BTS’s history with Kingsman concepts since 2015.

Earlier this year, I announced the BTS Essay contest here on The BTS Effect. The contest was designed for students at any level and open internationally. Participants were tasked with writing a 1,000-2,000 word essay addressing the topic of “life lessons” learned through BTS or their work.

Read one of the winning essays from the first BTS Essay contest hosted by The BTS Effect.

Read one of the winning essays from the first BTS Essay contest hosted by The BTS Effect.

BTS has once again ended up on the receiving end of shameful, racist commentary from an ignorant Western media personality.

Finding happiness in a time of great strife and suffering can be next to impossible, but the upbeat track with light, catchy lyrics and a music video full of joyous Bangtan members has helped ease the pain of many around the world. It’s not a panacea, but it doesn’t have to be. The onus is not on BTS to bear the weight of the world’s suffering, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying to help, in the ways they know best.

Two recent articles in mainstream media have severely missed the mark — but this will come as no surprise to most BTS fans.

With this mindset, they created MOTS: Persona both as an album about fans and an album about acknowledging the persona and all the good that came with it. With “Interlude: Shadow” and “Black Swan,” BTS continues this introspective theme by looking within and expressing some of the darker emotions there. So far, the MOTS series has told BTS’s own stories, rather than the more generalized stories of previous releases. Though previous releases of course contained some elements of themselves, their decision to look within and structure a series around developing the self is granting us a more intimate look at their personal narratives.

In “Interlude: Shadow,” Yoongi doesn’t try to hide his shadow but rather embraces it and acknowledges that it’s a part of him. This was one of the main points of Jung’s individuation process—you can’t be rid of your shadow or other unconscious elements, but you can work to integrate them into your whole self and become more harmonious within.

Thanks to the unprecedented nature of the ‘BTS phenomenon’, they have become the subject of academic research, beyond popular culture. Following academic events that researched BTS last year in Korea, recently the first large-scale international BTS conference in London was held, drawing attention.  

Both the MMA and MAMA wins are a satisfying way to close out the year, for both BTS and ARMY. BTS’s year isn’t over yet, but we all have a lot to look back on and reflect upon as we move into the new year and the upcoming album.

“I started to like BTS last year (2018), after watching the "Dope" MV. I knew about them some years before, but I didn't like them because I didn't think they were real artists. For me, they were like any other boyband. I was SO wrong.”

ARMYs harnessed their negative feelings and channeled that power into an effort that brings BTS the glory, awards or not. This is demonstrative of what a large fandom can do to make its voices heard, and is a much better strategy than raging on Twitter. So if you’re irritated at last night’s outcome, consider lifting BTS up instead of tearing others down, and #BuyPersonaOniTunes.

Lyrically, “Spring Day” is wonderfully poetic, and the tone of its lyrics matches the tone of the song so well. Both are delicately sentimental and melancholy, but at the same time instill in the listener a sense of hope and peace.

With its beautiful lyrics and multifaceted sound, it’s no wonder “Spring Day” has been so successful.

Below is my translation of the “Spring Day” lyrics. Below my translation, I’ve also translated the lyrics of the Japanese version of the song, from two available Korean translations of the Japanese lyrics.

You can read my analysis of the “Spring Day” lyrics and music video, including ties to the short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” here.

“I hadn't thought about how BTS has impacted me or changed me before this year, but as I tried remembering how I was before I discovered them, I realized that they really changed me a lot and for the better, in my opinion.”

I’m conducting a fan survey to help provide additional context to my research project. My project wil be presented at the BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference in London this coming January.

BTS fanfiction has grown exponentially since 2013. With over 100,000 fics live on just one fanfic website (AO3), there’s a lot to look at. Here, I take a look at how the number of BTS fics has changed over time, since 2013.

How has BTS impacted your life? Would you like to share your story?

It’s true! There will soon be an entire conference dedicated to BTS.