In May 2011, U-KISS formally signed under Avex Japan for their Japanese debut. Soon thereafter, an album entitled First Kiss, a compilation of all their songs from their debut Korean album up until their Break Time album, was released. A Japanese version of their Korean Bran New Kiss albums and their DVDs from their First Kiss Live in Osaka event were also released. On June 8, 2011, U-KISS went to stay in Japan for three months to prepare for their official Japanese debut. On November 18, 2011 Japan's Fuji TV Network revealed a preview for the music video of the lead single from U-KISS' first new material Japanese album, A Shared Dream, entitled "Tick Tack".[2] On November 23, the full track of "Tick Tack" leaked online, and the full music video followed on December 5, 2011. U-KISS released the music video officially through their YouTube account on December 6, 2011.[2][3] The song was released as a single, with the non-album B-side "Coincidence", on December 18, 2011.
Singles and promotion
The album has a total of twelve tracks, which were mostly composed and recorded in high quality facilities in Japan.[4] U-KISS made their official Japanese debut on December 14 with a live performance of "Tick Tack" on the Japanese TV show, Made in BS Japan.[5] "A Shared Dream" was leaked on the internet on February 16, 2012.[6][7] It is a heavy ballad, with a mixture of English and Japanese lyrics incorporated with piano.[8] The single, "Forbidden Love" is a continuation of the style they had in "Man Man Ha Ni" (2008), "Bingeul Bingeul" (2010) and "Shut Up!" (2010).[9] The group held a fan meeting event with 2,000 fans to celebrate the release of their albums and the very first performance of "Forbidden Love".[1][10] The song was also performed on the March 16 episode of NTV‘s Happy Music.[11] U-KISS also promoted on various radio stations such as Skip Beat, KPOP Street and Area Cross of Northwave FM, Now & Next and Groove of Air-G FM and on STV Radio.[12] Aside from Radio promotions, the group also appeared on shows like DJ and Play Saturday of TVh.[13]
The album debuted at number 6 on the daily edition of the Oricon Chart being the album with the highest entry in the Top 50.[14] The album peaked at number 5 on the Oricon weekly charts.[15] "Tick Tack" reached number 5 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.[16]
