by winterlyblooms

Main Albums

‘REFLECTION OF YOUTH’ CHRONICLE

“From the debut stage to the present, BTS has shown the narrative of ‘Growth’ through the concept or activity of each album and it represents the voices of youth. This makes BTS’s own unique essence, ‘Portrait of the youth,’ who bumps and falls, but finally grows little by little.”

The School Trilogy is the first series considered by BTS, since their debut in 2013 until 2014. It centers around themes faced by teenagers: what's their dream for the future, not being late to find happiness, and discovering love, including its bad sides in Dark & Wild - as explained in the WINGS Concept Book, Dark & Wild is included in this trilogy. Defying adults' and society's authority was also a recurrent theme during this era. (source)

Also known as 화양연화 in Hangul, Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa in romanization, and The Most Beautiful Moment in Life in English, this era lasted from 2015 to ~~forever~~ 2016 and had for main theme youth. The first mini-album explored the uncertainty while the second one centered around youth's energy and the determination to move forward, no matter what. (source)

This era lasted from 2016 to 2017. The main reference for this series was Demian. A special book, WINGS Concept Book was released and explained a lot about the artistic direction for BTS works. WINGS had for main theme temptation and depicted the boys breaking out of their shell to fly for the first time. On the opposite, You Never Walk Alone delved into what couldn't be said in the album and gave a message of comfort to the hurting youth. The WINGS Concept Book explains that YNWA is actually the events between The Most Beautiful Moment in Life and WINGS. (source)

Based on the 起承轉結, a Chinese writing structure consisting of an introduction, a development, a turning point, and a conclusion, this era lasted from mid-2017 to 2018 and saw the boys rise to the title of biggest boy band in the world. The theme this time was the importance of self-love and how one must love oneself before being able to love others. This philosophy is based on the work by Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving. (source)