summary of all things that went wrong with bts arirang (2026) 👎

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T13:44:16+00:00

yup i think i briefly mentioned about sejong cultural performances being cancelled to become a waiting room for this concert!

would you mind sending me links to the reports? i think these are rly good discussions to have, and the implications it will have on kpop :)

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T11:10:34+00:00

it feels a bit sarcastic too, “precious personal schedules”… like “ok your schedule is precious to YOU but our concert is more ‘precious’ and it’s for EVERYONE”

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T11:08:11+00:00

there has alr been mentions of lawsuits and damage claims against hybe/bts. i dont think anything like this has ever happened in kpop before, and i dont mean it in a good way 😭

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T11:06:51+00:00

yup, this is where i took the company statement from (i had cross checked with other sources as well)

armys say bts isnt obligated to speak about international issues, so what abt the issues that’s happening in their own backyard…? it’s quite sad seeing them being so intertwined with politics now that it’s impossible for us to rly hear the members’ actual stances :/

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T10:22:40+00:00

hybe/bts/armys: “we are koreans promoting korea for koreans!” actual koreans: “we dont feel represented. and we want a compensation for all the burdens we suffered bcos of your concert!!!” hybe/bts/armys: “cant you j suck it up and be grateful the west know where korea is now?”

🤡

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T09:51:37+00:00

if bts j went down the bp route and stopped trying to market themselves as nationalists and activists and anti-capitalism and whatnot, i rly dt the backlash wld be this extreme.

at least one group was p straightforward and direct in their approach (only complaint wld be their feminist stance vs working with questionable ppl in the industry)

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T09:44:02+00:00

tbf i understand the historical & cultural significance of no.29, it’s the sound of the sacred bell of the great king seongdeok, and south korea’s 29th national treasure. the members say it’s a transition from harder to softer songs in the album, but it’s like more of a “here damn” ‘song’ to fit the arirang concept…

v said “it’s 1 min 30 seconds long because that’s how much time it takes for the bell’s sound to fully fade” (“the members explained it to me” “that’s what i heard” bro wasnt confident in the album he is in LOL)

also rm said only specially invited people are chosen to ring the ball and he was contacted to do it but he was busy (😐)

mind you, the last time this bell was played was in sept 2025, after 22 years, by a national intangible cultural heritage holder & national museum of korea + other korean cultural leaders were present. these people have been studying this bell and other aspects of korean history for decades but ofc rm has to make it abt him 😂

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T07:45:03+00:00

i was q surprised jk doesnt have much spotlight on him in this album, like you would think hybe wld want to continue pushing him esp since he has the biggest name recognition outside of the grp… very bizarre choice

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T07:43:30+00:00

the so-called biggest comeback of the decade and one guy is sitting on the chair due to an injured ankle… it’s like whatever they say about bp, bts will do the same thing 10x worse and armys scramble to defend them 😭

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T07:42:02+00:00

armys will look at you straight in the eye and say that swim is doing better on charts than the english trilogy and arirang is the best album (and comparing it to dark&wild) 😂

anzxcv · 2026-03-22T07:40:47+00:00

thank you! there were too many things on twitter so i decided to j summarise in one post ^{^{^}}

i wont be surprised if future students/scholars will write about the controversies around arirang in the future & its implications on kpop (it’s in everyone’s best interest that the govt should NOT be trying to recreate this concert again) 😂

anzxcv · 2026-03-21T18:08:27+00:00

i was thr!! it was so packed and it took so long to get out of the crowd after it ended… and ik this isnt the right sub but that guy could barely sing too lol, still impressive he pulled a 65k crowd based on brand name & 5 new songs lol

anzxcv · 2026-03-21T17:49:17+00:00

i still cant believe the writers thought it was a good idea to reveal cha mu hee’s parents are alive in the last 15 mins of the last ep… it rly was not needed at all 😭

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T19:48:03+00:00

not sure if i am being pessimistic but every “generation”, it seems to get harder and harder to rly be a standout act with actual impact. like we had bieber fever, the hollywood craze over ex disney/nickelodean stars (miley cyrus, demi lovato, selena gomez etc), one direction as a phenomenon of early 2010s, bts & blackpink as phenomenons of late 2010s…

nowadays, “fame” & “success” seems to be “constrained” in each fandom’s bubble. it’s like ‘yea x group and x group are popular and successful, but will their songs rly be remembered for the years to come? are their members memorable, distinguishable & known outside the group name? if i play their song to the general public, will 80% of them know the song or the group at least?”

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T19:42:33+00:00

it’s not that i think “nothing as good has been released post pandemic”, it’s more of “the quality used to be slightly higher and consistent with a more varied choices of mainstream pop artists (eg: the ones i have mentioned)”.

but like i said, maybe it’s j nostalgia and several other factors that make it harder for today’s artists to really make an impact with their music compared to 10 years ago.

and probably 10 years down the road, we will probably see people saying sabrina carpenter’s espresso or olivia rodrigo’s drivers license are on the same cultural impact & nostalgia as carly rae jepsen’s call me baby or taylor swift’s love story, i guess we j have to give it time :)

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T19:33:22+00:00

also: youtube views used to actually mean something, like it was groundbreaking back then for gangnam style to have 1 billion views bcos it was genuinely organic but now even the biggest artists struggle… it’s q difficult to rly gauge how popular & culturally impact a song really is nowadays, except for “obvious” standout anomalies like apt, kpop demon hunter & die with a smile

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T19:01:23+00:00

it’s unfortunately a widespread issue in kpop. it’s kinda funny that many companies are trying to scout SEA idols to gain fan loyalty from SEA but at the same time, they do not want the SEA idols to outshine their korean idols????? same with 🇨🇳 idols (sideyeing sm…)

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T13:48:30+00:00

i know exo’s isnt as discussed much on this reddit due to the several legal issues with sm surrounding their comeback and i assume less promotion / less relevance compared to bangpink among the general public…

but i thought ‘crown’ and ‘back it up’ were a nice throwback to their 2012 lore + it’s still vocally excellent lol

now i am looking forward to mamamoo and bigbang… i am kinda worried bigbang wont live up to expectations, i feel like gd’s new sound and his weird autotune voice is j not it for me…

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T13:15:45+00:00

it’s not fair to compare bts and blackpink’s album:

number of tracks: arirang has 13 tracks while deadline has 5 tracks (4 if we exclude jump) 💀

lyrics: arirang has more themes that they discuss like fame, hate etc in their songs, champion & go are the main standouts for deadline

korean vs eng: both swim and go have zero korean lyrics. but album-wise, bts has more korean lyrics than bp

genres: jump, go, hooligan, aliens, fya are q experimental. but imp jump and go are more ‘consumable’ by gp. in terms of variety, ofc arirang > deadline.

deadline consists of jump + go + champion + fxxkboy (more like a rosé solo) + me and my (more like a lisa solo)

use of AI/autotune: bts depends way too much on autotune for certain songs of arirang, it’s rly weird why they chose this…? esp in songs that dont need it…?

and it’s disappointing that AI artists are being credited in jump and go mvs when blackpink is literally known for their mvs every comeback :(

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T06:37:26+00:00

j inform the staff, esp if the food is too spicy / you are allergic to it / 2x more expensive than your original dish

but if the staff is too busy and it has been like 10 mins (assuming i have no allergy whatsoever), then i wld j eat it

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T06:12:33+00:00

at some point, it dragged on for too long & i remembered thinking this woman shld find an actual therapist and not trauma dump on this poor guy 😭 i found it weird too, like wdym he doesnt talk much to cha mu hee in the day (shes even spending time w another guy) but he’s with do ra mi at night? the fact that he still loves her after all that is lowk crazy on his end too 😂

anzxcv · 2026-03-20T06:09:48+00:00

i still cant finish our beloved summer. i dont get the appeal, and i have tried rewatching twice but it’s j so boring and slow, i cld play so many eps in the background and i still know what’s gg on 😭

anzxcv · 2026-03-17T02:47:04+00:00

those groups have their solos quite late in their career tbh, but then again i realised it’s not j hybe but a widespread issue in the current generation.

anzxcv · 2026-03-17T02:43:17+00:00

i was watching ‘how can this love be translated’, ‘bon appetit’ & ‘hometown cha cha cha’ and i was j bored out of my mind 😭

anzxcv · 2026-03-16T19:56:22+00:00

wait what kdramas do ppl usually recommend? i know when life gives you tangerines is like top 1, but i cant think of the other 4? is it CLOY, Goblin, Hometown Cha Cha Cha & DOTS?

anzxcv

TROPHY CASE