“Come. Let’s begin. Our sweat and tears will bring about…a brand new dream.”
Summary
The girls make it away safely, but both the main members and kenkyuusei protest, and Tsubasa relents and allows them to return to Lancastar. Dazzling the stage with their presence, Chieri allows Nagisa to take the lead halfway through Seaside Cherry, and they complete the song beautifully, following on with Kibou ni Tsuite and Dreams Are Forever Reborn, aided by the main members who act as defence against the DES. Together, the kenkyuusei make the Kirara radiate blindingly bright, and Nagisa reunites with her parents briefly before the idols leave, towards their next stage.
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Impression
“But don’t forget: we are AKB0048. We don’t fight. We show them our love!”
sobs uncontrollably
That was beautiful, and I salute you Satelight, Kawamori and everyone else involved in this project. What began as a show that probably intended to ride on the massive success of AKB48 when the idea was thought up had a captivating first episode, and continued to surprise every week, leading up to the huge bundle of customer satisfaction that was this finale. The entire ep symbolized the values and everything that AKB stands for; even though the road is tough and hardships will happen, the idols’ passion shines above it all, with their determination to see the smiles on people’s faces. It’s so fairytale-like, but to be honest it’s what their world needs, amidst all that dreary entertainment banning.
Chieri graciously returning the lead role back to Nagisa halfway through Seaside Cherry was so heartwarming, and I was beyond moved when Nagisa finally found her voice again after seeing her parents in the audience, supporting her perhaps not verbally, but silently I’m sure. Her father in particular more than voiced his approval, telling her not to look back but instead go forward. Nagisaaaaa~
Every single one of the kenkyuusei shone amazingly brightly tonight, and they were all practically glowing – the Kirara would agree with me on that. They are the next generation, and the dreams of the original AKB members are reborn in them, and will be reborn forever for countless reincarnations in the future. I do wonder what Sensei-sensei (I’m presuming it’s him) meant by randomly chanting “Center Nova” while showing an image of all the girls though. Perhaps all of them together are the Center Novae of this generation, and I assumed that was what they were trying to say, meaning I got really scared when they all started rising and everything got brighter and brighter – Mii-chan did too, as if they were going to disappear in the same way that Acchan did, after shining just as brightly.
I’m really sad to see this go, and it’s been my Monday highlight for 3 months now – but thank goodness it’s returning in 2013, hopefully for a season 2. Not everything’s been explained yet, least of all where the mysterious ethereal voice of the 13th Acchan came from, so I’m expecting answers from whatever new production’s showing up next year. Plus, what’s all this about the election for Acchan the 14th that they hinted at post-credits? And strangely enough, that’s a very familiar expression Nagisa’s wearing below…
To the next stage~!
