page_title: Kara (South Korean group)
section_title: 2010: Lupin, Japanese debut, and Girl's Talk
hierarchical_section_title: Kara (South Korean group) / History / 2010: Lupin, Japanese debut, and Girl's Talk
context_page_description: Kara was a South Korean pop girl group formed by DSP Media in 2007. The group's final lineup was composed of Park Gyuri, Han Seungyeon, Goo Hara and Heo Youngji. Members Nicole Jung and Kang Ji-young officially departed from the group in 2014, while Kim Sung-hee left in 2008.
  The group originally started off as a quartet and made their debut in March 2007 with their first studio album The First Blooming and its single "Break It" while displaying a strong female image and a mature R&B sound. Expectations for the group were big because they were considered as successors to their senior labelmate, Fin.K.L. However, their debut was not well received by the public and was a commercial failure. The following year, Kim Sung-hee departed the group due to parental pressure, and members Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung were brought in. After their addition, the group also changed their musical style and their image to the "pretty but natural" appeal, releasing their first mini-album, Rock U in July 2008. They achieved their first number one song with "Honey".
context_section_description: After a short hiatus, DSP released two teaser photos of the group's comeback concept on February 9, 2010. The photos garnered a lot of interest because compared to their past album concepts, the new photos showed the members in dark outfits and smokey makeup that elicited a darker, more mature, and sexier feel. The next day, the album jacket was unveiled with a "Stealer" concept as well as the title track named "Lupin", which became number one on several online music charts shortly after release. The teaser video was released on February 12 on Naver; the EP, Lupin, followed on February 17. The music video was released on February 22, garnering more than 90,000 views in the first 2 hours. The group began their broadcasting comeback starting on M! Countdown on February 25, 2010.
  On March 4, 2010, the group won their first number one award for "Lupin" on M! Countdown. On the following week, the group won yet another award on M! Countdown, making it their second consecutive win on the music program. "Lupin" also gave the group their first number one win on Music Bank on March 12, 2010, making it the group's first win on this particular music show since their debut, holding onto the position for three consecutive weeks.  The song also won the Mutizen award from Inkigayo on March 14.
  In March 2010, it was announced that the group will participate in the 8th Annual Korean Music Festival to be held at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, with member Jung Nicole as host. Afterwards, the group became very active in Japan, holding showcases and hand shake events as preparation for their official Japanese debut. The group was featured in a video message for a show called Arashi no Shukudai-kun, hosted by Japanese idol group Arashi. The group then held fan meetings on May 8 with more than 8,000 fans at Japan's Grand Prince Hotel. In addition, the group had an official Japan fan club meeting with 3,000 fans at Yokohama's Minato Mirai Hall on May 9. The group later on signed with Universal Music Japan's subsidiary label, Universal Sigma. On August 11, the group released their debut single, the Japanese remake of their Korean song, "Mister". The single ranked in various music charts and proved to be very popular in Japan.  Following the release, the single exceeded expectations as it charted at number five on Oricon's Daily Singles Chart with debut sales of 29,238 copies. The song eventually became the most downloaded song of all time by a Korean artist in Japan, with downloads exceeding 2 million as of March 2012.
  The group later on released their second single entitled "Jumping" on November 10, 2010. The song quickly climbed up on many charts including mobile downloads, and debuted at number 5 on the Daily Singles Chart of Oricon. It eventually rose to number 2, only behind Arashi. The single peaked at number 5 on Oricon's Weekly Singles Chart with debut sales of 54,977.
  On September 29, 2010, the group released their compilation album, Kara Best 2007-2010. The album is a compilation of their selected Korean tracks. It ranked number two on the Oricon Daily Albums Chart on the first day of release, selling 18,223 copies. It was announced on November 3, 2010 that the album was certified gold by the RIAJ, making the group the first ever Korean group since the 1990s to release an all-Korean album that was able break the 100 thousand copies barrier in Japan. It was eventually certified platinum with shipments exceeding 250,000 copies.
  On October 23, 2010, the band represented Korea and performed at the 7th annual Asia Song Festival, organized by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.
  Their debut Japanese album, Girl's Talk, was released on November 24, 2010. It sold 107,000 copies in its first week and ranked number 2 in the Oricon Weekly Album Chart, making this the first album by a non-Japanese girl group in Japan in 6 years and 9 months to sell more than 100,000 albums in its first week. The album was certified double platinum by the RIAJ on November 18, 2011 with sales exceeding half a million in J
caption: Kara in 2010
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