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

1. チョコの奴隷
2. バイクとサイドカー – 14 Karat
3. それを青春と呼ぶ日 – Tabidachi Sotsugyou-gumi
4. チョコの奴隷 off vocal ver.
5. バイクとサイドカー off vocal ver.
6. それを青春と呼ぶ日 off vocal ver.

DVD INFO: 16:9LB, Region 2, Duration: 54:12

1. チョコの奴隷 music video
2. バイクとサイドカー music video
3. 「無礼講でお祭り騒ぎの大宴会!」中編 (特典映像II)

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-B). The CD insert is a tri-fold featuring Rena Matsui as the center on the cover. When opened up, all 16 members holding pink 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 14 Karat.

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 “Bike to Sidecar” and is performed by 14 Karat (which is comprised of  Team S: Rena Matsui, Masana Oya, Akari Suda, Shiori Takada, Aki Deguchi, Yuka Nakanishi, Kanako Hiramatsu; Team KII members Shiori Ogiso, Mieko Sato, Akane Takayangi, Sawako Hata, Airi Furukawa and Miki Yakata; and Team E member Madoka Umemoto).

Where 7 Dancers was a mature dance track, “Bike to Sidecar” is an idol pop mid-tempo pop track.  The song is about wanting to leave home with a person you care about on your sidecar and just being someone with who you love and not wanting to say goodbye to anyone with no regrets.

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 “Bike to Side Car”.  Featuring members of 14 Karat with Rena Matsui as the center and everyone performing on stage with their big snowman and everyone wearing white and having fun.

The third and final video on the DVD features part 2 of the group’s third year anniversary challenge celebration. The members of SKE48 are in a restaurant, taking part in their next competition which is a chocolate competition in which two member have pokki and must eat the chocolate (on both ends) and eat it and try to make a convincing kiss (or do a real kiss) in front of the other SKE48 members.  The group are also visited by comedians and a few members must take part in a comedic skit.

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-B) is a pretty cool CD+DVD and is possibly my favorite SKE48 single yet, with Type-A still being by best of the three. Featuring three awesome songs and also as an SKE48 fan, to have the graduation track is a must and “Bike to Side Car” is a cute idol pop track! Also, the DVD content is very cool and this includes the second part of the SKE48 3rd anniversary challenge celebration (a reminder that if you want the other two parts, you will need to purchase Type-A and Type-C).  But the Type-B DVD content is possibly the best of the three and a bit more risque with the kissing.

Featuring three cool tracks plus a DVD with an hour’s worth of cool content, “Choco no Dorei” (Type-B) is highly recommended!

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