Elation. Hope. Excitement. Frustration. Confusion. Exhaustion. Shame. Anger. It’s all on Love Yourself 轉 'Tear'—the second album in the LYS trilogy. If Love Yourself 承 ‘HER’ is about the joy of discovering love, ‘Tear’ is largely about what happens when we lose ourselves in love and it begins to tear us apart. It’s a visceral journey of searching for ourselves again, and finding a different, and healthier version of love that will set us free rather than weigh us down.

This week we are finishing up our exploration of Love Yourself 承 ‘HER’ and what a journey it’s been. We’ve been wooed and scolded in equal measure, it’s been both very comforting and confusing. The songs we’re covering this time seem to be polar opposites, but they are all about discovering truths within ourselves. Sometimes those truths are beautiful, sometimes they’re not, but they always affect how we relate to the world around us.

As we further our exploration of the Love Yourself 承 ‘HER’ album, I must warn you before proceeding with this week’s blog… you may not survive it. Our theme of love continues, along with all of the intense emotions it inspires—some of which can be unhealthy—like obsession, envy, and hatred. But, for the most part, be prepared for Bangtan to swing you off your feet, and then gently scold you for spending too much time thinking about them. Even though they’re constantly asking ARMY to love them and never forget about them. Talk about mixed signals, right?

If you can believe it, the second half of 2017 was even busier for BTS than the first half. Not only were they still on their epically long WINGS World Tour, but they also released another album that September. Love Yourself 承 ‘HER’ kicked off a new album trilogy and an entirely new era for the group—one that focused entirely on a message of love—especially on how we show it to ourselves.

As we came out of the pandemic years and the world seemed to start turning again, many would have thought it would be back to business as usual for BTS. But could that really happen? They’d experienced unprecedented growth during 2020 and 2021, largely in part due to the success of the three English language tracks they’d released during that time. They were now a global phenomenon.

When 2020 began, BTS was excited to be releasing a new comeback album—Map of the Soul: 7—and a massive world tour to go with it. It was set to be their biggest one ever, and ARMYs all over the world battled online for tickets, selling the tour out instantly. However… the universe had other plans.

This week we dive into Festas 2018 and 2019. We have epic Muster performances, some legendary fan-favorite song releases, and a massive interactive project launched called “ARMYPEDIA”. As you read and watch along, remember… we’re riding this Festa train all the way through until this year’s (2024) Festa-ivities (still funny) and Jin’s return from the military!

And now we begin our epic month-long coverage of all things Festa, BTS’ annual celebration of the anniversary of their Debut. It will be really fun to explore the evolution of Festa, from the small dinner party they had for themselves in 2014 where Jin cooked for all of them, to the epic fireworks display the city of Seoul put on in 2023 to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

As we continue our look at You Never Walk Alone, BTS was undergoing some tough times in 2017. Allegations of chart manipulation (ultimately proven false) momentarily threatened their credibility. The song “Not Today”, all about not giving up in the face of adversity, seemed perfectly timed. BTS was determined to work harder and to leave their mark on the world, and it wasn’t just ARMY who was noticing.