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[ARTICLE] ☆ Style Vol. 21 at Oricon Style

BTS ☆ Style Vol. 21 at Oricon Style [141224]

STYLE VOL. 21: AN ALBUM PORTRAYING THE 7 MEMBERS' REAL SELVES

BTS released their 1st album 「WAKE UP」on 24th December, Christmas Eve. We got them to share with us their thoughts on the album and their recent, highly successful live.

An album made to suit the sensibilities of Japanese listeners

——Your 1st album「WAKE UP」was released on 24th December, Christmas Eve. Could you tell us more about it?

SUGA : Like its title「WAKE UP」suggests, (the album) carries a feeling of "awakening" and "realisation". Along with the Japanese versions of our Korean songs, our new album also includes many original Japanese songs. Because of that, I believe it is an album that showcases a new side of BTS, and above all, one that suits attuned to the sensibilities of our Japanese listeners. We've also infused our members personal styles and honest feelings as messages into the album, so it'll be great if fans can give the full tracklist a listen and get to know our true selves and current emotions a little better.

——It must be hard to produce and record the album while having your Korean activities. Were there any difficulties you encountered in particular?

SUGA : In general, (the whole process) took a long time, so that was tough. But we were blessed with a great song, so expressing our feelings was easy and we had fun recording it.

——If you had to choose one song you particularly like from the album?

SUGA : It will be「WAKE UP」for me. It's refreshing as it's different from our style up till now.JUNG KOOK : I like「WAKE UP」too. The melody is great and I was able to sing well from start to end during its recording.JIMIN : 「WAKE UP」for me too. It's truly an original Japanese single! It was my first time (singing an original Japanese song), but I had a lot of fun singing it, and I'm looking forward to our future performances too.V : It's「Like Pt. 2 ~at that place~」for me. I just really really like it! It's a good song.J-HOPE : 「THE STARS」for me. It's full of hope and feels like a song that can make everyone who hears it happy; I like that.JIN : I like「THE STARS」too. My reason is exactly the same as J-hope's ― because it's overflowing with hope and I get filled with happiness singing it.RAP MONSTER : I like 「Danger -Japanese ver.-」. I think the Japanese lyrics fit the feel of the song more.

——When you think of BTS, it's always about your powerful performances. If you had to pick a song with the most difficult performance routine?

All:「Danger -Japanese ver.-」.RAP MONSTER : It was really hard.JIN : (It was the one song) we kept practicing.JIMIN : The practices were really no joke!J-HOPE : But there are still times we bump into each other despite all our practices.

It is important to synchronise all 7 members' breathing during live performances

——You're always performing as though your lives depend on it. Your formations are always sharp and the freedom (in choreography) that maximises the effectiveness of your ad-libs are all part of BTS' appeal, right?

J-HOPE : Thank you very much. We always keep in mind to show the cool sides of ourselves during performances. It's firstly important to synchronise our breathing, but I think it's also important for us to not be too hung up on the formations, so that we can showcase our individual charms through our ad-libs.

——There is a line in「WAKE UP」that goes . Please tell us your thoughts on your showcases in Osaka and Tokyo in November.

SUGA : It was fun. It was the first time we had a stage where we could exchange and share our joy with fans, so we were really happy too.V : When we interacted with the audience, they said "hai" as "ne", replying in Korean for us. It was really heartwarming to see them being so accommodating towards us.JIMIN : I was really nervous when I first got on the stage, but the fans were really passionate, and that got rid of my nerves and I was able to enjoy the live to my fullest.

——Your brilliant performance, of course, as a given, your Japanese has improved too.

JIMIN : Oh no no. We can only speak simple Japanese for now.RAP MONSTER : We'll have to work even harder from now on.

——The showcases were truly a fruit of your labour. Jungkook-kun, how do you feel about it?

JUNG KOOK : To be honest, I was a little worried about whether or not we would be able to fill the 5000-seater capacity. But when I got onstage, I saw the hall filled to the brim with ARMYs, so I really enjoyed it from start to end.RAP MONSTER : I didn't have any worries in particular, but seeing 5000 fans gathered for our first proper concert here in Japan really touched me.

——I heard that all the tickets were sold out and there were many fans who weren't able to attend the showcases even though they really wanted to go.

JUNG KOOK : We're going to have larger venues for our next tour, so for those who weren't able to attend this time round, please do come for the next one!

——Your next tour includes Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka; 4 cities and 6 stops. That is a pretty big increase.

J-HOPE: I'm really glad. Besides for our next tour, I'd like us to come and have a lot more live performances in Japan!

——On a side note, there was the line in「THE STARS」. How are the members like backstage and back in the dorm? What are the latest obsessions for the group?

SUGA : We're obsessed over watching Korean dramas together.RAP MONSTER : Except for me and Jungkook.SUGA : The drama is about a bad man, so Jungkook-kun, who's underaged, can't watch it, but we always look forward to watching it with our managers.JUNG KOOK : They do impersonations of the main character in the drama all day. They even do it while we're eating and they're really noisy, so it's quite annoying for me (laughs).

——And are the impersonations convincing?JIN : Yes. And it's a different member (who does it convincingly) every time.J-HOPE : There's one (of us) who can do it really, really well.SUGA : So well it pisses me off (laughs).

——So that is how daily life has been like recently?RAP MONSTER : I'm different (from them).

——What are Rap Monster-kun and Jungkook-kun doing in those situations?JIN : Rap Monster-kun just stares at his phone.JUNG KOOK : I would be sleeping (laughs).RAP MONSTER : Jungkook-kun is always either eating or sleeping when he's at home (laughs).

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Cr.

Oricon Style

Trans cr; Min @ bts-trans