Happy Surprise

The release of the single was announced directly by the members during an Instagram Live broadcast held on the night of October 6, 2022, to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the group's formation.^[3] The announcement, proposed by Ryusei Onishi, was presented to fans as a "happy surprise." The single was released in multiple editions: Limited Edition 1 (CD+DVD/Blu-ray), Limited Edition 2 (CD+DVD/Blu-ray), and a regular edition.^[4] The single was released in multiple editions: Limited Edition 1 (CD+DVD/Blu-ray), Limited Edition 2 (CD+DVD/Blu-ray), and a Regular Edition.^[2]

“Happy Surprise” is the group's first winter-themed song.^[5] It is a sparkling, fast-paced love song with a catchy melody that leaves a lasting impression.^[2] Ryusei Onishi described it as “a lively, playful song that feels very much like us.”^[3] Following the Instagram Live announcement, a recording video was quickly released on the group's YouTube channel.^[4] Daigo Nishihata also noted that the choreography at the end of the chorus—where members mime zipping their mouths during the “Happy Surprise” line—is a cute and easy-to-follow highlight for fans.^[5]

The “Official Music Video (YouTube ver.)” premiered on YouTube on October 27 at 19:28 JST.^[6] Although the song features winter-themed lyrics, the video uniquely depicts falling flower petals instead of snow until the final moments.^[7] Fans praised the song as a “classic sparkling idol track,” highlighting both the members’ visuals and its traditional idol-style winter theme.^[8] Additional versions such as the “Dance ver.” and “YouTube Original LIP ver.” were also released, and by November 26, the combined views of all versions had surpassed 10 million.^[7]

The coupling track “#MerryChristmas” (pronounced “Hash Merry Christmas”)—marketed as “a new standard Christmas song for the Reiwa era”^[9]—served as the commercial song for Lawson’s Christmas campaign, in which the group also appeared.^[10] Its music video, released on November 7,^[11] reached nearly 3.5 million views in less than a month.^[9] The song and its making footage were included in Limited Edition 2. In addition, behind-the-scenes footage of the MV production was featured in the Fuji TV documentary program Ride On Time, which aired on November 18.^[12]

The single recorded first-week sales of 516,000 copies and debuted at number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart dated November 22, 2022.^[13][14] Following their debut single Ubu Love and second single The Answer / Sachiare, this marked the first time in Oricon history that an artist’s first three singles each exceeded 500,000 copies in first-week sales.^[13]

On Billboard Japan, the single sold 517,381 copies in its first week and reached number one on the Top Singles Sales chart dated November 23, 2022.^[15]

The single was later certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).^[16]

Credits adapted from Tower Records Japan.^[1][17][18]