"Beyond the Story" 

The official book "Beyond the Story," published by "Beyond the Story" Lee BTS and his agency Big Hit Music to mark the 10th anniversary of their debut, cannot be limited to BTS stories.

The book, which contains the stories of BTS members from their trainee days, is a history book of the K-pop industry and a human literature book that looks into the minds of those who have become world-class artists through the team, which has become a turning point for K-pop.

BTS, who started his career as a Bulletproof Boys (Boys Who Become BTS) with the meaning of "preventing social prejudice and oppression" at the time of his debut, renewed his brand identity (BI) in 2017, adding the meaning of Beyond The Scene to the team name. BEYOND THE STORY,

which is included in the title of this book, is a variation of this.

In addition, "Beyond the Gods" means "what you see, beyond that reality," and the early history of BTS itself is RM's book, "That's it. "History of the struggle for recognition." I want to be recognized. 

It is also in line with what he said, "I want to be proven."

This is the dictionary meaning of the struggle for recognition, which refers to the fight to be recognized by oneself or others. It is a fight for honor in that it is not trying to subdue the opponent, but trying to identify itself from the opponent. 

It is a term with a mental character rather than the purpose  of overpowering the opponent, and it also goes well with BTS's tendency to value harmony rather than fight and solidarity rather than victory.

The book, which contains the story of BTS members who had to point out the rapper's rudeness and even had to deal with unprovoked cyberbullying from anonymous netizens, proves that the team's status did not take place overnight. 

Evidence for that proof abounds in the book. Proof, which means proof or proof, is also the title of an anthology album released by BTS members when they organized their Chapter 1 in June last year.

In more than 500 pages of books, the members talked about the Cheonggu building (which used to be Hive's predecessor Big Hit Entertainment's office building) 568m away from Exit 1 of Sinsa Station and the accommodation underneath the restaurant!It contains most of the important moments of BTS in Chapter 1, from RUL8,2?, "School Love Affair" and "Dark and Wild") to appearing at the "Mnet Asian Music Awards" (MAMA) in 2014 and the "Grammy Awards" in 2022.

These stories are nostalgic for the fandom "ARMY," who is familiar with the story, while giving interest such as dramas and movies to ordinary readers who want to be more interested in BTS and K-pop.

The story of RM learning English under great stress until 2018, Suga's car accident or shoulder injury while working as a trainee, Jin who tried to make food like eating and cleaning, and J-Hope, a dancer who didn't know anything about hip-hop, laughed and learned the charm of this genre, Jungkook said he learned more from his trainee years with older members instead of school.

The book contains not only the images of RM, Suga, Jin, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, but also the inner thoughts of Kim Nam-joon, Min Yoon-ki, Kim Seok-jin, Jung Ho-seok, Kim Tae-hyung, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jungkook. Since Big Hit Entertainment was the first place to become a trainee, the process of being forced to become an outsider in the early K-pop community served as an opportunity for the members to unite and unite among themselves. In the process, V and Jimin's "Dumpling Incident" was a happening to confirm their feelings for each other.

The day the book was published is also "Army Day" (the official fandom name announcement date). It is another big gift for ARMY following the 10th anniversary of the BTS in Yeouido last month. Naturally, any artist or fandom is precious and precious, but the relationship between BTS and ARMY has a more special bond sociologically. From 2015 to 2017, when BTS was under unprovoked cyber attacks with explosive growth, what they experienced made the relationship "very special" (page 198). Editor Kang said, "Army has made BTS a global superstar in a team that was struggling to survive in the industry, and many ARMYs today contribute to society in various ways. To BTS, ARMY is a fan, a strong supporter, or a brand in itself."

Beyond the Story is full of the members' words themselves, but it also gives editor Kang's solid sentences a taste to read. 

For example, "For BTSs who have uploaded various contents through blogs and YouTube before their debut, the era of their own contents was like an 'old future'." Editor Kang was a journalist who received favorable reviews for showing different views on popular culture and served as editor-in-chief of Ten Asia and Eyes.

Beyond the Story has been published in 23 languages, including Korean, English, and Japanese. The English translation of the book, which was first written in Korean, was led by Korean translator Anton Heo (Hu Jung-beom), and helped by American writers Claire Richards and Slin Jung. 

Anton Heo is also famous as a publisher who was in charge of translating "The Curse Rabbit" and Park Sang-young's "Love Law in a Large City" as it was nominated for the final and first round of the British Booker Awards, one of the world's top three literary awards.

In addition, Big Hit Music melted detailed consideration for foreign fans throughout the book, explaining the long journey of V and Jimin, who came to Seoul from their trainee days, taking a taxi from the express bus terminal to the Cheonggu building.

Above all, the book makes not only ARMY but also non-ARMY readers feel as if they are members of the community. Of course, it is thanks to the music itself, such as the "Hwayangyeonhwa" series, "Wings," and "You Never Walk Alone," which "individuals who seemed impossible to unite have found the possibility of solidarity through a common body and become a growing period of youth interested in the world of more people."

RM talked about the perception that BTS had about the world when he was working with these albums. "For those who listen to our music, or for myself, I pressed myself, 'I must have something to say about the world that surrounds me.' My start was Nas and Eminem. In a way, we can say that we are in a very unstable and contradictory position, but nevertheless, there is something to be said…”

We should also have something to say about the world that surrounds us.  At some moments when I couldn't find it, the BTS sang for me. 

That's "Beyond the Story" too. Beyond this harsh reality, there is nevertheless something to be said. This is why the BTS is still ongoing.

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