I recently finished both seasons of
AKB0048, a show that I completely fell in love with and has become one of my favorite shows of all time, for some particular reasons. It's a show based on the real-life Japanese
idol group AKB48, but director Shoji Kawamori, mastermind behind the
Macross series, has taken these idols into space and outfitted them with mechas and sci-fi weapons for a grand space adventures.
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| Also included: lots of hearts, sparkles, and colorful, shiny lights. |
The story goes as such: It is the year 0048, that is, 48 years after a massive intergalactic war had destroyed the Earth and forced humanity to inhabit other planets across the universe. During this time, the government has banned things that "disturb the heart", namely art and music, and has appointed the DES to enforce this rule with an iron fist (and mecha drones). However, this has not stopped the idol group AKB48, now re-formed as AKB0048, from holding concerts and bringing their songs of love to even planets with the strictest bans on entertainment--helped in part by the idols also being experts in (non-lethal) combat.
On one such planet with a total entertainment ban, four girls had heard about one of AKB0048's guerilla concerts and sneaked out to attend it, and there, they completely fell in love with music. Many years later, they defy parents and leave behind everything they know in order to try to join AKB0048 themselves. There, they learn to fight and sing and dance and bring the love of AKB0048 to people all across the universe along a number of other trainees, under the guidance the current main members ("successors" of the original AKB48 members), all while defying the entertainment ban and the DES.
To Christians, perhaps that summary might sound vaguely familiar... doesn't it sound an awful lot like Christian missionaries bringing the Gospel to places where Christianity is illegal?
