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L-R, top - bottom: LOVE YOURSELF: Her, LOVE YOURSELF: Wonder, LOVE YOURSELF: Tear, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer.
First unveiled in March of 2016, the BTS LOVE YOURSELF series creates a narrative by linking the key songs in each album into a single theme, imparting the message that “loving yourself is true love”. Like a well-written novel having introduction, development, twists, and conclusion it shared a compelling story for two and a half years.
— Big Hit Entertainment's website summarizing the series

The LOVE YOURSELF Series is the fourth Korean and Japanese era in the career of the Korean Boy Band BTS. It consists of a short introduction film and three albums, LOVE YOURSELF: Her, LOVE YOURSELF: Tear, and LOVE YOURSELF: Answer. It officially began on September 18, 2017, with the release of the 'DNA' music video and concluded on September 6, 2018, with the "IDOL (feat. Nicki Minaj)" music video. It's commonly shortened to the "LY era".

The overarching theme and message of the series is self-love; one must first love and accept themself before one can love someone else. It also depicts the ups and downs of love and examines the Beneath the Mask phenomenon. The series follows an Asian storytelling structure called Kishōtenketsu with the same Chinese characters for it:

  1. LOVE YOURSELF 起 Wonder: The introduction or beginning (ki) of the series which is a short film with the track "Euphoria" performed by Jung Kook.
  2. LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her': The development (sho, literally means process or hardships) of the series. BTS portrays the journey of youth, the thrill and excitement of love, and how fate and destiny brought them together with their lover.
  3. LOVE YOURSELF 轉 'Tear': The twist (ten) or the turning point of the series. BTS openly works through the sadness and pain that come after the breakup of a fake love. The love described in Her is destroyed here; a love where one hides their true self is doomed to fail.
  4. LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer': The conclusion (ketsu a.k.a result) of the series. The album offers a solution to the predicament and details the various emotions and experiences from finding oneself and meeting someone new to falling in love.

Tracklist:

LOVE YOURSELF: 'Her'

  1. "Intro: Serendipity" (performed by Jimin) (2:19)
  2. "DNA" (3:43)
  3. "Best of Me" (3:46)
  4. "보조개" (Dimple) (performed by Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) (3:16)
  5. "Pied Piper" (4:05)
  6. "Skit: Billboard Music Awards Speech" (1:43)
  7. "MIC Drop" (3:57)
  8. "고민보다 Go" (Go Go) (3:55)
  9. "Outro: Her" (performed by RM, Suga, and J-Hope) (3:49)

LOVE YOURSELF: 'Tear'

  1. "Intro: Singularity" (performed by V) (3:17)
  2. "Fake Love" (4:02)
  3. "The Truth Untold" (전하지 못한 진심) (performed by Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) (featuring Steve Aoki) (4:02)
  4. "134340" (3:49)
  5. "Paradise" (낙원) (3:30)
  6. "Love Maze" (3:40)
  7. "Magic Shop" (4:36)
  8. "Airplane Pt. 2" (3:39)
  9. "Anpanman" (3:54)
  10. "So What" (4:44)
  11. "Outro: Tear" (performed by RM, Suga, and J-Hope) (4:45)

LOVE YOURSELF: 'Answer'

  • CD A (a concept album):

  1. "Euphoria" (performed by Jungkook) (3:49)
  2. "Trivia 起: Just Dance" (performed by J-Hope) (3:45)
  3. "Serendipity" (full length edition) (performed by Jimin) (4:37)
  4. "DNA" (3:43)
  5. "보조개" (Dimple) (performed by Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) (3:16)
  6. "Trivia 承: Love" (performed by RM) (3:46)
  7. "Her" (performed by RM, Suga, and J-Hope) (3:49)
  8. "Singularity" (3:17)
  9. "Fake Love" (4:02)
  10. "The Truth Untold" (4:02)
  11. "Trivia 轉: Seesaw" (performed by Suga) (4:06)
  12. "Tear" (4:45)
  13. "Epiphany" (4:00)
  14. "I'm Fine" (4:00)
  15. "Idol" (3:43)
  16. "Answer: Love Myself" (4:11)

  • CD B:

  1. "Magic Shop" (4:36)
  2. "Best of Me" (3:46)
  3. "Airplane Pt. 2" (3:39)
  4. "고민보다 Go" (Go Go) (3:55)
  5. "Anpanman" (3:54)
  6. "MIC Drop" (3:57)
  7. "DNA" (Pedal 2 LA Mix) (4:07)
  8. "FAKE LOVE" (Rocking Vibe Mix) (3:58)
  9. "MIC Drop" (Steve Aoki Remix feat. Desiigner) (full length Edition) (5:08)
  10. "IDOL" (feat. Nicki Minaj) digital bonus track (4:20)

Tropes are the cause of my euphoria:

  • Album Intro Track: For this era, the vocal line (Jungkook, Jimin, V, Jin) do the intros "Euphoria", "Serendipity", "Singularity", and "Epiphany" in the same order.
  • Alternate Music Video:
    • "FAKE LOVE" has an extended version that expands a bit on the story (featuring the Rocking Vibe Mix).
    • There's a video for "IDOL" and for "IDOL (feat. Nicki Minaj)", the latter using alternative takes from the former plus an appearance by Nicki Minaj for her verse. It also adds videos posted as part of the fan-organized #IDOLCHALLENGE at the end.
  • Anachronic Order: The LOVE YOURSELF series consists in 4 "chapters", these being Wonder, Her, Tear and Answer. However, LOVE YOURSELF: Wonder (the only one not being an actual album, with "Euphoria" being the only content explicitly pertaining to it, not counting "Trivia: Just Dance" from Answer) was released seven months after Her and a month before Tear. The release order for the series is, therefore, 2-1-3-4.
  • An Aesop: The general message of the LOVE YOURSELF series is that you should find your sense of self-worth not in trying to please others or only showing them your "good" side, but in accepting yourself with all your flaws and past mistakes and using them instead to grow as a person. This message is particularly relevant in a context where mental illness is still taboo in South Korea and other countries.
    • "Fake Love": A love where one is hiding behind a mask, without self-love or being true to oneself is a fake love.
    • "Paradise": No need to rush or go too fast regarding life and the future. It's okay to be uncertain, to stop, and take a break. You don't need to have a dream just because society pressures you to have one.
    • "Go Go": The younger Korean generations tend to overspend as a way to cope with an increasingly bleak future, especially since considering that attempting to save up on money under these working and living conditions would hardly do much in the long run, anyway. Extravagance and having a "you only live once" (YOLO in the lyrics) mentality are alarming, bad habits.
    • "Magic Shop": Encourages listeners to find happiness and growth within themselves; as in, encouraging fans not to depend on BTS emotionally, but to also direct the love they've given to BTS to themselves.
    you gave me the best of me so/ you'll give you the best of you
  • Auto-Tune: They've used this as a stylistic choice in "DNA" (used subtly for a cosmic-like sound) and in the "Mic Drop" remix.
  • Badass Boast:
    • "MIC Drop" has the group bragging about their worldwide success by detailing how their bags are full of golden trophies they can't even carry them all with their hands and they slam haters who expected them to fail and refuse to accept apologies from detractors at this level of success.
      did you see my bag/did you see my bag/my bag’s filled with trophies
    • "Airplane Pt. 2" takes the form of a success story, with the chorus talking about all the places they're able to travel to due to their immense success and how they even own their own airplane.
  • Break Up Song:
    • While LOVE YOURSELF: Her was about falling in love while becoming a Stepford Smiler, LOVE YOURSELF: Tear is about the relationship collapsing. This is shown in the songs "Fake Love", "134340" and "Outro: Tear". Interestingly, "Outro: Tear" was revealed in the Break the Silence documentary to have been written as a break-up song for the members, back in early 2018 when they were discussing whether to disband.
    • From the "Tear" segment of the compilation album LOVE YOURSELF: Answer, there's "Trivia: Seesaw," which describes an emotionally exhausting and draining relationship akin to a "repetitive seesaw" in the imbalance between the partners and the rapper pleads to leave this relationship but he isn't able to.
  • Call-Back:
    • "IDOL" has the line "sometimes I become your superhero/Keep spinning, you Anpanman", referencing "Anpanman" from the previous album.
    • "Magic Shop" makes one to "Best of Me" in the verse "You gave me the best of me/so you'll give you the best of you".
    • "I'm Fine" is this to "Save Me". Not only does the former take reversed melodies from the "Save Me", but it is a mirror to the song both in themes and lyrics (almost verse-to-verse), with even the rappers' parts being in the reverse ordernote . While "Save Me" was about a person depending emotionally on another, in "I'm Fine", the person looks back and finds that they really are fine and happy on their own.
    • "IDOL" has the line "sometimes I become your superhero/Keep spinning, you Anpanman", referencing "Anpanman" from the previous album.
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Her seems like an aversion, having a much Lighter and Softer sound... except that the album goes through a Cerebus Syndrome in itself, and it's only the first EP in another series. The first half starts with an idealized vision of (not necessarily romantic) love that gradually becomes slightly more obsessive. Then, after "Mic Drop", comes "Go Go", a lyrically-dissonant, dark social commentary about socioeconomic struggles of the younger generations in Korea. "Outro: Her" then talks about hiding one's darker/uglier side and putting on a mask to be loved by another person. This theme reappears in the Hidden Tracks "Skit: Hesitation and Fear", where the members openly talk about their image being a filtered version of themselves, and the last track, "Sea", which is one of the darkest songs in BTS' discography.
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Tear follows on the themes reached at the end of Her, dealing with the realization that hiding under a mask has only led to a Loss of Identity and that the love received is therefore not real, with the relationship collapsing as a result. While the tone starts getting a bit more lighter and hopeful after the first 4 songs, it goes back to dark with the rap-only track "Outro: Tear", where the illusion created in Her is violently and painfully destroyed for good. The tone only becomes lighter in the last chapter, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer.
  • Cerebus Syndrome:
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Her seems like an aversion, having a much Lighter and Softer sound... except that the album goes through a Cerebus Syndrome in itself, and it's only the first EP in another series. The first half starts with an idealized vision of (not necessarily romantic) love that gradually becomes slightly more obsessive. Then, after "Mic Drop", comes "Go Go", a lyrically-dissonant, dark social commentary about socioeconomic struggles of the younger generations in Korea. "Outro: Her" then talks about hiding one's darker/uglier side and putting on a mask to be loved by another person. This theme reappears in the Hidden Tracks "Skit: Hesitation and Fear", where the members openly talk about their image being a filtered version of themselves, and the last track, "Sea", which is one of the darkest songs in BTS' discography.
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Tear follows on the themes reached at the end of Her, dealing with the realization that hiding under a mask has only led to a Loss of Identity and that the love received is therefore not real, with the relationship collapsing as a result. While the tone starts getting a bit more lighter and hopeful after the first 4 songs, it goes back to dark with the rap-only track "Outro: Tear", where the illusion created in Her is violently and painfully destroyed for good. The tone only becomes lighter in the last chapter, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer.
  • Concept Album: The LOVE YOURSELF series tells the story of what loving oneself truly means, going from relying on another person, to truly finding love in learning to accept all sides of yourself. Depending on interpretation, it might also be a commentary on BTS' (and idols in general's) relationship with their fans.
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Her features themes of newfound, fated love, but with the implication that the person is not being true to themself and the other and is hiding their darker side.
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Tear is about discovering how the "love" experienced in Her is fake, since the person, too afraid to show their true self, hid under a mask and therefore wasn't loved for who they were, losing their identity trying to please the other.
    • LOVE YOURSELF: Answer, being a compilation album, registers the entire journey from Wonder to Tear, plus the development of the person now slowly finding happiness in slowly learning to accept and love themself.
  • Creator Provincialism: "IDOL" (which mixes South African dance rhythms and sounds with Korean traditional instruments) includes the shouts "ursoo!" and "jihwaja!", which are sounds made to show excitement or boost the mood in traditional Korean music/dance performances.
  • Creator Thumbprint: Suga whispering (sometimes saying) his name in the beginning of his verses like in "Pied Piper", "134340" and many other songs.
  • Cultural Cross-Reference:
    • "Anpanman" heavily references the manga character of the same name.
    • "Magic Shop" (as well as the "Fake Love" teaser) references James R. Doty's book Into the Magic Shop.
    • The "IDOL" choreography for the line "sometimes I become your superhero/Keep spinning, you Anpanman" (itself a Call-Back to the song "Anpanman") has the members posing as different comic superheros: Jin as the Hulk, Suga as Black Panther, Jimin as Spider-Man, J-Hope as Anpanman, V as Iron Man, RM as Captain America, and Jungkook as Thor.
  • Foreshadowing: The Arc Words "Save Me"/"I'm Fine" - written in a certain typography so that you could read "Save Me" on one side, then "I'm Fine" if you turned it upside-down - appeared on the LOVE YOURSELF drama-style promotional posters for LOVE YOURSELF: Her, and in the "FAKE LOVE" music video, from LOVE YOURSELF: Tear. The final chapter in the series, LOVE YOURSELF: Answer, features the song "I'm Fine", which is both in production and lyrics a Call-Back and a mirror to the song "Save Me", from The Most Beautiful Moment in Life.
  • Genre Mashup:
    • "Fake Love" has been described as an "emo-Hip-Hop song with a Grunge guitar and a Trap beat".
    • "Idol" blends gqom (a South African genre of electronic dance music) and traditional Korean rhythms, complete with shouts from traditional Korean dances in the chorus (ursoo and jihwaja), along with pop and hiphop elements. The choreography reflects this by including moves from traditional Korean dances and the South African gwara gwara.
  • Lighter and Softer: LOVE YOURSELF: Her is a subversion. While songs like "Intro: Serendipity", "DNA" and "Best of Me" do sound much happier and take on more traditionally romantic themes than most of their previous work and especially their previous album, WINGS, the love presented on the album is actually an illusion. As we find out in "Outro: Her", Her is about a person that doesn't want the other to leave, building a mask to show only the person's best side and becoming a Stepford Smiler, leading to the Darker and Edgier LOVE YOURSELF: Tear. Even within Her, the album has a Tone Shift, becoming increasingly darker in the second half ("Mic Drop", "Go Go", "Outro: Her", and the Hidden Tracks "Skit: Hesitation and Fear" and "Sea").
  • Hidden Track: "Sea" and "Skit: Hesitation and Fear" in LOVE YOURSELF: Her.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: Deconstructed. The series explores the implications of desperately needing the other person in such a manner, with the singer showing only their best side to their loved one, becoming a Stepford Smiler. The relationship doesn't last, and thus the singer starts learning to rely on themself to find happiness, even making a Call-Back to "Save Me" with "I'm Fine", which mirrors the former.
  • Lonely Piano Piece: The instrumentals for "The Truth Untold" are for the most part a very minimalistic piano piece. Appropriately, the song itself is about the story of a man who doesn't dare to show himself to the woman he's in love with because of his grotesque appearance, only letting her take flowers from his garden and watching her from afar.
  • Multilingual Song: Noticeable in both versions of "Mic Drop (Steve Aoki remix)" — one has the pre-chorus, chorus, and RM's verse translated into English, and the other (featuring Desiigner) replaces J-Hope's and Suga's verse altogether with Desiigner's verse, with RM's verse (still in English) being shared with the other rappers instead.
  • Music at Sporting Events: "Mic Drop (remix feat. Desiigner)" has been oddly popular in basketball events. Probably because of Desiigner's first line, "Bentley basketball, uh (git)/We playin' that a lot, huh".
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The teaser for "IDOL" features traditional Korean instruments much more heavily than the final version, which has more South African sounds. The live version they did at the 2018 Melon Music Awards sounds much more like the teaser version.
  • Power Ballad: "The Truth Untold" and "Epiphany" are some examples. These tend to heavily feature Jin.
  • Rearrange the Song: "Fake Love" got a "Rocking Vibe Mix" version shortly after the original's release. It's the one used in the "Fake Love (extended ver.)" music video.
  • Sequel Song:
    • The trilogy of albums are sequel albums rather than songs.
    • There's also "Airplane" (from J-Hope's solo mixtape) and "Airplane pt. 2" (from ''LOVE YOURSELF: Tear), with pt. 2 even featuring a verse from pt. 1.
  • Shout-Out:
    • "Magic Shop" (as well as the teaser video for "Fake Love") is a reference to Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, by James R. Doty. It was also referenced as Foreshadowing in one of the year-end performances in 2017.
    • "Anpanman" is a reference to the manga character of the same name, running on the idea of being a hero who might not have strength or muscles to fight evil, but uses the best of their ability to help other people.
    • According to fellow translator Muish, j-hope's line "I need to heal my medic/but I'm another star" in "Jamais Vu" references Medics from the Starcraft: Brood War expansion, as part of its game imagery.
  • Stepford Smiler:
    • The main story of the LOVE YOURSELF album series is that of a person who hides their true self (sadness, pain, flaws) from the person they love. This is especially clear in "Outro: Her":
      Because the me behind this mask
      Is not the one you know
      Make up to wake up today too
      And dress up to mask on
      In order to become the me that you love
    • In LOVE YOURSELF: Tear, the person realizes that, to build this mask, they have lost their sense of real self (most explicit in "Intro: Singularity" and "Fake Love"), leading to the realization that the relationship with the other person is based on lies. This mask shatters and the relationship becomes unsustainable (most explicit in "Outro: Tear").
  • Soprano and Gravel: "Fake Love" starts with V and Jungkook singing the first verses and then jumps to Jimin and Jin's "I'm so sick of this fake love" lines. "Fake Love"'s final verses are sung simultaneously by V and Jimin in different octaves (followed by Jungkook and Jin also singing in different octaves).
  • The Walls Have Eyes: Jungkook and J-Hope's concept photos for LOVE YOURSELF ANSWER version S has them in a red box-like place with several eyes coming from behind them as if they're watching them.

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