STOP THE PRESSES
If there was any time to take a dip into the 48fam franchise. Now is it.
It's a bit hard to get into their music, because so much of it is shit, but concerts are the way to go so much more than singles because
1) There are quite a few gems among the stage songs
2) Sometimes the shitty music doesn't matter in the face of the spectacle they put on for performances
3) Concerts get even more special stagings and shuffle lineups and ridiculousness than the stages, they always intentionally try to do some fan wish fulfillments with the shuffles especially, not just fitting lineups but trolling lineups as well
4) You get all of the groups together so you get a taste of every bit of the franchise
The Request Setlist in particular is extra interesting because it's fan-voted, so there's popularity politics in play as well, fans voting up their oshi's stage units. While some of my personal favorite songs have dropped off of the ranking because of this, the Request Setlist Best 100 is still the best place to get a feel for 48fam's oeuvre and aesthetic without feeling the sap of motivation when faced with ALL of their discography.
Also, last year's Unit Matsuri (the formal Request Setlist does not allow voting for sub-unit and soloist releases, only group releases and stage songs, so the Unit Matsuri has those and then more shuffle performances) was really, really great.
Why do I bring this up?
AKB are streaming THE ENTIRE REQUEST SETLIST AND UNIT MATSURI CONCERTS THIS YEAR. Last year they only streamed the last day, and my reaction to the last day alone was pretty ridiculous. Not to mention last year last day of the setlist was the day they debuted the Give Me Five live band for the encore. So even amongst all of the countdown itself, you still get all sorts of unexpected surprises even for veteran fans.
Which means at the very least you'll get to see me flail around in chat a lot for five days straight. (And probably get more loopy each time as I get more sleep deprived :3) Remember, chat link is in the sidebar.
[Unit Matsuri]
Wednesday January 23rd 6:30PM(JST) (4:30AM EST)
[Request Hour Set List Best 100 2013]
Thursday - Sunday January 24th-27th 6:00PM(JST) (4:00AM EST)
It's a bit hard to get into their music, because so much of it is shit, but concerts are the way to go so much more than singles because
1) There are quite a few gems among the stage songs
2) Sometimes the shitty music doesn't matter in the face of the spectacle they put on for performances
3) Concerts get even more special stagings and shuffle lineups and ridiculousness than the stages, they always intentionally try to do some fan wish fulfillments with the shuffles especially, not just fitting lineups but trolling lineups as well
4) You get all of the groups together so you get a taste of every bit of the franchise
The Request Setlist in particular is extra interesting because it's fan-voted, so there's popularity politics in play as well, fans voting up their oshi's stage units. While some of my personal favorite songs have dropped off of the ranking because of this, the Request Setlist Best 100 is still the best place to get a feel for 48fam's oeuvre and aesthetic without feeling the sap of motivation when faced with ALL of their discography.
Also, last year's Unit Matsuri (the formal Request Setlist does not allow voting for sub-unit and soloist releases, only group releases and stage songs, so the Unit Matsuri has those and then more shuffle performances) was really, really great.
Why do I bring this up?
AKB are streaming THE ENTIRE REQUEST SETLIST AND UNIT MATSURI CONCERTS THIS YEAR. Last year they only streamed the last day, and my reaction to the last day alone was pretty ridiculous. Not to mention last year last day of the setlist was the day they debuted the Give Me Five live band for the encore. So even amongst all of the countdown itself, you still get all sorts of unexpected surprises even for veteran fans.
Which means at the very least you'll get to see me flail around in chat a lot for five days straight. (And probably get more loopy each time as I get more sleep deprived :3) Remember, chat link is in the sidebar.
[Unit Matsuri]
Wednesday January 23rd 6:30PM(JST) (4:30AM EST)
[Request Hour Set List Best 100 2013]
Thursday - Sunday January 24th-27th 6:00PM(JST) (4:00AM EST)