Tracklisting
1. Pocket (ポケット)
2. Ticket (チケット)
3. LIFE – LOVE CiRCLE
4. Pocket (Instrumental)
5. Ticket (Instrumental)

Pocket is Otsuka’s 16th overall single, and the first in the post-LOVE PiECE era. The title track was the CM song for music.jp during the month of November. It reached #5 on the charts, and stayed on the charts for a total of eleven weeks. It was released on the 7th of November, 2007.

 Pocket opens with the soft sound of a piano playing alongisde some strings. It creates a very calming atmosphere, and Otsuka’s vocals fit this style when they come in. Her voice sounds a bit different compared to the LOVE PiECE album, but I can’t really tell how. Maybe it’s just me. Either way, it fits the song well, and compliments the arrangement perfectly. After the first chorus, strings are added into the mix as well, and the guitar takes a more prominent role in the song. While I did enjoy the calmer atmosphere the beginning had, the fuller arrangement featured in the second half of the song certainly sounds great as well. A perfect choice for an a-side.

Ticket once again opens with a piano, this time with strings accompanying it, but it eventually leads into a much fuller arrangement with a more upbeat sound, featuring similar instruments to what were used in Pocket. Otsuka’s voice sounds great in the verse, with maybe a few shakes at the beginning, but they don’t seem to fit the chorus as well as they could, as they use the same key as the verse. It doesn’t sound as bad in the second chorus, but that could be after getting used to it from the first chorus. After the second chorus, there’s a rather enjoyable instrumental that has a heavy focus on the violin, followed by the final verse and a chorus that features less instruments for the first half before going back to normal, and closing with a short, three-second piano solo. It’s a nice contrast to Pocket as a whole.

Closing the single is LIFE – LOVE CiRCLE. It starts with a short guitar and drum-based solo, before Otsuka comes in with some rather prominent male back-up vocals, and a slight change in her voice. It sounds a bit deeper than it did in Ticket, which is good. However, there’s a lot of repetition in the lyrics in the song, and they sound a bit… Odd at this point, especially if you don’t know what they mean. It’s definitely the poppiest song on the single, and it wins points for that, but it’s definitely b-side material. Interesting note, I couldn’t for the life of me tell that this song was in total English. That’s sone bad Engrish right there.

Single Score
A-

Favorite Track
Pocket

This is a great single from Otsuka. While the second b-side could have been better, both Pocket and Ticket were very enjoyable, and they worked well next to each other through the use of similar instruments and a reminiscent sound despite the differences in tone. A great way to start this era. Hopefully she steers clear from excessive English or learns to speak it better, because as much as I love Otsuka, LOVE – LIFE CiRCLE was just a bad example of the language being used in the Japanese music scene. It’s still a good song, but you can just barely understand it. Anyway, it’s a great single.