With many KPOP groups riding the Hallyu wave into Japan, they tend to kick off their Japanese debut with some of their past Korean hit songs. And with those hit songs translated into Japanese, there has to be a counterpart Japanese MV, right? Let’s take a look and compare the original Korean MVs to their more updated Japanese MVs!

4Minute. “Muzik” is the second song that the girls promoted in Korea in 2009. This song netted them their first awards. The girls would later promote this as their first Japanese single in 2010. The MVs look similar to another one, except the Japanese version shows a more upgraded look with better graphics.

(Korean)

(Japanese)

BEAST. BEAST debuted with Bad Girl on October 14, 2009 and if you’re like me, well, I definitely don’t miss the hairstyles (seriously, what was Cube thinking back then?) and those outfits. In my opinion, the Japanese version is better because they just look so sleek. Don’t forget about “Shock”.

(Bad Girl - Korean)

(Bad Girl - Japanese)

(Shock - Korean)

(Shock - Japanese)

SNSD. The 9 girls have released quite a few of their hit Korean songs into Japanese MVs. First “Genie”, then “Gee”, then “Run Devil Run”. That’s quite a few songs there! I just want to see them release “Into the New World” in Japanese. That has been one of my favorite songs of theirs and got me into them. As for which MV versions are better, they’re all great in their own rights. Probably Japanese versions because they do have better technology to record the songs, right?

(Genie - Korean)

(Genie - Japanese)

(Gee - Korean)

(Gee - Japanese)

(Run Devil Run - Korean)

(Run Devil Run - Japanese)

After School. After School joins the foray of KPOP artists heading to Japan. Their debut Japanese single is “Bang” and the Korean version and Japanese version differ because you have Bekah in the former and E-Young in the second. I do have to say that I prefer the Korean version, though, because it was much fiercer than its Japanese counterpart.

(Korean)

(Japanese)

KARA. KARA had a very successful Japanese debut with their hit song, “Mister”. They then followed that up with “Jumping”, which was also promoted in Korean (but the two had different concepts). Unfortunately, there is no Korean MV for “Mister”, which is sad indeed. Enjoy the Japanese version, though!

(Mister - Japanese)

(Jumping - Korean)

(Jumping - Japanese)

SHINee. These boys have definitely gone a long way from their mushroom-bowl haircuts. Currently in Japan promoting “Juliette”, their Japanese MVs have a lot of color and show off their style.

(Replay - Korean)

(Replay - Japanese)

(Juliette - Korean)

(Juliette - Japanese)

Truthfully, Japanese MVs seem to always be better than their Korean MVs. I believe it’s because of an upgraded look and better technology. But the Korean MVs are so nostalgic! Have any more Korean and Japanese MV comparisons? Leave them in the comments!