A very long process, and involves a handful of other artists too. I did post a bit in another thread, but here's the expanded, long-winded version:
The earliest I remember of Kara was in late 2008, when I might have stumbled upon Pretty Girl on TV, while I paid little attention to them, or most girlbands in general because of the general perception that they are all wannabees, while boy bands like TVXQ at the time were the REAL talent (trust me, I'm a straight guy, but with very picky music taste at the time). Same thing when Kara released Honey and Lupin. Concurrently, I listened to some songs by Perfume, but eventually got tired of the autotune.
My perception of girl bands had only loosened after the JYJ lawsuit, and I eventually gave into the allure of SNSD in 2010, amounting to a good 3 years of fandom, with 2012-2013 as the period of dying interest. I was introduced to AKB48 in 2011, but I kept my interest in them down to avoid judgment from friends . Interest in Kara VERY slowly crept up, mostly because I had another Kamilia friend, who was also a Sone but quit earlier than me. I then rediscovered Perfume after the VMAJ 2012, and eventually gave them another chance, and was instantly moved by their success story, the most touching since TVXQ's struggle in Japan. I soon gave into AKB48 after my Kamilia friend got poisoned into them. Both Perfume and AKB48 catalysed my disinterest in SNSD, though it was largely because their image had become VERY staple and templated, since their (SNSD) debut in Japan, especially since Mr Taxi, from which most of their current coreography looks blandly similar to.
Back to my story of Kara, I slowly grew curious of Kara's foray into Japan, and after some listens to their Japanese album, I was hooked. They sounded much fresher when compared to the decreasing originality of SNSD's style.... My interest in Kara was further strengthened by my Kamilia friend's mention of the Karafume pairing. Fast-forward to today, clean from Soshi, strongly acquainted into the Perfume community, quite broken by JYJ's victory, and quite addicted to AKB48, I've finally accepted Kara as a band to be appreciated and loved. With their lawsuit settled very promptly, their ongoing success and influence in Japan, and their ever modest fan community in Korea and worldwide, Kara is a unit I wish to know better and feel connected to.