Having waited for this stage ever since the team shuffles were announced, I stayed up way past my bedtime, work night and all, to watch this. Level of disappointment: almost none.
Overall, I love it. Though Team A has always had some awesome girls, the only stage of theirs I was able to get into was A4. I learned to appreciate the older stages, but only when they were covered by other teams.
So to be wowed by an A stage is an awesome feeling indeed. It hasn't happened in close to three years.
The songs themselves, I found myself liking to varying degrees.
Miniskirt no Yosei is the first kenkyuusei song I liked on the first go. It's catchy and pretty fun. As we begin the stage, we're greeted with some... footage of various riots and protests. Well that's what I always think of when AKB48 comes to mind.
When
Mokugekisha gets going though, it's an AWESOME song. Has a bit of an old school feel to it. I really like the outfits, too.
Zenjin Mitou is okay. I like the melody and it features some good singing.
Ibitsu na Shinju has a traditional Team A feel to it. Also has some very hot outfits. They're going to have to do some modifications to them, though. Nakayan's pearls broke pretty quick (oh my God is she hot in this outfit or what
) and I saw some others that has loose-looking pearls. Shiichan also looked DAMN good here.
Akogare no Popstar is probably my favorite song of the first group set. Really catchy, feels like a mix of a Team A and B song. It also features a lot of the underdogs.
Ude wo Kunde was better than I expected. I was worried it would be Nagisa no Cherry v3.0 but they actually made good use of Mocchi and Nakayan in this song. I wonder if Nakayan is suppose to really be playing in this song. They had a long delay before it began and a staffer out during the performance trying to get something working but it didn't look like they are successful. Poor Nakayan.
Stuff's just breaking on her left and right in this show. Then...
Enjo Rosen. When I heard of a Sasshicha unit I expected either a train wreck or gold. I wouldn't say it's gold but I like it a lot. The outfits are pretty cute and their singing is good. I love Sasshi's voice!
Itoshiki no Akuseru... as much as the wota in me wants to mindlessly support Sasshi, I have to admit that this is my favorite of the units. The outfit reminds me of some kind of jpop rehash of something from The Legend of Zelda. The song itself has a very late-90's Megumi Hayashibara anisong feel to it. Coupled on top of Takamina's AMAZING vocals, this is probably my favorite AKB48 solo song. It might even rival Rena's
Kareha no Station. It's that fucking cool. Plus, SHE HAS A SWORD OF LIGHT. You couldn't find something cooler if you wanted to!
Hoshi no Mukougawa is... a slow song. I don't really love slow songs but this is an exception. I was really surprised by it. For one, WASAMIN.
Haruna also has some really good vocals in here. Some of the harmonies in the chorus (I think that's the right musical terms, lol) are really beautiful, too. I was expecting
Saboten to Gold rush to be really mediocre like most of the large units that often feel like leftovers, but this one is really cool. It has a country-pop kind of feel to it that really works well. It's catchy as hell. It also does a good job of featuring the girls who are in it. Shiichan is damn awesome in it, as are Haachan and Ami.
Utsukushiki Mono continues the theme of awesome intros to songs in this stage. Parts of this song are pretty good but I find the talking over it a little annoying. Sasshi is so going to kick Wasamin's ass for touching her Lovetan, though.
Ai wo Kure is a little on the bland side compared to the other songs. Kinda reminds me of an older Team K style song.
Matenrou no Kyori is fun and energetic, I like it.
Inochi no Imi is a pretty typical pre-encore song. I wasn't wowed by it, but it's okay. The pants to the outfits are ghetto.
I'm crying definitely has BSB vibes all over it.
The song is a little weak, but I like the choreography in it a lot.
Zutto Zutto is pretty good. I like it but it feels like a song we've heard many times before in AKB48. The style's really typical, I guess.I love
Pioneer simply because it ends the stage on an energetic tone. I'm glad Team A has a bit of a theme song now, but... it's not as good as I'd like it to be.
LOL at the ending comments. Harugon finally found someone to look down on.
I skipped the MC's last night due to time constraints but watched them today and they were... okay. Most of the members are kinda like how Team B was at the beginning. A lot are trying to find their cues and place. Some are fitting right in though. Lovetan totally has a thing going on with Takamina and it's going to be endlessly entertaining.
Overall, I think this is a pretty great stage. It didn't blow the doors off the house but it left a mark for sure. Now I am not entirely sure which team is my favorite. A6 and K6 are a VERY tight match. Sadly, B is definitely my least favorite AKB48 team as of right now. Not to say I hate them but... these stages are indeed MUCH better. As for balance, I am a little disappointed but I don't think it's that bad. I'm glad we get to see the underdogs doing stuff, but it's definitely still tiered. I guess K6 accidentally did a good job of disguising that. Still, the balance is enough to make me happy... for the most part. I really wanted to see more Wasamin in this concert. Indeed, I could also stand to see Ami and Haachan doing more, but I think Wasamin has the potential to shake up the entire AKB48 group, let alone the team she is in. I just want her to have that chance.
In any case, I look forward to seeing more of this one in the future for sure.