SKE48 – Aishite Raburu! (Type-A) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. アイシテラブル! – SKE48
2. ハレーション- SKE48 (セレクション8)
3. 目が痛いくらい晴れた空 – SKE48 (研究生)
4. アイシテラブル! off vocal ver. – SKE48
5. ハレーション off vocal ver. – SKE48 (セレクション8)
6. 目が痛いくらい晴れた空 – SKE48 (研究生)

DVD INFO: 16:9 LB, Region 2, Duration: 31:06

1. アイシテラブル! (music video)
2. 兆し (Team KII 3rd Stage「ラムネの飲み方」NMB48劇場 2012.2.16) (特典映像I 出張公演 live movie)
3. 恋を語る詩人になれなくて (Team S 3rd Stage「制服の芽」NMB48劇場 2012.2.15) (特典映像I 出張公演 live movie)
4. ウィンブルドンへ連れて行って (Team S 2nd Stage「手をつなぎながら」HKT48劇場 2012.2.21) (特典映像I 出張公演 live movie)
5. アイシテラブル! (making video) (特典映像II)

SKE48, the sister idol group of AKB48 that is based in Nagoya returns with their 10th CD single “Kiss Datte Hidarikiki” (which translates to “Even the Kiss is Left-Handed” or “Even a Left-Handed Kiss”), a track which becomes the group’s sixth CD single to reach #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and also becoming their highest selling single for its release day and for its first week.

And it’s another testament to the marketing machine created by AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto. SKE48 was created as a test for Akimoto to see if his idea of having an nationwide 48 project would work, considering he had received offers from other countries to develop his project for their country.

And to develop SKE48, it centered around young teenager Jurina Matsui who was featured as the primary member of SKE48 to be featured on an AKB48 single (“Ogoe Diamond”) and would eventually become the first collaboration for SKE48 and AKB48. And while the group debuted back in 2009 with “Tsuyoki Mono yo”, the growing popularity of AKB48 helped lead SKE48 into the limelight and switching labels from Nippon Crown to Avex Trax in 2011 for their sixth single “Pareo wa Emerald”, it had led to their highest sales as a pop unit.

Their 9th CD Single “Aishite Raburu!” (or “Aishite-love-ru!”) debuted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly charts and the CD single has sold over 470,000 copies in the first week.

And with this CD single, there were four different versions released of “Aishite Raburu!”.  A Type-A, Type-B and Type-C received a regular edition release, each with an exclusive second track and a DVD with different content. The fourth version is the theater edition with no DVD but comes with the third tracks that are featured in Type-B and Type-C plus a SKE48 9th single medley.

The version I will be reviewing is “Aishite Raburu!” (Type-A). The single comes with a tri-fold CD insert with a full-body vertical image Rena Matsui and Jurina Matsui.  The other side features the lyrics and production credits.

The single begins with the title track “Aishite Raburu!” and is a catchy, upbeat idol pop track that I found quite addicting the more I listened to it. A sweet summer son, “Aishite Raburu!” is a song about one racing near the seashore driving a red convertible and the guy’s eyes are on a woman wearing sunglasses who is driving.  But as the man and woman are about to kiss, they are distracted by everyone who are watching them.   And the guy shouts “I Love You!” and says the words louder once again.  And with the hot sun, you end up mixing the words “Aishite Raburu!”.

The second track on the single is “Halation” performed by SKE48’s (Selection 8) which include Team S member Aki Deguchi; Team KII members Anna Ishida, Mieko Sato, Airi Furukawa Airi and Tomoka Wakabayashi; Team E members Minami Hara, Yukari Yamashita and Kenkyuusei memeber Nao Furuhata.  The dance synth pop track is upbeat with good vocals from the eight members.  Catchy but I feel the musical arrangement was so-so.  The song is about watching a person that you like from across the street, you feel love (halation) for this person that you can only watch from the distance.

The third track on the single is “Me ga itai Kurai Hareta Sora” (which translates to “The Clear Sky Hurts My Eyes”).  The track is performed by SKE48 Research students and is a beautiful ballad, very good vocals by the research members.  The song is about seeing the clear sky that hurts your eyes and seeing the cloudless blue sky and wanting the wind to carry you far away to a place where your wish will be granted one day.  And that wish is to become a ind person that always smiles when dreaming.

The remaining three tracks on the CD single are the instrumental versions of the first three music tracks.

As for the DVD, the DVD begins with the music video clip for “Aishite Raburu!”. The video begins with SKE48 traveling to Saipan and performing near the shore and the 12 members performing on a platform on the ocean.  Obviously with the helicopter and boat shots to capture the group performing on the platform and the fact that the video is on location, makes this video probably their most expensive video yet.

The second video (duration 12:38 minutes) is actually three theater performances by SKE48 members at NMB48 theater.  The first part is for “Kizashi” performed by Team KII 3rd Stage at NMB48 Theater on February 16, 2012.  The second performance is for “Koi wo Kataru Shijin ni Narenakute” at NMB48 Theater on February 16, 2012 and the final is “Wimbledon he Tsurete Itte” at HKT48 Theater performed on February 21, 2012.

The final video track (duration: 14:07 minutes) is the making of “Aishite Raburu!” and focuses on the members being taken to their location to know their lines for “Aishite Raburu!” and performing their closeup lip-synch on camera and behind-the-scenes on the filming of the platform dance plus interviews with SKE48 members.

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, “Aishite Raburu!” is a pretty cool, upbeat and fun summer single!  For the most part, what I enjoyed about this single the most is that it gives the spotlight to focus on other members aside from the usual top 12 or top 16 members.  The tracks alone give research members and other team members a chance to take part in this summer single and also to be featured on the DVD. While the first two tracks are upbeat and catchy, I actually listened to the ballad track “Me ga itai Kurai Hareta Sora” by the SKE48 research members a lot more.  It’s a very good song!

While, it would have been cool to see the music videos for the other two tracks, I suppose that it was cool to see three theater performance included and to cap it off with the making of “Aishite Raburu!” (as I really wanted to see how the platform dance was filmed).

Also, I have to add that I do prefer Type-B and Type-C over Type-A for the main reason that you get 65 minutes extra content because those two versions feature the “SKE48 Dokkiri” special (which are bloopers or tricks played on SKE48 members).  I was surprised they didn’t split the special up on three DVD’s but Type-A does feature the making of “Aishite Raburu!”.

A fun CD+DVD single, if you are an SKE48 fan, “Aishite Raburu” (Type-A) is worth checking out but if you want more content, definitely go for Type-B and Type-C.