Kobukuro Reveals New MV for "Sotsugyou" Featuring SANA from TWICE

In March 2020, many students were not able to have a traditional graduation ceremony due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. That month, pop duo Kobukuro released their 31st single Sotsugyou ("Graduation"), and, in an effort to have the song reach more students, they invited TikTok users to send in videos with memories from their school days, which were then featured in the MV for the song.

This year, as graduation time nears again, SANA, one of the Japanese members of K-pop group TWICE, starred in a special new version of the MV for Sotsugyou, which was revealed on YouTube earlier this month. The MV shows a different take on the song. Rather than the lively, comical antics of current students, it highlights the emotions of adults looking back fondly their school days from a more mature perspective.

This MV was actually the first by a Japanese artist SANA has participated in since her debut. The collaboration came about because both she and Kobukuro hail from Osaka, and she actually spent her school days listening to Kobukuro's popular songs with her friends and family. While SANA has since moved to South Korea to pursue her activities with TWICE, the MV shows SANA in front of an LED screen showing images of Osaka, which gradually transition to images of trees loaded with cherry blossoms and images of South Korea, capturing her fond memories of her hometown and her hopeful outlook as she moves towards the future.

To help share the full meaning behind the song with fans around the world, English and Korean subtitles have also been added to the new music video. They can be enabled by turning on captions.

Links to download and stream Sotsugyou on many popular digital platforms are available here.

Watch the new MV for Sotsugyou featuring SANA and the original music video below: