Episode Title:
The Road to the Stage.
Episode Description:
With Chieri in shock following her father's death, Mamoru and the other WOTA members infiltrate Akibastar, which has been completely taken over by the DGTO, where they rendezvous with Haruna "Kojiharu" Kojima and the 76th gen understudies. Meanwhile, Tsubasa's passion towards wanting to save Akibastar helps encourage the others to push hard with their practise. Just then, a light glows and the AKB members briefly fall unconscious and see a vision in which they ride a mysterious train which arrives at an Akibastar filled with light, indicating they made a reaction with the dualium. However, Nagisa and Chieri remain unconscious as their consciences are still on the train. Arriving at a place Nagisa had seen in her dreams, they spot Yūko struggling to climb a staircase to a theatre where Atsuko and the other Center Novae are, before they both regain consciousness. Tsubasa and Mikako suspect that Yūko wasn't able to fully obtain Center Nova status because of the way she disappeared. As the group prepare to head to Akibastar to put on a concert, Tomomi, who had become able to hear Sensei Sensei, tells them that the key to taking back Akibastar will be the understudy group, No Name. Arriving on Akibastar and beginning their concert, AKB0048 find themselves intimidated by the citizens who felt betrayed by their retreat and turned against them.
