AKB48 – Give Me Five! (Type-A)(Limited Edition) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. GIVE ME FIVE!
2. スイート & ビター
3. NEW SHIP
4. GIVE ME FIVE! off vocal ver.
5. スイート & ビター off vocal ver.
6. NEW SHIP off vocal ver.

DVD INFO: 16:9 LB, Region 2, Duration: 1:36:28

1. GIVE ME FIVE! Music Video
2. スイート & ビター Music Video (セレクション6)
3. NEW SHIP Music Video
4. GIVE ME FIVE! Making Zenpen (GIVE ME FIVE! MAKING 前編)
5. Utsukushī Mix Kōza (美しいMIX講座)

AKB48 begins 2012 with their new CD single “Give Me Five!”. Hoping to duplicate the success that their last CD single “Ue kara Mariko” had received, this time, writer/producer (and AKB48 creator) Yasushi Akimoto decided to see if the group was up to the challenge to create a new CD single in which the members would have to learn how to play instruments.

Suffice to say, the formula worked as not only did the song become their sixth consecutive #1 single but during these slow selling CD days of the Japanese music industry, AKB48 sold over 967,000 copies on the first day of their release and for the week, the group sold 1.287 million copies.  Another magnificent accomplishment for the idol group.

With “Give Me Five!”, the song ties in with their special music video directed by Shigemichi Sugita.  The 34-minute video revolves around four troubled high school students who are inspired by their teacher to form a band.

But first, let’s take a look at the CD single.

Like other AKB48 CD singles, there are five different versions of the single.  With Type-A and Type-B, the limited edition version comes with a hand-shaking event ticket, while the regular edition comes with one random photo (there are a total of 18-photos created for the single).  Both Type-A and Type-B comes with a DVD with which has the same first two music videos but the tracks afterward are different.  Type-A comes with the track “New Ship”, while Type-B comes with “Hitsujikai no Tabi”.  The fifth version is the theater edition which comes with no DVD but since it is sold in the theater, the buyer can use the ticket to purchase a photo from the theater and the single comes with the track “Yungu ya Furoito no Baai”.

The version I am reviewing on this review page is “GIVE ME FIVE!” (Type-A, Limited Edition) (note: I will be reviewing both Type-A and Type-B Limited Edition CD singles separately).

Type-A Limited Edition features a pink cover with Atsuko Maeda, Rino Sashihara, Mariko Shinoda, Yuki Kashiwagi and Mayu Watanabe.  When opened, the lyrics are featured on one side and a gatefold cover of each member of the band Baby Blossoms are featured.

The title track “GIVE ME FIVE!” is am upbeat pop/rock track that is enhanced by brass instruments.  The single is pretty much a graduation song that deals with friends preparing to say goodbye, but instead of a goodbye forever, they decide to give each other a high five.  And move forward for a better tomorrow.

At first, the song took a while for me to get used to because of its musical style.  But having seen the group perform this on television and seeing the music video, “Give Me Five!” has quickly become one of my favorite and most listened to AKB48 songs.  Catchy and addictive!

The second track is “Sweet and Bitter” and would make a very cool Valentine’s song.  The song features only six AKB48 members on vocals: Tomomi Itano, Yuko Oshima, Rino Sashinara, Mariko Shinoda, Minami Takahashi and Atsuko Maeda.  What I enjoyed about the song is its laid back, smooth style in almost a French pop style with its music selection.   It’s a fun song about a girl giving a person she likes chocolate and the person feeling sweet but bitter (if the person does not eat it or chooses other girl’s chocolate instead of hers).

The third track is titled “New Ship” and while the song is upbeat and inspirational, the lyrics are about people working together and overcoming obstacles while preparing for a new ship and riding the sail of dreams.

The remaining three tracks are the off-vocal (instrumental) versions of the three previous tracks.

As for the DVD, this is probably the longest AKB48 DVD thus far, clocking at over one hour and 36 minutes, the first DVD track is the music video for “Give Me Five!” and is nearly 35-minutes long and is directed by Shigemichi Sugita (director of the popular “Kita no Kuni Kara”  and “Saigo no Chushingura” drama series).  It’s important to note that this is a region 2 DVD and will not play on a region 1 player (unless you have a non-region DVD player) but can be played on a MAC or PC using free video playing software such as VLC or Daum PotPlayer.

The video begins with Atsuko Maeda’s character who’s life has changed since her parents were divorced and now works at a Chinese restaurant and is trying to take care of her father who has become an alcoholic after the divorce, while she misses her younger brother who lives with his mother.

Atsuko goes to school but she is too tired from work to even follow her teacher (portrayed by actor Takanori Jinnai). Others in class also have a hard time in class as well, but not wanting to bore his students, the teacher begins to perform a song on his guitar which catches the attention of the students.

The teacher then introduces Atsuko, Yuko, Minami, Yuki and Haruna to learn how to play instruments.  Yuko learns how to play bass and Atsuko and Minami learn how to play guitar, Yuki learns how to play the drums and Haruna learns how to play the keyboard.

As Atsuko goes to visit these four classmates of her, she learns how difficult life is for them.  Yuki lives a troubled life at home, having been bullied at school, she has had enough and starts cutting up her school clothes.  Minami is busy work odd jobs with a bad temper which eventually leads her to losing jobs, Atsuko spots Yuko at her work as a prostitute while delivering food and Yuko breaks down explaining that she works that type of job in order to pay the bills at home.

But for these troubled girls, thanks to their teacher, they are brought together to become good friends and form the band Baby Blossom along with a few other classmates and perform at graduation.

A very good drama leading to the music video.  Knowing the meaning behind Baby Blossom through the drama, it helps one appreciate the music video even more.

The second video track is for “Sweet and Bitter” and features the six AKB48 members having fun in various outfits and dancing.  A sweet and fun video overall!

The third video “New Ship” features a transfer student named Melody from Jakarta, Indonesia (Melody is a member of JKT48) going to a Japanese high school but unable to communicate with the other female Japanese students and feels left out.  But eventually the group eventually befriends her and all become friends.

The fourth video track is the “Give Me Five! Making Zenpen” video which explains how AKB creator/producer Yasushi Akimoto formed a secret band with 18 AKB48 members between their performance schedules.  Each had to learn how to play instruments and learn how to play “Give Me Five!” live.  This first part of the documentary features the group learning how to play instruments and the planning for the drama portion of “GIVE ME FIVE!”.  Featuring behind-the-scenes making of the drama portion of the music video and preparing Yuko Oshima for her emotional scene.

The fifth video track features “UtsukushÄ« Mix Kōza”, which is the first part that examines what the audience is cheering during certain songs at an AKB concert and then teaching the viewer what to yell during that moment, showing a practice drill and then the clip of the audience cheering during that song during a performance.  Definitely worth watching if you ever intend to see AKB48 live and want to get involved with the cheering!

It’s important to note that this is a region 2 DVD and will not play on a region 1 player (unless you have a non-region DVD player) but can be played on a MAC or PC using free video playing software such as VLC or Daum PotPlayer.

Overall, AKB48’s “Give Me Five!” (Type-A) (and also Type-B) are magnificent CD+DVD singles that are worth your money.  For Type-A, each song is catchy and addictive but it’s the music video that I found to be exciting, emotional and just fascinating.  You get to see the AKB48 members act in the drama portion but also learn how to play their instruments.  The two C/W music video were also fun to watch and as mentioned, in terms of duration, you are getting over an hour and a half on the DVD and I’m just impressed of how Atsushi Yamamoto was able to come up with another clever way to market the single and that is by creating a secret band with only less than a dozen AKB48 members.

I really enjoyed this release and if you were to ask me if you had to buy one over the other, that would be difficult because they are splitting up the documentaries with the first half on Type-A and the other half on Type-B, so you are inclined to purchase both versions for that content.

“GIVE ME FIVE!” is a CD single which features AKB48 learning to play instruments for the first time and also a DVD featuring the AKB48 members taking part in the group’s longest music video.  With the amount of content that you get from either “GIVE ME FIVE!” Type-A or Type-B, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth.  Both releases are must-own for AKB48 fans and I highly recommend purchasing both!

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