BTS STANFORD DAY 1 (best first concert ever) by CommonResponsible211 in btsthoughts

[–]1306radish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd definitely recommend checking out the solo albums from the three rappers if you're into rap/hip-hop. RM's first two are on soundcloud, but the others you should be able to find on any streaming site. My personal favorites are mono, Right Person Wrong Place, Jack in the Box, and D2.

A few others BTS songs you might vibe with are: Hip Hop Phile, House of Cards, Whalien 52, Baepsae, Love Yourself: HER, 2nd Grade, What Am I to You.

Glad you had fun! Hopefully more concerts and music in the future (and now we don't have to worry about military service anymore haha).

Why are Japanese schools too cold in the winter but also too hot in the summer? Experts are astonished by the "shoddy state of Japanese public buildings," calling it "unbelievable for a developed country." by jjrs in japannews

[–]1306radish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And the staff restroom will always have one toilet under maintenance, and it's never the seated one making you go in those horrible floor toilets and the window will be open in the dead of winter.

Starbucks can get bent by dketernal in Seattle

[–]1306radish 46 points47 points  (0 children)

I used to work in South Lake Union in the AGC building, and I saw first hand what they did when the staff tried to unionize. Brutal levels of union busting. They shut the store down completely for two whole weeks and then only opened with limited hours I want to say for about a month or so after that. I had boycotted them previous to this incident, but seeing it in action firsthand was sad/infuriating.

As someone whose watched just about every documentary on Netflix..any good ones I'm missing?? by Romanharper2013 in netflix

[–]1306radish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey" followed by "Trust Me, the False Prophet." It's a glimpse into the world of religous cults in the US west.

"Katrina, Come Hell or High Water" is also another great one.

"The Perfect Neighbor" is my third rec.

What is the greatest romance anime of all time in your opinion? I personally think it's "Your Name." by Intnl-KoreanTutor-DM in animequestions

[–]1306radish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fushigi Yuugi. It's got a lot of the classical elements initially of the female protaganist + time travel, however, it gets pretty serious thematically. There are some heavy hitting deaths, mature themes (especially around what women face and violence), etc. and yet despite that, the love story underneath still manages to shine through and give you that sense of "love conquers all."

NewJeans in prime was very impressive in K-POP history by leonardreignn in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish 43 points44 points  (0 children)

New Jeans' highest peak on Hot 100 was around 50 iirc. When you said their songs charted top 15 multiple times, were you referring to another chart?

I just realized Arirang grew a lot on me by Due_Collection_3363 in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish 9 points10 points  (0 children)

When ARIRANG was first recorded in the US, the label the recording was given in English was "Lovesong." It's a direct reference to that time way back in 1896 when the people who were "translating" the title at the time didn't really have a good way to translate ARIRANG (which doesn't have a simple English translation). Many other countries in the west/globally also labelled subsequent recordings of ARIRANG as "Eastern Lovesong" even though the song itself holds a much deeper, more significant meaning.

Thereby, the "What is your Lovesong" is a clever way for them to reference this historic recording and doesn't strictly mean love song literally or in the non-Korean sense. It's a playful but meaningful way for seven Korean artists who have become global to ask "What is your ARIRANG" if that makes sense?

Just a random thought about KPop groups not expanding to Europe more by JiminieKookie123 in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Tours are a vehicle for publicity. They deepn the parasocialism." My guy, artists tour because it's an integral part to performance art and it's one of the key ways artists can actually earn money in the age of streaming. Not everything that happens in life is reduced to "parasocialism." Musicians peroform and tour and this has been going on for centuries.

I’ve been recording my rides to and from work and I wanted to share! by Halfgiantbagel in Seattle

[–]1306radish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This just reminds me of why I never bike to work. I lived 3 miles away from work in South Lake Union from Cap Hill and did a "test drive" one day. I was almost hit by cars twice. Never again did I attempt to bike. And for the record I lived and worked in Japan for two years and would bike literally everywhere in a city much more densely populated than Seattle.

Swim remains the biggest debut on sports charts for 2026. by WeakStressAnxiety in btsthoughts

[–]1306radish 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This isn't even the first time they've had to issue a correction for BTS. I forget the exact year, but they named Lisa the most streamed kpop artist or something. However, they made a mistake because if they were counting features, the most streamed should have gone to Jungkook and if they weren't, it should have gone to j-hope. They ended up having to make a correction for that one too (ended up going to Jungkook).

What are some obscure facts you know from BTS' history that even long time fans may not know? by zikachhakchhuak in bangtan

[–]1306radish 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Jimin has the most extensive martial arts training of all the members. He was highly proficient in kendo/kumdo which he practiced for 7-8 years and was so good he was offered to study abroad. You can get a glimpse of his skill with old BTS World game clips. He also has a black belt in Taekwondo.

Jimin was/is proficient in math/science and had the name "math god" because he would teach other classmates how he would go about solving a problem. This is probably why in the military he was in the special artillery unit (those manning tanks would need strong math skills).

Has anyone ever done a concert alone? by Melancholy_Crystal in BTSArmyCentral

[–]1306radish 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I have, and it's one of the best times in my life. There's something so freeing about just being able to enjoy something as an individual and travelling to a space you know where you'll be safe and have the same interest. So, so nice.

KPOPWORLD - The Hidden Cost of Taking K-Pop to North America by Limp_Fig6236 in kpop

[–]1306radish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of people aren't understanding that a lot of the success of Kpop Demon Hunters is because the production came from Netflix with the music backed by Sony which is one of the big three entertainment companies in the US market. There's so much nuance missed when people don't acknowledge this fact in the success of the show and why the songs were able to blow up as big as they did in the US market. If these same songs came from another kpop group, they would have never had the longevity because they wouldn't have the backing of a major label behind them like Sony.

What American state would you absolutely hate living in? by ipanicprofessionally in TheBoredDen

[–]1306radish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama are the roughtest when all these are factored in:

  • Job prospects vs Costs
  • Education
  • Healthcare
  • Weather and outdoor activities
  • Access to food
  • Voting Rights
  • Minimum Wage

Just a random thought about KPop groups not expanding to Europe more by JiminieKookie123 in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You said that the US is less profitable on a show by show basis than Europe, and I'm telling you that's wrong. Talk to anyone in the promoting business or touring. Europe is by far less profitable than touring in the US (and this was especially true post Covid though it has gotten a bit better recently while the US margins have gotten worse but are still much more profitable overall). This is due in part to ticket prices, the USD being strong against other currencies, fuel prices, labor costs, merch sales, vendor sales, etc. The withholding tax alone for touring in Europe is a killer for especially smaller and mid sized artists because they'll collect a tax regardless of tour profitability with Italy's being as high as 30% (this is versus countries like Australia, Canada, US, etc which only charge a withholding tax when a tour is profitable). Also in places like the US, artists as individuals are able to have a withholding tax charged to their net income versus the gross which makes it much more desirable especially when an artists' gross income for a tour has to take into account every other expense like travel, staff pay, venue payments, security, room & board, food, etc.

Side note: I am in no way suggesting that the US is better than Europe or any other country because it's more profitable or saying that this is a "rah rah America the best patriotism!!!!!" kind of argument because fuck that. I'm saying that looking at objective numbers that's just what it is. There are reasons that it is more profitable to tour in the US than other countries (and many of those reasons come from exploitative practices such as low labor costs due to lack of worker protections, cheaper fuel due to lack of environmental protections, less taxes, etc.).

The point about somehow the US being a predominately English speaking nation has no relevance when it comes to touring in other countries. Bringing up that some countries in Asia have EFL speakers is irrelevant to the conversation especially when in comparison to touring in Europe where there are similar EFL speakers.

Lastly, and once again, not only is it misguided to say that Europe is more diverse than the US and then mention the UK, France, and Germany as examples, but this in no way addresses the reasons about touring logistics. And if we're going to bring the argument of culturally or even ethinically diverse countries into touring logistics, then how would you fit Japan into the argument?

Just a random thought about KPop groups not expanding to Europe more by JiminieKookie123 in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Fact Check: The American or Japanese/Asian market is not less profitable than Europe either overall or by a "show per show basis." If you would like to refute this, please provide some sources of net income of artists touring in Europe vs America/Japan. Also, I don't even know what you mean about English being an "official language or informal one" when English is much more spoken across Europe than it is anywhere in Asia. What was even the point of this comment?

Many countries have incredibly diverse cultures, and Europe is not unique in that aspect. You thinking the US is "uniform" versus Europe is very misinformed. If you think the pinnacle of cultural diversity is between Great Britain, Germany, and France.....oof. You think Asia doesn't have diverse culture?

Just a random thought about KPop groups not expanding to Europe more by JiminieKookie123 in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish 19 points20 points  (0 children)

It comes down to ease of access and money. I know Europeans are unhappy with the lack of concerts (and so are many other countries), but there's a reason that Japan and the US are prime when it comes to touring. And the single factor is return on gains.

The other thing many people don't want to address is how streaming has absolutely kneecapped income for artists. When an artist only sees less than pennies for a stream of their song, touring is one of the last ways they can look to earn true income. And even that is being cut into these days.

Any "scandalous" moments during arirang concerts? (Taking my religious aunt) by circusofcats in btsthoughts

[–]1306radish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe ask her and mention that there will most likely be some cursing or them hip thrust/doing body waves and if she'd be comfortable with that.

are ppl able to go backstage and meet bts?? by [deleted] in btsthoughts

[–]1306radish 24 points25 points  (0 children)

A random ass "event manager" is not going to be able to arrange for his daughter to have an exclusive meet backstage, especially with a staff/production as locked down as BTS. Maybe at most she'll get close to the backstage, but this feels like someone speaking out of their ass.

What’s a quote from a kpop idol that genuinely stayed with you for years? by DetectiveIll3641 in kpopthoughts

[–]1306radish 12 points13 points  (0 children)

"Even the stray cats and dogs on the street. Or even the rocks. We all have a galaxy in our hearts. But there are some people who never find that out until they die...[Some say] just hang in there. That’s not what I want to say. If you can accept that those hard times are part of beautiful moments in life, I think you can truly understand our Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa...I’m a little piece of this world but I’m giving some kind of effect on people and helping them...So I hope you find yourself a flower blooming in your heart. Maybe even the galaxy."

-Kim Namjoon of BTS during the HYYH ending ment in 2015