Hara, Gyuri And Seungyeon Leave DSP; Kara Is No More

We all saw this coming, didn't we? The fact that Kara's great days had passed was realized pretty much the moment Nicole and Jiyoung decided not to renew their contracts back in 2013, and it was actually quite surprising the remaining three chose to stay for two more years considering the troubles this group has had with their company over the years. In 2011 four out of five members filed for a contract termination but the issue was resolved later the same year, so it's clear that the relationship between the group and DSP hasn't always been the best.

With the addition of new member Youngji in 2014 (which I'm sure the other three weren't too happy about, at least I know I wouldn't be) the group made an amazing comeback with "Mamma Mia" and I thought they might be able to return to some kind of former glory, but no. DSP is genuinely one of the worst companies when it comes to promoting and handling their groups (I mean, look at Rainbow and A-Jax) so no matter how splendid their comeback was nothing concrete came out of it in terms of gain of public recognition.

Their comeback earlier in 2015, "Cupid" was probably the most disappointing attempt of a comeback I've seen from them, and that's where at least I knew that it was over. With Hara, Gyuri and Seungyeon's contracts expiring and them not deciding to renew means the end of an era in some way, as one of the greatest second generation girl groups disbands. I can't say I blame them because they surely know as well as many others that there's nothing left for them with DSP, and that embarking on solo activities is probably the best option. What will become of Youngji I'm not sure, but of course I feel bad for her since she only just debuted (and was met with good reception following her stint on "Roommate"). However, it's not fair for them to stay only because of her. I'm also not sure what this means for their Japanese careers, as Kara still is pretty popular over there and has been for some time, but probably one or more of the members will test out the waters over there like former member Jiyoung did. Either way I wish them all the best of luck, and will always remember them as one of the biggest girl groups of their time.