AKB48 – Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru’ to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono (Type-N) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. 鈴懸の木の道で「君の微笑みを夢に見る」と言ってしまったら僕たちの関係はどう変わってしまうのか、僕なりに何日か考えた上でのやや気恥ずかしい結論のようなもの
2. Mosh & Dive – AKB48
3. 君と出会って僕は変わった – NMB48
4. 鈴懸の木の道で「君の微笑みを夢に見る」と言ってしまったら僕たちの関係はどう変わってしまうのか、僕なりに何日か考えた上でのやや気恥ずかしい結論のようなもの off vocal ver.
5. Mosh & Dive off vocal ver.
6. 君と出会って僕は変わった off vocal ver.

DVD INFO: 16:9 LB, Region 2, Duration: 1:08:04

1. 鈴懸の木の道で「君の微笑みを夢に見る」と言ってしまったら僕たちの関係はどう変わってしまうのか、僕なりに何日か考えた上でのやや気恥ずかしい結論のようなもの – Music Video – Short Film ver.-
2. 鈴懸の木の道で「君の微笑みを夢に見る」と言ってしまったら僕たちの関係はどう変わってしまうのか、僕なりに何日か考えた上でのやや気恥ずかしい結論のようなもの – Music Video
3. Mosh & Dive Music Video
4. 君と出会って僕は変わった Music Video
5. 裏じゃんけん大会 最弱女王決定戦

As with most AKB48 end of the year singles, their 34th single titled “Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru’ to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono” (which translates to “Sort of a little bit embarrassing conclusion I came up to after thinking for days about how our relationship would change if while walking along a road of plane trees I said to you, ‘I dream of your smile'”) is a janken single and the longest title for a Japanese CD single release.

Back in September, the fourth AKB48 Janken Taikai (rock-paper-scissors tournament) took place and in the end, SKE48 and AKB48 member, Jurina Matsui won the tournament and became the next center for the 34th single. Beating NMB48’s Emika Kamieda but also giving other AKBG girls a chance to shine, such as Rina Hirata, Mina Oba, Wakana Natori, Ayaka Kikuchi, Yuuka Tano, Maria Abe, Nao Furuhata, Rie Kitahara, Mizuki Tsuchiyasu, Reina Fujie, Yukari Sasaki, Ami Yumoto and Shizuka Oya.

And with this 34th single which continued AKB48’s streak of over a million copies sold (1,033,336 copies were sold in its first week), following the tradition set with “Heart Ereki”, there will be a total of four CD+DVD releases and one theater release.

The version I will be reviewing is Type-N featuring a photo of various members divided in half with Emika Kamieda and others on top and Rie Kitahara and others on bottom.  The  single comes with a 12-page insert booklet which includes lyrics, production credits and photos of each member in group or solo.

It’s important to note that this single is important for those who want to get the AKB48 34th single Janken Taikai Making video. So, if you want to watch the matchups, Type-S is the version to get.

The single kicks off with “Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru’ to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono”.

My first impressions of the song is that it’s one of the more catchier janken songs, much better than “Eien Pressure” and “Chance no Junban” and love the catchy arrangement and vocals for this track! The song is about dreaming of one’s smile and wondering why you can’t stop thinking about that person’s smile. And knowing that person while you were very young and how that person was like a little sister, but now that the person has grown up, you see them much differently.

The second track is “Mosh & Dive”, an upbeat dance track from AKB48 and is a very catch song and one that could have easily been a single and would have done that well. It’s that good! The song is about liking a superstar and that star is surrounded by groupies. And 1! 2! 3! the person will mosh and dive, to get closer and let that person know you love them.

The third track is titled “Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta” (which translates to “When I Met You, I Changed”) and is performed by NMB48 and is a sweet and smooth idol pop track from NMB48.

The song is about a person who is pretty much a loner who would just wear headphones and didn’t have many friends, but one day after meeting a special person, it changed the person’s outlook on life and possibly have fallen in love. So, now the longer has ditched the headphones and wants to be a different person in order to have that person notice him/her.

The remaining three tracks are the instrumental versions of the first three vocal tracks.

As for the DVD, the DVD begins with the short film version of “Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru’ to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono”.

The film version begins with a group of students burying a time capsule and then everyone reuniting for their reunion. But some people are uncomfortable as their lives have not taken off like they have hoped and some just waiting for that special opportunity. But for everyone to reunite, everyone has a chance to discuss their lives and then Jurina trying to break the tension, starts singing a song which everyone joins in. And then the music video kicks off with the girls dancing to the song and we see the pop version of the group and their teenage high school version singing and learning to dance to the song.

The second video is the music video for “”Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru’ to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono” and removes the dramatic portion of the film version.

The third video track is for “Mosh & Dive”, an awesome upbeat dance track with AKB48 sporting vinyl, singing and dancing and for the most part, what I enjoyed about this video is seeing many of the members of the various teams together for this one track. All sporting red and black vinyl. It’s a cute and sexy music video!

The fourth video track is for  “Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta” performed by NMB48. The video features the group riding a tour bus and checking out the various locations around the city and performing on a stage in front of an old castle.  A fun music video as we get to see NMB48 going around the city instead of everything just focused on a stage.

The fifth video is the Janken elimination stage feature.  Nearly 32-minutes long, we get to see how the elimination stage went for AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 went and how the final competitors were determined for the Janken Tournament.  But this is a fun special feature for anyone wanting to see how certain members made it into the finals.

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, “Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru’ to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono” (Type-N) is fun CD+DVD and probably one of my favorites among the four types.  Primarily, like Type-S, with Type-N, you get more content video-wise on the DVD.  Plus you get a pretty cool NMB48 song!

Where Type-S is the version to get if you want to see the final Janken tournament and the behind-the-scenes footage (and thus is my favorite of the four CD+DVD singles), Type-N is the version to get, if you want to see the elimination rounds and how the final competitors are determined.

But overall, an awesome 34th single from AKB48 and if you are a fan, definitely worth owning!