"Mirotic" (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 주문, ''Jumun'';

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 呪文, ''Jumon,'' lit. "Magic Spell") is a song by South Korean boy band

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male Pop music, pop duo consisting of Yunho, U-Know Yunho and Changmin, Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as ...

. It was released in South Korea via

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

as part of the group's eponymous fourth studio album on September 26, 2008. In Japan, it was released as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any s ...

titled "Jumon: Mirotic" through

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 20 ...

on October 15, 2008, where it served as one of the several lead singles for the group's fourth Japanese studio album ''

Secret Code Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

'' (2009). The song was written by

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer under SM Entertainment. He has produced and written songs for H.O.T., S.E.S, BoA, Shinhwa, TVXQ, CSJH The Grace, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, Shinee, f ...

with Japanese lyrics translated by Ryoji Sonoda, whilst production was handled by Yoo, Mikkel Sigvardt,

Lucas Secon Lucas Secon, (born 3 November 1970) also known by the stage name Lucas, is a record producer, songwriter and rapper. He has written and produced for artists including the Pussycat Dolls, Alesso, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minog ...

and

Thomas Troelsen Thomas Troelsen (born 6 October 1981) is a Danish singer, songwriter, and producer from Skive. Troelsen has written and produced songs for Pitbull, Flo Rida, Justin Bieber, David Guetta, Lil Wayne, Drengene fra Angora, Nile Rodgers, Jason Derulo ...

. Retrospectively, "Mirotic" garnered praise from music critics and was named one of the best boy band songs of all time by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

''. It was met with commercial success in both countries upon its release; in Japan, it became the group's fourth single to reach number one on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In ...

and was certified gold in both digital sales and physical shipments by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include ...

. It has reportedly received over 4,100,000 digital downloads in South Korea, making it the group's most downloaded single in the country. Two accompanying

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

were made available in support of the single's release in both regions.

Background and release

"Mirotic" was released as the title track for the group's fourth studio album of the same name on September 26, 2008, via

. In Japan, the single "Jumon: Mirotic" was released via Avex Trax's subsidiary label

on October 15, 2008. It was physically distributed in three versions: a standard CD, a fanclub special edition CD and a limited edition CD + DVD bundle. The release includes the instrumental version of the song along with a remixed version of " Dōshite Kimi o Suki ni Natte Shimattandarō". On October 16, 2008, a fanclub event titled "Mirotic Party" was held to commemorate the release of the single. It was held at a club in Tokyo and was limited to only members of Tohoshinki's official fanclub.

Reception

"Mirotic" experienced commercial success in both South Korea in Japan. The track has reportedly garnered 4,173,225 downloads in South Korea, making it the group's best-selling single in the country. In the first week of its release in Japan, it recorded sales of 71,000 copies and achieved top position on the weekly Oricon singles ranking in the chart issue dated October 27, 2008, becoming their fourth number-one single. It was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

(RIAJ) for physical shipments of over 100,000 units in December 2008 and for digital downloads in July 2014. On the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100, "Jumon: Mirotic" peaked at number seven in the week of October 22, 2008.

Music video

The music video was filmed on the end of August 2008 nearby

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

, South Korea by Cho Soo-hyun (조수현) and premiered on September 21, 2008, after five days the teaser released. Later, it was premiered the Japanese version on September 27, 2008, with the alternate clips of the original video. There are also other versions of the video: the dance version and the solo versions of the members. The music video features all the members walking when they are pulled by a sorceress in red and white. They are then shown in different scenarios, whereas:

Hero Jaejoong Kim Jae-joong (; born January 26, 1986), also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and in Japan, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor and director. He is a member of the Korean pop group JYJ and was one of the original members ...

is tied with rope handcuffs on a wall,

U-Know Yunho Jung Yun-ho (; born February 6, 1986), also known by his stage name U-Know Yunho () or simply U-Know, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, and a member of the pop duo TVXQ. Born and raised in Gwangju, South Korea, Yunho started his musi ...

is bound by ribbons around his wrists, Micky Yoochun is encased in glass,

Xiah Junsu Kim Jun-su (; born December 15, 1986) or simply Junsu, also known by the stage name Xia (stylized as XIA; ; ko, 시아) is a South Korean singer, model, dancer and stage actor. He is a member of the Korean pop group and later duo JYJ, and was ...

is trapped in lasers and Max Changmin is in water. There is also a dance scene in a room with a huge round light at the ceiling's center. In the end of the video, the members managed to break and escape their bindings and chase the sorceress who lost her power. The sorceress in turn attempts to escape as she slowly melts and then fades away as they slowly approach her. The eyes of the members start glowing whitish-green at the end of the music video.

Track listing

;Japanese CD single # # # ;Japanese DVD tracklist # #"Off Shot Movie"

Accolades

Charts

Daily and weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

External links

# https://web.archive.org/web/20080409203505/http://toho-jp.net/index.html {{authority control 2008 singles 2008 songs TVXQ songs Chinese-language songs Korean-language songs Japanese-language songs Songs written by Lucas Secon Songs written by Remee Songs written by Thomas Troelsen Songs written by Yoo Young-jin Rhythm Zone singles SM Entertainment singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Music controversies