Album Review | BTS "Map of the Soul: Persona" Ver 1

Miranda Rodriquez
First Posted | 5/7/19 | 7:19 PM PST

Review | BTS "Map of the Soul: Persona" Ver 1

Cover of "Map of the Soul: Persona" Ver 1

Cover: My initial thought was "PINK". Nothing else. I was just amazed by how pink and bright it was next to the TXT album that came in the same shipment. There is a beautiful heart embedded in silver. A clear shimmer embedment behind it making what looks like a grid of some kind. All writing on the cover and back is in the same silver as the heart, making it pop out.

Disk: The disk is a beautiful pink, exactly the color of the cover. The writing is white, and "Persona" has a ripple effect, like a stone hitting water. I had expected the writing to be silver , but the white made it easier to read. No real designs are on the disk, though I had thought the heart or grid would be a part of it.

Inner Design & Photobook: The photo book detaches from the cover! I really like this! I'm always so careful not to rip the photobook from where they glue it in, but being able to take the photo album out is my favorite aspect of any album! It also revealed a light blue color behind it. I haven't seen the over version of this album yet, so I wonder if there is an inverse of this one. The photobook itself is the same colors as the disk with the same affect on "Persona" written on the bottom right corner.

Inside Cover and Disk

All I keep thinking about is Easter as I run though the photobook. The colors are all pastel, and most photos seem to have a colored filter over them. Pink and blue are the main colors in most photos it seems. Selca's and group photos fill the pages. Film strip borders are used for each member at certain points, and it takes me back to when I used film rolls for my cameras. In high school (senior year) I even had to teach a friend (freshman) how to change the film in his camera that his parents gave him. It actually makes me feel kind of old when I think about it. Though I'm not that old at all.

The grid comes back at the end to map out each song as we see the lyrics. Then the notes from the artists. Jungkook's note is especially long it seems.

Extras: I had a small glance at some of these when trying to pull them out without looking, only because they were all spread out! There were quite a few actually. The survey card, "the notes", and the audition paper as always; as well as a PC, photo, and film strip. The PC I got was Suga, with two photos on the card, stacked. The back mirrored the cover with the clear grid and "Map of the Soul" printer in white on the bottom. The photo a got was Jimin wrapped in a blanket. A copy of a small note and his signature printed on the back. My film strip is of the group posing together and staring into the camera.

Film Strip

Poster: I decided to buy the poster of this album, though I do not always. When I opened it, I was shocked by how amazing it looked. Each member smiling and so clear. Sometimes BigHit posters don't really look all that clear to me. When my mom saw it she even said "wow!" And she's not even a fan of Kpop! She's said she was amazed and that even she thought it was a good poster!

Poster

Bought From: Kpoptown.com | They also included a photo of Suga from "Love Yourself: Her" which is really cute.

Album Review | TXT "The Dream Chapter: Star"

Miranda Rodriquez
First Posted | 5/7/19 | 7:05 PM PST

Album Review | TXT "The Dream Chapter: Star"

Cover of "The Dream Chapter : Star"

Cover: My first thought when I saw the cover was "Oh, thick plastic!" Not many albums come with a thick or hard plastic cover. And this one wrapped all the war around perfectly. It also contained part of the TXT logo, so when I pulled it off, the logo separated. The album itself is mainly blue (my favorite color), with white writing and a combination of white and yellow for the logo. When the plastic is pulled off, it takes half of the logo (in yellow), from the cover design, though a clear film takes its place on the cover itself.

Disk: The disk background is black with blue and yellow writing. "STAR" (in yellow) & "+OMORROW X +OGETHER" (in blue). There are streaks/dotted lines that blast along with the writing. It makes me thing of Star Wars when they jump to light speed. Which is probably the affect they were going for. Streaking stars. It also reminds me of the morse code we've been hearing, though I can't read it if it is.

Open Album with Photobook on Left Side and Disk on Right

Inner: This is a box form type album, so the extras were right on top of the photobook, and the disk imbedded into the back behind that. The same blue as the cover fills the inside with no extra designs. The photobook itself has many yellow and white logos pulled apart printed on top. My original thought was that it king of looked like flowers, but I now assume they are stars.

The first photo in the photobook is of them on bikes in a grocery store . . . Why? What is with BigHIt and bikes in places that people do not ride bikes? As I flip through the book I notice cartoon images printed and glossed, popping up. I really like this effect. They list off each member with a photo to help identify them since this is their firs album. I really like that most companies do this for their new artists. The group photos as look so cute a lovey-dovey, though I have started to notice that sometimes the boys look awkward in solo and group shots. Like they are trying to pose, but hesitate/don't know if they are posing right. Soobin especially seems to be drawing my eyes for that reason. Beomgyu seems the most relaxed and drawn my eye as being the most photogenic.

Lyrics are next, with notes from the artist to follow. Most are really short, with only Yoenjun taking up an entire page.

Extras in Album

Extras: I had to try and move everything over really quick, though I did view some of the backs. So many extras in this one. I got the survey card as normal, but no notes or audition paper. I also got two sticker sheets. One that mimics the glossed cartoons in the photobook as well as the members themselves, and the second with the group name, member names, and logo (regular and star form). I also got three different types of PC's. A group film with a bright yellow border, photo of Yeonjun that slips into a bright yellow paper frame with a pop-out backing, and a photo of Hueningkai witch pairs with a metal clip. I found the metal clip first and was completely confused until I realized there was a small circle pinched into the Hueningkai card.

Sticker Sheets

Poster: The poster was small and of the first photo in the photobook. I wish it had been of them on the escalator. That was my favorite group photo.

Poster Received with Album

Bought From: Kpoptown.com