I'm glad AKB management has stopped cutting the MCing and other nonmusical parts from their videos. I guess they finally realized most of our DVD players give us the ability to skip scenes when we don't want to watch it. As for me, I wanna see the whole thing. Besides, AKB48 do more than just sing and dance. They're a theater group.
They should have more of these in their future performances. For me, these are as enjoyable as their musical performances.
#7 Kazumi Urano, Mayu Watanabe and Yuki Kashiwagi MC
Team B leader CinDy happily introduces them three as Team B's top three, which is technically true (based on the Iiwake Maybe Senbatsu elections, CinDy would be third, Yukirin second, Mayuyu first), but Mayuyu and Yukirin find the introduction a bit off, so not caring too much about referring to themselves as a notch above their teammates, they decide to leave a bragging CinDy. Of course, this was all scripted, but it was a pretty funny skit. CinDy is a pretty good stage actress. It's cool that Team B's top three did get to MC at the great Budokan stage, especially considering CinDy's full transfer to SDN would get announced later that night. The only thing I have to complain about this was that it was too short! I wanted them to have more MC time!
Mayuyu: "Top three?"
Yukirin
CinDy
"Uhm... why do I suddenly feel alone on this stage..."
"Chotto!"
#6 Minami Takahashi, Haruna Kojima, and Minami Minegishi perform a play for Atsuko Maeda and Tomomi Itano, and Minami Takahashi tells a joke
No Sleeves performs a play for Acchan and Tomochin (just when I was missing Ikemendol too!), and then Takamina tells a joke. As usual, Takamina fails. But that's one of the many reasons we love her.
Takamina and Kojiharu
No Sleeves performs a play as Acchan and Tomochin watches
Miichan
Not fully satisfied, Tomochin and Acchan ask Takamina to tell a joke
Takamina: "Uhm... that was kind of the punchline... you're supposed to laugh now..."
Mii, Tomochin, Acchan, Kojiharu: "That was it?"
Lights get turned off on Takamina
#5 Nacchu, Aki Takajo, and Mai Oshima MC
When I first saw Nacchu on SDN48's website, I didn't understand how she got in. When I saw her MC on Budokan, I understood why there was no way AKB should have passed her up.
From the moment Nacchu started calling out Akicha (after performing Tobenai Agehachou on the first day), it was already pretty funny as Akicha would ask, "Eh? Nani?" ("Eh? What?"... well, it sounded like nani...). Nacchu would do a great job MCing, while Akicha played along. Add in the graduated guest, MaiMai, who is cooky as well, and pretty much kept up with Nacchu, and you get the some of the funniest few minutes of the Budokan 2009 series.
MaiMai, sizing up Nacchu
Nacchu
Nacchu notices MaiMai on stage for the first time
MaiMai, at first, naughtily not playing along
Akicha: "No... no... no..."
"Would you like some of my hairspray?"
#4 Undergirls of Iiwake Maybe MC (Rumi Yonezawa, Aki Takajo, Megumi Ohori, Natsumi Hirajima, Rino Sashihara, Haruka Katayama, Rena Matsui, and Natsumi Matsubara MC)
I love the undergirls of Iiwake Maybe and I was glad they got the opportunity to MC on the third part of the series after they performed Tobenai Agehachou. Yonechan, Akicha, Meetan, Nacchan, Sasshi, Hacchan, Renachan and Natsumi were having a good time at their silliness. They would also thank Yukirin for the great job she did subbing for Yuka Masuda who was unable to perform. I never did notice when Yukirin exited the stage after the dance and before this. It was classy though that she would leave the original undergirls so they can have a true undergirls moment. Good job to Yukirin, AKB management, and the Undergirls!
"We are the Undergirls"
Akicha and Yonechan
Meetan, trying to catch her breath
Nacchan and Akicha
Renachan
Take 2: "We are the Undergirls"
Embarassed at their own silliness
Meetan, Renachan, and Sasshi
Natsumi, Hacchan, Nacchan, and Akicha
Nacchan
Sasshi
#3 Tsukina Takai Graduates
After Tsuyukimonoyo, SKE48 would have a few moments for Tsukina's individual graduation. Takai gives a few words, and her teammates line up on both sides to give short messages and hand her a flower each. Of course, the last to give her a flower would be Kumi Yagami. This was my favorite part. I regard Kumichan as Tsukina's partner; they frequently get partnered together, they have just about the same level of popularity as the third and fourth most popular members of SKE; it seems to me they have a very good relationship between them. So although the other SKE members were all flashing smiles, Kumi was the one who couldn't control her tears, as Tsukina started to tear up also. It's sad to see two friends part like this, especially considering Team S is already taking off and they were both there when it started. Maybe if Tsukina patches things up with her studies or whatever, and she decides to, she can come back. Why not, AKB is radical, aren't they?
Tsukina stays for Team S' second song, Te wo Tsunaginagara, the title song of their second stage. To see more pics from that, and a few more stuff about Tsukina's graduation, see:
http://filipinoakbfan.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-top-25-favorite-akb48-at-budokan.html (I ranked Te wo Tsunaginagara at #21)
Renachan plays with Takai's name: TSUK-ina
Last to give her a flower: partner Kumi with Tsukina
#2 Mika Saeki graduates
Mikachi was the first to have her individual graduation among the three graduates that night, unfortunately, unlike with Takai and Naruse, her teammates weren't given the chance to give her a few messages on stage. Mikachi's graduation was also the shortest, she was the only one who gave her goodbye message with only one teammate on stage (at the beginning anyway, as she got to say a few more thanks at the end when Yukirin, her stage subunit partner, and her were already joined by their Team B teammates), and when she left the stage Team K was already on stage. I felt it was too short. Her individual graduation was basically a short speech with Yukirin on stage... if you don't count her Temo Demo no Namida performance. Which is where it really got good. The excellent execution of Team B's surprise appearance on stage made up for all of that as Mikachi's graduation was the most tearful. Since the time was so short and she didn't have much of an individual graduation before the Temo Demo no Namida performance, just check out the pics of that performance in my previous post, http://filipinoakbfan.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-top-25-favorite-akb48-at-budokan.html , which has great pics of Mikachi's graduation performance, which really is her actual individual graduation, along with some more stuff about Mikachi's graduation. I ranked this performance of Temo Demo no Namida all the way at #4.
#1 The great Budokan teams shuffle of 2009
One of the biggest moments that rocked the AKB world, this would of course be #1. Check out the story on a previous post dedicated to these twenty minutes; it has 150 pics:
