“Nice to meet you~!” As they spoke that, they came into the studio, full of energy and enthusiasm. They are KARA! Like angels on the dance floor, they dazzled us with their sparkling aura. In Korea, they are unrivalled top stars. In Japan, they accomplished a successful debut in 2010. To them, it had been a year of much further progress and a significant leap forward.
It started on around winter 2009, when KARA’s name became known in Japan. Comedian Gekidan Hitori declared that he was a KARA fan on various television programs. That sparked the topic, “Who is KARA?”
Jiyoung: “Thanks to Gekidan Hitori-san, many people were already interested about us even before we came to Japan. To us, Gekidan Hitori-san is someone that we thank a whole lot. Even now, he still comes to have fun at our events, giving us encouragement and support.”
With this boost, the official Japanese fanclub, “KAMILIA JAPAN”, was formed in March 2010. In August, an existing song, “Mister”, was sung in Japanese and released as their first single, thus beginning their full-blown embarkation into the Japanese market.
In Korea, many of the songs they released are of the cute variety, like “Honey” and “Pretty Girl”. But among them, they daringly chose “Mister”. What was the reason for that?
Gyulee: “We felt that for our first step in Japan, we wanted to do something that made an impact, and in ‘Mister’, there is a catchy choreography called the Hip Dance. Also, we thought that this song could show off our unique color and appeal to our fans, thus we wanted to try our luck with it.”
The Hip Dance is KARA’s signature dance; it involves shaking the butt and it received a huge amount of love from the fans.
When the interlude of the song plays, the butt shaking starts – this is apparently very popular among Japanese girls who love all things cute.
On variety programs, many artists like Becky and Neptune’s (a comedy group) Harada Taizo had imitated the Hip Dance as well, catapulting the girls to fame and spreading the name “KARA” all over the country.
Kim YoungHyun-shi has been KARA’s choreographer every since their debut. “If you start casually shaking your butt, naturally, you will be able to do it,” he said, making the Hip Dance to be a product of chance.
Hara: “When we first started practicing, we were using muscles that we had never tried using before, and we had yet to get the hang of the dance. Because of that, we had an intense pain in our hips every single day. We had to dance with a plaster pasted on our hips. However, in the midst of all that dancing, we gradually got used to it. And now, no matter how many times we dance it in a day, it is not a problem to us!”
Nicole: “The point of the Hip Dance is to dance while making the best use of the small of your back and the curves of your body. When you dance with your back straight, you will look really pretty.”
With that, the members began to describe Nicole, who taught us those tips just now. “In KARA, she’s the quickest to learn all the dances.”
Nicole: “They said that I have dance sense? For me, I think that around half of what I achieved is a result of my hard work and effort.”
By the way, we asked the other members about their own dancing too. For Gyulee, it was “Half each, for effort and sense.” For Seungyeon, “100% pure effort”. And for Hara, “Half of it is vigor, half of it is effort.”
“I don’t really know myself,” said Jiyoung. And in response to that, Gyulee jokingly said, “When it comes to dancing, whether that girl could do it is 100% based on luck!”
Ever since their Japanese debut, KARA had appeared on numerous music programs. In particular, “Music Station” (TV Asashi) left us a deep impression.
It was the first time a Korean girl group appeared on that show.
Nicole: In my conversation with Tamori-san, I explained about the Hip Dance. As it was a live broadcast, I could not falter. It was really nerve wrecking. Before I came onto the set, I confirmed the explanation over and over again on my own. I wonder if the real thing went well?
KARA was in great demand for variety programs. The reason for the never-ending offers from various TV stations was not only because of their adorable looks and dancing, but also, the fact that they can speak Japanese, and this had become their greatest weapon. Even in this interview, they managed to catch most of the questions asked in Japanese.
Seungyeon: “Our Japanese skills still have a long way to go… As Gyulee and I have liked Japanese dramas and anime for a very long time, we know quite a bit of Japanese. However, it was only around 2 months before our debut that we started our full-fledged Japanese study with all the members. Every time we got invited to appear on TV, we would think, ‘We must study Japanese more!’”
In Korean variety shows, they showcased their sharpened talking skills and their “body-crashing spirit”.
In Japan, appearing on “Shabekuri 007” (NTV) actually meant performing alongside with experienced comedians, and in “Tokyo Friend Park II” (TBS), they took on the challenge of physically stimulating games.
Was their earnestness the factor that resonated among so many people? KARA themselves analyzed the reasons why they could receive so much love in a foreign land.
Seungyeon: “Although we have the feeling that we are popular in Japan too, to be honest, we never once dreamed that we could receive so much love, like what we are receiving now. I thought that normally, people would only praise us for working very hard.”
Hara: “Our charms lie in the fact that we are neither pompous nor showy. In Japan, we show our real selves too, and I guess that’s why people like us.”
Lastly, we heard the girls out on the kind of presence they want to create in Japan.
Gyulee: “The idols close to your heart. In Korea, that’s how we are too; we want to create a sense of familiarity, just like a bunch of younger girls that live next door.
Already, KARA had become known to many people of a wide age range. In November, their Japanese second single “Jumping” debuted at fifth place atop the Oricon Weekly Ranking.
Of course, they would bring in an altered version of the Hip Dance. Though the form that it appears in is different, the girls talked about bringing in the prevalent Hip Dance this time round.
Jiyoung: “The sexy-to-cute ratio of ‘Mister’ is around 7-to-3. However, the appeal of ‘Jumping’ lies in its mature and powerful vibe. I think there are many easy-to-imitate choreography in the dance too.”
Gyulee: “For this song, we are singing about wistful romance. There are ‘Jumps’ at the high points of the song; we ‘Jump’ in order to get back the time we lost. The dynamic and vibrant choreography that follows this explanation is the main feature of the song.
Translated by: cherrims @ KH
Nicole! sweet heart <33
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