Zone (TVXQ album)

On December 26, 2023, Tohoshinki celebrated their 20th debut anniversary in Korea with the release of their ninth Korean album 20&2 (2023).^[1] On April 27, 2024, the day of the duo's 19th debut anniversary in Japan, they announced that they will embark on a nation-wide arena tour between November 2024 and March 2025, to commemorate their 20th anniversary.^[2] Ticket lottery reservations for the tour started June 2024.^[3]

On July 19, Tohoshinki revealed their 20th anniversary album Zone, subsequently confirming the name of the tour.^[4] Zone is scheduled to be printed in four different versions: a DVD version which consists of 20 tracks and a bonus track; a Blu-ray version with the same package; a CD-only version with a different bonus track; a fanclub-exclusive Bigeast edition with another bonus track; and a first press limited "super deluxe" edition, an LP-size box which includes all three bonus tracks with three photobooks.

On September 4, Tohoshinki teased "Damn Good", a new track from the album that was announced to be a tie-up song for their collaboration with the Korean ginseng brand, Cheong Kwan Jang.^[5] From September 21 to 22, previews of the thirteen new tracks from Zone were teased through their official X account, confirming the album's tracklist.^[6] "Sweet Surrender" was subsequently announced to be the album's lead single. ^[7] A finalized tracklist of the second CD, which included interlude tracks, was further revealed on September 28.

A teaser for "Sweet Surrender" dropped on October 6, with the music video premiering on October 7, 2024 at 6 PM JST on YouTube. The single was also released on October 7. After the video premiered, Tohoshinki debuted their first live performance of "Sweet Surrender" on the TBS music program CDTV! Live Live.^[8]

The album's official special website was launched on October 12, in support of the album's promotions. The website included details of the album's contents, order benefits, as well as information about signing events.^[9] From October 19 through 27, Tohoshinki revealed more promotional images from the album, culminating to the release of Zone's second lead single "Dearest" on October 28.

The number "20" is alluded throughout the album, in reference to Tohoshinki's twentieth debut anniversary. In addition to having 20 tracks in the album, the number "20" is also hidden in the title of Zone. The theme of the album surrounds the discussion between AI and human intelligence, and how despite living in a world where technology has become more advanced, it is important to maintain rooted to humanity. The album starts off with the intro track "Eternal Echoes," which has unintelligible lyrics. Created by AI, the song consists of reversed vocals from the song "Magenta", the first track in Tohoshinki's first album as a duo, Tone (2011). Zone's second track "T.R.H.M" stands for "The Regain Humanity Method", a song about surviving in an ever-changing future and a battle to regain control of humanity. A special website, theregainhumanitymethod.net, dropped on the day of the album's release, and was unlocked by a special password revealed on November 29, 2024, the first day of their Japan-wide live tou.

Zone debuted at number three on the daily Oricon Albums Chart on the first day of release, selling 23,980 physical copies.^[10] It sold 43,095 copies in the first week, entering the weekly Oricon Albums Chart at number five. It debuted at number one on the Oricon Digital Albums Chart, with 1,944 downloads.^[11] For Billboard Japan, Zone debuted at number five on the Top Albums Sales chart, selling 44,105 copies.^[12] On the second week, Zone dropped to number fifteen per the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 4,282 copies.^[13]

Musicians