"O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. (stylized as "O"-正.反.合.), sometimes referred to as "O"-Union or just O, is the third Korean studio album (fourth overall) by South Korean boy group TVXQ, released through SM Entertainment on September 29, 2006. In a year when Korean music sales had slumped, it was the highest selling album in South Korea in 2006 and won the group several prominent awards in South Korea.[1] The album stayed charted within the top 50 throughout 2007, and sold over 480,000 copies in South Korea by 2022.
The album's name "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap, literally translated to "O"-Justice.Opposition.Solution, is based on Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's theory of thesis, antithesis, synthesis. The album's lead single of the same name has lyrics that regard global conflicts with a plea for peace and resistance. The album contains a balance of fast tempo songs and ballads.
The album was released in 4 different versions and packaging, versions A and B, C and D. Versions A and B promote the title song "'O'-Jung.Ban.Hap", while versions C and D promote the fantasy theme of the song "Balloons" and contain new songs and a DVD in each. The initial versions of the album with the original track listing was released in CD and cassette formats. For the version D, the label company did a unique box packaging, with special deck of cards with members' pictures wearing costumes included with the CD and DVD specials.
In Hong Kong and Taiwan, the album was released under the names "O"-Jing.Fan.Hap. and "O"-Zheng.Fan.He. respectively, while in Japan the name of the album is "O"-Sei.Han.Go.. The Japanese release does not contain the repackaged versions that are available in the Korean release.
In drastic contrast to the lead single, "Balloons" (Pungseon in Korean) is a bubbly song that features TVXQ members in animal costumes, made to directly appeal to the younger generation, as well as older generations familiar with the original "Balloons" by Five Fingers (an old Korean band). The lyrics talk about innocent childhood dreams and memories and how people tend to forget the importance of those dreams as they grow older. In the lyrics, "yellow balloons" line was changed to "red balloons" to coordinate with the colour that represents TVXQ's fanbase Cassiopeia. The music video also included younger versions of several group's notable members, including Astro's Moonbin, iKon's Chanwoo and SF9's Chani.
In three short months after the album's release, TVXQ were invited to perform on many stages of music shows, award shows, and concerts. TVXQ performed their third album's songs a few times in 2007 as well, since a fourth Korean album had not been released.
^"TVXQ". Korea Tourism Organization. Archived from the original on October 9, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
^"동방신기, 사고 딛고 '인기가요' 1위 기쁨" [TVXQ overcomes accident and takes first place on ‘Inkigayo’]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. October 15, 2006. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
^"동방신기, 통산 음반판매량 200만장 돌파". JoyNews24 (in Korean). Naver. November 14, 2006. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
^2006.09월 – 가요 음반 판매량 [2006.09 – Sales volume] (in Korean). Music Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
^2006년 가요음반판매량 [2006 Album Sales Figures] (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
^2007년 가요음반판매량 [2007 Albums Sales Figures] (in Korean). Music Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009.
^"O"-Jung.Ban.Hap had sold 397,630 copies as of August 2008, sold 41,108 copies in 2010, and sold 40,972 copies between 2011–2022.
"2006 Sales" (in Korean). Music Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
"August 2008 Sales" (in Korean). Music Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
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