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DOWN TOWN / Ganbarenai yo (DOWN TOWN/がんばれないよ; DOWN TOWN / I Can't Keep Trying) is Juice=Juice's 14th single. It was released on April 28, 2021 in six editions: two regular and four limited. The first press of the two regular editions includes a random trading card of 8 kinds depending on the jacket (16 in total), while the limited SP editions include an event lottery card.[1]

"DOWN TOWN" is a cover of the 1975 song of same title by the band SUGAR BABE. A 7-inch LP vinyl record of the cover will be released on December 6, 2023.[2]

This is the debut single of Inoue Rei, who joined the group in April 2020. The single was originally scheduled to be released on March 24, but due to Takagi Sayuki's departure, the release date was postponed to April 28.[3]

A digital-exclusive special edition of the single was released in the same day as the CD release including the solo versions of "Ganbarenai yo".[4]

Tracklist[]

CD[]

  1. DOWN TOWN
  2. Ganbarenai yo
  3. DOWN TOWN (Instrumental)
  4. Ganbarenai yo (Instrumental)

Limited Edition A DVD[]

  1. DOWN TOWN (Music Video)
  2. DOWN TOWN (MV Satsuei Making) (MV撮影メイキング; Making of the MV Shooting)

Limited Edition B DVD[]

  1. Ganbarenai yo (Music Video)
  2. Ganbarenai yo (MV Satsuei Making)

Limited Edition SP1 DVD[]

  1. Ganbarenai yo (Kanazawa Tomoko Solo Ver.)
  2. Ganbarenai yo (Uemura Akari Solo Ver.)
  3. Ganbarenai yo (Inaba Manaka Solo Ver.)
  4. Ganbarenai yo (Inoue Rei Solo Ver.)
  5. Ganbarenai yo (Dambara Ruru Solo Ver.)
  6. Ganbarenai yo (Kudo Yume Solo Ver.)
  7. Ganbarenai yo (Matsunaga Riai Solo Ver.)

Limited Edition SP2 DVD[]

  1. DOWN TOWN (Dance Shot Ver.)
  2. "Hitori de Ikiraresou" tte Sore tte Nee, Homete Iru no? 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 (「井上玲音がJuice=Juiceの歌を・・・」シリーズ; "Inoue Rei Sings Juice=Juice..." Series) - Inoue Rei × Taisei
  3. Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei
  4. Potsuri to 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Kanazawa Tomoko
  5. Sunao ni Amaete 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Uemura Akari
  6. CHOICE & CHANCE 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Takagi Sayuki
  7. Romance no Tochuu 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Miyamoto Karin
  8. Bitansan 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Inaba Manaka
  9. Suki tte Itte yo 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Dambara Ruru
  10. Naite Ii yo 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】 - Inoue Rei × Kudo Yume・Matsunaga Riai

Digital-Exclusive Special Edition[]

  1. DOWN TOWN
  2. Ganbarenai yo
  3. Ganbarenai yo (Kanazawa Tomoko Solo Ver.)
  4. Ganbarenai yo (Uemura Akari Solo Ver.)
  5. Ganbarenai yo (Inaba Manaka Solo Ver.)
  6. Ganbarenai yo (Inoue Rei Solo Ver.)
  7. Ganbarenai yo (Dambara Ruru Solo Ver.)
  8. Ganbarenai yo (Kudo Yume Solo Ver.)
  9. Ganbarenai yo (Matsunaga Riai Solo Ver.)

LP Record[]

Side A[]

  1. DOWN TOWN

Side B[]

  1. DOWN TOWN (Instrumental)

Featured Members[]

JuiceJuice-DOWNTOWN-promo2

Juice=Juice promoting "DOWN TOWN"

JuiceJuice-DOWNTOWN-promo3

Juice=Juice promoting "DOWN TOWN"

JuiceJuice-Ganbarenaiyo-promo

Juice=Juice promoting "Ganbarenai yo"

Single Information[]

DOWN TOWN
  • Lyrics: Ito Ginji
  • Composition: Yamashita Tatsuro
  • Arrangement, All Instruments & Background Vocal: Anders Dannvik
  • Track Produced by Shusui
  • Chorus: Juice=Juice
  • Voice Percussion: Inoue Rei
  • Dance Choreography: Yamashiro Yoko[5]
  • Music Video: ZUMI
Ganbarenai yo
  • Lyrics: Yamazaki Aoi
  • Composition, Arrangement, Other Instruments & Programming: KOUGA
  • Drums: Takao Toshiyuki
  • Bass: Nakagawa Ryou
  • Guitar: Kikuchi Masayoshi
  • Chorus: Miyahara Hitomi
  • Dance Choreography: Yamashiro Yoko[5]
  • Music Video: Imamura Shigeru

Performances[]

TV Performances[]

DOWN TOWN
  • [2021.03.21] Special Plus! precious STAGE ~Juice=Juice~[6]
  • [2021.05.06] Hiru Song![7]
  • [2021.05.10] Premium MelodiX![8]
  • [2021.05.18] Utacon[9]

Concert Performances[]

DOWN TOWN
Ganbarenai yo

Event Performances[]

Ganbarenai yo

Chart Positions[]

Oricon Chart Positions[]

Daily & Weekly Rankings
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Week Rank Sales
- 3
38,065
4 8 4 9 12 3 43,241
7 17 18 28 23 22 23 18 936
23 - - - - - - 47 392
- - - - - - - 84 236
- 24 - - - - - 46 849
- - - - - - - 144 130
Monthly Ranking
Year Month Month Rank Sales Ref
2021 April 6 43,241 [10]
Yearly Ranking
Year Year Rank Sales
2021 92 45,784

Total Reported Sales: 45,784

Weekly Combined Ranking
Week Rank Points
4 45,986

Total reported points: 45,986

Billboard Japan Top Single Sales[]

Week Rank Sales Ref
2 65,498 [11]
16 930 [12]
47 397 [13]
92 N/A [14]
40 1,122 [15]

Total Reported Sales: 67,947*

Other Chart Rankings[]

Country Chart Highest
Position
Ref
Flag of Japan.svg Japan Billboard Japan Single Sales (First Three Days) 2
(61,988)
[16]
"DOWN TOWN" only
Billboard Japan Hot 100 8 [17]
Billboard Japan Top Download Songs 39 [18]
"Ganbarenai yo" only
Billboard Japan Top Download Songs 28 [18]

Trivia[]

JuiceJuice-DOWNTOWN-promo

Juice=Juice promoting "DOWN TOWN" with Takagi Sayuki

JuiceJuice-December2020

Juice=Juice promoting "Ganbarenai yo" with Takagi Sayuki

  • Takagi Sayuki was originally included in this single, but due to her departure on February 12, 2021, the single was remade and her parts in both songs were replaced by other members.
  • The "Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." series, featured in the Limited Edition SP2 DVD, is a series of videos of Inoue Rei covering Juice=Juice songs uploaded to the group's YouTube channel starting in May 2020.[19] Out of the videos featured in the DVD, only the "Naite Ii yo" cover featuring Kudo Yume and Matsunaga Riai was previously unpublished onto YouTube.
  • "DOWN TOWN" and "Ganbarenai yo" are the first Hello! Project music videos uploaded to YouTube with the UP-FRONT WORKS logo embedded in the corner, and with closed captioning instead of embedded subtitles.
  • The instrumental used for the solo versions of "Ganbarenai yo" have a piano arrangement and is different from the single version.
  • A Blu-ray of the release commemorative special mini-live of the single was available to pre-order for Hello! Project fanclub members from July 1 to July 28, 2021, and for UP-FRONT WORKS Web Store pre-orders from July 15 to August 9, with delivery scheduled to late September 2021. It was released on general sale on October 13, 2021.
  • Juice=Juice's "Ganbarenai yo", Tanpopo's "Seinaru Kane ga Hibiku Yoru" (1999) and ℃-ute's "Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku" (2012) are the only Hello! Project songs to have official solo versions sung by each member on a main release. However, the other two songs are simply solo recordings layered on top of the main instrumental, rather than the "Ganbarenai yo" case of different instrumentals with varying pitches.
    • Buono!'s "Hatsukoi Cider" also has solo versions, however they were only included on the Buono! COMPLETE CD box set in 2017, and was only made available at the time of the initial release through the solo ver music videos included in Hatsukoi Cider's Single V.

Videos[]

DOWN TOWN (MV) (Promotion Edit)
Ganbarenai yo (MV) (Promotion Edit)

"Hitori de Ikiraresou" tte Sore tte Nee, Homete Iru no? 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Potsuri to 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Sunao ni Amaete 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
CHOICE & CHANCE 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Romance no Tochuu 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Bitansan 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Suki tte Itte yo 【"Inoue Rei ga Juice=Juice no Uta wo..." Series】
Ganbarenai yo (Juice=Juice Solo mix Ver.)

References[]

  1. "Juice=Juice、両A面シングル「がんばれないよ / DOWN TOWN」をリリース" (in Japanese). natalie. 2021-01-11.
  2. "Juice=Juice|名曲カバー3タイトル『DOWN TOWN』『プラスティック・ラブ』『FUNKY FLUSHIN'』の7inchアナログ盤が12月6日発売" (in Japanese). TOWER RECORDS ONLINE. 2023-10-11.
  3. "Juice=Juice『DOWN TOWN/がんばれないよ』発売日変更のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project. 2021-02-15.
  4. "Juice=Juice「DOWN TOWN/がんばれないよ(Special Edition)」配信スタート!" (in Japanese). UP-FRONT WORKS. 2021-04-28.
  5. 5.0 5.1 https://high-energy.jp/2021/04/28/juicejuice-24/
  6. "Juice=JuiceのNEWシングル『DOWN TOWN/がんばれないよ』リリース記念!新曲の魅力たっぷりのライブパフォーマンスとインタビューを交えた撮り下ろし特別番組をオンエア!" (in Japanese). PR Times. 2021-03-12.
  7. "♪.ひるソン!OMAKE!anan! 金澤朋子" (in Japanese). Juice=Juice Official Blog. 2021-05-06.
  8. https://twitter.com/tver_official/status/1391955534547275782
  9. "NHK総合「うたコン」ありがとうございました!! DOWN TOWNを歌わせていただきました 久しぶりのうたコン嬉しかったです" (in Japanese). Dambara Ruru Official Instagram. 2021-05-18.
  10. https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/m/2021-04/
  11. http://www.billboard-japan.com/d_news/detail/99591/2
  12. http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=sales&year=2021&month=05&day=17
  13. http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=sales&year=2021&month=05&day=24
  14. http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=sales&year=2021&month=05&day=31
  15. http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=sales&year=2021&month=06&day=7
  16. "【先ヨミ】JO1『CHALLENGER』が23万枚で現在シングル1位<4/30修正>" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. 2021-04-30.
  17. http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=hot100&year=2021&month=05&day=10
  18. 18.0 18.1 http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=dlsongs&year=2021&month=05&day=10
  19. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs8AlpdTjgweHrq5pLmng_pbrbXJ3kqeW

External Links[]

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