''Pandora'' is the fifth extended play (EP) by South Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...

, released on August 22, 2012.

Background

On August 6, 2012, the title track of the album was revealed. The song was apparently leaked at KBS' radio show, 2FM Super Junior's "Kiss the Radio" on August 17. Following the leak, the group's representatives and the staff working for the show apologized on Twitter and posted a message on the radio community board. On August 7, 2012, the title was revealed by Kara's agency and explained its origin from

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. The concept of the album was to show the group's matured charms through a modern interpretation of ''

Pandora's Box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phys ...

''. Steward Ho for ''

M.net Mnet (acronym of Music Network) is a South Korean pay television music channel owned by CJ E&M, a division of CJ ENM, part of CJ Group. The CJ E&M Center Studio located in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul is the broadcast and recording centre of m ...

'' noted that the group were about to "ditch their younger image and look more like empowered women". Member

Nicole Jung Nicole Yongju Jung (born October 7, 1991), referred to as Nicole, is an American singer based in South Korea. She is a member of South Korean girl group Kara. In 2014, Jung left DSP Media and moved to B2M Entertainment to pursue her solo care ...

stated during the album's show case that the group aimed to display their "maturing feminism".

Composition

The EP contains four songs plus an instrumental version of the title track. The group worked with Han Jae-ho and Kim Seung-soo along with

Sweetune Sweetune () is a South Korean music producer team, originally consisting of Han Jae-ho and Kim Seung-soo, and now including nine other members. They have produced many hit songs and albums for Korean idols and Japanese idols, including Kara, Rainbo ...

, who produced most of the group's past material. The title track, "Pandora", is a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

dance track.

Promotion

The group held a showcase to promote the release of the ''Pandora'' EP at the Seoul Walkerhill Hotel on August 22. The event was streamed live at M.net Global's website. The group's agency also stated that the members are devoting themselves towards the promotion of the album in South Korea. The group began their weekly promotions for the album starting on KBS'

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show ''Music Bank'' by the Korean Broad ...

where they performed some of the album's songs including "Pandora" and "Miss U". A promotional truck that was entirely covered with the album's jacket cover traveled through various parts of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, including Gangnam, Hongdae,

Itaewon Itaewon (; IPA ) is multi-cultural commercial area located in Seoul, South Korea. it is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Seoul, known for its nightlife and trendy restaurants. Etymology The name Itaewon was originally derived from the n ...

and

Myeongdong Myeongdong () is a dong in Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea between Chungmu-ro, Eulji-ro, and Namdaemun-ro. It covers 0.99km² with a population of 3,409 and is mostly a commercial area, being one of Seoul's main shopping, parade route and tourism ...

Critical reception

''Enewsworld'' editor Erika Kim stated that the group had improved in their vocals. She complimented the member's role within the song and noted some influences from

Japanese pop music J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

such as the opening theme songs of magical-girl anime series like ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...

''. Throughout the day of release, the members of the group also become the most searched terms on several popular Korean search engines which includes Naver and Daum. Following the music video's release, some concerns were raised regarding the group's suggestive choreography, a dance move where the members remove their jackets to reveal their backs. A representative for KBS's Music Bank stated that the group may need to make changes. However no changes were made when the group made their first televised performance on August 24 at the music program to start their weekly album promotion cycle.

Commercial performance

In South Korea, the EP peaked at number 1 in

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...

, and the title track peaked at number 2 in

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

. The other three songs from the EP, "Way", "Miss U", and "Idiot" also placed on the

. In Japan, the EP debuted at number 104 in

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

through importation from South Korea. After the Japanese edition was released, the EP peaked number 15 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart.

Accolades

Track listing

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 EPs Kara (South Korean group) EPs Korean-language EPs 2010s Korean-language albums DSP Media albums