Last Fantasy
Last Fantasy is the second studio album by South Korean singer-songwriter IU. It was released and distributed on November 29, 2011, by LOEN Entertainment. The album features a total of thirteen tracks, including the lead single "You & I".

Upon its release, Last Fantasy was a huge commercial success, selling almost seven million copies of digital tracks in its first week of release. The total number of its digital sales surpassed the 10 million mark the following week. Meanwhile, the physical album has sold over 117,000 copies, making it the 15th best-selling Korean album of 2011.

The album's lead single "You & I" debuted at the top of the Gaon Singles Chart, with a massive first-week digital sales of 1,129,761 units. It stayed at the summit for two more weeks. The song also hit the pole position on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, becoming IU's first Korea K-Pop Hot 100 topper and the longest running number-one song on the chart. The record was held until tied with Psy's "Gangnam Style" and later broken by Lee Seung-gi's "Return", which earned six weeks at the top spot from December 2012 to January 2013.

Background
Last Fantasy was meant to reflect the period in the IU's life where she bids farewell to her childhood and prepares to meet maturity. In this album, IU collaborated with singer-songwriters like Yoon Sang, Kim Kwang-jin, Lee Juck, Kim Hyeon-cheol, and Ra.D.

Some of the songs in the album were composed and written by IU herself, with help from artists like Lee Juck, Kim Hyeon-cheol, Yoon Sang, Yoon Jong-shin, G. Gorilla, and Corinne Bailey Rae. Her agency, LOEN Entertainment stated, "The album has been worked on for a long time, and the exclusive content included in the special limited edition will enable fans to better understand the album production process. It's a special gift from IU to those fans who have waited a long time."

On December 3, 2011, she started off her first week of promotions through SBS's Inkigayo. IU performed "A Child Searching for Stars" and the lead track "You & I". Both of the tracks showcased her youthful charm and sweet musicality, which gained a richer depth during her hiatus.

Music videos
On November 28, 2011, the music video for "You & I" was released through LOEN Entertainment's official YouTube channel one day before the album's release in stores. The music video (starring actor Lee Hyun-woo) brings out elements of fantasy and ties it together with a well-crafted story.

On February 9, 2012, her agency uploaded a music video for the song "Last Fantasy" through its official YouTube channel. The video contains footage from IU's Japanese debut showcase "IU Japan Special Premium Live" held at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall on January 24. This is a special gift for her fans, as the video reveals not only footage from the showcase, but also includes clips of IU touring the cities of Japan and her everyday promotions and activities.

Awards and nominations

Track listing

Notes
 Track 2 is a cover version of the song under the same title, which was originally performed by South Korean pop duo Halo, from their first and final studio album released in 1997.
 The title of track 13 means "The Lover" in French.

Credits and personnel
Recording
 LOEN Studio – recording studio
 T Studio – recording studio
 Realcollabo Studio – recording studio
 Music Cabal Studio – recording studio
 Jun Studio – recording studio
 Antenna Music Studio – recording studio
 W Sound Studio – recording studio
 Sonic Korea Studio – recording studio

Staff

 Youngcheol Jo – producer
 Jinmyeong Kim – co-producer
 Myunggap Son (Loen Studio) – house engineer
 Myeong-gap Son (Loen Studio) – recording engineer
 Lee Myeong-sook (T Studio) – recording engineer
 Heo Eun-sook (W Sound) – recording engineer
 Ra.D (Realcollabo) – recording engineer
 Yangsu Noh (T Studio) – mixing engineer
 Hangu Kim (W Sound) – mixing engineer
 Junseong Jo (W Sound) – mixing engineer
 Hyeonjeong Go (Musicabal Studio) – mixing engineer
 Eunjeong Kwak (Jun Studio) – mixing engineer
 Jeongoh Yoon (Antenna Music Studio) – mixing engineer
 Myeonggap Son (Loen Studio) – mixing engineer
 Ra.D (Realcollabo) – mixing engineer
 Jeon Hoon (Sonic Korea) – mastering
 Namgoong Chan – management director
 Bae Jong-han – artist manager
 Jo Choon-ho – artist manager
 Lee Chang-hee, Park Jeong-hyun, Park Seong-woo, Jeong Woo-kyung, Jo Gye-won – assistant managers
 Jinmyeong Kim – A&R
 Kim Eana – A&R
 Oh Yoo-kyung – marketing director
 Si-won Park, Soo-hyun Ahn, Hyo-shin Kim, Hee-yeon Jeong, Yong-hoon Seo – marketing
 Seongwook Jeong – performance director
 Hwang Soo-ah – visual director
 Barley – photography
 Choi Hye-ryeon – stylist
 Noh Joo-hee – assistant stylist
 Gwiae Kim, Kowon – hair
 Hyuna Lee, Kowon – makeup
 Hwang Soo-ah – music video director
 Kim Young-seok – executive supervisor
 Lim Yong-su – executive supervisor
 Wonsu Shin (LOEN Entertainment) – executive producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

See also
 List of best-selling singles in South Korea
 List of Korea K-Pop Hot 100 number-one singles
 List of number-one albums of 2011 (South Korea)
 List of number-one hits of 2011 (South Korea)

Notes

References

2011 albums
IU (singer) albums
Korean-language albums
Kakao M albums