AKB48 – Heavy Rotation (Type-B) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. ヘビーローテーション – (AKB48)
2. 涙のシーソーゲーム – (AKB48 Undergirls)
3. ラッキーセブン – (AKB48)
4. ヘビーローテーション off vocal ver.
5. 涙のシーソーゲーム off vocal ver.
6. ラッキーセブン off vocal ver.

DVD INFO: 16:9 LB, Region 2, Duration: 36:03

1. ヘビーローテーション music clip
   1. 涙のシーソーゲーム music clip
   2. ラッキーセブン (music clip)
   3. 第2回 AKB48総選挙 ドキュメント映像 (後編)
   4. AKB48ちょのショートコンちょ7連発!
   5. いっしょにこれイチ!映像

AKB48 is back with a new single titled “Heavy Rotation” (their 17th major single) and what a wonderful debut this single has received. Not only has it achieved triple platinum in its first week, nearly 876,000 copies of their single were sold, compared to their last single “Ponytail no Shushu” which sold 513,000 in its first week.

Suffice to say, this latest accomplishment by AKB48 is rather impressive or could it be the attention that the single has received because of the members of AKB48 are featured in lingerie?

The AKB48 members featured in this single were courtesy of a special vote by a special ticket that came with “Ponytail to Shushu” and Yuko Oshima was the winner for the votes, thus getting the center position. #2 was Atsuko Maeda, followed by Mariko Shinoda, Tomomi Itano and Mayu Watanabe.

In Japan, “Heavy Rotation” was released in three versions. TYPE-A and TYPE-B comes with the CD+DVD, while TYPE-A features Yuko Oshima, Atsuko Maeda and Mariko Shinoda (the top 3 from the voting contest) on the cover, TYPE-B features Yuko Oshima (the winner of the special contest) by herself. And for the third track, TYPE-A comes with “Yasai Sisters” and the DVD comes with part 1 of the 2010 Senbatsu Election documentary and Heavy Rotation AKB-cho PV, while TYPE-B comes with the third track “Lucky Seven” and comes with part 2 of the 2010 Senbatsu Election documentary and a AKB-cho Short Configuration video. The third version is the Theater Edition (which features Sae Miyazawa, Haruna Kojima and Yuki Kashiwagi) with no DVD but comes with the first two tracks plus the third track songs that are on TYPE-A and TYPE-B.

The version I will be reviewing is the TYPE-A version of “Heavy Rotation” which comes with a quad-fold insert with foil printing of Minami Takahashi, Tomomi Itano and Mayu Watanabe on the cover and features solo pictures of Minami Takahashi, Tomomi Itano, Atsuko Maeda, Yuko Oshima and Mariko Shinoda. The other side features the lyrics and production credits.

The first track “Heavy Rotation” is an upbeat, catchy idol track about a person who loves someone so much and the emotions are non-stop on heavy rotation. The song was written by AKB48 creator/producer Yasushi Akimoto and Yo Yamazaki and is pretty cool because it incorporates 21 members from AKB48 and SKE48. At first, I felt the song was catchy but I have to admit that when I saw the music video but also the choreography for the performance, that is when I realize, this is going to be a huge hit for AKB48.

The second track is titled “Namida no See-Saw Game” (which translates to “The See-Saw game of Tears”) and is performed by the Undergirls (featuring 18 members of AKB48 who placed higher on the senbatsu elections). The upbeat track has a doo-wop 50’s style melody with a modern pop idol style. The song is about a person involved in a relationship that was once full of love but when things were becoming bad, the other person was the first to break it off. And now with confusion setting in and a see-saw game of tears, the person feeling the sting of rejection wishes that they were the first person to break things off but knowing that they had more feelings in the relationship towards the end than the other.

The third track is titled “Lucky Seven” and is an upbeat AKB48 song.  A fun track that is more inspiration about how one should not run away from their problems, no matter how difficult they are.  Don’t give up and face the challenge head on.  Otherwise if you don’t face them, you may regret it.  Bravery is a lucky seven and a good luck card.

As for the DVD, the first video track is the music video for “Heavy Rotation”. A sexy video but also a music video that received some controversy as the AKB48 members (a few who are teenagers) were featured in lingerie. But the overall music video is fun, colorful and playful. Personally, I don’t think it was controversial at all, but it does add fuel to the fire for those who have a negative impression of the demographic who are fans of idol music.

The second video track is the music video for “Namida no See-saw game” which is a pretty fun music video as it tries to capture the feel of an American music show (for those who were alive at the time, think: “American Bandstand” mashed up with “Soul Train”). It’s a pretty fun music video to see the costume and make-up design in effect to make the girls look like they come from the era.

The third video track is the music video for “Lucky Seven” and features the AKB48 members in sexy pirate uniforms and are performing on a stage (faux pirate ship stage).

The fourth video track is the second part of the second senbatsu elections documentary and how afterward, the top senbatsu AKB48 members went on to work on music videos for “Heavy Rotation” and the Undergirls went on to work on “Namida no See-Saw Game” and we see the behind-the-scenes making of the two music videos.

The fifth video track is for many AKB-cho clips. For those not familiar with AKB-cho, these are figures that came with the “Puccho” gum and were released as collectible toys in which fans could collect them all.  The video features the AKB-cho introducing themselves.  Many video clips are featured of AKB-cho such as Oshima-cho and Kojima-cho meeting a muscular-cho, the third video features Maeda-cho working with a director-cho for a scene, the fourth video features AKB-cho complaining about wearing bikinis and doing sexy poses, and many more.

The sixth video track is the second part of the promotion for Kagome’s vegetable juice and each member in their “Yasai Sisters” outfit having a drink of the juice while looking directly at the camera (or trying to). It’s interesting as the video focuses on each girl as they try to finish each juice box.  It’s important to note that if you want the first part, you need to get Type-A.

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, “Heavy Rotation” (TYPE-B) was a fantastic single. I have no doubt in my mind that this is a song that will continue to be a popular song for the group for years to come as it is a song that allows the girls to have fun on stage but also a single that no doubt has fans all happy because it shows the sexy and playful side of a few of the AKB48 members. But the songs featured on the single are very cool, as with the music videos. And if you are a hardcore fan, you’ll pretty much want both TYPE-A and TYPE-B CD singles in order to complete the accompanying Senbatsu Election documentary and also the Kagome Vegetable Juice segment.

But so far, “Heavy Rotation” is one of my favorite CD singles to be released by AKB48 (next to “River”, “Iiwake Maybe” and “Aitakatta”) and a single that I can easily recommend for fans and those wanting to make their first AKB48 purchase!