AKB48 Team Surprise - Sono Mama de

The third single from Team Surprise's first stage, Juuryoku Sympathy. It features members Tomomi Itano, Aki Takajo, and Yui Yokoyama.

I really don't care much for this song. Their vocals are incredibly grating and the music doesn't fit the vocals at all. The most annoying thing about this song though is that even though it's not good, it's a bit of an earworm. Whenever I read anything about it, the "sono mama de kawaranaide" part from the chorus runs through my head. It's annoying. The video doesn't really help the song either. It's got the whole "street" theme to it & it does not fit the song AT ALL. The song has Tomomi in it....it should have been closer to a club song than this. 2.5/5.

Sono Mama de MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Bara no Gishiki

This is the 12th and final single from the Bara no Gishiki stage (unless they decide to release a couple more for this stage like they did with Juuryoku Sympathy). It features all 16 of the Team Surprise members.

Even though the stage didn't begin well, it did kind of end on a high note. Bara no Gishiki is a much more interesting song than the majority of the other songs from the stage. The music video is just gorgeous. The set, the outfits, they work so well with the song. I do hope that there will be a couple more singles in the new year for this stage. It's been so lackluster that I hope there's some other songs in there that will boost the stage some more. 4.5/5.

Bara no Gishiki MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Shitsuren Doumei

This is the 11th single from the Bara no Gishiki stage and features members Yuki Kashiwagi, Minami Minegishi, Yuko Oshima, Rie Kitahara, and Rena Matsui.

I was looking forward to this one, especially because Minami and Rena were featured members. This is one of the better Bara no Gishiki songs. That's really not saying much considering the mediocrity of the stage as a whole. Although I can't really pick something out that's actually special about it. Maybe I just think it's better because Minami's in it. The video is pretty much just the Mirai video with pieces of fabric that look like tissue paper tied to the set. The outfits aren't nice either. Much better than whatever the heck Tokimeki thought it was doing, but again, they look like they were fashioned from tissue paper. 3.5/5.

Shitsuren Doumei MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Hungry Lion

This is the second single from the Bara no Gishiki stage and features members Aki Takajo, Haruna Kojima, Mariko Shinoda, and Yuko Oshima.

Didn't really have any expectations for this unit as I really don't care about any of the members. I also wasn't expecting much because the first single, Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru was boring and I was sure that this one would be anything special either. I was pretty much right with my assumptions of the song. I can't decide if it's better than Mirai or just the same though. I guess the production is more interesting. And the video makes a lot more sense with the song. 3.5/5.

Hungry Lion MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Tokimeki Antique

This is the ninth single from the Bara no Gishiki stage. It is sung by Rino Sashihara, Haruka Shimazaki, and Miyuki Watanabe.

I really had no expectations for this song when I saw the members. I don't dislike any of them but I don't particularly care for any of them either. Never saw what's so interesting about Rino, Haruka seems like the second coming of Mayu, and Miyuki really cannot sing. The song really isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but there's nothing special about it. At least it's not another Youchien no Sensei or Hatsukoi no Kagi I guess. I REALLY dislike the music video though. I tend to ignore music videos if they're stupid or crazy, but this is just too over the top. Sometimes you need to just stop before putting a plan into action. It's really no wonder a lot of people don't take J-pop girl groups seriously. It's one thing to do a crazy video, another thing entirely to do something like this. What does it even have to do with the song? 3.5/5.

Tokmeki Antique MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru

Merry Christmas to all!!!

This is the first single from the Bara no Gishiki stage. Features all sixteen members of the Team Surprise unit.

Honestly, this was a really weak way to start the stage. I understand why they did it, because it has the same feeling of most of the 48G A-sides from this year (bar Kibouteki Refrain & Bukiyou Taiyou). There is nothing special about this song at all and I'm pretty sure I've heard pieces of it in their other songs dozens of other times. I know I hate on typical idol pop a lot, but there's a difference between this kind and the kind that actually works (like Heavy Rotation or Everyday Katyusha). This is the type of idol pop that you've sworn you've heard before because nothing stands out about it and you can never remember it after you listen to it. So yes, just a weak way to begin the stage. The music video doesn't really fit the song at all, the outfits do, but then you have this dark stage and strobelights and explosions for a song that would be better suited to being sung in a field (or at the very least a green-screen CGI field like in Yume wo Mirunara). 3/5.

Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Dare ga Futari wo Deawaseta no ka?

This is the tenth single from the Bara no Gishiki stage. It features members Sayaka Yamamoto, Tomomi Itano, and Yui Yokoyama.

I had high hopes for this unit. Sayaka with her killer vocals, Tomomi with her usually fun electro-pop image, and Yui with her there-ness (I truly don't have an opinion on Yui....I guess she kinda seems like she can pull off darker concepts maybe. I don't know a whole lot about her talents or personality.). The song ended up as completely different than I was expecting (which seems to be a bit of a theme with the Bara no Gishiki stage...), but I really like it a lot. It showcases Sayaka's vocals very well and the other two sound really good as well. Tomomi really does seem to be improving vocally from what I've heard from her since her graduation (even though these were recorded before she graduated...I think.). Yui doesn't seem bad here at all either. My mind just keeps going back to Sono Mama de with her, Tomomi, and Aki? (at least I think the other was Aki...), and her vocals were very annoying. I think this is my favorite Bara no Gishiki music video. It's simple, but I love the concept with the lights and the stage is beautifully decorated. 4.5/5

Dare ga Futari wo Deawaseta no ka MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Yume wo Mirunara

Sorry for not posting anything for awhile...I'm just so busy this time of year xD Also this was written early December so that's why it sounds like Minami's grad was just announced xD.

This is the third single from the Bara no Gishiki stage and features members Minami Takahashi and Tomomi Itano.

I'm such a hypocrite with so many things haha. I always love graduations cause it means something new yet I'm so happy that Tomomi's in this Team Surprise xD She was always one of my favorites. Unfortunately her solo stuff doesn't interest me a lot. You'd think I'd like it, but I'm really not a fan of her voice...she just stuck out to me when I was first getting into AKB like Minegishi. Luckily for this song, Minami is in it as well to compliment Tomomi's more nasally vocals. Speaking of graduations, Minami did announce hers a couple days ago. I'm happy for her & I really hope we'll see some more old gen graduations (or announcements) in the next few months. It's time for the newer generation to take full control....that and I truly believe that if someone from the top 16 in the Sousenkyou doesn't graduate it's gonna be so boring xD. But anyway, wayyyyy off topic xD. The song's nice, but not really my thing. What's nice about it is that Tomomi's voice really sounds like it's improving. The video is probably the worst Bara no Gishiki music video. I know that the budget isn't exactly high, but this one was truly boring. Tomomi really is looking like Namie Amuro in this video. 3.5/5.

Yume wo Mirunara MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Itoshisa wo Marumete

This is the fifth Team Surprise single released from the Bara no Gishiki stage. It features AKB48 members Yuki Kashiwagi, Haruna Kojima, and Yui Yokoyama.

This is one of only three really good songs on the new Team Surprise stage in my opinion. It's not as good as Hell Or Heaven, but I like the rock feel to it. This is pretty much the song I was expecting when I saw who the girls were for the single. Yuki has a really good voice and I generally see Haruna in "dark/sexy" concepts, so I figured the song would be pretty good. Yui I wasn't too sure on though. Nothing about her really stands out too much to me, but I think she did well in this song and her voice doesn't sound bad. The music video was pretty neat. I like the concept of it with all of the TV screens. 5/5

Itoshisa wo Marumete MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Hatsukoi no Kagi

This is the 4th Team Surprise release from the Bara no Gishiki stage and features members Mayu Watanabe and Haruka Shimazaki.

Honestly I had no expectations for the song when I saw who the unit was. I was expecting another lackluster cutesy track. I was right. The song is very bland and typical. The intro is pretty deceiving because it sounds like the song will actually have something special about it. But hey, if you like Mayu & Haruka then it's probably exactly what you expect and you'll love it. I really enjoyed the concept of the video though. It was very creative but what is up with those outfits? I get the whole persona thing when it comes to Japanese acts, but two 20 years olds dressed up as pre-schoolers is stupid. Aren't these songs supposed to be promoting gambling machines? Well, I guess they're not technically gambling machines (although they are). Learning about Pachinkos and Japanese gambling was actually pretty interesting while writing this xD It's still kind of on topic so yeah xD 3/5. Wikipedia Link for Pachinko.

Hatsukoi no Kagi MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Hell Or Heaven

Yes this IS the fourth post of the day xD I actually have some free time. Really these four were posts that I started earlier but didn't have time to finish so I decided I'd finish them up today :)

This is the 7th Bara no Gishiki release, this time featuring Rena Matsui, Minami Takahashi, and Sayaka Yamamoto. I was really excited for this unit because it has my top SKE48 and top NMB48 girls in it (I really like Minami Takahashi too, but my number one in AKB48 is Minami Minegishi.) and it is a darker single so I was pretty excited about the song.

Of all of the Bara no Gishiki stage as of now (I'm guessing they'll probably release a couple more next year like with Juuryoku Sympathy), this is easily my favorite song. I already enjoyed Minami's vocals, but wow Sayaka sounds good! Rena really surprised me too. I wasn't sure how she would fit in this darker group but I'm pleasantly surprised with her vocals. For the video, even though you can tell that the Team Surprise singles don't get a large budget, they really do make the most out of what they have. The video really worked with the feel of the song. 5/5.

Hell Or Heaven MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Saigo ni Ice Milk wo Nonda no wa Itsudarou?

Another Team Surprise release! This is the 8th release from the Bara no Gishiki stage. The members included in this single are Rie Kitahara, Minami Minegishi, Mariko Shinoda, and Aki Takajo.

For a slower song, this actually isn't all that boring. I really enjoy the production and the vocals in this song. It's not something I'd listen to a lot, but I think it would be a nice song to play while driving. It's just got that "you need to play this in the car" feel xD. The music video is really nice too. The outfits for the most part are pretty. Rie's is the only one I dislike and Minami's reminds me of the main outfits from their mobile game. Speaking of Minami, her wig in the other Team Surprise songs looks nice, but I don't like the way it's styled here. It's too bad her hair was too short when these were filmed because her short hair is so gorgeous now. 4/5.

Saigo ni Ice Milk wo Nonda no wa Itsudarou? MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Youchien no Sensei

Last post for the day I swear lol. I was planning on doing all of the Bara no Gishiki stage as one post once all of the singles were out......but then I decided the post would be way too long and since the videos aren't on YouTube I wouldn't have them in a playlist and blah blah blah. So I'm just going to write about them. I know it's out of order....it's going to be....just roll with it.

Team Surprise is an AKB48 subunit/project group that is advertising for Pachinko? machines? I think. At least that's what I understand about this unit. The Bara no Gishiki stage is the second Team Surprise stage. The first being Juuryoku Sympathy.

Youchien no Sensei is the 6th single release from the Bara no Gishiki stage. This song is sung by Miyuki Watanabe, Mayu Watanabe, and Rino Sashihara. Honestly not that big of a fan of the song. It's better than Mayu's first unit, Hatsukoi no Kagi, but it's still just so generic. The video is decorated beautifully though. I just wish that the outfits weren't so odd though. They look like a child's tea party gone wrong. They also don't look very comfortable.

Youchien no Sensei MV

Ok. Was able to get the video embedded.....however it's kind of slow loading and I had to mess with the width & height and it looks kinda dumb now but I'll work on making it look/fit nicer on the page. Short post this time haha. I figure that's best for the Team Surprise singles. I just hope people will check them out since they're not "mainstream" AKB releases. 3/5.