Learning about Te Wo Tsunaginagara

Team T’s own version of S2’s Te Wo Tsunaginagara debuts next Sunday, on 15 March 2015! I really love this stage, because I saw SKE48 perform most of their songs during their 2 concerts in Singapore back in 2011. It’s a fun and youthful stage, and it allowed the early SKE48 to set themselves apart in terms of dance ability and energetic expression. I really hope Team T can emulate this stage’s fun factors in their own way too! Already, I want a DVD recording for this to be out… quick!

The rest of this post will be an introduction to the Te Wo Tsunaginagara setlist, with bits of reviews and links for the lyrics and videos (mostly SKE48’s versions). Of course, the JKT48 version will be very much different in terms of tone, pitch and fan chants, but at least the melodies and dance are the same. So, if you’re interested in finding out more interesting points about this setlist, scroll on down!

Stage: Te wo Tsunaginagara (Holding on to My Hand)

M00. Overture

M01. Bokura no Kaze (Our Wind) — Video

A happy and light-hearted opener, here, you’ll get to see members have lots of fun with the tambourine and display some fancy footwork during the dance.

M02. Mango No.2 — Video

Mango No. 2 begins with a very cute solo entrance and at first glance, looks like one of the funny, fruits and vegetables songs that Aki-P has produced in his long career. But instead, the song is really about a girl’s cute feelings towards a boy during a date.

M03. Te wo Tsunaginagara (Holding on to My Hand) — Video

This title song is an energetic and high performance! You can chant the first mix and second mix and there’s also a series of “Hey, hey, hey, hey” that you can follow and echo along. If you’re feeling high enough at an actual concert, you and your friends can hold hands at the same time the members do. (kekeke…)

M04. Chime wa LOVE SONG (The Chime is a Love Song) — Video: SKE48 full version / HKT48 half-version

This is easily the highest song in the whole setlist because you can execute the full mix-es, do member name calls and even kecha. Don’t be fooled at the start though – many get tempted to do the first mix straight away, but the general consensus is to go full force and start the mix after the 12th beat into the song. The full version also has a 2nd mix. Towards the end of the song, there is a long instrumental played out and that’s when you can do the full mix and follow it up with a kecha.

MC1

Unit songs

M05. Glory days — Video

Batting off as the first unit song, Glory Days is iconic because of the flashy hats the members wear, and the difficult and complex dance routine. You will get to see the 3 members sync together to perform a robotic dance maneuver – the highlight of the song, and they end with each dancing solo with their own style. There are a couple of nice fan chants such as “Jurina ga kawaii!” and echoing “G L O R Y Days!” at the instrumentals before and after the robot dance but these are a nice bonus and it doesn’t look like it’ll pick up the same way in JKT48 fandom.

Glory Days and its smooth dance requirements may set high expectations to experienced fans familiar with the stage, but I think there’s lots of room to develop for the team T members, especially since they are new at this. I am really looking forward to the time when the Team T performers here have fully developed their ability and are making this a great show!

M06. Kono Mune no Barcode (The Barcode of My Heart) — Video

The slow dances and the lyrics signal a pained longing for affection but the song is fairly upbeat, so it’s kinda an awkward position to be in, in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how Team T shows us the meaning of this song.

M07. Wimbledon e Tsureteitte (Take Me to Wimbledon) — Video

One of the two cute unit songs. The girls go “Fure fure fure” (Hurray hurray hurray) and “Lalalala lala lala” throughout the whole song.

M08. Ame no Pianist (Pianist of The Rain) — Video

The coolest unit song. It’s theme in terms of lighting, costume colors, expressions and dance are quite similar to that of “Junjou Shogi” from Pajadora so it will feel somewhat familiar. And they each wear a glove! (I really love costumes with gloves.) You can do the first mix and second mix in this song, but there’s also a quieter second and third mix that are done at the same time as when the members sing and lead into the 2nd and 3rd chorus.

Fans call out a very cool “Rena, Rena, Rena, Rena, Rena-chan!” when the center sings after the chorus. I haven’t heard this kind of chant in JKT48 yet, and it’s effectiveness somewhat depends on how long’s the member name is but it will be super cool if it does pick up.

M09. Choco no Yukue (The Whereabouts of the Chocolates) — Video

The other cute unit song. You can go “Woohoo!” a couple of times throughout the song (although you can’t hear it very well in this video).

End of Unit songs and MC2

M10. Innocence — Video

Innocence has a slightly mature theme, and it speaks about the before and after moments when a girl loses her… “Scarlet red innocence.” There are a couple of exclusive solo and duet lines, and then the whole group sings together so it will be thrilling if your favorite member gets chosen to sing those lines.

M11. Romance Rocket — Video

This is an upbeat and very fun song to watch. There are many times you emulate a rocket launch and go “Woohoo!” (The best time to Woohoo is at a standing concert where you can go all out!)

M12. Koi no Keikou to Taisaku (The Tendency and Counterplan of Love) — Video

Continuing with the upbeat nature, this is a happy performance with a nice, more relaxed pace. You get to see lots of members smiling throughout but don’t get misled though, it takes a lot of energy and effort to keep smiling like that.

MC3

M13. Daisuki (I Like You) — Video

A slow but cute confession song to wrap up the stage before the encore calls.

Encore

M14. Rope no Yuujou (Friendship Rope) — Video (HKT48 version)

Rope no Yuujou is an impressive and slightly aggressive Team song that metaphorically speaks about a shared bond through a rope that ties everyone together during a mountain climbing experience. The performance is tensed, and perhaps even dramatic in nature but you get to see a serious side to the members that hasn’t appeared elsewhere in the setlist. Generally there isn’t any mixes done in Japan but fans can join in and chant when members pump their fists up in the air. Nonetheless, there are still standard timings that allows mix-es to come in naturally, and it wouldn’t hurt as it helps raise the overall energy.

M15. Kayoubi no Yoru Suiyobi no Asa (Tuesday Night, Wednesday Morning) — Video

The lyrics point towards a vulnerable woman crying out in pain and sadness but the dance and expressions reflects that of a strong person capable of dealing with such a sorrow. I feel excited as to how Team T will make of this.

MC4

M16. Tooku ni Ite mo (Even If We are Far Apart) — Video

This is a very long song – at over 5 minutes but it is one of my favorites in this stage because of its soothing vocals and its heartfelt message about keeping each other close even if we are far apart. Much like the single, “Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka,” this song also maintains a beautiful relationship about looking at the sky whenever we think of each other. I once played it on repeat throughout my hour-long journey home because it was simply that good! Definitely a heart warming end to such a great stage.

Ending thoughts

The above mini-reviews are my interpretations though, and I do accept that it may differ from person to person but still, I’d like to believe that it helps to give you a little insight on what the songs in the stage are about. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing how team T will perform it and welcome any surprises they may show with their own style of this strong setlist.

Next week’s attendance for Te wo Tsunaginagara’s debut is expected to be crowded and highly competitive, with a high volume of fans applying to watch the stage’s early performances. If you are one of the lucky winners of a ticket to these shows and would like to write a review for everyone here, we welcome you to do so! Just contact us via the contact form or tweet us at @jkt48stuff!

Sources: Studio48 and Wiki48 for the song lyrics and set list.