AKB, however Kanata consoles her as captain of the kenkyuusei. Meanwhile, Takamina, Yuko, Mayuyu and Yukirin sneak into the underground temple where Sensei-sensei is, and witness a group of Kirara forming the faces of original AKB members, with Kanata’s face replacing Takamina’s.

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Impression

These 76th generation kenkyuusei aren’t exactly a friendly bunch, are they? I guess they were kinda just there but never interacted with the rest of them, but then are really quick to attack people like Chieri, who was selected as an under based on skill. I don’t know about picking her to be Yuko…I doubt both her or Nagisa are upbeat and hyper enough, but in terms of personality, Chieri wouldn’t be my first pick to succeed Yuko. She gets points for trying though – and just has to get caught by someone on one occasion, doesn’t she xD

The difference in attitude between the 76th and 77th gen is pretty obvious. On the one hand, we have someone like Nagisa, who wanted the Yuko under position as much as Chieri did, but ends up congratulating her and is supportive. On the other, you get jealous senpai’s who are acting as anything but, and dig up past info about Chieri and her being related to DES. Clearly they chose to ignore the fact that she ran away from home, since it’s absurd to think that she came to AKB to spy. Even Kanata, whose father was killed by DES doesn’t take it out on her. I doubt this’ll be the last we see of 76th gen, though I hope they get friendlier over time.

Somehow, there was always an underlying hint that the whole process of becoming and choosing successors was related to Sensei-sensei and the huge underground temple at the centre of the Earth but I never thought the revelation would be curveballed to us in such a straightforward manner. Tsubasa has clearly come out and said that it’s not just skill required, but the soul of the idol you’re inheriting. If you don’t have that soul, then you’ll never be a successor – and it looks like the way to measure that is using the Kirara of Succession. It must have been really harsh for Takamina to see Kanata’s face in that reflection instead of the original Takamina, since what they’re indicating is that Kanata would make a better leader, given all the development she’s had. She’s gotten over her desire for revenge on DES, and is proving herself to be a capable leader that cares about all her teammates – even Chieri, who’s always been tsun to her in the past. Takamina believes that Kanata should be a successor, but what price would she have to pay to see that?

• I’m glad only the Tomochin’s were carbon copies of each other. At least the original members showed some variation to the current ones.