"Bunny Style!" (バニスタ!, Banisuta) is a song by South Korean girl group T-ara. The single was released on March 20, 2013 as their last release under EMI Music Japan. "Bunny Style!" debuted at number 2 on Oricon and at number 3 on Billboard Japan Hot 100 singles. It is T-ara's second highest selling Japanese single in the country with nearly 70,000 copies sold in 2013 alone.
Background and promotion
T-ara held special showcases in fifteen Japanese cities, starting in Sapporo on February 20 and Marioka on 21st.[1] Other cities where they held showcases include Saitama, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Nagasaki etc.[2] The showcase tour reportedly attracted 100,000 local fans.[3] Despite being sung by the K-Pop singers, the original cover is Japanese.
Reception
Commercial performance
"Bunny Style" debuted at No.2 on Oricon's daily chart, behind HKT48's Suki! Suki! Skip!, selling over 40,000 copies, becoming T-ara's highest first day sales in the country. It also debuted at No.2 on the weekly chart, selling nearly 57,000 copies and accumulated nearly 70,000 sales in the country by the end of the year, becoming T-ara's second best selling Japanese singe to date. The single also debuted at No.3 on Billboard Japan Hot 100 singles and charted at No.82 on the yearly chart.
Critical reception
Billboard K-Town columnist Jeff Benjamin wrote that the song "incorporates a cuddly and cute theme over a techno club beat" with "aggressive synthesizers that recall Britney Spears' "3". He was critical, however, in saying that while "Banisuta!" brings T-ara's usual earworm hook, the song "fails to be nearly as catchy as singles like "Roly-Poly" or "Lovey-Dovey".[4]
The T-ara Bunny Style! Special Showcase Tour (T-ARA バニスタ! スペシャル ショーケース) was a tour in Japan by T-ara held to promote "Bunny Style!". A special Fan Sign event was also run, and a competition was held to see who signed the most autographs, and the winner was tied between Boram, Eunjung, and Jiyeon. The tour had 14 showcases across 14 Japanese cities. Hyomin was not present for the showcase due to her filming Jinx!!! at the time.
