Showcasing the power of this year's remarkable rise of Korean girl groups that debuted in Japan, the newcomer department of 43rd Oricon Annual Ranking (2010) is topped by KARA and SNSD, who achieved No.1 and No.2, respectively.

KARA, the 5-membered girl group that debuted in August and captured the attention of the public with the "hip dance," has released two singles, "Mister" and "Jumping," five albums, including the Korean greatest hits album, "KARA BEST 2007-2010" and their first original Japanese album, "GIRLS TALK," as well as one DVD, totaling to eight releases this year. These releases have generated a total revenue of 1.3 bilion yen this year.

On the other hand, SNSD, who debuted in September and are known for their beautiful legs and synchronized dancing, released two singles, "GENIE" and "Gee," one DVD, "New Beginning of Girls' Generation," and six Korean albums for a total of nine works. They generated 8.8 hundred million yen of revenue this year.

In the male-fan- and cuteness-centric domestic idol scene, the spot of idols that are admired by women of the same generation is vacant in the recent years. This vacancy is now fulfilled by K-pop girl groups, who are characterized as having good visual styles as well as intense choreographies and have achieved outstanding sales among all newcomers this year.

Ranking of Newcomer Artistes by Sales
No.1 1.3 billion Yen KARA (493k copies of releases sold in total)
No.2 8.8 hundred million yen SNSD (380k copies of releases sold in total)
No.3 1.3 hundred million yen WEAVER (83k copies of releases sold in total)
Data collection period: 2009/12/28 to 2010/12/20
The sales include releases such as singles, albums, music DVDs, and music blu-ray discs.