Girls Forever

Girls Forever
Version C cover. From left to right : Jiyoung, Nicole, Gyuri, Seungyeon and Hara.
Studio album by Kara
Released	November 14, 2012 (2012-11-14)
Recorded	2012
Genre	J-pop dance-pop
Length	38:40 56:51 (with bonus tracks)
Language	Japanese
Label	Universal Sigma
Kara chronology
Kara Collection (2012) Girls Forever (2012) Kara Solo Collection (2012)
Singles from Girls Forever
"Speed Up" / "Girl's Power" Released: March 21, 2012 "Electric Boy" Released: October 17, 2012

Girls Forever (ガールズ フォーエバー, Gāruzu Fōebā) is the third Japanese studio album and sixth overall studio album release by South Korean girl group Kara on November 14, 2012, in four different editions.^[1][2]

Background

The album was announced by the group's Korean agency, DSP Media, on October 8, on Kara's official Japanese website with prices and first details about the release.^[3][4] It will be released in four editions: 3 limited editions, CD+DVD, CD+Photobook (28-pages) and a CD-Only First Press, plus a regular edition: CD-Only Normal Press. Every edition will come with a different jacket cover and different contests: the CD+DVD edition will come with the white jacket cover, a CD+Photobook with the black jacket cover, and both first and normal press CD only editions come with the grey jacket cover, including only the CD itself. All limited editions comes with five bonus tracks, 2012 versions of the songs "Jet Coaster Love", "Go Go Summer!" and "Winter Magic" and remastered versions of the songs "Mister" and "Jumping".

The album was also released in a special Deluxe edition on the Japanese iTunes Store, including the music videos of "Speed Up", "Girl's Power" and "Electric Boy". All limited editions comes with a special ticket to buy a special gift: limited A (CD+DVD edition) comes with a lottery ticket for their Tokyo Dome performance in 2013, limited B (CD+Photobook) comes with a special ticket for a special DVD with solo versions from the music video of "Electric Boy", one out of five different types. The buyer can choose one by ticket, pricing ¥2,000 every DVD. Limited C (CD only) comes with a special signed poster, one out of five different types.^[5] All editions will come with a lyric booklet.

Composition

The album is composed by fifteen tracks in total, ten tracks and five bonus tracks. The song "Speed Up" was written by Emyli and composed by Mohombi Moupondo, Ivar Linsinski, Ninos Hanna and Robert Hanna. Mohombi Moupondo is known for composing the song "Gara Gara Go!", of the group BIGBANG. "Girl's Power" was written by PA-NON and composed by Han Sang-won. "Electric Boy" was written by Line Krogholm, Shalamon Baskin, Mikko Tamminen, Faya and Emyli, who also composed the song (with exception of Faya and Emyli). "Orion" was written and composed by Simon Isogai, same composer and writer of the songs "Winter Magic" and "Ima, Okuritai 'Arigatō'". The bonus tracks are alternative and remix versions of the group's first five singles released: "Mister", "Jumpin'", from the group's debut Japanese album Girl's Talk, "Jet Coaster Love", "Go Go Summer!" and "Winter Magic", from the group's second Japanese album Super Girl. The 2012 version of "Go Go Summer!" was first released as a digital single on July 25, 2012^[6] and later added on the album Kara Collection, released on September 5, 2012.

Singles

Three songs from the album were released as singles. The first single is the double A-side single "Speed Up / Girl's Power", released on March 21, 2012.^[7] It is the first double A-side single of the group. The physical single ranked number two in Oricon's weekly singles chart with 99,236 copies sold in the first week,^[8] number two on Billboard Japan's Hot Singles sales and also ranked number five on the chart with the Limited Type B edition "Girl's Power / Speed Up".^[9] At the date, the single sold almost 159,000 copies and was certified Gold by RIAJ for the shipment of 100,000 copies of the single.^[10]

The second and final single of the album is the song "Electric Boy", released on October 17, 2012.^[11] The physical single debuted at number one in Oricon's daily singles chart with 28,604 copies sold on the first day^[12] and ranked second on the weekly chart, with 59,237 copies sold in the first week.^[13] It also ranked number one on Billboard Japan's Hot 100, being the first number one single of the group on the chart.^[14] The B-side, "Orion", was also included on the album. As of October, the single was certified Gold by RIAJ for the shipment of 100,000 copies.^[15]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on Oricon's daily chart with 28,724 copies sold on the first day.^[16] In its third day of release, the album charted at number one with 7,206 copies sold. It was the 66th best-selling album of 2012 in Japan, selling over 101,000 copies according to Oricon.^[17]

Track listing

All editions track listing^[1]^[18]^[19]^[20]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Speed Up (スピード アップ)"	Emyli	Mohombi, Ivar Lisinski, Ninos Hanna, Robert Hanna	3:21
2.	"Electric Boy (エレクトリックボーイ)"	Line Krogholm, Shalamon Baskin, Mikko Tamminen, Faya, Emyli	Line Krogholm, Shalamon Baskin	3:22
3.	"Gimme Gimme (ギミー ギミー)"	Natsumi Watanabe, Emyli	Emyli, Kohei Yokono, ArmySlick	4:12
4.	"Shake It Up (シェイク イット アップ)"	Reed Vertelney, Lindy Robbins, Litz	Reed Vertelney, Lindy Robbins, Litz	3:49
5.	"Kiss Me Tonight (キス ミー トゥナイト)"	Kenn Kato	Kim Jin-hwan	3:59
6.	"Orion (オリオン)"	Simon Isogai	Simon Isogai	5:36
7.	"Oops!"	Shihomi	Doublekick	4:00
8.	"Rock On (ロックオン)"	Ivar Lisinski, Robert Hanna, Ninos Hanna, Yui Kimura	Ivar Lisinski, Robert Hanna, Ninos Hanna, Yui Kimura	3:31
9.	"Innocent Girl (イノセントガール)"	Yu Shimoji, Emyli (Rap making)	SeoGy, Genie (Digz, inc)	2:58
10.	"Girl's Power (ガールズ パワー)"	PA-NON	Han Sang-won	3:57
Total length:				38:40

Limited editions bonus tracks^[1]^[18]^[19]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
11.	"Jet Coaster Love 2012 (ジェットコースターラブ 2012)"	Natsumi Watanabe, Yu Shimoji	Hwang Seong-je	3:39
12.	"Go Go Summer! 2012 (GO GO サマー! 2012)"	Yu Shimoji	Han Sang-won, Lee Sang-ho, Kimzart	3:23
13.	"Winter Magic 2012 (ウィンターマジック 2012)"	Simon Isogai	Simon Isogai	4:58
14.	"Jumping (ジャンピン)" (remastered)	Song Soo-yun, Natsumi Watanabe	Han Jae-ho, Kim Seung-soo	2:59
15.	"Mister (ミスター)" (remastered)	Song Soo-yun, Natsumi Watanabe, PA-NON	Han Jae-ho, Kim Seung-soo	3:13
Total length:				56:51

DVD (limited edition type A)^[21]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Electric Boy" (music video – close-up version)
2.	"Speed Up" (music video – another version)
3.	"Girl's Power" (music video – close-up version)
4.	"CM collection" (CMコレクション)
5.	"1st Japan Tour Karasia VTR making video" (off-shot movie)
6.	"Girls Forever jacket shoot making" (off-shot movie)

iTunes Japan deluxe edition videos^[22]

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Speed Up" (music video)
12.	"Girl's Power" (music video)
13.	"Electric Boy" (music video)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2012) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] 2 Japanese Top Albums (Billboard)[24] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[25] 66 Japanese Top Albums (Billboard)[26] 72

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[27]	Platinum	122,352[17]

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
Japan	November 14, 2012	CD, Digital download	Universal Sigma
Australia		Digital download[28]

References

1. "KARA – ガールズ フォーエバー(初回限定盤C) – UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
2. "ガールズ フォーエバー ＫＡＲＡのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon. October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
3. "3rdアルバム「ガールズ フォーエバー」発売決定！". 2012-10-08 (in Japanese). DSP Media. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
4. "KARA、韓国女性初の東京ドーム単独公演決定 11・14には3rdアルバムも" (in Japanese). Oricon. October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
5. "KARAニューアルバム「ガールズ フォーエバー」発売記念「スペシャルプレゼントキャンペーン」！！". 2012-11-13 (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan – KARA. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
6. "iTunes - ミュージック - KARA「GO GO サマー! 2012 - Single」". iTunes Store Japan (in Japanese). July 25, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
7. "KARA / スピード アップ / ガールズ パワー【初回限定盤C】【CD Maxi】【2012年3月21日発売】 / KARA / UNIVERSAL MUSIC STORE". 2012-02-28 (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan – KARA. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
8. "2012年03月19日～2012年03月25日のCDシングル週間ランキング (Oricon's Weekly chart for April 2, 2012)" (in Japanese). Oricon. March 27, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
9. "Billboard Japan - Hot Singles Sales for April 2, 2012" (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
10. ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2012年3月 [Record Association report: March 2012 Gold List and other approved work]. RIAJ (in Japanese). April 11, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
11. "KARA – エレクトリックボーイ(初回限定盤C) – UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. September 21, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
12. @hisaka2u (October 17, 2012). "ORICON STYLE編集長のTwitter 2012年10月17日の発言" (Tweet). Retrieved October 25, 2012 – via Twitter.
13. "2012年10月15日～2012年10月21日のCDシングル週間ランキング (Oricon's Weekly chart for October 29, 2012)" (in Japanese). Oricon. October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
14. "Billboard Japan - Japan Hot 100 for October 29, 2012" (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
15. ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2012年10月 [Record Association report: October 2012 Gold List and other approved work]. RIAJ (in Japanese). November 13, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
16. @hisaka2u (November 7, 2012). "11/6付デイリーSGランキング確定｡1位NMB48 259,984枚､2位THE SECOND form EXILE44,399枚､3位flumpool16,541枚､4位ゴールデン･イクシオン･ボンバー DT9,340枚､5位AKB48 8,568枚｡NMB約26万枚発進!" [Daily single rankings as of 11/6: 1. NMB48 - 259,984 copies sold 2. THE SECOND form EXILE - 44,399 copies sold 3. Flumpool - 16,541 copies sold 4. Golden Ixion Bomber DT - 9,340 copies sold 5. AKB48 - 8,568 copies sold Approximately 260,000 copies of NMB took off] (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2012 – via Twitter.
17. "Oricon Albums – 2012" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
18. "KARA – ガールズ フォーエバー(初回限定盤A) – UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
19. "KARA – ガールズ フォーエバー(初回限定盤B) – UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
20. "iTunes – ミュージック – KARA「ガールズ フォーエバー」". iTunes Store Japan (in Japanese). November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
21. "Amazon.co.jp： ガールズ フォーエバー(初回盤A)(ボーナストラック収録)(DVD付): 音楽" (in Japanese). October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
22. "iTunes – ミュージック – KARA「ガールズ フォーエバー (Deluxe Edition)」". iTunes Store (in Japanese). November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
23. "2012年11月12日～2012年11月18日のCDアルバム週間ランキング（2012年11月26日付）" (in Japanese). Oricon. November 21, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
24. "Top Albums 2012/11/26付け" (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. November 21, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
25. "Oricon Top 100 2012: Albums". JaME. December 30, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
26. "Yearly Albums / JAPAN Charts / Billboard JAPAN" (in Japanese). Billboard. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
27. "Japanese album certifications – Kara – Girls Forevver" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2012年11月 on the drop-down menu
28. "iTunes – Music – Girls Forever by KARA". iTunes Store Australia. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.