Golden Child has officially made their Japan debut on January 26th, 2022! On December 20th, 2021 at 12:18PM JST, Golden Child Japan Official tweeted the announcement of their debut single "A WOO!!" along with a group photo. Later that day, articles stated that there would be a first press limited edition, a regular edition, and a commemorative edition per member. Additionally, the official Goldenness Japan webpage was also reopened on this day, and recruitment for the official Goldenness Japan followed on December 22nd.
Woollim announced this debut over 5 weeks before before its release, which is much more time than their Korean releases. Yet the teasers have been quite sparse. On December 28th, they posted individual photo teasers and album details. On January 18th, they posted the music video teaser, and on the 20th these posted the video teaser for "DDARAWA GOL-CHA!", the video content within the first press limited edition.
When Rocket Punch had their Japan debut last August, they also had individual member versions that came with their set of 3 album versions along with that member's bonus outer jacket to bundle the albums together. This bonus jacket was exclusive to Rocket Punch's official Japanese fan club. I was worried that Goldenness Japan would also have exclusive album versions, but luckily Universal Music Japan, along with Goldenness Japan, carried all 12 versions, whereas Tower Records and HMV only carry the first press limited edition and regular edition. I blogged more about preordering my albums here.
Here is my A WOO!! collection! I have the First Press Limited Edition, First Press Regular Edition, Japan Debut Commemorative Member Edition Set (inside the storage box), and Universal Japan Music clear file and storage box.
The clear files are preorder benefits for the limited edition and regular edition if purchased from Universal Music Japan or Goldenness Japan (I believe both stores have the same version, but don't quote me on that). My 2 from UMJ came in a clear plastic bag.
Here are how the A4 clear files look. It is the same design for both album versions, with the front being a different image but from the same photoshoot as the cover of the regular edition. At the bottom left corner of the backside it states "Universal Music Group", so I wonder what the Goldenness Japan version is like....
And here are the 12 album versions. The first press limited edition comes in a clear plastic wrap similar to saran wrap, like Golden Child's Korean albums. The regular edition and each member edition comes in stiffer plastic wrap that's more common with jewel cases. All album versions have a light blue sticker on the wrapping. The limited edition contains photos from the scaffolding shoot, the regular edition contains photos from the all-black shoot, and the member edition contains photos from both shoots.
To my surprise this version is a simple plastic DVD case, with a printed piece of paper slipped into the clear plastic for the covers and spine.
Here is the front cover. It's a really pretty design showcasing the album title and single along with the group photo from the scaffolding shoot.
This limited edition comes with a CD (songs included are "A WOO!!" and "WANNABE -Japanese Ver.-"), a DVD ("Vol.1 DDARAWA GOL-CHA!"), a booklet (24 pages), and a random photocard (1 of 11). The back cover contains the contents of each disc, as well as info on the DVD (region code "all" and 30 minutes long).
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. "A WOO!!" is definitely a very different genre and concept, and it took me a bit to get into but, but it's been so addicting that now I've been only playing this song on repeat^^
You can flip the CD tray and then the DVD is against the back cover on the right. The DVD is actually 33 minutes long, and while the boys gave their intros in Japanese, the rest is all in Korean with Japanese subtitles. I was honestly very lost but nonetheless it was nice seeing the boys' own variety show again. Additionally, this is titled "Vol. 1" so I wonder about future volumes and where they'd be released...
Here is the back cover of the booklet; very simple, with just the product number printed at the bottom.
Within the first 2 pages is the random photocard, which I'll talk about a little later. This booklet contains 24 pages total, including the cover pages. This page contains the contents of the CD and DVD.
Each member gets an individual photo and a pair photo.
I really like this photoshoot! The setting is really simple but matches well with the look.
I can't believe they really put bongbeom together...my heart...also Jaehyun in a headband is always one of my favorite looks hehe
Following the photos is a filler page listing the members' names.
The next 2 pages are the album credits. There is also a QR code which takes you to a Universal Music Japan buyer survey to enter for a chance to win a 5,000¥ gift certificate. For this survey, you first need to enter the application number, which was that code on the back cover of the booklet (along with the backside of the photocard and spine of the album).
The limited edition album comes with 1 random photocard out of 11 (10 individual members and 1 group). These photocards are all taken from the scaffolding photoshoot, and these are different from the photocards included in the regular edition or commemorative member edition.
The back of the photocard is light blue and has the product number printed at the bottom. All the photocards have a matte finish.
The regular edition album and commemorative member edition albums have a jewel case packaging and all have a plastic wrap with a small strip at the bottom right that you can rip in order to remove the wrapping. Unfortunately pulling the strip goes right through the product sticker, which I like to save, so it was a bit more difficult unwrapping all the jewel case albums.
Here is the matte card stock spine, along with the product sticker.
Here is the underside of the card stock spine. The QR code takes you to the same Universal Music Japan buyer survey, where you need to enter the product number (listed here, on the other side of the card stock spine, and the backside of the photocard, among other places).
Here is how the album cover and spine look once the wrapping is removed.
The back cover contains the CD tracklist. The regular edition and commemorative member editions contain "A WOO!!", "WANNABE -Japanese Ver.-", and "DamDaDi -Japanese Ver.-". It's interesting how the limited edition doesn't include "DamDaDi -Japanese Ver."...
Opening up the jewel case, we see the booklet on the left and CD on the right.
There is 1 page of lyrics for each song. This booklet also contains 5 pages of pairs (and boy did they choose the pairs well hehe).
The booklet has so few pages that I'll just share them all~ These are all the same pairs as from the scaffolding shoot from the limited edition booklet.
The regular edition album comes with 1 random photocard out of 11 (10 individual members and 1 group). These photocards can be taken from either the scaffolding shoot or the all-black photoshoot, and these images are different from the photocards included in the limited edition or commemorative member edition.
The back of the photocard is dark blue and has the product number printed at the bottom. Again, all the photocards have a matte finish.
Japan Debut Commemorative Member Edition Set
First off, here is the storage box from Universal Music Japan that comes with purchasing the Japan Debut Commemorative Member Edition Set. The front and back have Golden Child printed while the back side lists the members.
Here is how the CDs look inside the storage box. I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of the spines of the CDs, but they list the artist and single in the center, then at the bottom in the white strip is that member's name.
The top of the storage box has the A WOO!! logo printed.
Here is the inside of the storage box.
The albums came in age order, from Bomin to Daeyeol (from right to left when standing up).
The card stock spine in between the wrapping and the jewel case is similar to that of the regular edition, with the underside revealing a QR code to the Universal Music Japan buyer survey.
On Display
The jewel cases for the member edition are thinner than normal jewel cases (like the one used for the regular edition). For those familiar with Infinite's 24 Hours single, it's the same idea with how the member edition is thinner and the regular edition is in a normal jewel case. I again forgot to take pictures comparing this, but my last photo shows the sides of all the albums for comparison~ Also opening up these member edition albums are interesting. The paper sheet is on the left side, and the CD, put in upside down, is on the right side. You can see the photocard peeking out of the paper sheet. Before opening my albums, I kept hearing a jingle and was worried that my CDs arrived broken, but luckily it was just the photocards moving around~
Here is how the paper sheet looks like, which is extended on the right side to include what you'd see on the spine of the album. This paper sheet has the lyrics for all 3 songs (A WOO!!", "WANNABE -Japanese Ver.-", and "DamDaDi -Japanese Ver.-"). The photocard came upside down.
Here are the front sides of the albums with all the wrapping removed.
Here are the backsides of the albums with all the wrapping removed. I like how dramatic these look, with the almost black background from the booklet.
And after all the wrapping has been removed, this is how the member edition jewel cases look inside of the storage box.
Here is a closer look at the sides of the jewel cases. They are all the same except the product number at the top of the spine. I was hoping for a more unique design tailored to each member, like with the YES. albums, but it is what it is.
Each commemorative member edition album comes with 1 photocard of that member (meaning it is not random, and whichever member edition you have, it's that member's photocard that will be included). These photocards are exclusively from the all-black photoshoot, and these images are different from the photocards included in the limited edition or commemorative member edition.
The back of the photocard is light blue, like the limited edition, has the member's name printed in the center, and has the product number printed at the bottom. All the photocards have a matte finish.
Here is my Japanese Golden Child collection on display. My lone 2018 1st Japan Fan Meeting DVD finally has some company^^ And here you can see that the member editions are thinner than the regular edition.
Overall, I'm so happy that Golden Child has officially debuted in Japan! Even though they were unable to actually promote in Japan, it's nice that they held quite a few online events, including the showcase. And the recognition they have been getting with this release has been amazing! As for the albums themselves, it is pretty much what I had expected for a Japanese release by Woollim (jewel case packaging, member versions with the only difference being the CD-R). I really do like the preorder benefits that each store has for these CDs, which made it much more enticing to get all 12 versions. This concept and song are quite different from anything that Golden Child has tried before, so I'm curious how their future Japanese releases will be as well!
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