BTS (band): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Logo of BTS.png|100px|frameless|right]]
 
'''BTS''' (Korean: 방탄소년단; RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as the '''Bangtan Boys''', and since 2017 also represented as '''Beyond The Scene''', is a seven-member [[South Korea]]n [[Boy Band]] formeddebuted in Seoul in 2013. The septet co-writes and produces much of their output. Initially rooted in [[Hip Hop]], the group’s musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism. Their work features references to literature and psychological concepts and includes an alternative universe storyline. Popular for their live performances, the group has staged several world tours.
 
They are often perceived as a major 'Korean Wave' act which has helped Korean music and culture have more influence in the West.
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{{Filmography|Other Media Aparitions}}
'''Multimedia projects'''
* The '''BU / BTS Universe''' (also called the "Bangtan Universe" or "HYYH Universe" until the current name was revealed in 2017), an alternate universe that has been unveiled through several video clips and short films, a couple of novels (''The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: The Notes 1'' and ''2''), notes included in their albums booklets (most of them compiled in the before-mentioned books), a webcomic (''Save Me'') and a mobile game (''BTS Universe Story''); a drama based on this storyline (not starring the band members) was announced for a late 2021 release. The plot, told in [[Anachronic Order|non-linear fashion]] and with [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|a great amount of symbolism]], depictdepicts the group members in an [[Alternate Reality]] as a group of friends with dysfunctional lives, who had to confront their traumas and anxieties to get to the future. A great generator of [[Epileptic Trees]] within the fandom, and even when the webcomic and the novels clarified some things about the plot by telling what's going on {{spoiler|(a [[Groundhog Day Loop]] to [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]], it turns out)}}, it still left more questions than answers.
* The '''BT21''' project, a collaboration with the messaging service LINE where the group created [[Mascot|cutesy animal and pastry-based characters]] inspired on themselves to be used as stickers for said messaging service. It has generated [[Merchandise-Driven|a great amount of derivative merchandise]], including plushies, clothes, makeup and skincare products, snacks, a cellphone game, a special menu in a Korean cafe, and even an [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvteA1S67AOPGd1C_YLoY832kcRvG-s2l animated web-series] in [[YouTube]] starring the characters, ''BT21 Universe''.
* ''Learn Korean With BTS'', an [[Edutainment Show]] intended to [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|teach fans basic Korean]], released in the app Weverse in 2020. An accompanying package with books and other learning aids to complement the videos has been released. A second edutainment series with the respective package, ''Bon BORAge!'', this time using the story of a fan traveling to Korea to visit several BTS-related landmarks as a meanmeans to teach basic Korean, was released between 2020 and 2021. A third series and package, ''Learn Korean with TinyTAN'' was launched in 2021.
* The '''''Tiny Tan''''' project, a [[Super-Deformed]] and [[Fun Size]] animated rendition of the band, who was first introduced in the advisory videos previous to online performances and DVD releases, and whose looks are based inon the outfits the band members wore in the MV for "MIC Drop" (they also had artartwork of them based in the looks from other MVs). Mostly [[Merchandise-Driven]], and invoking [[Rule of Cute]] at its most shameless. They star in the third Korean-learning package, ''Learn KOREAN with TinyTAN''.
* '''''7Fates: CHAKHO''''' (also known as ''7Fates: CHAKHO with BTS'' or ''7Fates: CHAKHO by HYBE''), an original story released simultaneously in several languages as as a webcomic in Webtoons Line and as a paid webnovelweb novel in Wattpad since January 16, 2022. Inspired by the legends of the Chakhogapsa, the Korean tiger hunters during the Jeon dynasty, the story is about seven young men in a futuristic city who form a squadron to hunt the Beom, a species of tiger-like monsters that are invading the city. The only non-mascot project where the characters have actual names instead of going for [[The Danza]]
 
'''TV Series and Variety Shows'''
* ''Rookie King: Channel Bangtan'': a skit-based 2013 variety show.
* ''American Hustle Life'': a 2014 reality show where the members were brought to Los Angeles to know the West Coast rap culture.
* ''BTS Gayo'', a "behind the scenes" showing the members doing promotional activities related to KPop, stream inon the online service V Live between 2015 and 2017.
* ''Run BTS!'' a variety show stream in the online service V Live since 2015 (and also in Weverse since 2019), where the members of the group do outrageous dares or play games among themselves for small prizes or punishments. A selection of 8 episodes was shown on network TV in 2018.
* ''Burn the Stage'', a 2018 8-episode YouTube exclusive series documenting their 2017 promotional tour "The Wings Tour".
* ''BTS: Bon Voyage'', a [[Travelogue Show]], portraying the members of the band during their vacations, whowhich has run since 2016. The first three seasons streamsstream in V Live, and from the fourth onwards streamsstream on the online app Weverse.
* ''Bring the Soul: the Docu-series'': An extended, chaptered version of their documentary ''Bring the Soul'', released in Weverse in 2019.
* ''Break the Silence: Docu-Series'': a documentary on BTS' ''Love Yourself'' and ''Speak Yourself'' tours, released in Weverse in mid 2020.
* ''In The SOOP BTS Ver.'', a 2020 reality show where the band spent a short vacation in a luxury camping site. Aired in both TV network JTBC and online app Weverse. A second season, ''In The SOOP 2'', where the members spent a week in a specially remodelledremodeled mansion, was aired on 2021.
 
'''Filmography'''
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* ''Love Yourself in Seoul'': a concert film depicting their August 26, 2018 show of the band's Love Yourself Tour at Seoul Olympic Stadium.
* ''Bring the Soul: The Movie'': a 2019 documentary that intercalates footage from their 2018 "Love Yourselves" tour with a rooftop conversation between the members filmed at the end of the European Leg of said tour.
* ''Break the Silence: The Movie'': a film adaptation of the Weverse docu-series, released in some markets in 2020.
 
'''Videogames'''
* ''SUPERSTAR BTS'': a [[Rhythm Game]] for mobile phones released in 2018, featuring songs from their entire discography. Ended its service in 2020 and was substituted with ''RHYTHM HIVE'', a similar game that featured songs by BTS and three other groups managed by HYBE, BTS's agency.
* ''PUZZLE STAR BT21'', a puzzle game for mobiles featuring their BT21 characters.
* ''BTS World'', a mobile game released on June 26, 2019. It's an [[Episodic Game|Episodic]] [[Visual Novel]]/[[Gacha Game]] where the player takes the role of the group manager and has to go through several journeys with the group members from their pre-debut era to current day. It has an unlockable "Another Story" mode, that follows a scenario about [[What If...?]] each member didn't get into the music industry and instead got more mundane professions.
* ''BTS Universe Story'', a mobile game mostly based inon their ''BU'' verse, released on September 24, 2020. ItsIt's a [[Visual Novel]]-sequeesque game with both a main story mode and a story-creation system that let players create and share their own stories as well as play those made by others.
* ''BTS Island In the SEOM'', a mobile game that mixes character management with puzzle gameplay, to be released in June 2022.
 
'''Webcomics'''
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* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]:
** Suga has experienced this at least twice: once when in ''Rookie King'' he was forced to dress as a maid as a punishment and the other members were surprised at how convincingly he looked, and then again for an episode of ''Run! BTS'' where he had to take the role of an "exchange-student high school girl", where he looked so convincing that pics of him in the role generated interest on "her" on the Internet.
** Jin and Jungkook got also hit for this in ''Rookie King'', when both were forced to wear a sexy red dress and a fairy costume respectively, and both looked quite convincing as females judging for the reactions of the other members and people around.
** For one of their anniversary fanclub events, the group did a sketch titled "House of ARMY", where RM and J-Hope did the roles of a schoolgirl ARMY and her mother respectively. While the attractiveness of both men as girls can be debated, Mom!J-Hope was apparently so convincing that many fans didn't recognize him at first look, while others initially believed that an actual actress was hired for the role.
* [[Autobiographical Role]] ‎: the main storyline of ''BTS World'' has them portraying a sightly fictionalized version of their career, with scenes all acted by themselves.
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* [[Concept Video]]: "Spring Day", "N.O", all their Comeback video clips, among others. The ''BU'' is a whole continuity of these.
* [[The Danza]]: In the ''BU'', the characters have the same real name than the group members - and to an extent, similar personality traits and interests.
* [[Dye Hard]]: The members of the band like to dye their hair quite often, from normal colors like blond or red, to more outrageous colors like green and pink. According to [https://twitter.com/yeo_bts/status/1010962058530045952 this chart] (which was compiled until mid-2018), all members have had pink hair at some point, and RM and Suga are the ones with more hair color changes.
* [[Fan Community Nicknames]]: Their official fan club is named ARMY. Internal nicknames within the fanclubsfan clubs involve the Korean side calling the international fans "i-lovelies"; they return the favor by calling the Korean fans "K-diamonds"
* [[The Fashionista]]: V, who loves all things Gucci and always wears something from the brand every time he's in public., and J-Hope, a self-admitted shopaholic
* [[Fun With Acronyms]]:
** The international name of the group is an initialism for "Bangtan Sonyeondan (which is given the official translation "Bulletproof Boyscouts"). They decided that since 2017 it would also mean "Beyond the Scene".
** The name of their fan club, ARMY, stands for "Adorable MCs Representatives of Youth"
** Note the titles of their documentaries: '''''B'''urn '''t'''hethe '''S'''tage'', '''''B'''ring '''t'''he '''S'''oul'', '''''B'''reak '''t'''he '''S'''ilence'' . They try to keep then on translations whenever possible
** RM has stopped using his original stage name Rap Monster since 2015 and has claimed different meanings for the initials he currently uses (one of them being "Real Me").
* [[Growing the Beard]]: The era of ''The Most Beautiful Moment In Life'' albums is acknowledged as the moment BTS step up their game and grew out of their initial "bad boys" image and overwhelming rap sound, with their songs growing in quality, their sound becoming more poppier while also venturing in other genres, their video clips actually getting a budget, the group refining their choreographies and stage presence, and the metaplot making its apparition.
* [[Guyliner]]: excesivelly prevalent during their early years.
* [[I Have Many Names]]: Note that the members tend to use both their stage and their given names interchangeably and that some have extra stage names (Suga's mixtapes were released under the stage name Agust D) and additional nicknames.
* [[Jack of All Trades]]:
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** ''Be'', an album filled with songs with uplifting messages and deliberately created as a response for the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, after the celebratory but very introspective ''MOTS: 7''.
* [[Money Song]]: "If I Ruled the World".
* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]: a rare musical version. Every MV release is usually preceded by a short teaser; however, the teaser usually presents fragments of the song or instrumental versions that rarely coincide with the actualactually released song. For example:
** The teasers for "I Need U" ANDand "Blood, Sweat, Tears" use the mellow bridges of said songs, giving the impression that the songs were R&B ballads instead of the more bombastic rock-sounding and trap-leaning tracks they respectively are.
** The teaser for "Spring Day" uses an arrangement with chorus and organ that isn't used in the version of the song featured on the MV (said fragment was used in the "Brit Rock" remix of the song released on SoundCloud)
** The teaser for "IDOL" used an arrangement with more Korean instruments; the arrangements on the released song is based more on African instrumentation.
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* [[Pep Talk Song]]: since their stated mission is to give people a respite from their difficult lives with their songs, this is a given. Among their most notorious are "Not Today", "No More Dream", "21st Century Girl" and "A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone".
* [[Pretty Fly for a White Guy]]: due to their heavier hip-hop/rap leanings around their debut era, their initial image threaded towards a "gangsta" line. However, after 2014 and their boot-camp in actual hip-hop culture for ''American Hustle'', they dropped this image like a hot potato, with RM even publicly apologizing for his initial gaffes and putting it under [[Old Shame]].
* [[Protest Song]]: "No More Dream" and "N.O" are protests against the Korean education system. "Baepsae", meanwhile, does so towards the Korean class system and their contradictory bouts of [[Tall Poppy Syndrome]] towards people who want to socially ascend and victim-blaming towards the ones who cannot do so. "Am I Wrong?" is a call out to the youth that doesn't care on the state of the world and disentangle them from politics, paradoxically helping bad politicianpoliticians with their indifference.
* [[Rated "G" for Gangsta]]: Played with. Their styling and sound are notoriously softer than the ones they had around his debut era and early years (just compare the MV of "No More Dream" to the ones for "I Need U" or "DNA"), but the themes they tackle in their songs had become harder and more serious.
* [[Running Gag]]:
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* [[Singer Namedrop]]: present on "Rise of Bangtan/Attack on Bangtan", "Boys With Fun" "Not Today" and "Anpanman", among other songs.
* [[Singer-songwriter]]: everyone in the group, some way or another. Notably, the rap line has sung their own lines from day one.
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: For the translation of ''BTS World'', they decidedecided to use the traditional Hangul romanization for the names (i.e. Yunki, Jeoungguk), instead of the slightly modified romanizations they use in official BTS releases (Yoongi, Jungkook). And in ''BTS Universe'' works (like ''The Notes'' and the mobile game), their given names are often written in [[CamelCase]] or as separate particles instead of as a single world with normal capitalization.
* [[Stepford Smiler]]: The concept for the ''Love Yourself'' albums is that such a person decides to pursue a relationship by hiding his true self (pain, flaws, dreams) from the person they love, and how the relationrelationship collapses when it becomes painfully obvious that the relationship was based on so many lies it became unsustainable.
* [[Surreal Music Video]]: "IDOL".
* [[Take That, Critics!]]: "DDaeng", "MIC Drop", and "IDOL" are directed to every person that told them they couldn't make it or that questioned their artistic integrity. The video clip for "IDOL" even includes visual cues on the members wearing or doing things they had been criticized for online.