Golden Child: RATA-TAT-TAT Japan Second Single Album Review

Golden Child has had a super packed 2022 so far, starting with their Japanese debut back on January 26th with A WOO!! Now on June 15th, Golden Child released their second Japanese single album RATA-TAT-TAT as 9 members. Despite having 1 fewer member, the version count has increased from 12 versions for A WOO!! to 20 versions for RATA-TAT-TAT. There is a Universal Music Japan (UMJ) First Press Limited Edition, UMJ First Press Regular Edition, UMJ Member Edition (9 versions), and Fanclub (FC) Member Edition (9 versions).

Daeyeol had enlisted on March 29th, and it suddenly felt so empty. But on April 4th when MBC Best Friend Radio posted an Instagram photo revealing a Jangjun selca in a beanie with a little red hair peeking out. suddenly it felt much more promising that Golden Child would be coming back soon! And then on April 5th at 6PM JST, Woollim tweeted the announcement of a new Japanese single with a new OT9 photo, along with an announcement of a live showcase in Tokyo on April 30th and May 1st. Surely everyone was surprised that Golden Child would be releasing another Japanese album instead of having a Korean comeback, but Woollim always loves throwing curveballs. Whatever the case, I'll take it!

I blogged about preordering all 20 versions along with the various preorder benefits here, and below I'll unbox all versions along with my preorder benefits.

Overview and Preorder Benefits

Here are all 20 album versions of RATA-TAT-TAT, along with the preorder benefits.

Here is a closer look at the UMJ First Press Limited Edition and UMJ First Press Regular Edition. When purchasing either of these versions or any of the UMJ Member Editions individually (ie. not as a set of 9), UMJ offered a random raw photo (1 of 9) as a preorder benefit.

These raw photos are 3.5" by 5" and are essentially postcards with the photo side being glossy and the backside being matte white. To my disappointment these raw photos are the same images as the metal badge commemorative goods, as well as the photos included in the photobook of the Limited Edition.

The preorder benefit for purchasing the Member Edition as a set of 9 is a set of matching B5 clear files. For the UMJ Member Edition set of 9, the benefit is the clear file set on the left, while for the FC Member Edition set of 9, the benefit is the clear file set on the right.

Here is the order that the clear files came in.

Here are the backsides of the clear files. The left one has the racing checker pattern to match the limited version album and UMJ member version albums while the right one is more minimalist and refined to (I guess?) match the regular version album and FC member version albums.

Here are the racer version clear files. These images are the same as the back cover of the UMJ member version albums.

And here are the white suit version clear files. These images are the same as the back cover of the FC member version albums. It's disappointing that the images are the same; if I had known, I would have probably bought each member version individually to receive the random live OT9 showcase group photo preorder benefit. As for the racer version clear file, I'm content with this preorder benefit as the alternative for purchasing the UMJ member versions individually would be the raw photos from the limited version booklet.

First Press Limited Edition

Following A WOO!!'s format, the limited version this time is also in a simple plastic DVD case, with a printed piece of paper slipped into the clear plastic for the covers and spine. The red sticker on the clear exterior wrap indicates that this is A Version.

All 20 versions come with two tracks in the CD: "RATA-TAT-TAT" and the Japanese version of "Burn It". This limited version also includes a DVD containing "Vol.2 DDARAWA GOL-CHA!", a continuation from the DVD included in the limited version of A WOO!! This back cover contains the contents of each disc, as well as info on the DVD (region code "all" and 28 minutes long).

Here is a closeup of the simplicity of the spine.

Opening up the DVD case, the photo booklet is secured on the left with 2 plastic clips. The CD is in its own tray on the right.

You can flip the trap and then the DVD is against the back cover on the right. I had trouble putting the DVD back in, because the plastic clip in the center is quite stiff. I ended up scratching the center ring of the disc a bit >.<

The DVD starts with the boys giving their intros in Japanese (except for Jaehyun who used Korean^^) and trying to carefully and accurately pronounce the title track, and then the rest is all in Korean with Japanese subtitles. This variety show was called "Golden Agit" and had a very casual (yet chaotic) setting of the boys in a house playing games and having fun.

The limited edition comes with a photo booklet. The booklet contains 24 pages total, including the cover pages. Above contains the tracklist of the CD and DVD, and the next 2 pages contain lyrics and song credits. Slipped inside this first page is also the random photocard.

The limited edition album comes with 1 random photocard out of 10 (9 individual members and 1 group). These photocards are all taken from the racer shoot, and these images are different from the photocards included in the regular edition and member editions.

The back of the photocard is a dark red and has the product number printed at the bottom. All photocards have a matte finish.

The next 17 pages are filled with photos from the racer shoot.

Each member gets an individual photo and a pair or trio photo.

The booklet is small that I'll just post all the pages~

Here is the pair photo of Tag and Jibeom, and Seungmin's individual photo.

Joochan nails this look so well!

Next is a 2-page spread of Tag, Jaehyun, Jibeom, and Bomin.

Followed by a 2-page spread of the remaining 5 members.

Here are Jangjun's and Donghyun's individual photos.

And lastly Y, Jangjun, and Donghyun have the trio photo. It's bittersweet seeing this combo, the ammonites, but without Daeyeol :(

The next 2 pages are the album credits. There is even a [Special Thanks] section that states "All Family. All Goldenness". There is also a QR code which takes you to a UMJ buyer survey to enter for a chance to win a 5,000¥  gift certificate.

I had bought the metal badges only to find out that the images of these badges are the same exact as from the photobook.

Here is Jibeom's as well.

Not only the metal badges, the UMJ raw photos are the same images as well.

Here is Y's.

First Press Regular Edition and Member Editions

The regular edition and member edition albums have a jewel case packaging. The black spines are the UMJ member editions, the gold spines are the FC member editions, and the far right gold spine is the regular edition. You can see this one is of a more usual jewel case size, while the member editions are thinner.

Here is a closer look at the external labelling of all 4 versions. The limited edition is A Version, the regular edition is B version, the UMJ member edition is C version, and the FC member edition is D version. On the underside of the matte card stock spines is a QR code that takes you to the same UMJ buyer survey.

Here are how all the jewel case albums look fully unwrapped and without the external card stock spine. They don't really look that nice to display like this >.<

First Press Regular Edition

Here is how the album cover and spine look once the wrapping is removed.

The back cover contains the CD tracklist, which is the same among all versions.

Opening up the jewel case, we see the booklet on the left and the CD on the right.

The booklet contains 16 pages total, including the cover pages. Above contains the tracklist of the CD, and the next 2 pages contain lyrics and song credits. Slipped inside these first pages is the random photocard. Hi Bomin^^ (He wanted to solidify not just being my concert bias, but aiming for being my ult bias overall^^)

The regular edition album comes with 1 random photocard out of 10 (9 individual members and 1 group). These photos care all taken from the white suit photoshoot, and these images are different from the photocards included in the FC member edition albums.

The backside of the photocard is a dull gold, matching the matte card stock spine and this elegant photoshoot. The product number is printed at the bottom and all photocards have a matte finish.

Each member gets an individual photo.

The order of the members is pretty similar to the order within the limited edition booklet.

Just like with the racer shoot, here too I cannot get over Joochan's look!

Since the booklet has so few pages, I'll continue sharing them all here~

Jangjun's deep red hair looks stunning, and it pops even more in this shoot!

Lastly are the album credits.

UMJ and FC Member Edition Albums

Here are how the UMJ member edition albums look with all the wrapping still on. This cover is the front side of the included paper sheet (as this edition doesn't include a booklet), and the images are all from the racer shoot. As mentioned before, these photos are the same as the accompanying preorder benefit clear files.

Here is the other side of the album, which shows off the CD-R. These images are again from the racer shoot and are luckily different photos from those included in the limited edition booklet.

Here are CD-Rs properly oriented inside the jewel cases.

Here are how the FC member edition albums look like with the wrapping still on. These images are all from the white suit shoot and are the same photos used in the accompanying preorder benefit clear files.

Here is the other side of the album, showcasing the CD-R. These images are again from the white suit photoshoot and are different photos from the regular album version booklet. Though if you look at Bomin's album cover, CD-R, and his photo in the regular edition booklet, they practically look like the same photo >.<

Here are how the CD-Rs look properly oriented.

Opening up the jewel cases (the top is the UMJ version and the bottom is the FC version) reveals the paper sheet on the left, and the backside of the CD. This side of the paper sheet has the album and song credits.

Here is how the paper sheet looks like for both versions, which is extended on the right side to include what you'd see on the spine of the album. The inside of this is sheet has the lyrics for both songs, and the photocard, upside down.

Each UMJ member edition album comes with 1 photocard of that member (therefore the card isn't random; whichever member's cover you have, the associated photocard will be included). These photocards are exclusively from the racer photoshoot and are different images than the limited edition photocards.

The back of the photocard is a dark red, matching the back of the limited version photocard. The difference here is that the member's name is printed in the center.

And here are the FC member edition photocards. Same concept as the UMJ member edition album photocards, each FC member edition album comes with a photocard of the member on the cover. These photocards are all from the white suit shoot and are different image than the normal edition photocards.

The back of the photocard is a dull gray, the same as the normal edition photocards, except again these FC member photocards have the member's name printed in the center.

On Display

Here is my Japanese Golden Child collection on display. I'm still not sure how to properly display such simple DVD packaging and jewel cases; until I figure it out, these will occupy the top shelf~

Overall, though I wish Golcha could have promoted RATA-TAT-TAT more, in hindsight I'm super content as they were clearly very busy preparing for their US tour, MIK Festival appearance, and long awaited comeback with Aura! As for the RATA-TAT-TAT albums, while I'm not a fan of the packaging, I do love the photoshoots. And lastly, I was worried with Daeyeol's enlistment that Golden Child would be on hiatus for quite some time, but I'm so relieved that this is most certainly not the case!