The Green Tangerine

Edition: First Press Limited Edition + DVD
Price: US$19.99
Release Date: December 7, 2006

Track Listing:
CD
1. Bokura no Machi De
2. Way of Love

DVD
Bokura no Machi De PV.

“Bokura no Machi de” is actually the theme song to the drama “Tatta hitotsu no koi” – it is the first single that KAT-TUN has released as a five-member unit, after the announcement of the hiatus of Akanishi Jin.

So when I had received this single from Yesasia, i had two immeadiate responses.
1) Oh boy, this is really heavy for a single
2) Nooooo there’s no Jin on the cover!!!

However, besides that, i listened to the songs anyways and the reviews are below.

1. Bokura no Machi De

Normally, the lead vocals are done by Akanishi (who has the largest vocal ability and range) whilst the others are used to back him up. However, with him noticeably missing, they have Kamenashi Kazuya leading instead. Kame does have a decent recording voice, and the song has him singing most of the solos, followed by back-up vocals by the rest of the group. KAT-TUN never did sing well in unison, and sometimes their backing vocals do clash with some of them out of tune.

Another difference to this song to their others is this is a ballad – compared to their debut rock single “Real Face” and the pop-y “SIGNAL”. I really do appreciate how well this song is written, however, being a ballad, it’s slow enough to show you the limitations of the member’s voices. That said though, I still enjoy the song.

Rating: 3.5/5

2. Way of Love

Way of Love sees KAT-TUN going back to their Jpop, and that being said, it’s very old-school pop KAT-TUN, and very old-school pop Johnny-boys in general. It also does feature the group’s famous Engrish.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Bokura no Machi De PV

Compared to their Real Face and SIGNAL PV’s, I find this one kind of lacking – there’s a lot of sitting, walking towards the camera, staring off into space type singing. That being said, there’s enough close-up’s for fan-girls to swoon over.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

You can watch it below here:

In general, I think this is a nice change to KAT-TUN’s regular upbeat tempos (however, if you want you’re upbeat, just listen to the B-side). The single matches well for the drama, although I do think these boys should work on their vocals a bit before they release their next ballad.

Money wise, the single only contained two songs and a DVD, which in turn only contained the PV. I think that if you want better value for money, try and get your hands on the first press normal edition – but for the KAT-TUN fan, you can’t let the limited release slip out of your hands – remember, when this first came out, the DVD edition sold out from cdjapan in a matter of hours.

Buy the Limited Edition Single Here

Download the single here (m4a. format).

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars