Stage AKB48 Special Stages (September 2015 ~ )

Forgot to reply to this:

It's a song about not looking back after an ending but looking forward to the next thing. Imho it's quite appropriate as the final song. (Granted it's not actually the final song, but "in theory" the encore might not happen...)

 

@Rurouni: I heard some forum members saying there was at least one time, but that was a long time ago and I don't exactly remember the details. Maybe someone can elaborate.

 

@wlerin I didn't know the meaning of the song, it's just that i feel the mood makes the song should be placed earlier in the setlist. But if it's as you said, then in a sense it's perfect that it's placed right before encore.

 

Here's some thoughts on the Tanaka SP stage:

First Rabbit & overused songs

Spoiler

The opening set flows really well, with a lot of thought on the subtext of each song & its placement in the entire setlist. Placing First Rabbit *first* is actually a really great idea. Most people stick it at the end, because we all love that documentary that did it first LOL. ALSO, especially since First Rabbit is used in 3/4 of the SP stages, they found a fun way to use it.

Speaking of overused songs, 3/4 stages feature 3 songs: First Rabbit, Kimi no Koto ga Suki dakara, and Oogoe Diamond. I don't know where people are saying Temodemo no Namida is overplayed when it's only in 2 SP stages. First Rabbit is a REALLY good song. Oogoe Diamond is the AKB classic. As for Kimi no Koto...I guess people love the message & think it's really good to end a segment?

Mogitomu

Spoiler

The lineup is godlike, but the sub-units are a mess. Totally a mix of Tanaka's personal taste & available singers. I mean WHO THE FUCK PAIRS MOGITOMU WHEN MOGIMION IS RIGHT THERE?!?! RIGHT. THERE. It's "rude," especially when Mogi is already torn between Mogimion & Mogitate [Mogimion is winning, because management is pairing them together whenever possible]. It's also odd to have two husky voice, somewhat boyish members duet Tomodachi de Irararerunara, which is the GL-iest song in the 48G [I think? LOL]. Again, reeks of Tanaka's personal taste.

Yuihan & Mushi no Ballad

Spoiler

Yuihan Mushi no Ballad has me going mad too. Mushi no Ballad is a push song. You use it to prop underrated~ members with great voices up [well, outside of concerts anyway]. IT'S PRETTY MUCH THE SUBTEXT OF THE SONG LYRICS EVEN. So using Mushi no Ballad to prop the next soukantoku smells of "I would love my oshi to solo this, my favorite song." Lame. LAMER is the fact that during shonichi, Yuihan sang it fine, but her performance was pretty wooden. I was not feeling it as I usually do [it's one of my fave 48G songs]. I honestly don't know who I would put on Mushi instead of Yuihan, since this stage lacks strong, strong, strong vocal talents that can carry a solo. The strongest singers here are Mion, Makiho, and Yuihan. So I probably would've given it to Makiho.

Makiho & Temodemo

Spoiler

Speaking of Makiho, Temodemo w/Makiho & Yuichan is, surprisingly, my highlight in a stage with MOGI YURIA MION, Mushi no Ballad, and Tomodachi de Irararerunara in it [Tomodachi de Irararerunara has been my favorite 48G song for the past couple months]. Makiho is easily becoming one of my favorite theatre girls. Her dancing & singing are great. Her biggest "problem" is she makes awkward "I'm trying hard" faces. As an idol, the last step to ascending the throne is perfecting the "I can dance/sing well all while smiling perfectly" look. Yuichan held up her side of the performance too. Another funny thing is putting them next to each other, Makiho is HUGE compared to Yuichan...but Makiho is younger than Yuichan LOLOLOL

Lack of gimmick & Tano-center

Spoiler

The lack of a fun gimmick like the previous stages really makes this feel like just another waiting stage. There's nothing special about it, to be honest. The MCs are funny, but MCs almost always are when your lineup includes funny members. Not even a special outfit like Iwamoto's stage, iirc? Just normal outfits, normal MCs, different setlist. The inclusion of Juuryoku Sympathy is cool, since we never see choreo for it LOL!

I didn't know who the center was, aside from Yuihan, but, and this is oshi-bias obviously, I thought Yuria was Wcenter w/Yuihan? I realize it says she centers 4 songs + 1 subunit, but aside from Mae Shika Mukanee, she didn't really feel like a center? Maybe the camera just loved Yuria during shonichi's opening set or idk oshi-bias...ANYWAY Mae Shika Mukanee w/Tano center is GREAT. Feels natural. The encore set is great, but I also fell asleep during it, so I don't even remember Yuuhi wo LOL.

Now that we've seen all the SP stages, I want to put together a mishmash of who did what best, before saying which was my favorite:

Spoiler

Best opening number: Bara no Kajitsu [Iwamoto] - I just like how it feels
Best opening set: Tanaka stage - First Rabbit is my 2nd fave opening number & the set flows really well
Best sub-unit set: Soichiro stage - Megutan-Accel & NaaYuiriNana-Bird are amazing, the rest are really enjoyable. I'm still a little miffed about Sayaya having to do nothing until her duet w/Megutan...and Junai no Crescendo is boring, but overall it's the best sub-unit set, best sub-unit selection, and flows really nicely :3
Best MCs: Soichiro stage - Myaochiro's debate MC is endlessly dumb, funny, and entertaining. The gimmick is fun too.
Best finale: Shunputei stage - really slim pickins here, since Tanaka's finale has 2 MCs between Kimi no Koto & Mae Shika...but Shunputei's Shamu Neko > Korogaru Ishi ni Nare is really fun & sends us into encore call in an interesting way.
Best encore: Iwamoto stage - football VTR > Boku no YELL > Hikoukigumo > First Rabbit is GREAT. What would've been even better is YELL > Rabbit > Hikoukigumo, but that's just me.
Best outfits: Iwamoto stage - they gave Komari the goalie jersey, because she's the backbone of that lineup. Cue tears.
Honorable mention: Nanking Tamasudare MC, Hebirote in rakugo outfits, & Oogoe Diamond acapella makes Shunputei stage feel more like a Special Stage than any of the others.

Favorite lineup: ...so you're telling me this team has Mogi, Yuria, Mion, AND Makiho? Tanaka stage.
Favorite SP stage: Soichiro stage - I don't even like the songs, but the setlist flows really well. The sub-unit set really highlights every member's vocal skills [except for Junai no Crescendo, sorry!]. The Myaochiro MC is fun & leads into First Rabbit. Even the unders like HillaryAccel feel organic & perfect.

 

Here are the lyrics. It is a very excited, energetic song, but it's also a bittersweet one.

Someone with creativity. Tano and Yagi are right there too--that's what makes it perfect. Most of the canon pairings are there (missing Pon and Saho), but he went for something different and unexpected, but not unimaginable. Maximum surprise, maximum jealousy. We've had enough "canon" in the other three stages.

Spoiler

Also, Mogion is heresy. I mean seriously. The whole thing is basically Miion throwing herself at Mogi and Mogi taking it in stride.

The gimmicks are like, the worst thing in the other stages though? Or maybe I just feel that way because I'm watching the first stage as I type this, and that gimmick ... >_< Granted, some are better than others. The discussion panel in the third stage is good but feels out of place. By comparison this stage is severely lacking MCs, which is unfortunate, but I think it's closer to getting the balance "right" than the others. I'd probably feel differently if my Japanese was better.

There was a little bit of a gimmick at the very end, but nothing compared to the others. I rather like how Maakun didn't include a bunch of baseball references, unlike how certain others crammed in their own hobbies/occupations >_>

 

OH I'm not actually mad at Tanaka over Mogitomu. It's not even actually rude LOL. It's just left-field a s f u c k LOLOL.

I am a firm believer in Mogitate, ride or die.

 

Oh good. On both counts. They are married after all

 

You can read about the incident here. http://stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/general-the-akb48-thread.180/page-161#post-107247

 

2015.11.08 ＡＫＢ48マー君公演がスタート (jijipress)


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http://7gogo.jp/kojima-mako/11461
https://twitter.com/yuriaaa_peace/status/663331820348436481
https://twitter.com/katorena_akb48/status/663332616913874944
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https://twitter.com/tanoyuka_0307/status/663474338994089984

 

This is my favorite setlist. Also, I'm so happy I'm not the only one that thinks Tomodachi de irarerunara is a great song and should be performed more often.
though... someone else for Mushi no ballad would have been better.

 

Having people other than YuiParu doing Tomodachi de makes me uncomfortable, but I did like Tomu in it particularly. She just seemed so cute and energetic, and together they added more of the undertones of the desperation and need I feel in the song. Is it just me or is Tomu looking prettier lately? I used to find her not that attractive, but lately I've been thinking she's prettier. Maybe because she's been more energetic and smiling lately? I don't know haha. I think this is my favorite special stage so far. Then Iwamoto, then Tahara, then Shunputei.

Sent from my LG-H345 using Tapatalk

 

Eh Yuihan's Mushi no Ballad was like Karen's. Not shabby, and it's nice to hear a higher range on it.

 

Well... you got your wish, at least for last night's performance.

 

Abemaru new hair is amazing

 

yeah i think Mushi no Ballad should only be done by someone with a low-pitched voice. Yui's voice is too high.

I like how they used Tomodachi de Irarerunara. Never expected it.

 

Who is Yuihan's under for Mushi no Ballad?

 

IKR! She looks amazing with that color and style

 

Yui Mushi No Ballad almost makes me faint

 

Umetan (Umeta Ayano). And not just for Mushi no Ballad, she's her under for the whole stage.