Male group Big Bang has successfully differentiated themselves from many Korean artists debuting in Japan by relying on their raw talents alone. Consequently, many believe that the group is leading the new wave of male Hallyu stars because they have firmly established themselves as legitimate artists in Japan.
The group performed at the “Seoul Tokyo Music Festival” on November 3rd, held at the Saitama Super Arena. The festival was created to celebrate SBS’s 20th anniversary, and was a collaboration effort with Japan’s TBS.
Over 16,000 fans in their teens and 20’s gathered to see the performances by Korean artists, but Big Bang’s stage managed to garner the hottest response.
A representative of the festival verified Big Bang’s popularity by stating, “The ‘Seoul Tokyo Music Festival’ was very much like a personal ‘Big Bang Concert.‘” While other artists performed 2-3 tracks at most, Big Bang sang a total of five.
Their success can be seen in other areas as well.
Their ‘Big Show Big Bang Live Concert 2010‘ DVD sold 15,000 copies in the first week of its release, and ranked first in the weekly charts for music DVDs. Its predecessor, the ‘2009 Big Bang Live Concert Big Show‘ DVD, also achieved similar results. Additionally, the group’s first official photo book, ‘Big Bang Presents Electric Love Tour 2010,’ locked down a #1 position on Oricon’s photo book ranking.
When we consider their musical achievements, Big Bang’s debut single last year ranked third place on the ‘Oricon Daily Chart’, while their latest Japanese single, “Beautiful Hangover“, ranked at fifth place on the day of its release. Indeed, all of Big Bang’s Japanese releases landed in the ‘top five’ category.
Big Bang never received a rookie award in Korea, but received one in Japan on May 29th at Tokyo’s “MTV World Stage Video Music Awards Japan,” winning a total of three crowns.
A representative of their Japanese marketing team commented, “Big Bang have been promoting themselves not as Hallyu stars, but as artists. Their strength comes from their high quality, highly talented performances. They’ve never lived in Japan but consistently promoted for at least a week for each of their album releases. The response from their Japanese fans are so amazing, that even we’re surprised.”
Big Bang will be returning to Korea with their participation in “2010 YG Family Concert” on December 4th and 5th.
source: allkpop