I know, I know, weird title. Believe me, everyone in the fandom was like, "wth is up with this title?!" And then it turned out that in the lyrics, chicken = coward and Line = the social media platform that is super popular in Japan. Chicken Line therefore, refers to someone who is a coward by confessing their love through Line rather than in person. Now that that's out of the way, hey - this is the second time I'm reviewing a single for SKE! To be honest, SKE has just lost a number of key members that I was too busy watching their line-up changes and trying to figure out where the group would go from here (especially since they lost one of their center girls, Matsui Rena). To no one's surprise, Jurina Matsui was given a solo center for the first single after Rena's graduation, but to some surprise, Goto Rara and Kitagawa Ryoha were chosen as supporting centers.
Chicken Line is a single that marks a new era in the group. It's clear from this single that the group is in a transitional period and that it's really pushing for the newer generation to take the lead. Matsui Jurina is still very young and will likely stick around for a few more years (or more!), but I definitely get the feeling that she'll be retiring from the center position sooner rather than later, in order to allow the group to grow with new aces at the forefront. The loss of Matsui Rena was a big change, but one that SKE handled well throughout this single.
