AKB48 – High Tension Review

AKB48-High-Tension-Cover

Release Date: November 16, 2016

Track Listing

Type A

  1. High Tension
  2. Osaekirenai Shoudou
  3. Happy End
  4. High Tension (off vocal ver.)
  5. Osaekirenai Shoudou (off vocal ver.)
  6. Happy End (off vocal ver.)

Type B

  1. High Tension
  2. Osaekirenai Shoudou
  3. Better
  4. High Tension (off vocal ver.)
  5. Osaekirenai Shoudou (off vocal ver.)
  6. Better (off vocal ver.)

Type C

  1. High Tension
  2. Osaekirenai Shoudou
  3. Hoshizora wo Kimi ni
  4. High Tension (off vocal ver.)
  5. Osaekirenai Shoudou (off vocal ver.)
  6. Hoshizora wo Kimi ni (off vocal ver.)

Type D

  1. High Tension
  2. Osaekirenai Shoudou
  3. Shishunki no Adrenaline
  4. High Tension (off vocal ver.)
  5. Osaekirenai Shoudou (off vocal ver.)
  6. Shishunki no Adrenaline (off vocal ver.)

Type E

  1. High Tension
  2. Osaekirenai Shoudou
  3. Seijun Tired
  4. High Tension (off vocal ver.)
  5. Osaekirenai Shoudou (off vocal ver.)
  6. Seijun Tired (off vocal ver.)

Theater Edition

  1. High Tension
  2. Osaekirenai Shoudou
  3. Mata Anata no Koto wo Kangaeteta
  4. High Tension (off vocal ver.)
  5. Osaekirenai Shoudou (off vocal ver.)
  6. Mata Anata no Koto wo Kangaeteta (off vocal ver.)

Review

High Tension is AKB48’s 48th single and the last for Shimazaki Haruka. It is also the theme song for the AKB48 drama Cabasuka Gakuen.

The song is a high-energy, disco-infused dance track. I find it funny that Shimazaki Haruka is the center and that this will be her final contribution to the AKB48 discography. That is either a very ironic or cruel twist of fate, depending on how you view it.

With that said, High Tension is much like Koi Suru Fortune Cookie in sound. Discerning listeners may even notice a wee bit of the disco Musume sound (complete with Tsunku-Esque male ad-libs) woven into the High Tension fabric.

When it comes to the b-sides, you pretty much get the standard fare. While that isn’t necessarily bad, there isn’t much to get too excited about in the Type A or B versions of High Tension. It’s not until you get to Types C, D and E that you get something close to the fun the a-side brings.

Team 8’s Hoshizora wo Kimi ni (Team 8 East) and Shishunki no Adrenaline (Team 8 West) bring youthful enthusiasm to their songs. Both are very good, but I feel the Team 8 East song is probably the stronger of the 2 when played back-to-back.

This single also marks the return of Tentomu Chu! They drop some dance floor pop with Seijun Tired. It is a departure from their previous releases that leaned heavily on being cute and sweet, so it may not be to everyone’s liking.

Overall High Tension is one of the more enjoyable AKB48 single releases of 2016. It’s also one of the strangest ways for Shimazaki to leave the group. One would expect her to explode into a pile of salt instead of snapping her fingers and making people dance randomly.

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