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!

Golden Child Meet & Live Tour in USA: Stop 3 - Denver

We're already at stop number 3 for Golden Child's first US tour, this time in Denver (Boulder) on June 28, 2022! I blogged about tour logistics here, the San Jose stop here, and the LA stop here. I've only been to North American concerts on the coasts, so being in Colorado really made me realize that we are indeed embarking on a tour around the US, not just the usual California and New York stops.

The Colorado stop, which was in Boulder, was at Fox Theatre. This was in a very quaint part of town and the sidewalk was spacious enough to hold VVIP and VIP check-in, along with Snapshot ticket pickup, right in front of the venue.

My first time being #1 on this tour! Also today's theme was "Golden Air"~ I'm also wearing my navy Summer Breeze concert tee.

Here are my Snapshot tickets. The tickets are all generally the same from stop to stop, with the only difference being the city printed in the bottom right corner along with the color of that light blue box.

For the fansign, I had to get the white version of Pump It Up signed to match my hat~ 

This time the fansign order was Y, Bomin, Jibeom, Joochan, Seungmin, Jaehyun, Jangjun, and lastly Donghyun. For giving letters, they now had a table with the members' names where you can put your letters in the designated member sections. This is different from LA's boxes, so that staff can easily monitor that letters didn't have 3D gifts inside. The fansign was held just in front of the stage. As the members entered, they first walked down the stairs alongside the stage. Donghyun walked down first and went all the way to the end of the fansign table whereas Y was in the middle of the pack (and tripped coming down the stairs >.<) and chose the first seat. I never know how to approach conversations during fansigns, so they were generally very generic conversations...some memorable moments were Joochan and Jangjun complimenting my hat.

After the fansign, we went back outside of the venue and waited until we were brought back inside in queue order for soundcheck. This was an all standing venue with the barricade being almost against the stage, making front row very close and intimate! I initially chose just slightly left of the center, but throughout the concert we all shifted to the right a bit.

For soundcheck, the members sang "I Know" and the first half of "Milky Way".

And now onto the concert! Below is the setlist and I'll add any highlights. I'll only post a handful of pictures of the concert on my blog (I recorded the whole thing so screenshots of videos aren't great quality, and you can view some of my pictures on my Twitter thread here, and surely lots of others' fancams on SNS as well).

Setlist:

1. Intro VCR - same intro VCR as Play concert
2. Ra Pam Pam
3. Burn It
4. Ment
5. I Know
6. That Guy
7. Ment - Jaehyun said "Someone said 'thank you for coming' but no, thank YOU for coming." Jibeom said that Ness in the back were dancing to "That Guy" and he gave a thumbs up and looked so happy.
8. What Happened?
9. Pump It Up
10. VCR - condensed TV shows / commercials VCR from Play
11. Wannabe - Without You - One
12. Ment - Y sang an English song that he said he's liked since he was young. Then Joochan asked us, "What's your favorite song?" Then they performed impromptu "Genie". Next Seungmin sang Justin Bieber's "As Long As You Love Me". Then Joochan asked in Korean how do we like our steaks then Jangjun added, listing "rare, medium, well done" and to listen to the next song.
13. Oasis - When Joochan sang the first line, Jangjun posed to bring our attention to Joochan's "well done~" and smiled at their joke.
14. Bottom Of The Ocean - It finally happened! Donghyun took my phone and filmed himself singing. Afterwards Jibeom reached over but then went right over my phone to grab the one behind me. Then Jangjun grabbed both my phone and the phone of the person to the left of me! He filmed using both at the same time during his "Yeah~~~" before the last chorus.
15. Ment
16. Sea
17. Breathe
18. Ment - Jibeom said, "Goldenness my breathe". I really appreciate how hard he tried to convey his emotions in English! Then Jangjun said Goldenness were dancing well during "Sea" and that "I think you guys are better than Donghyun".
19. Crush
20. Ending VCR - same ending VCR as Play
21. - Encore - DamDaDi - I've said this before, but seriously when Joochan is front and center in a choreography, he stares you down if you're in the front and center! This was especially apparent in Denver throughout the concert, but wow was it especially powerful during "DamDaDi"!
22. Ending Ment - Jangjun expressed his worries that people around here wouldn't know Golcha, but seeing Goldenness here wiped away those worries. Jaehyun added on, "Jangjun said it first but when I arrived at the airport in Denver, I didn't expect this many people in this show."
23. Milky Way

Thank you sweet, precious Donghyun!

This is one of my most favorite videos! In other fancams you can see it clearly, he was just having so much fun on stage~

I didn't realize that Jaehyun looked at me! This was during his line in "Breathe"~ I honestly thought that the only time he looked at me was during the end of the Atlanta show, but it really started in Denver!

Joochan's consistent eye contact! And he stares into your soul for a long time!

Hehe hi Seungmin! This was during the group photo time~

During the final goodbyes, Bomin bent down to be eye level and thank my friend for coming!

After the concert, the staff cleared out the entire hall and had Snapshot ticket holders wait out in the foyer. This venue is quite small, so they had the maknae line in front of the stage and the hyung line at the back.

Here is my third set of Snapshots! Snapshots hadn't sold out by the time the session was being held, so you could still buy them online (they wouldn't accept payments onsite), but I somehow resisted and stuck with my original plan of 1 per member.

Here are some of my recollections from Snapshots (in the order I took them):

• Jibeom: He acknowledged my hat and then I said in Korean that he worked hard, then he replied back in Korean telling me to get home safely. Looking back, I had wanted to speak Korean to Jibeom because he felt more comfortable, but now I lowkey regret it because I couldn't really converse in Korean and I missed out on all the opportunities of hearing Jibeom speak in English >.<
• Jaehyun: Jaehyun said he liked my hat. Then I told him his Justin Bieber cover in LA was really good, and he replied, "Was it good? Next time it'll be One Direction."
• Y: He acknowledged my hat. After I chose my pose, he said "ET~~~"
• Jangjun: I pointed at the letters on his neck, and he emphasized, "It's not real! It's a sticker!"
• Bomin: I'll just type out the whole transcript because I am in love with our conversation^^

Bomin: Number 4, okay

Bomin: That is so cute. Like Pump It Up, right?

Me: Yah!

Bomin: Yah, it's really good.

Me: Thank you~

Bomin: *points to my tee* And is this from Summer Breeze concert?

Me: Yah! You noticed!

Bomin: Yah, I know that! Thank you, thank you so much~

It just made me really happy how Bomin is so personable in personalizing every conversation. And on top of that, he is so observant and attentive; my tee was so subtle that I had doubted anyone would know the significance yet he still noticed the logo.

One callout I had starting with Denver (because I hadn't done this in SJ or LA) and throughout the tour (excluding NY) is that the crowd - whether it's Goldenness or Kpop fans in these cities - was always super nice! I was worried about being dehydrated so I wanted to have a full bottle of water in between soundcheck and the concert, and every time the crowd let me leave front row and come back right to my same spot. I couldn't imagine this sweet gesture anywhere, and this act made me love our fandom even more^^

Overall, starting with Denver was when I felt like I had a really special concert experience! I finally started getting more comfortable (being an introvert who hasn't gone out in over 2 years, this tour was a huge step for me!) and really being in the moment rather than just standing there. Because of this, I was even more excited for the remainder of the tour!

Ordering My Golden Child RATA-TAT-TAT Albums from Universal Music and Goldenness Japan

Just 5 months after Golden Child's official Japanese debut with single A WOO!!, the group has come back with second Japanese single RATA-TAT-TAT as nine members! The physical RATA-TAT-TAT albums officially released on June 15, 2022, however the promotional schedule for this era was quite unexpected. Golden Child held their RATA-TAT-TAT showcase in Tokyo on April 30 and May 1, and for a very limited time during this weekend you could order the Universal Music Japan member versions for a chance at winning some in-person events at the showcase. The music video was released at midnight on May 11 JST, and album sales again opened on May 17 at 6PM JST.

There are a total of 20 different versions for this single:

• Universal Music Japan (UMJ) First Press Limited Edition
• UMJ First Press Regular Edition
• UMJ Member Edition (9 versions)
• Fanclub (FC) Member Edition (9 versions)

There are also preorder benefits on a first come first serve basis:

• UMJ Member Edition Set of 9: A5 member clear file set
• FC Member Edition Set of 9: A5 member clear file set (different from UMJ clear file set)
• UMJ Limited Edition, Regular Edition, or Member Edition (added to cart individually, not in the set of 9): random 1 of 9 member raw photos
• FC Member Edition (added to cart individually, not in the set of 9): random 1 of 9 showcase photos

Initially there wasn't clarity on if the UMJ and FC preorder benefits were the same or different, but on June 3 JST, UMJ tweeted a preview of all preorder benefits which indicated that the clear file sets are different, the UMJ member raw photos are from the racer shoot, and the FC photos are live, in-action OT9 group photos from the showcase.

At first, UMJ was the only official online store to sell this single, but later on Makestar held 3 1:1 video call rounds offering the UMJ Regular Edition and Member Editions (at first Round 1 had the FC versions, but then they switched it to the UMJ versions).

I ordered just after midnight on May 18th JST. UMJ had the listings for the First Press Limited Edition (¥2,750), First Press Regular Edition (¥1,430), each individual UMJ Member Edition (¥1,430), and the UMJ Member Edition Set of 9 (¥12,870). To order the FC versions, you can view the notice after signing into Goldenness Japan and then click the link, which takes you to a special page on UMJ. There, you can order each individual FC Member Edition (¥1,430) and the FC Member Edition Set of 9 (¥12,870). It was really convenient that I could play my FC items into my cart within the UMJ site, and order all 20 albums together. I wasn't sure about the preorder benefits at the time, and buying the member versions individually versus in a set, so I opted for buying the set versions. Shipping from UMJ is only domestically within Japan and was free.

I received an email from UMJ on June 14th at 5:37PM JST that my order has been shipped via Sagawa Express. My Japanese warehouse Blackship notified me that a package arrived on June 15th at 3:06PM JST with a photo of the box and another photo of the shipping label. I won't go on extensively about the package forwarding process (overall I recommend Blackship and will continue to use them!) but I consolidated my packages (I also had my Goldenness Japan membership and Rata-Tat-Tat commemorative goods), chose the carrier and fee limit and reviewed for any add-ons before filling out the simple customs form. 

Here are all 20 album versions of RATA-TAT-TAT along with my preorder benefits. The two raw photos that came as a POB from buying albums individually from UMJ came in one clear plastic sleeve, while each set of B5 clear files that came as a POB from buying each member edition set came in their own clear resealable bags. I'll have an unboxing blog soon~