AKB48 Team Surprise – Kimi no C/W (Pachinko Hall Version) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. 君のC/W

DVD INFO: 16:9 LB, Region 2, Duration: 3:37

1. 君のC/W Music Clip

To commemorate the release of the Pachinko AKB48 game machine and a tie-in with Pachinko company Kyoraku, 16 senbatsu members of AKB48 would form a special team known as “Team Surprise” and a total of 12 songs featured in the pachinko game will be released each week via a CD+DVD single beginning in September 2012.

The members to participate in this special project are (note: the lineup is before their fall 2012 lineup change):

Team A: Maeda Atsuko, Takahashi Minami, Takajo Aki, Shinoda Mariko, Kojima Haruna, Team K: Oshima Yuko, Itano Tomomi, Yokoyama Yui, Miyazawa Sae, Minegishi Minami; Team B: Watanabe Mayu, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kitahara Rie; Team 4: Shimazaki Haruka; SKE48 Team S: Matsui Rena and HKT48 Team H: Sashihara Rino

Each week from September through mid-November, a single plus its music video was released via a pachinko hall version (which can be won or sold at pachinko halls) and a web version, each featuring two different covers and will come with exclusive collectors cards for the pachinko hall and another for the web version.

It’s important to note that because these releases are not sold in regular stores, the best way for those living outside of Japan to purchase these singles is through eBay.

One of the cool aspects of AKB48 Team Surprise is the ability to create groups or pairings that you would probably never see from AKB48. And for the fifth CD single, “Kimi no C/W”, the single features Mayu Watanabe at the center position with support from Aki Takajo and Haruka Shimazaki.  This will be the second single to feature Mayuyu as the center, after the second AKB48 Team Surprise single “Suyiyoubi no Alice”.

“Kimi no C/W” can be translated to “Your Coupling” or “Coupling of Yours”.  “C/W” is typically used for the B or C tracks of an album and in the past, the songs were called “C/W songs” (coupled with/coupling with).

The single that I am reviewing is the Pachinko Hall version and features images of the the trio with their pastel fluffy outfits and hats and on the 8-page booklet, featured are lyrics, production credits and liner notes from Ishigami. The back cover of the CD features part of the legs of three members (note: by putting all 12 CD’s together, like a puzzle, you can see a complete image).

Also, by visiting the official website for “Kimi no C/W”, you can get access to liner notes, gallery (a few photos are what is featured in the CD insert), wallpaper and poster.

“Kimi no C/W” is an upbeat, sugary sweet idol pop track as one can expect featuring Mayuyu and Paruru (Shimazaki) on vocals.  While Aki Takajo is pretty much the member of the trio without the higher pitched idol voice.   According to Ishigami in the liner notes, he wanted to find a title about a boy’s unrequited love and while he does mention that song has a “Shibuya-Kei” vibe because of the strings, I have to say it does incorporate that style but of course is more pop and idol driven with its vocals.  Although Ishigami talks about the enjoyment of listening to the c/w instrumental tracks, unfortunately there is no c/w song on the AKB48 Team Surprise singles.

The song is about a guy who is starting to like a girl after seeing another side of her.  She is a straight A student, wears glasses and looked as if they were out of this world.  She is hard-headed and doesn’t understand jokes all that well.  But one day, she saw the person beating on drums at the arcade and saw a different side of the person.  Another side that no one knows and because she saw this other side that no one has ever seen, it’s like a shocking secret.  And when she takes off her glasses, she looks very different.  But the following day, she went back to her old self and he asked her, “Do you enjoy putting up this facade of being a boring straight A student”.  Her reply was “Both sides are the real me” and the guy realizes that her one self that people know are coupled with the other side that people don’t know.  And for a girl that he would have never expected to go out with, he is happy to be with someone like her.  And one should not judge a book by its cover.

As for the DVD, the music video features the trio dancing on stage, while camera men are shooting, we see the three dancing in their fluffy pastel colored outfits.  This is an interesting trio because you would never imagine seeing Aki Takajo or even Paruru with Mayuyu.  Yes, we have seen Aki with Yuki Kashiwagi as part of the sub-unit French Kiss, but it was an interesting collaboration with this trio and the end result was that they were fun to watch.

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, the AKB48 Team Surprise CD singles may not be for everyone, primarily because there is only one song and one music video and they cost the same price of a regular single. But yet, if you are an AKB48 collector and you gotta collect them all, this is a pretty cool upbeat pop track.  And if you are a fan of Mayuyu, Aki or Paruru, then it’s a single worth purchasing!

“Kimi no C/W”, the fifth AKB48 Team Surprise CD+DVD release is worth checking out!