Takamina Birthday Live: Minami Takahashi Reveals New Song & Vows to Take the #1 Spot in Last Senbatsu Sousenkyo!

| 48 / 46 Group | Posted by Kai Okudara on Apr.09.2015

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Minami Takahashi, the legendary leader of AKB48 and all of their sister groups across the land, held her first solo birthday concert at Zepp Tokyo on April 8th. It was a night full of emotions and surprises for the young woman who had spent almost half of her life carrying the weight of Japan’s most successful idol group on her tiny shoulders.

Takahashi unveiled her 2nd solo song “Kodoku wa Kizutsukanai” for the first time during the encore and the audience quickly got into the hard rock song composed by Tetsuro Oda (longtime collaborator with pop-rock singer Nanase Aikawa). After the way that she had performed Nanase Aikawa’s classic “Yumemiru Shojo Jairarenai” during the main part of the concert, it made perfect sense that Oda had composed a song for one of the leaders of the current pop music movement.

Right after finishing “Migikata”, Takamina got a surprise when Atsuko Maeda’s voice rang out over the PA system. While she was unable to be there in person, Maeda delivered her birthday wishes and congratulations on the solo concert via video message and had a special cake brought on stage.

With tears running down her cheeks, Takahashi expressed her desire to take the top position in her final senbatsu sousenkyo adding, “I never thought that I would say something like that but, because this is my last time, it has nothing to do with me being general manager, right?” Judging by the heated reaction from the audience, is it possible that Takamina’s dream will come true?

T.M. Revolution aka Takanori Nishikawa, who had appeared alongside Takamina when they were on the variety show Shin Domoto Kyodai, made a guest appearance to perform his hit song “HOT LIMIT” with her. Other cover songs on the set list included Akina Nakamori’s classic “Shojo A” and Rino Sashihara’s “Sore Demo Suki Dayo”, Takamina exclaiming “that was soo embarrassing!” after she had sung it.

Backstage, her longtime friends Mariko Shinoda, Minami Minegishi, Jurina Matsui, and Rie Kitahara were among those attending as documented by their tweets and pictures from that night.

While it is bittersweet to know that Minami Takahashi will be graduating from AKB48 in December, it is likely that she still has so much to give before then. At the very least, there will be her second solo single and the DVD for her birthday live which should be announced in the near future. Until then, there is the mission of getting her to #1 for her last senbatsu sousenkyo! Takamina deserves it so let’s support her until the very end!

Set List
01. Jane Doe
02. Oteage Lullaby
03. Sabita Lock
04. Hitomi no Tobira
05. Yabureta Hane
06. Rikoteki na Ren’ai
07. All of you
08. Migikata (Atsuko Maeda cover)
09. Sore Demo Suki Dayo (Rino Sashihara cover)
10. Shojo A (Akina Nakamori cover)
11. Yumemiru Shojo Jairarenai (Nanase Aikawa cover)
12. HOT LIMIT (T.M. Revolution cover)
13. Buenos Aires ni Ame ga Furu
14. Bird
15. Itoshisa no Accel
16. Sakura no Hanabiratachi