History Anime / AKB0048

''[=AKB0048=]'' is a 2012 Japanese anime television series based on the popular Music/AKB48 idol group. The anime is produced by Creator/{{Satelight}}, with Creator/ShojiKawamori as chief director and writer. The first season began airing on April 29, 2012 and ended on July 22, 2012. The second season started airing January 5, 2013 and ended on March 30, 2013. The series draws upon real-life [=AKB48=]'s repertoire for its soundtrack, with composer Slavek Kowalewski arranging some of it and contributing some original works for the series's incidental music.

* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: All over the place. {{Justified|Trope}}, since the group can pick their music before going into battle. A few standout examples:
** The trainees fight their first battle to the tune of "Beginner".
** [[spoiler:The fall of Akibastar]] is to the tune of "Korogaru Ishi Ni Nare," a song about not giving up despite adversity. [[spoiler:Yuko's HeroicSacrifice]] starts with the lyrics "Giving up is like turning your back."
** {{Subverted|Trope}} when they perform "Oogoe Diamond": It's a song about confessing your love for someone, and it looks like Yuka and Mamoru will do just that, but right when they get close, the concert is aborted and it becomes SoundtrackDissonance.

* StockFootage: The routine for "Beginner" is reused later in the series, which could be excused since a dance routine isn't supposed to change but they used the exact same cuts and camera angles. Sae's cockpit scene is repeated at least three times, with one instance showing it upside down for a variation in space.

** Is Nagisa and co's home planet called "Lancastar" (as used in the official subs) or "[[MacrossFrontier Ranka]]star" (an IdolSinger from another show directed by ShojiKawamori)? [[JapaneseRanguage Or both?]]

* BeachEpisode: Episode 10 has everyone going to a planet's beach resort for a photo shoot, much to Makoto's distraught since she'd recently put on a few pounds.

** When Makoto experiences a crisis of confidence after she botched an infiltration mission, a DES soldier and secret fan named Higashino inspires and helps her, only to stay behind to buy her time to escape. [[spoiler:He's seen at the very end, a member of the WOTA and riding atop a Mokoto-themed LAS.]]

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross No, we]] [[Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove do not]] [[Anime/MacrossPlus know of]] [[Anime/Macross7 any franchise]] [[Anime/MacrossZero like that...]] [[Anime/MacrossFrontier No, None]] [[Anime/MacrossDelta at all...]][[note]]Harmony Gold didn't even try for the distribution rights.[[/note]]
* DodgeballIsHell: The girls on the team opposite of Kanata feel this way during a broadcasted game between idols due to how good a player she is. Mimori rallies her wavering team and it turns out their fears were misplaced since the rest of Kanata's team sucked hard and lost.

** DisguisedInDrag: Problem is they were supposed to be boy custodians and thus keep addressing each other as "dude" and "bro" to keep up the charade.
* DystopianEdict: The Entertainment Ban which prohibits all forms of frivolous media. How dystopian a planet is is reflected by how strictly they enforce the ban. Akibastar doesn't have it at all and looks like a lively and healthy city. Tundrastar enforces it rigidly and the first thing the group notices while waiting in a bread line is how lifeless and unhappy everyone is.

* HitSoHardTheCalendarFeltIt: The war in the backstory started some time in the 21st Century. By the time it was done Earth was rendered uninhabitable, prompting quick space colonization and the adoption of the Star Calender. Coincidently, the story starts in the year 0048.

* [[spoiler:AndTheAdventureContinues]]: [[spoiler:The series ends with AKB retaking Akibastar and determined to keep entertainment alive. However, despite the major setback, DES is still active.]]

* BandToon: Of the real [=AKB48=], naturally. In a twist, the characters aren't the real life members of the group, but people who aspire to be just like them centuries later.

* NonLethalCombat: How many series can claim that the only confirmed death in the entire series, considering the amount of space battles, was ONE person, and that was due to an assassination?

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross No, we]] [[Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove do not]] [[Anime/MacrossPlus know of]] [[Anime/Macross7 any franchise]] [[Anime/MacrossZero like that...]] [[Anime/MacrossFrontier No, None]] [[Anime/MacrossDelta at all...]]

* HeartSymbol: Every member of the [=AKB0048=] has a heart shaped shine in their hair and[[ExoticEyeDesigns in their eyes as well]]. This feature in particular seems to be a manifestation of the ''potential'' of a girl to be a future Successor, as it shows up the young Lancastar girls after they witness their first concert. It happens again to another set of young girls after they see their first 00 performance as well.

* XMeetsY: In ''WebVideo/IdolsOfAnime'', Viga describes it as "''{{Footloose}}'' meets ''{{Macross}}''"

** Visually, the ''Flying Get'' is very similar to the ''Gekko'' from ''EurekaSeven''.

** The battleship ''Katyusha'' is named after the AKB single ''Everyday, Katyusha''; while the ''Flying Get'' is named after the single of the same name. Visually, the ''Flying Get'' is very similar to the ''Gekko'' from ''EurekaSeven''.

** The battleship ''Katyusha'' is named after the AKB single ''Everyday, Katyusha''; while the ''Flying Get'' is named after the single of the same name.

* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: The fashions of the next century are suspiciously similar to the ones worn today. And by "suspiciously similar" that is to say "exactly alike". Some of the clothes worn by the girls are actually real life outfits of AKB48 members!

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[SuperDimensionFortressMacross No, we]] [[MacrossDoYouRememberLove do not]] [[MacrossPlus know of]] [[Macross7 any franchise]] [[MacrossZero like that...]] [[MacrossFrontier No, None]] [[MacrossDelta at all...]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: A lot of the things the Trainees go through is based off their actresses' real life experiences. Sayaka Nakaya (Orine) dropped out of school early to help make ends meet. Karen Iwata returned to her hometown after the earthquake and Nagisa's situation being that when Iwata returned home. How can Nagisa be playing idol and wearing pretty clothes while her friends were living a dreary life in a corporate mining planet?
** Episode 22 has several for Minegishi Minami. The anime jokes about Minami seemed to be the type who would fall for the wrong guy ([[spoiler:considering she decided to work for Chieri's father]]), and Minami herself jokes about rejoining AKB as an understudy. The real life Minami broke AKB rules by getting a boyfriend, and was demoted to an understudy as a result.
** During the 2013 Request Hour, Shinoda Mariko said that if she graduated, she would immediately audition again for AKB. After Mariko the 7th graduated the first to succeed again was [[spoiler:Mimori as Mariko the 8th]].
** [[spoiler: Nagisa's speech to the crowd about hating them but not hating music and entertainment,]] was another nod to Acchan's speech during the 3th General Elections where she said that "they could hate her, but, please, don't hate AKB."
** The rule against love is referenced too during the final episode with the "almost kiss" between Mamoru and Yuuka.

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[{{Macross}} No, we]] [[MacrossII do not]] [[MacrossPlus know of]] [[Macross7 any franchise]] [[MacrossZero like that...]] [[MacrossFrontier No, None]] [[MacrossDelta at all...]]

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[{{Macross}} No, we]] [[MacrossPlus do not]] [[Macross7 know of]] [[MacrossZero any franchise]] [[MacrossFrontier like that...]]

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[Anime/Macross No, we]] [[MacrossPlis do not]] [[Macross7 know of]] [[MacrossZero any franchise]] [[MacrossFrontier like that...]]

** A series involving singers, mecha and the power of music as a force for defending the galaxy, created by Shoji Kawamori... [[MacrossPlus No, we]] [[MacrossII do not]] [[Macross7 know of]] [[MacrossZero any series]] [[MacrossFrontier like that...]]

* BreatherEpisode: Right after the episodes where [[spoiler:Akibaster fall to the DES, Yuko disappears in an explosion, Miichan is revealed as TheMole, and the group only barely escapes all that with their lives]] we get the episode where everyone is relatively safe, the girls get the chance to offer each other some moral support, Suzuko gets high on shrooms, Orine makes a cute little critter friend, and everyone gets to dance and sing with giant bouncing gorilla-bear monsters.

* [[{{Descriptiveville}} Descripitivestar]]: The word preceding "-star" in a planet's name will probably give you an indication of what that world is like. Some are obvious, like Tundrastar being an ice world. Others are more subtle, like Akibastar being named after the city of Akihabara, where the Real Life [=AKB48=] is headquartered.

** When they first meet on their way to their auditions, Sonata autographs Suzuko's soda can with the explanation that it would be worth a lot of money when she became a AKB0048 member. Later Nagisa asks Suzuko who she's a fan of and Suzuko holds up the old can and says she's a supporter of Sonati as an "early investment".

* NewSeasonNewName: Each episode is called a stage so the second season is called, appropriately enough, ''AKB0048 Next Stage''.

* SpiritualAntithesis: To ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Major spoiler! [[spoiler:The Center Nova phenomenon is basically a daemonic ascension: the person become an immortal entity inside the galactic collective consciousness, and able to magically influence people in the real space. Furthermore, said ascended person become able to manipulate warp transport and goes through solid. But instead of creating vicious cycle of violence and hate like Chaos cults, AKB0048 instead focus on making the world a pleasant place.]] Mari Okada wrote most of the script, and the 'entities of collective consciousness' is also used in another anime in which she wrote the script: ''Anime/BlackRockShooter''.