First of all, I want to wish a happy anniversary to Intl Wota! I promise to find a great cake to celebrate it, and take crappy pictures with my cellphone

I spent all morning screencapping this concert, so i figured I would start this HUGE review project ASAP.

1. The Basics: Tadaima Renaichuu is the 4th Stage that Team A performed, and it ended somewhere around mid-2007, with the DVD being released in November. As interesting trivia, three single A-sides were included here: BINGO!, Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou and Seifuku ga Jama o Suru. As well as a single B-Side, Only Today. two of the girls who perfromed in this stage graduated last year, they are Hoshino Michiru and Masuyama Kayano, and as a special program in the DVD was included the solo song of Hoshino Michiru “Ganbare”.

2. The Girls: Like I said before, 2 of the girls have already graduated, so this was their last stage. The tracklist was awesome, and the girl’s performances in the DVD are solid through the end, which includes some very sweet teary-eyed moments during Michiru’s song. The biggest part of this introduction is right here, where I will talk to you about all the girls and each girl’s highlights or downsides or whatever. This will also help you get familiar with the girls I haven’t profiled yet

“The Fallen from Grace” Risa was one of the leads when team A was just formed, but ever since Aitakatta, she blended into the background as other girls grabbed her position in front of the spotlight. Risa’s performance as a back-up girl in 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi is very fitting for such a sweet song, but not much more than that. She smiles through the whole concert, even when the others are crying O_O But maybe she just wasn’t that close to Michiru. She has a lot of natural spunk to her, however, so she’s interesting to watch whenever the camera is on her (which isn’t very often, sadly)

“The Crazy Side of Team A” Ohe (who will be refered to as Oh yay from now on)is so much crack… She’s really awkward looking during the dances, but she puts so much heart into everything that she’s really fun to watch (also due to the fact that she REALLY is dancing to her own drum through most of this…) She was one of the leads in 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi along with Acchan, and her vocals were a good match for Atsuko’s sweet voice. She was absolutely perfect in that performance, and I was really happy to see her get a lead position, because she’s one of the girls that almost never gets featured on a PV or anything like that. She’s especially funny during Mr. Kissman too, because the wacky choreography becomes even more wacky when she’s around! Overall, a solid performance, and she seemed to be enjoying herself to the max!

“The Sweetheart” What can I possibly say about Acchan that hasn’t been said before? 7ji 12 fun no Hatsukoi is perfect for her sweet almost fragile vocals, and she makes lots of cute expressions to adorn the song during the performance. She’s a charmer there, and proves exactly why she’s all that an idol is supposed to be! Other highlights include the awesome DARUIKANJI which she co-leads with Miichan. Sure, Mii completely pwns her, but she’s still cute anyway. The regular solid performance we’re used to see from her in both Keibetsu and Seifuku. She’s basically the same Acchan that everyone has grown to love during this Stage as well, with that kind of perfectly calculated innocent smile and almost gentle attitude that is so typical of her.

“The only person in the world with a more nasal talking voice than Kojima Haruna XD” All kidding aside, Hii-pinku is one of the groups best singers, but for some reason, she never gets lines. EVER. I seriously don’t get it, but whatever. Maybe it’s because she annoys the hell out of everybody with her ultra-nasal fake talking voice, but my personal opinion is that as long as she doesn’t use it for singing I don’t care about what she says anyway. 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi was also the song where she appeared the most, she was one of the back-up girls, though. I found it really cute that she stated how she was very happy she could get a pink costume for the song, because pink is her favorite color <3 That’s sweet! She got a fair amount of screentime, though, especially during Mr. Kissman, Seifuku and Nante Suteki na Sekai ni Umareta no Darou (where she looked really cute in her pink pyjamas <3)

“The AKB48 kid with talent to spare” Kaya graduated in November, and she was going to be originally moved to Team B. I wish she had stayed, though, because she was a very very talented kid! She’s also part of the 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi unit, where she was a back-up girl. This cutie is always all smiles, and this was of course, no exception. Nothing much to say about her, though, other than what I’ve already said…

“The Silent Sweetie” Nozofisu is pure love. I adore that girl like crazy, and not just because she’s the only AKB48 member who speaks spanish (and also, the only one who speaks good english) but because she is a great singer, and performer in general, but she seems like a shy kind of girl, which is why she isn’t featured more prominently in the group. That’s one of the reasons why I LOVE the unit she was in for this stage, Faint. Featuring also Tojima Hana (who’s another one of my favorites), Nozofisu danced and sung her heart out, and she was drop dead sexy while she was at it! I was beyond happy to see her in such a cool song, and see her nail it perfectly! Other than that (like there’s anything else that matters after you’ve seen Faint) she enjoys herself a lot through the concert, and we get plenty of shots of her beautiful smile <3

“The Spacey One” Harunyan pleasantly surprised me in this Stage. She’s always a great performer, actually, but she took it to the next level here. She was in the Junai no Crescendo unit, were she was smoking! Even outshining both Takamina and Miichan! She commited to every song, giving wonderful performances of which I especially like her parts in DARUIKANJI, Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta and Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou. Definitely one of the A-class girls of Team A, Kojiharu proves us with this DVD release that she’s deserving of being one of the collective’s leads.

“The Happy Soul of Team A” Miichan was also one of the highlights, and definitely my favorite girl of this DVD. Her Junai no Crescendo performance proves that she should be given more solo lines to work with, and she should be put in more duo or trio units. Not only was she terribly sexy, but she also managed to work as a team with Harunyan and Takamina, making this the most solid unit in the whole setlist. If the shuffle version is going to be released after all, they will have a hell of a lot of trouble replacing this 3. They have so much chemistry together that they were picked in Himawari 2 for another song! Aside from all that. Miichan in glasses (or MEGANE! MINAMI! like all the wotas were shouting…)was amazing. She played with them, giving them good use as a prop, especially during DARUIKANJI, hell, she was so good in that one that I simply consider it a Miichan song now. I loved her interaction bits with Maimai, but this is getting awfully long already, so I’ll discuss those in Maimai’s picture

“The tiny girl with a HUGE voice” Takamina is always a reliable performer, and this was of course, no exception. You’ve already heard me hyping about Junai no Crescendo and how much of a great song it is, but without Takamina’s powerful vocals, it would’ve never become what it is. Other highlights of her include the heart breaking Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou, and the steamy Seifuku ga Jama o Suru, where she is always absolutely perfect!

“The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Idol Music :D” Damn! That screencap sucks! You must all know by now that Maimai is my favorite, I’m even naming my new kitty after her! <3 Ok, fangirlism aside, Maimai is an amazing performer, IMO the best of all of AKB (maybe only topped by Oshima Yuko). She was all smiles and sexy looks during the first songs, and I particularly like her “crying” bit in Kuma no Nuigurumi , especially after all of the real crying she did in the rest of the concert Her duet with Hoshino Michiru, Haru ga Kuru Made, is one of my favorite songs, with a very light atmosphere reminiscent of spring imageries. She was, of course, vocally perfect, and the fact that she was so sad that she cried during the song, made me teary eyed as well. She must’ve been really close to Michiru, because not only did she cry here, but also in Nante Suteki na Sekai  ni Umareta no Darou (damn… what a long title!!), where Miichan noticed her crying and patted her on the head, it was very cute <3 and also during Ganbare, where both Mai and Mii were crying their eyes out, so much that Mai playfully slapped Mii to stop crying! <3 I’m sad about the lack of lines for her in single songs, but I was ecstatic to see her perfect performances in ALL of the songs, without fail!

“A true artist, not so much of an idol” Hoshino always was one of the most solid singers of Team A, but her Konkon-like personality also kept her from the spotlight. She auditioned with a song that she composed herself, and is skilled in both the piano and the guitar. So, she was a true artist, the only natural thing to do for her, was to get out of the idol world and search for luck in the mainstream music business. Her voice compliments Mai’s in their duet Haru ga Kuru Made, and she seemed to be really happy in the whole concert, maybe because it was her last one. Her Ganbare performance was beautiful, and she looked very sad during it, it was a perfect graduation song.

“The Maid-Idol” I guess I’ll explain that nickname when I profile her, Mariko has a very interesting background story! Anyway, she was in the Kikyou unit, where her strong voice was a perfect match for Rina’s sweet gentle vocals. Other than that, she’s a pretty solid performer, but honestly she didn’t stand out to me as much as she has before in other stages…

“The Angel Girl” Rina is always an angel… She made Kikyou a beautiful song (the country background music could’ve ruined it for sure) and she tried to handle Yuko’s lines from the singles as well as she possibly could, but of course, she has her personal style of performing which makes for a different feel for the songs altogether. She got lots of screentime, and as usual, she was very focused during the whole concert.

“Taking loli-power to the next level!” Tomochin was really fun to watch as well, she was the happiest girl on stage, even during songs that weren’t all that happy (like DARUIKANJI) but I still find that adorable. Her Faint performance was subject to a lot of controversy due to how young she is, and how sexy she acted for it. I personally don’t find anything wrong with it, and I don’t think that it was too much or anything…

“GAO! The lioness!” Hana is one of my favorites, and she was delightful to watch in this concert! Not only did she completely rock Faint, but she was also amazing in every other song! I especially oved her in Mr. Kissman, where she was possibly the sexiest girl on stage, I almost died of happiness when she got lots of lines in Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta, and even though she wasn’t all that filmed during the single songs, the few seconds of her in there were simply amazing! Also, I have a new rule for all of the readers of this blog: You must ADORE Hana. I’m serious. You can hate all of the other girls, think that Maimai is stupid or diss Yuko but you MUST adore Hana. It’s impossible not to.

“Wallpaper Flower?” Yukarin never gets attention… at all. I don’t think that she’s bad at anything she does, she’s a decent singer, decent dancer and that’s about it, sadly. I don’t think that this is completely fair, and even though she’s not one of my favorites, I feel like she could become one if we were gicen the chance to know her a bit more! That said, she completely stole my heart with her super-happiness in the unit she was put in, Kikyou. I thought that was both cute and kind of mean, because they put her there just as a back-up girl to Rina and Mariko, and she didn’t even get a solo line! Still, I’m glad that she could enjoy it, and I hope that I can see more of her in the future, because I loved her here and in A2…

3. The Songs: I will make this short, I promise. Especially because I will review them in detail in the following posts…

1. Tadaima Renaichuu: The title song is an awesome pop number with a super catchy chorus, and kind of dramatic feel to it. Very sexy, but in an idol-innocent kind of way.

2. Kuma no Nuigurumi: A sweet and bubbly sounding song with bitterweet lyrics about loving a guy who doesn’t treat you well (hmm….)

3. Only Today: The B-Side to BINGO!, a happy sounding, brass driven tune, with dangerous lyrics about going out with a friend’s boyfriend…

4. 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi: Still deciding whether it’s a ballad or a mid-tempo song, this innocent number about a platonic crush on a guy she meets every morning at the train is heart warming and sweet.

5. Haru ga Kuru Made: This cheery song, reminiscent of Card Captor Sakura music, is easy on the ears with its flowy vocals and dreamy instrumental. A song about unrequited love, and a very beautiful one at it.

6. Junai no Crescendo: The most edgy song in this tracklist, very late 80s-90s sounding, with perfect vocals, and lyrics about *gasp* sex!

7. Faint: This one goes all R&B, hip-hop on us, making it a very dance-able number. The highlights are the sweet kind of high-pitched vocals from the 3 singers, and the fact that is the only AKB song to feature a full verse in english. (And yes, it is english, not engrish, if you must know… I bet they had Nozofisu translate it and teach a few lessons to Hana and Tomo so that they could handle it alright)

8. Kikyou: Country music background, soft and kind of bubbly, with beautiful lyrics about returning to hometown, and how important family is… Obviously, Rina’s angel voice makes it a gorgeus song.

9. DARUIKANJI:  There are so many great songs in this stage! This one has a very powerful bass line, that creates some sort of background noise kind of feel, that goes perfectly with the lyrics, which basically say “I’m sick of my life, everything is so dull…” This is a completely single worthy song. I hope that it gets turned into a single now that A4 is being re-performed…

10. Mr. Kissman: This is funky! Kind of russian-sounding or something. All the girls got set in pairs and sung a few lines, which makes it awesome to showcase their voices, and also is a very equal line distribution (no H!P style shafting for us AKB fans :P). This one is also about sex, if you must know…

11. Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta: Another uplifting sounding song, kind of in the rock-y side. The chorus is very bright, and it even has some accordion instrumental! The verses feature the girls in pairs again, and the music becomes a bit more serious and relaxed. This is a cute song about a girl who did something to her bouyfriend and he forgave her <3

12. BINGO! Well, I’m sure you’ve all heard BINGO! and if you haven’t then GO AND FIND IT!

13. Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou: A dramatic number, the infamous “suicide song”

14. LOVE CHASE: Team A’s response to both Korogaru and Hana to Chire, perhaps? This rock song is very cool, but in the sexy type of coolness that Team A can pull off so well. I like how the lyrics are about a girl who is hunting for love, only to find another “black panther” hunter like herself to fall for…

15. Seifuku ga Jama o Suru: Another classic here… The infamous song about teenagers getting laid…

16. Nante Suteki na Sekai ni Umareta no Darou: A beautiful ballad, featuring interesting percussion arrangements, and where all the girls sing together. It’s nice to see how it all comes down to something as simple but powerful as being thankful for life and for the wonderful world we live in

17. Ganbare: A piano is the main instrument used here, and it compliments Michiru’s vocals perfectly. It’s a beautiful song, not boring at all!

Well, I hope you read this super long introduction, and I hope that you stay tuned for the rest of the review!! And don’t forget to buy this DVD! Even if you’re not all that much of an AKB48 fan, it’s worth your money and your time, the songs are great and the choreographies are very well thought and performed!