2008: 3rd Japanese Album and 4th Korean Album

TVXQ started off the year with the release of their 16th Japanese single "Purple Line", written by the Korean composer of TVXQ's previous hits "Rising Sun" and ""O"-Jung.Ban.Hap.", on January 16th. "Purple Line" topped the Oricon Weekly Chart, becoming the group's first #1 on the weekly charts in Japan; TVXQ became the first foreign male group to accomplish this feat [27]. The group also promoted the single in Korea, where a Korean version of the song was released. The following week, the group released its third Japanese album, entitled T. As an exclusive extra, the group included "Kiss Shita Mama, Sayonara" ("Kissしたまま、さよなら") which was composed and written by the members Micky Yuchun and Hero Jaejoong, and their own version of "LAST ANGEL" in the album. T debuted on Oricon charts as #2.

Rhythm Zone, a side label of Avex, created a new marketing strategy for TVXQ by releasing five additional singles in February and March 2008 in consecutive weeks after the release of the album T. Each single contained a member's solo and a song that was part of "TRICK", which was on the T album.

On March 28th, TVXQ was appointed the "Goodwill Ambassador for Asia" by Universal Studios Japan to promote the attractions of USJ[28].

The group released its 22nd single, "Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta (千年恋うた‎‎)" on April 23, 2008. The single debuted at number one on the Oricon daily and weekly charts, becoming TVXQ's third single to reach that position on the daily charts and second single to reach that position in the weekly chart. The group thus became the second non-Japanese Asian artist to do so, the first being Taiwanese artist Ouyang Feifei (歐陽菲菲), 24 years and 5 months ago.[29][30].

On May 17, 2008, TVXQ performed at the 6th Korean Music Festival in Los Angeles, California. They also took part in ensemble encore performances of "Balloons" and SMTown's "Let's Go on a Trip." In addition, the group performed as the closing act at the 14th Annual Dream Concert at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul on June 7, 2008. On June 12th, TVXQ ended their 2nd Asia Tour in Beijing with a performance for over 200,000 fans; the tour had begun on February 23, 2007 in Seoul, and spanned 13 performances covering Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Beijing. On top of that, their two separate live tours in Japan during 2007 and 2008 drew crowds of 55,000 and 150,000, respectively, for a total of 390,000 audience members attending concerts.[31]

On July 22, 2008, TVXQ became the first non-Japanese Asian artist to have three number one hits on the weekly Oricon singles chart, when their single "Why Did I Fall In Love With You? (どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう？)" attained the number one position with weekly sales of 68,000 copies.[32] On June 22, 2008, TVXQ was invited to perform at Avex's 20th anniversary general meeting of stockholders at the Saitama Super Arena. TVXQ, which established itself as the face of Avex, was among the performers at the event. Other performers included singer and songwriter Noriyuki Makihira, TRF, and seven-member dance vocal group Exile.[33] In Japan, TVXQ was also listed at #16 in the Most Searched Male Artist when Yahoo! Japan released its 2008 Search Word Ranking for the first half of the year.[34]

TVXQ was also chosen as the new faces of the Lotte Duty Free Shops (DFS). A Lotte DFS representative explained that TVXQ was a well-known group all across Asia, so they believed that TVXQ was the most suitable choice as spokespeople for the Lotte Duty Free Shops. Ads that TVXQ shot for the company will be released in November, which is also when the group begins participating in various events sponsored by Lotte DFS.[35]

On September 21, 2008, TVXQ performed a showcase event entitled TVXQ’s "Giving Young Adults Hopes and Dreams-Fall Mini Concert" for the release of their fourth studio album. It was located in front of City Hall, Seoul Plaza. This was TVXQ's first public performance for their fourth album; they performed the title song, "주문 (Mirotic)".[36]

The group's 4th Korean album entitled "MIROTIC" was released on September 26th, 2008; it was originally scheduled for release on September 24th, but was delayed due to the pre-order amount of 330,000 albums. The title song of the album, "주문 (Mirotic)", was composed by Remee, Troelsen and Lucas Secon, who also wrote "Eat You Up" off of BoA's U.S. debut album "Look Who's Talking". Kenny Wormald, who has worked with Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Christina Aguilera, was put in charge of choreography of the title track, "Mirotic" which was unveiled online on September 19 through major music portals including Melon, Dosirak and Soribada.[37]

Two days after its launch in music stores, "Mirotic" rose on music sale charts. According to Hanteo charts, the album has risen to #1 on its yearly chart. The album has also topped Hot Tracks, Yes24, and other music sale charts.[38]"MIROTIC" is currently the best selling album of 2008 in Korea.[39]

The Japanese version of the title song, entitled "呪文 －MIROTIC－", was released on October 15th and became the group's fifth single to reach the number one position on the Oricon Daily charts. It also became the group's fourth Japanese single to reach number one on Oricon's weekly chart, breaking their own record.[40][41]

The group has also done a cover of the popular One Piece intro We Are by Hiroshi Kitadani [2]

TVXQ have also been cordially invited to the prestigious Japanese Kohaku Music Festival. It is a highly regarded honor for any artist and a feat achieved only by the most successful musicians of the year. They will be singing and competing alongside Japan's top acts near the end of December 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

TVXQ- Purple Line