Mister (song)

Background

The song was originally from the group's second Korean album Revolution. The group performed this song as a part of their comeback stage special alongside Revolution's lead single, "Wanna", starting on July 31, 2009, beginning with KBS's Music Bank then onto MBC'sShow! Music Core and finally on SBS's Inkigayo. After wrapping up their comeback stages to begin promotions for their second full-length Korean album, the song proved to be popular with the viewers due to its addicting "butt dance" that is featured prominently in the choreography; helping the group's Revolution album to perform well on various music charts prompting the group to promote the song more on music programs rather than the actual lead single, "Wanna". Due to the overwhelming response that "Mister" received, the group's overall popularity in South Korea increased, with numerous advertisement requests coming in for the group as they had more advertisements in October 2009 than the previous two years.

On May 8, 2010, it was announced at a press conference in Akasaka that the group would be making their long-awaited Japanese debut with a Japanese version of the song during summer. On July 15, 2010, Universal Music Japan released the promotional video teaser of "Mister" stating that their single will be released on August 11, 2010. Upon release, their Japanese debut single ranked #5 in the Oricon daily chart. The group held a surprise performance at Shibuya109 in Tokyo on the same day. Although the event was not officially announced, 3,000 fans who heard the news immediately gathered to watch the group perform. As there was a greater number of people who arrived than expected, their Japanese label, Universal Sigma, had to suspend the concert in 3 minutes when it was supposed to last 30, because the location of the concert was a famous traffic area in Tokyo, and the massive gathering of the crowd could be dangerous for the people's safety. Multiple Japanese news media, including Sankei Sports, has reported this unbelievable event, and confirmed the group's successful debut in Japan.

Composition

It is the Japanese version of "미스터" ("Mr.") from the group's second Korean full-length album, Revolution. The song is about a girl who has a crush on someone, but is too shy to approach him. Because she doesn't know the person very well, she refers him as "Mr." The musical arrangement of the song is slightly altered and the members sing in a much higher pitch during the verses as opposed to the Korean version. The lyrics begin:

The B-side, "Umbrella", is originally from the group's third mini-album, Lupin. The musical arrangement and the lyrics has also been slightly altered. Like for example, the beginning of the song is much more different than the Korean version. However, during the bridge of the song the members can be heard rapping/talking in Korean language.

Music video

On June 19, 2010, it was confirmed by an official from the music video set that they were in the process of filming a promotional video for the song. A teaser was revealed on June 14. The full video premiered on July 27, 2010. The girls can be seen in various sets, including a basketball court scene and in the military base, sporting their usual sexy outfits to match with those seen on the single's album covers. They are also seen wearing military outfits during the military base scene. It was the group's first ever and only music video of the song.

The music video has since been uploaded on DSP Media's YouTube channel on March 6, 2011.

Live performances

The group performed a short version of the song as a part of their comeback stage special alongside Revolution's lead single, "Wanna", starting on July 31, 2009, beginning with KBS's Music Bank then onto MBC'sShow! Music Core and finally on SBS's Inkigayo. The group eventually filmed a live performance of the whole song on August 19, 2009 at MBC'sShow! Music Core. Afterwards, the group began promoting the song more on other music programs due to the song's sudden rise of popularity for its popular "butt dance" choreography.

The group made their Japanese debut with the single and had their first live performance on TV Asahi's program "Music Station" for the first time on October 15, 2010, showing off the popular "butt dance" to the Japanese audience.

In 2011, the group also performed the song as a part of a medley with "Jet Coaster Love" during the 62nd Kōhaku Uta Gassen. They opened the second half of the show wearing red attires.

Cultural impact

The song's popular "butt-dance" has been featured on various TV programs and other media outlets in Japan. A parody of it was featured on the popular anime series Naruto Spin-off: Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals - Episode 6 and Doraemon, and on the live action series Kamen Rider Fourze - Episode 3. The song is featured in the international music game, DJ Max Technika 3; both on arcade and PlayStation Vita releases. The song was also included on the Japanese release of the Nintendo Wii video game Just Dance and on the K-pop Dance Festival which is the Korean version of the Just Dance made by SKONEC.

Many well-known celebrities and actors in Japan have also shown their fondness for the song's dance. Jun Matsumoto, member of popular Japanese boyband Arashi, also attempted to dance to the song during the April 16 episode of his group's variety show Arashi Ni Shiyagare. Child actress Mana Ashida also considers herself a fan of the group and had performed the dance during her March 28 appearance on Shabekuri 007. She was later given a surprise visit by the KARA members during her 7th birthday.

Figure dolls based upon the group wearing the attire they wore during promotions for the single were eventually released on March 2012 in South Korea and Japan. This also made them the first South Korean idol girl group to launch their own toy-brand based upon themselves.

A K-Pop rookie group produced by JM Entertainment, called "Nom", consists of a five-male group, helps popularizing the song as one of their performances on their mall shows in the Philippines. Also, an insight for the boy group who made this choreography has also been featured on the Japan's TV program called Star Cam.

Accolades

In 2011, USEN revealed that Mister ranked #18 for the year, based on hit song rankings, song requests, and broadcasts. Japan's Karaoke charts also ranked Mister #1 for the months of November and December, revealing Kara's popularity potential in Japan in the coming year.

On October 31, 2013, the song was revealed to have made the most profit from royalties and copyright revenue back in 2012 by the Ministry of Culture despite being released back in 2009. These profits come from not only downloads domestically and internationally, but fees received when songs are used for licensing in events such as karaoke joints. The song was revealed to have made approximately 362 million won (341,000 USD). The song was followed by Korean girl group Girls' Generation's "Gee", also released in 2009, which earned approximately 359 million won (338,000 USD).

Chart performance

Upon release, the group's debut single exceeded expectations as it ranked #5 in the Oricon daily chart. "Mister" was ranked #1 on Japan iTunes as most downloaded video and song. On August 17, 2010 it was announced by Oricon Style that Kara’s single debut album "Mister" ranked #5 in the weekly singles making them the first ever Korean girl group to do so. Oricon Style reported the girls’ success as, “First time in 29 years and 8 months since a foreign girl group has entered the top 10 with their debut album.”

The song was certified Platinum by the RIAJ for cellphone digital downloads.