For a decade Takahashi Minami (nick name: Takamina) was a key member of idol group AKB48 and in recent years she was also its leader. With an intense live show on 27th March, 2016 Takamina said farewell to the general public and on 8th April another smaller, more intimate graduation concert took place at the AKB48 Theatre. On 20th July a six disc box set, available on DVD or Blu-ray, was released containing both of Takamina’s graduation concerts, some interesting behind-the-scenes material, various making-of features and two more live shows of the AKB group alongside their sister groups.
Disc one lets you experience the graduation concert titled Shuku Takahashi Minami Sotsugyou "148.5cm no Mita Yume" in Yokohama Stadium from 27th March, 2016. The show, with a running time of almost three hours, is characterised by much emotion, an amazing stage show featuring many well-known hits and guest appearances by former members Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Yuko, Itano Tomomi, Shinoda Mariko, Akimoto Sayaka and Miyazawa Sae. Takamina's performances alongside the sister groups NGT48, AKB48 Team 8, HKT48, NMB48 and SKE48 were bursting with energy and joie de vivre. During the MCs other members like Watanabe Mayu (Mayuyu), Kashiwagi Yuki (Yukirin), Minegishi Minami (Miichan), Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan), Kojima Haruna (Kojiharu) and Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayaka) shared their most treasured memories of Takamina. From a visual and emotional perspective the performances of the impressively choreographed song Itoshisa no Accel, with former members Akimoto Sayaka and Miyazawa Sae, as well as Bird, with Shinoda Mariko and Matsui Jurina (Jurina), in the middle of the show were outstanding.
For the highly emotional encore Takamina wore a beautiful white gown, which almost resembled a wedding dress. She was in tears as she expressed her feelings to the audience and then she started to sing her graduation song, Senaka Kotoba. As the number progressed more and more members came out on stage and joined in the visually impressive performance. In the subsequent ballad Sakura no Ki ni Narou even more members came out on stage and when 19 former AKB members entered the stage as well, Takamina's time with AKB was drawing to an irrevocable close and the big finale. The last number of the show, where everyone gathered on stage one last time, was AKB48’s very first single, Sakura no Hanabira-tachi. During this performance Takamina said goodbye to each member of AKB48 with individual words of comfort, encouragement and deep gratitude and eventually the last verses of Sakura no Hanabira-tachi were sung. After that Takamina joined the line of former members on the upper staircase and addressed her final words to the crowd.
The second graduation show, Takahashi Minami Sotsugyou Tokubetsu Kinen Kouen ~ 10-nen no Kiseki ~ which took place at the AKB48 Theatre on 8th April, is featured on disc two and has a running time of more than two hours. A comparison with the Yokohama show set list will find some overlapping but also different numbers, for example the dramatic Mokugekisha, where all members dressed in long white military inspired coats were lying on the floor as if unconscious and rose one by one, or the impressive Nageki no Figure, where Takamina and three accompanying members moved like puppets. As 8th April also marked Takamina’s birthday she was sung a birthday ditty (to the tune of Namida Surprise!) and a cake was brought on stage by Yukirin.
The encore of this show was similar, but compared to the performance of Senaka Kotoba at Yokohama Stadium Takamina gave a more composed performance this time, although a single tear ran down her cheek every now and then. The subsequent MC was a different story however. During her speech she fought with her overwhelming emotions more than once as she recalled her ten years with AKB48 and expressed her thanks for the time together. After that she announced the happy Jyuunen zakura and the small stage filled rapidly with AKB48 members. This was followed promptly by the chimes of a school bell which introduced Sakura no Hanabira-tachi. Surprisingly, even more former AKB48 members, Maeda Atsuko and Itano Tomomi to name just a few, entered the stage and they all sang the final song together. After a last speech of thanks the curtain eventually fell for Takamina’s time with AKB48.
Disc three offers a detailed look behind the scenes of the Yokohama Stadium graduation show with a 90 minute making-of film. This "SPECIAL DISC" shows the rehearsals, the marathon of costume changes, the gigantic stage construction, including a tent city behind the huge main stage, plus lots of members and Takamina herself sharing their thoughts and feelings in various commentaries. The disc also features a so-called "Takahashi Minami Oshi Camera". This option allows you to choose the songs Heavy Rotation, PARTY ga Hajimaru yo, Aitakatta, Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru, Senaka Kara Dakishimete, Only Today, AKB48, Hikoukigumo, RIVER, Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka?, Ai no Sonzai, Flying Get and Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby directly from the disc menu and you can watch them from a special camera angle that is focused solely on Takamina. If the "Oshi Camera" tracks are run one after the other, they come to a running time of 41 minutes.
The AKB48 Tandoku Concert in Yokohama Stadium from 26th March, 2016 is immortalized on disc four. The concept behind the 140 minute long show was time travel. The journey started with the hip-hop inspired number PERFECT HUMAN. After that they moved on to the year 1600 where the audience was transported back to the age of the ninja. Ten girls from Team 8, including Nakano Ikumi, entertained the audience with an impressive taiko drum intro which transformed into an unusual performance of RIVER. With Ikumi and the others drumming continuously in the background, this AKB48 hit shone with a whole new gloss. The audience travelled with the girls to the years 1980; 30XX, with a fitting futuristic presentation of Music Junkie; 1990, where the AKB girls revealed their rebellious side in Clap and then 1960. The dances, rhythms and costume design for the performances of Namida no Shounan, Heart Eleki and Mae Shika Mukanee really had the feeling of being back in the swinging ’60s. This part of the show was supported by Muto Tomu on the drums, Aigasa Moe on guitar and Abe Maria on bass and at the end of Mae Shika Mukanee the girls, together with Yuihan, performed a great tap dance interlude. A visually impressive performance of Mammoth represented the BC time era. The girls wore costumes equipped with LEDs which combined with the background images on the video screen to create an amazing show of light, shadow and tension. The dramatic performance of Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai, which centred around one of the darkest chapters in world history in the year 1945, was also exciting to watch. Set against a fiery background and occasional explosions a small tank found its way on stage.
The girls sang Namida Surprise! for birthday child Watanabe Mayu. The set list also included new track Kimi wa Melody and the hits Aitakatta, Flying Get, Iiwake Maybe, Ponytail to Shushu, Oogoe Diamond and Heavy Rotation. The encore sprung another surprise for the girls and the audience in the form of a special announcement: The formation of TPE48 in Taipei, MNL48 in Manila and BNK48 in Bangkok for 2016!
Disc five features the 150 minute long Dai 1-kai AKB48 Group Touzai Taikou Utagassen 2016.3.27 Yokohama Stadium event, in which the groups HKT48 and NMB48 represented the West (red team) and AKB48 and SKE48 the East (blue team) in a sports and vocal competition. The four groups competed vocally in various unit and group performances. The unit contests were outstanding, particularly the very sensitively presented Shonichi, sung by Mayuyu and Yukirin, accompanied by SKE48 member Azuma Rion on electric piano and the subsequent Bokura no Eureka, performed Sayaka with her acoustic guitar and supported on vocals by Shiroma Miru. The first song battle of the 48 group was hosted by comedian Yamazaki Hironari and presenter Honda Tomoko. Both hosts introduced the game rules and commentated on the baseball inspired sporty parts and the event switched back and forth between sport and vocal contests. An impartial jury assessed the vocal parts by raising a red or blue flag and awarded the points accordingly.
During the last big song battle the big sister groups curried favour with the jury. HKT48, SKE48 and NMB48 performed two songs each and Team 8 and AKB48 one each. So, in the end HKT48 performed Sakura, Minna de Tabeta and Melon Juice, SKE48 sang Aishite Raburu! and Okidoki, NMB48 sang Seishun no Laptime and Dorian Shounen, while Team 8 sang 47 no Suteki na Machi e and AKB48 performed the classic Heavy Rotation. If you would like to know who was the winner of the first Touzai Taikou Utagassen you’ll have to watch the DVD or Blu-ray, although we can reveal that the victors were presented with the winning flag by actor Kojima Kazuya.
The last disc of the box set provides another look behind the scenes with two films showing the making of the AKB48 Tandoku Concert and the Dai 1-kai AKB48 Group Touzai Taikou Utagassen event. Like the making-of feature on disc three, material from the rehearsals as well as short interviews and commentaries with the group members are included in the two films that run for 50 and 40 minutes respectively.
The collection created around Takahashi Minami's graduation from AKB48, together with both special live shows and the making-of features, offers more than nine hours of entertainment and interesting background facts. The digi-pack is completed with a 120 page photo book and five randomly selected high-gloss photos. The price of around 120 Euros for the DVD box set may seem high but the price/performance ratio is well balanced. Picture and audio are high quality and the bonus items also support the impression of overall quality. Anybody who loves impressive shows and catchy pop songs will be very happy with this collection and the experience of lots of great emotions.
