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ijsselmeer13 's review for:
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS
by Myeongseok Kang, BTS
I’ve been a casual fan of BTS since about 2016. I didn’t know much about their story but did enjoy listening to their music here and there and watching their music videos. This summer, I decided I should learn a bit more about them since it was their 10th debut anniversary. Reading this book helped me better understand the journey that brought BTS to where they are now.
Beyond the Story is not comprehensive in its outline of everything that ever happened to the 7 members of BTS between 2013 and now - nor does it necessarily offer any direct critiques of the group or the K-pop industry more broadly. The book is semi-autobiographical and is produced and promoted by BTS’s entertainment company, HYBE. (In fact, several times throughout the book, the author notes their decision to not directly quote particularly scathing critiques that had been said about BTS). But, if you enter into the book knowing that its main purpose is to celebrate BTS and their fans, then it is a worthwhile read.
What Beyond the Story does offer is an overview of BTS’s members’ reflections on their lives as trainees all the way up until around 2022 (which irks me a bit that they could not cover elements of 2022 and 2023, such as their decision to go on military leave or their solo debuts - but I understand that this would have been very difficult to write and edit in time for the book to be printed this summer). Myeongseok Kang frames BTS’s story as a tale of underdogs who, against what seems like all odds, find success.
While their company, BigHit, may have been on the brink of bankruptcy during BTS’s trainee and debut days, it’s interesting how it was their low-budget, ‘DIY’ promotional efforts such as YouTube vlogs, dance practice videos, and ‘cook with me’ blog posts that helped BTS candidly share who they were with the world and win the hearts of millions, even when few saw their potential in the beginning. On the brink of a new digital age, BTS (seemingly unintentionally) spearheaded the movement towards a new form of idol culture. They eventually reached a point where there was no precedent for what came next, given their massive global popularity.
These YouTube videos and blog posts served as a massive archive Beyond the Story could pull from and reference with QR codes scattered throughout the book - which, I have no doubt, help boost HYBE’s financial earnings as they garner an influx of viewership on older YouTube videos. While I can be cynical about this, I truly appreciated the multimedia approach to storytelling that the book created as the timeline wove between text, photographs, music, and videos.
From an anthropological ethnography standpoint, I particularly appreciated how Kang centered the text around the BTS members’ own words. Formatted clearly with block quotes and different colored text, it was easy to identify when you were reading direct quotes. It was like you were right there in the interview, listening to what each member had to say. Balancing 7 members’ interview contributions evenly and combining them into one larger work is an impressive feat!
While I wish Beyond the Story explained the backstory for more of their songs, I did appreciate how the book forms parallels between the challenges the BTS members faced in life with their music’s thematic concepts. While HYBE’s decision to release a book in honor of their 10th anniversary may on one hand be seen as a manufactured, strategic marketing choice, I think BTS’s members have still always managed to maintain their candid personalities and share their real thoughts, dreams, and fears through their actions and words. Having the opportunity to learn even just a little bit more about their story in their own words was very touching.
Beyond the Story is not comprehensive in its outline of everything that ever happened to the 7 members of BTS between 2013 and now - nor does it necessarily offer any direct critiques of the group or the K-pop industry more broadly. The book is semi-autobiographical and is produced and promoted by BTS’s entertainment company, HYBE. (In fact, several times throughout the book, the author notes their decision to not directly quote particularly scathing critiques that had been said about BTS). But, if you enter into the book knowing that its main purpose is to celebrate BTS and their fans, then it is a worthwhile read.
What Beyond the Story does offer is an overview of BTS’s members’ reflections on their lives as trainees all the way up until around 2022 (which irks me a bit that they could not cover elements of 2022 and 2023, such as their decision to go on military leave or their solo debuts - but I understand that this would have been very difficult to write and edit in time for the book to be printed this summer). Myeongseok Kang frames BTS’s story as a tale of underdogs who, against what seems like all odds, find success.
While their company, BigHit, may have been on the brink of bankruptcy during BTS’s trainee and debut days, it’s interesting how it was their low-budget, ‘DIY’ promotional efforts such as YouTube vlogs, dance practice videos, and ‘cook with me’ blog posts that helped BTS candidly share who they were with the world and win the hearts of millions, even when few saw their potential in the beginning. On the brink of a new digital age, BTS (seemingly unintentionally) spearheaded the movement towards a new form of idol culture. They eventually reached a point where there was no precedent for what came next, given their massive global popularity.
These YouTube videos and blog posts served as a massive archive Beyond the Story could pull from and reference with QR codes scattered throughout the book - which, I have no doubt, help boost HYBE’s financial earnings as they garner an influx of viewership on older YouTube videos. While I can be cynical about this, I truly appreciated the multimedia approach to storytelling that the book created as the timeline wove between text, photographs, music, and videos.
From an anthropological ethnography standpoint, I particularly appreciated how Kang centered the text around the BTS members’ own words. Formatted clearly with block quotes and different colored text, it was easy to identify when you were reading direct quotes. It was like you were right there in the interview, listening to what each member had to say. Balancing 7 members’ interview contributions evenly and combining them into one larger work is an impressive feat!
While I wish Beyond the Story explained the backstory for more of their songs, I did appreciate how the book forms parallels between the challenges the BTS members faced in life with their music’s thematic concepts. While HYBE’s decision to release a book in honor of their 10th anniversary may on one hand be seen as a manufactured, strategic marketing choice, I think BTS’s members have still always managed to maintain their candid personalities and share their real thoughts, dreams, and fears through their actions and words. Having the opportunity to learn even just a little bit more about their story in their own words was very touching.