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.

MV Review | BTS "Boy With Luv" Official MV

Miranda Rodriquez
First Posted |4/12/19 | 3:08 AM PST

My first reaction was to awe at the pink robe outfits the boys wore, however that quickly turned into an uncontrollable blush. I knew at the very start of this MV that this wasn't exactly like their past MV's. And V was the forerunner of this soon to be escalation of squeals and blushes.

BTS has always been/had sexy moments in their MV's, but have yet to have a full on sexy/flirty concept MV. This is NOT including their obvious stages which include beds or soaked clothing. You can say that "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" was a sexy concept MV, and you'd be right! However there were still many parts where the boys pushed that back and let other emotions punch through.

However, in the first few seconds of this MV, I knew that something seemed different. Instead of starting with a smirk or a serious stare, we were greeted by their backs as the music started. I frowned and questioned why they would start in that kind of formation with such a slow tempo. I was soon answered as the camera zoomed in on them, centering on V as he (RM and Jin blurred in the background) turned to face the camera. And as I admired his blue hair, I was shocked by V seductively licking his lips as he stared directly into the camera!

Jimin soon takes center as his vocals ask "hows your day" as he smiles and smirks that way he does. His dancing is very flowy and smooth as though he's showing off his body. Not abnormal, though seeming more flirty than normal MV's. With a switch back to V and a few deep vocal lines, we get yet another lip lick as the boys dance together behind him. I almost didn't notice the hip thrusts all the boys did as Jin took center and blurred the boys behind him, followed by their normal spazzy dancing whenever they do lighter tracks.

A few transitional lines later with Jungkook, and the chorus hits with the boys jumping in the air. J-Hope derping as normal. There are so many stares into the camera as the boys move from background to background, each one staring into my soul. Pink, orange/yellow, and blue so far have been shown as main colors, not as much purple or green as I thought. Though I knew long ago pink would be the main color here.

Suga's spotlight is next with a light rap with some off-synced shots, but you don't really care because his smile is so bright and pure!

Pure white is ironically the next color as J-Hope takes center. Though that quickly goes away as it transfers to a darker background and back to V as center, though the boys are still in white.

Halsey jumps into the frame, dancing and singing with the boys on screen. I like the higher background tone she brings to it, but I wish this was a true collaboration with a small solo from her.

RM is next up with the catchy line translated to English as "I'll speak very frankly, sometimes I was a little stuck up." With a quick shot to the boys who each had a different expression to his confession. Mostly a sense of disbelief of the confession as well as a "you think?" attitude.

Throughout the MV there were lyrical references to past albums, most notably Wings. During RM's part and until the end, there were neon signs that read "Wings," "Young Forever," "2 cool 4 school," "Answer," "Love Yourself," "Persona," and "Never Walk Alone." I love the references and how they always tie everything together, truly making it their own special world.

I couldn't stop thinking about TXT and how this very pink and  sweet song (not including the seduction) fit with them so well. While BTS has a more mature tone and style, I would have loved to see TXT do a rendition that was pure and sweet.

My final thoughts were that this was a very flirty free song that had to do with a pure love and caring nature of one loved one to another. The seduction added maturity and heart attack moments, and ended with an "Idol" feel as BTS and other dancers swung back and forth to the final counts. Ending with the boys yelling out the name of the title track. In all, this was by far, the sweetest love song BTS song they have ever released.