SKE48 – Choco no Dorei (Type-A) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. チョコの奴隷
2. Darkness – 7 Dancers
3. それを青春と呼ぶ日 – Tabidachi Sotsugyou-gumi
4. チョコの奴隷 off vocal ver.
5. Darkness off vocal ver.
6. それを青春と呼ぶ日 off vocal ver.

DVD INFO: 16:9LB, Region 2, Duration: 57:05

1. チョコの奴隷 music video
2. Darkness music video
3. 「無礼講でお祭り騒ぎの大宴会!」前編 (特典映像I)

SKE48, the sister idol group of AKB48 that is based in Nagoya returns with their 11th CD single “Choco no Dorei” (which translates to “A Slave for Chocolate”), a track which becomes the group’s seventh CD single to reach #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and also surpassed “Kiss Datte Hidarikiki” in becoming their highest selling single for its release day and for its first week with over 620,000 singles sold.

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 here is SKE48 having celebrated their third year anniversary and to achieve great success.  But as the single will be noted for its mature dance tracks, it will also be a sad single for fans of nine members of SKE48 who are graduating.

With “Choco no Dorei”, a total of four CD single versions were released.  TYPE-A, TYPE-B and TYPE-C (Note: Limited and regular edition of all three types have different covers) will include a DVD with music videos but also a video celebrating the group’s third year anniversary broken up into three parts.  A theater edition comes with both exclusive tracks from Type-A and B plus an 11th single medley with no DVD is also available.

The version I will be reviewing is “Choco no Dorei” (Type-A). The CD insert is a tri-fold featuring Jurina Matsui as the center on the cover.  When opened up, all 16 members holding red balloons are featured on one side, while lyrics and production credits are featured on the other side.  Reverse cover on the back features a photo of the 7 Dancers.

The first track on the single is “Choco no Dorei”, an upbeat synth/brass dance track.  An addictive single with great vocals from the group, “Choco no Dorei” is about a guy sitting in a classroom looking at a bag with sweets and is hoping the bag is an answer from a person they love on Valentine’s Day.  A slave to chocolate, as the guys will hold out their hands in hopes to receive chocolate form a girl they like, and if she does, he may shed a tear of happiness.

The second track is titled “Darkness” and is performed by 7 Dancers (which is comprised of  Team S members Jurina Matsui, Kumi Yagami, Yuria Kizaki, Yukiko Kinoshita and Mizuki Kuwabara. Team KII member Anna Ishida and Team E member Mai Takeuchi.  And I have to say that this is the group’s most mature upbeat, J-Pop dance track and its wonderful!

Despite the upbeat dance nature of the song, “Darkness” is actually quite sad.  The song is about  one wanting to be loved and be in love.  She wants to disappear in the dark and sadness where stars don’t shine.  She wants to be in love with this guy, but it’s one-sided love and feels she will be chasing after the guy for all of eternity, so she wants to hide in the deep darkness.

The third track is titled “Sore wo Seishu to Yobu Hi” and is performed by Tabidachi Sotsugyou-gumi (Journey Alumni) which consists of the nine graduating members of SKE48: Kumi Yagami, Mizuki Kuwabara, Shiori Takada, Kanako Hiramatsu, Shiori Ogiso, Ririna Akaeda, Kasumi Ueno, Minami Hara and Emiri Kobayashi.

A sad but hopeful graduation song of each member singing about being in the theater in front of an audience to say their goodbye.  Saying thank you to everyone and remembering the days of singing and dancing with friends and looking at their locker of the things they cherished.  And as they prepare for the future, they hope that they can come back someday to see their friends that they have grown up with along the way.

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

As for the DVD, the DVD begins with the music video of “Choco no Dorei” and focuses on SKE48 performing and dancing on stage, with videos of the members practicing their choreography, stretching and visiting the theater.

The second music video is for “Darkness”, members of the Seven Dancers are dressed up in suits and are seen performing the song on stage and showcasing their choreography.

The third and final video on the DVD features part 1 of the group’s third year anniversary challenge celebration.  The members of SKE48 walking into a restaurant and Jurina Matsui and Rena Matsui greet their fellow members to celebrate the group’s third anniversary, while everyone is having fun eating.  Afterward, the group partakes in putting pantyhose on their heads and which team can walk with pantyhose with the farthest distance without breaking it or having it come off their heads.

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, “Choco no Dorei” (Type-A) is a pretty cool CD+DVD and is possibly my favorite SKE48 single yet.  Featuring three awesome songs and also as an SKE48 fan, to have the graduation track is a must but “Darkness” by 7 Dancers is an awesome song!  Also, the DVD content is very cool and this includes the first part of the SKE48 3rd anniversary celebration (a reminder that if you want the other two parts, you will need to purchase Type-B and Type-C).

Featuring two pretty cool upbeat dance track and the graduation song plus a DVD with an hour’s worth of cool content, “Choco no Dorei” (Type-A) is highly recommended!

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