Not yet's third release, Perapera Perao came out recently on 16 November 2011, and faced interesting competition. How did this single fare?
There was intense competition during the course of the week, because idol conglomerate Johnny's Entertainment was debuting a new group named Sexy Zone. The group of underaged boys had their self-titled first single release the same day as Perapera Perao. Thus, the week saw the sales of both singles unusually fluctuating, as both camps of fans fought it out.
Who was the winner? Take a look.
Oricon Comparison Chart between Sexy Zone and Not yet
| Day | Perapera Perao Sales | Chart rank | Sexy Zone Sales | Chart rank |
| 1 | 70,669 | 1 | 57,888 | 2 |
| 2 | 31,059 | 2 | 31,572 | 1 |
| 3 | 10,198 (Subtotal: 111,576) | 3 | 12,117 (Subtotal: 101,577) | 1 |
| 4 | 32,805 | 1 | 12,436 | 3 |
| 5 | 8,173 (Subtotal: 152,554) | 2 | 24,457 (Subtotal: 138,470) | 1 |
| 6 | 9,931 | 2 | 31,567 | 1 |
| Week | Total Sales: 172,000 | 2 | Total Sales: 173,000 | 1 |
And so, it emerged that Sexy Zone won (for now). Congratulations to them.
It was almost seemingly guaranteed that Perapera Perao would take the top, leading for five days. Yet, during the sixth day, Sexy Zone leapt forward to pole position. How did this happen?
Simple. Johnny's Entertainment had underestimated Not yet's power from the start, resulting in them pulling out last minute tricks just so their brand new group would be ensured the weekly crown. At first, they threw in an emergency handshaking event. Columbia responded with an emergency 2shot event for Not yet.
But the kicker came when JE added a popular group under their umbrella, Kis-my-Ft2, as well as other Johnny Jrs to join Sexy Zone's 2nd emergency handshaking event. This unethical move caused the sudden increase in sales, as Kis-my-Ft2 fans (who didn't necessarily support Sexy Zone) rushed to get the CDs.
But disregarding all this, Not yet got the highest record for their own single sales so far.
Congratulations to Not yet for getting a respectable #2 on the charts and breaking their own records!
Enough about the sales for now. Let's head on to what I think of the songs in this release. Note that this is strictly my opinion.
Perapera Perao (ペラペラペラオ)
Initially when I heard this title couple months back, I had extremely high hopes for this to be a super catchy pop song. It turned out to be usual idol fare, a cheesy song that's bordering on lame. I know there are people who like it though, so I suppose this is just not my type of song. I find this the weakest song of all their A-sides. It's not catchy and at best, reminds me of AKB48 Undergirls' songs. As if Not yet's songs weren't generic enough already.
Uminari yo (海鳴りよ)
The sad piano intro. Aaaah. This song felt like a win from the start. The "woah-oh"s lent an edge to the song and made it strangely catchy. The verses felt powerful, and although the choruses weren't omgwtfbbq epic, it fit well in the song. Not much to complain about this song except the high parts in the chorus where it was a little screechy. This is definitely one of the best songs in their discography so far, but I still like Naminori a little bit better.
Moto Kare ga Kekkon Suru Toki (元カレが結婚する時)
A happy, fun song. Like Perapera Perao, it's also terribly generic. But from the title, I expected something like this, so I'm okay with it. Really nothing special about the song here.
Fuusha ga Mieru Machi (風車が見える街)
So it didn't turn out to be a pretty, chimey song like I envisioned, but it's really not bad at all. It's a lighthearted tune that's pleasing on the ears (music-wise, not voice-wise). The verses are boring, but I like the chorus. It makes me tap my feet to the beat.
Mikata (味方)
Another relaxing ballad. I actually like this one quite a bit, because it's not a boring kind of ballad, and the chorus brings up the emotion of the song well. Not bad. I believe this is the best ballad by Not yet. Also, fans will probably notice Rie singing in a lower voice than usual in the verses. I think it's a good effort because her usually squeaky singing voice might have spoilt the song, but still a little weird to hear. It's not too far from her speaking voice, so I doubt she forced it.
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Overall, this is actually the worst single from Not yet so far. Perapera Perao is overwhelmingly weak, but the b-sides do save the single. I just wonder why they even do this? If we wanted mainstream stuff, we already have the main AKB48... It just looks like Not yet can't find their style and stick to ridiculously safe songs. It's such a shame because I really like them as a group but they keep doing these lame songs. Just do more songs like Uminari yo, please.
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Recommended song(s): Uminari yo
Single rating: 3 / 5
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