#also a crow is white mv's are animated

[opalspring]

About Muu's murder possibly being an accident

Here are some ponders over Muu’s killing of Rei having been potentially unintentional, as well as some observations on her way of thinking.

I’ve been thinking about all this for a bit and wanted to share it. This is gonna be a little long. 

Cw: discussion about suicide

About the “Muu chasing Rei” scene

So, the scene in Afterpain where Muu runs after Rei has always seemed a little strange to me. Why are there so many cuts in the montage, on top of the tone of the song changing completely (not sure that’s the right term)?

It could have just been a way to save on the animation budget and fit the music’s rhythm better, but still.

Let’s have a look at some shots I think are important in this scene:

This shot could hint at the fact Muu’s school shoes were wet and slippery at the time. This will be important later.

Note how the hourglass looks balanced on both sides here.

We can’t see Muu’s shoes here. Why? This has to be important imo

Basically, I think the running scene is made up of two completely distinct scenes. From my understanding, there is one scene where Muu possibly confessed to Rei/ apologized for her actions and ending with Rei leaving, and another where Muu chased after Rei in her school shoes (probably slippery from stepping in the water) and accidentally stabbed her after tripping while she was planning to commit suicide in front of Rei.

Here’s a possible montage of how the chasing scene (with the stabbing) happened chronologically. Added some extras from inmf at the end too.

(This took way too long to make lol)

The ellipse with the screen turning white is important: we’re missing a lot of context on what happened before the stabbing. One way we could explain Rei turning around would be if Muu called out to her (explaining the crows dispersing). But maybe we’ll see in her 3rd mv.

In any case, Muu’s expression during the stabbing shows she’s just as shocked as Rei about what’s happening. Plus, the shoe falling far back behind Muu indicates she tripped with a lot of force, and there’s the detail of her shoes being slippery because of the water from the hose at school. This could reinforce the idea that Rei getting stabbed was an accident.

The other scene would probably just be Muu apologizing/confessing to Rei, then getting ignored. The biggest hint for this is how Muu’s shoes are hidden from view when this happens. This is probably a clue on how she actually has her outdoor shoes at that time. 

About Muu being in denial about the murder

One thing a little eyebrow-raising about Muu is how she keeps denying being in the wrong whenever asked about her murder. At first glance it looks like she feels unconcerned by it and maybe that’s partly true when looking at her second trial interrogation answers. However, I don’t think that’s all there is to it.

Muu might actually be so traumatized by the accident that she simply refuses to acknowledge it, or even think about it, period. This is hinted at in this interrogation question:

What’s the thing you’re most afraid of?

“Painful things, scary things, and also embarrassing things.”

From this we can guess Muu prefers to pretend like things she’s not happy with never happened, since they're painful to think about. It’s not the best idea when it comes to her murdering a person, but this might be what’s happening here and not her not caring about the whole thing.

In my opinion, Muu’s stubbornness about not acknowledging her murder could be partly because she doesn’t want to admit she killed the girl she loves, while she was (maybe) trying to stab herself instead. It was such a huge mistake for her that Muu’s mind likely refused to process it. 

Another detail hints at Muu’s repressed feelings about the crime. As much as she claims to not think it’s her fault, imagery from her mvs /where she can’t lie/ suggests she’s very affected by it in reality:

Whether Muu stabbed Rei out of her own volition or by accident, one thing was sure, she was not in a right state of mind when it happened. Her face here also looks too shocked for the stabbing to have happened intentionally in my opinion.

The trembling hands add to this. 

This is just my interpretation but here Muu really doesn’t look like she meant for the stabbing to happen, since she's hyperventilating and sweating. 

Why the attempted suicide in the first place?

A thing of note from inmf is Muu’s insistence on everything being “as she wishes”. The milestone post for inmf on the yt channel says this:

“God gave me everything”

“Everything is as I wish”

Looking at inmf, it certainly seems this way from Muu’s perspective. However, after this shot of Muu looking back (at Rei calling her out on her actions most likely), we get this:

I find this transition interesting. It’s as if the existence of Rei put Muu in such turmoil it spinned her life around, and led to Rei's demise. It was definitely the turning point moment in inmf. The details are still unclear, but it could be that, when Rei entered Muu’s life, everything wasn’t “as she wishes” anymore. Muu had found something (well, someone) that she couldn’t control (and make hers since it’s implied she loved her).

To complement this, please look at this quote from Muu’s first voice drama:

“I did kill her. But she’s the one to blame! The situation was to a point I had no choice but to kill her. I had such an awful time.”

While I think Muu feels horrible about her murder like mentioned above, this quote, depending on how we interpret it, could show us how Muu couldn’t bear the thought of not having full control in her life. The “awful time” part could be a reference not only to the bullying, but also to the fact she couldn’t control Rei/ get her to love her. 

While she didn’t mean to, she killed Rei, and to cope with the thought she comforted herself by thinking about how it was "the only solution". For possibly the first time in her life, Muu couldn’t get what she wanted, so this was the “only possible outcome” (though I don’t think she believes that deep down).

It’s more complicated than that even, Rei may have been the first person Muu fell in love with. It’s only a headcanon I have, but it’s possible Muu was overwhelmed by her feelings and did everything she could to get Rei to like her (maybe the part where she’s apologizing). She didn't know what to do with her feelings and wanted them reciprocated at all costs. But when Rei understandably pushes her off, with Muu being a bully and all, Muu snaps and becomes suicidal. Some time passes, and her suicide note on her, Muu runs after Rei to take her own life, though we know how this ended.

Muu’s conflicting feelings for Rei

We talked earlier about the visuals during the Muu running scene in Afterpain, but the lyrics during this part are also worth looking into:

“Let’s meet up inside the pain, a place just for me 

Postmortem makeup to hide my heart, how to solve it is a secret 

The stabbing of the little devil’s voice, counterattack being a suicide note 

“I love YOU” ”

In my opinion these are definitely the most important lyrics of the song. The whole thing is too difficult for me to decipher, but I think the “postmortem makeup to hide my heart” could refer to Muu’s romantic feelings for Rei, and how she plans to “bury them” with her suicide. Another thing is the “I love YOU”. I think this is probably the contents of the suicide note, as it goes right after its mention in the song.

Earlier we mentioned how Muu could have tried to commit suicide “because of Rei”. The catalyst for this could have been Muu realizing her crush on Rei, and how she became Muu’s sole weakness.

Do you have apologetic feelings for the person you killed?

“I think the person who wronged first should apologize”

This question was released during T1, but with the additional context from inmf we can infer a few more things here. In Muu’s mind, Rei was the one who did the wrong thing first. That’s quite something to say when Muu was a bully at the time she met her, and the implications of Rei calling her out on it. So why did Muu answer this way? 

It could be simply because of the fact Muu felt unsettled by both Rei having the courage to denounce her bullying, and Muu’s own feelings for her. Once again, Muu was probably scared of things that were out of her control, and so she made Rei "the bad one" in her mind.

Muu's romantic feelings for Rei are also hinted at with Muu’s fondness of tropical fish, that could be influenced by Rei (because of the fish on her backpack). 

This part from inmf is also noteworthy:

Muu’s visibly distraught from what just happened (whether it was an accident or not, it must have been traumatizing for her). This here could be Muu’s mind trying to cope with the situation. And these are the words she chose:

“可哀想なの” = “I’m always the drama queen” in the official English tl, or alternatively “I’m the one who should be pitied”

Why would she say that in that situation? No matter how one looks at it, she just stabbed someone. So why should we pity her? 

In Muu’s mind, it could be that Rei was a component in her life that, for the first time in her life that could make her lose face, like we discussed earlier. We don’t know how Muu’s parents would react to their daughter being a lesbian, but some part of society at least would shun her for it. And the thought of this might have been unacceptable for Muu, who thought since childhood she'd always be pampered no matter what.

That and the fact she accidentally murdered her crush.

So there it is, I hope this wasn’t too confusing! It was very hard to organize all this because Muu, much like Fuuta, keeps her feelings hidden and has sides to her that seem contradictory at times. Muu is a very complex character but very well-written imo, she has both redeeming qualities and bad parts that really make her feel human so it was really fun to come up with this. I hope it didn't look like I was trying to make excuses for Muu or demonize her actions because I feel like it's important to look at the whole picture when discussing her case in particular. 

[mey-rin-is-fabulous]

For any new people to the fandom there are 4 bands from the original game that have not been added to Fes A Live and there is a severe lack of Labomunch(Clammbon) songs. Bands who haven't appeared in FAL yet Chammy Chaplets(kiki*,) Tekebakitsusou(usotsuki/ウソつき,) Shirorakurosuka(A Crow is White,) and Spectrenotes(BIGMAMMA)

Here is the old wiki's band page

Had to do this on mobile because desktop tumblr broke for me

[korejinnie]

BTS ‘ON’ Official MV Theory Analysis

In the first scene, we see a battlefield of dead bodies and flags. This scene can refer to any battle or war in general. War is usually fought to gain independence and justice for one's country/homeland. In this case, battle represents death.

Like I said, fighting for justice and independence. Jin in the following scene is shown holding a dove with an arrow struck through it's body. This is similar to Jin in Fake Love, when he was holding the lantern filled with lily petals that turned to dust.

"Nothing gold can stay" - Robert Frost I believe this is BTS' way of saying, to really achieve higher goals or get to where they are now, they had to fight a really long time (like 100 years war), even if this meant sacrificing parts of themselves, their happiness. Nothing stays forever, nothing gold can stay. Happiness doesn't last forever. They must experience pain and misery in order to be reborn. You must die in order to be reborn into a better place and a more enhanced stage in life.

In the next scene, we see Jungkook running away from something or somewhere. His hands are bound by black thorns. The first thing that came into my mind was slavery. Slaves such as Harriet Tubman, when trying to escape from their slave owners had to risk their life in hopes of escaping to a new and better place. Escaping from slavery is not an easy task. In this case, you can imagine Jungkook as a slave, and his slave owner is his shadow. The thorns that bound his hands can also be a reference to Jesus' crown of thorns. Jesus sacrifice himself for the greater good of the people. After his crucifixion, he would eventually be reborn on Easter. 

 Come Prima = Like before 

 Death and Rebirth, again like before.

We see that Jungkook finally escaped out of the maze (maze runner) that's trapped all the boys in for so long. To put this scene as one of the first scenes of the MV, is to show the audience a preview of the ending when BTS finally escapes.

Next scene is a reference to Make It Right. The little blonde-haired girl represents ARMYs, and the boy represents BTS, as most of you may already know. However, the girl is wearing a blindfold. A reference to the movie Bird Box, signifying how BTS tries to protect us from the bad and the ugly of their journey. They only want to show us their best, and they only want to show us the beauty of the world. In Bird Box, the blindfold protects the main protagonists from a force that threatens their lives.

The next scene is a reference to Noah's Ark! Again, the idea of risking one's self in order to save the greater good. You may think BTS is noah, but I feel like BTS more or less represents the ship. The reason why BTS existed in the first place was because there was a reason for their existence and we are the reason. For Noah, he was given instructions from God and instructed to build a ship to save not only his family but also all the animals. BTS is the ship that carries us all. The ship in the MV seems deteriorated and filled with flaws, but with everyone, and all the members together, the ship will be fixed and complete. 

In the next scene, Jin is holding the cage with the dead dove inside. But if you paid attention, you'll notice that the cage actually ended up moving a bit. This is signifying the rebirth of the dove. And also, why are there so many cages? Well, reason possibly being that BTS has tried many MANY times to free the dove successfully (escape successfully to freedom and independence), but failed, symbolizing how throughout their entire career, they've had to fail many times in order to get to where they are today.

Anyways, in the next scene, we see Jungkook fainting from running. Though Map of the Soul: 7 is not a part of BU, it still reminded me of this scene in BS&T where Jungkook threw up then fainted in the restroom:

All the trees are dead and Jungkook is lying on the floor with a black crow pecking at him. 

Black Crow/Raven = Death 

BTS is in the process of dying to be reborn.

Ok next scene is this scene, which feels like some type of Yoongi cult (lmao),  but also reminded me of Handmaid's Tale (which idk if anyone thought of that). Again, the idea of being oppressed and confined in a controlled society. Controlled by Shadow.

SHE MAY BE BLIND BUT SHE CAN SEEEE 

 She is ARMY, ARMY may be protected by BTS, but we were always there, looking straight across towards the goal. We knew there was a way out, it was always there. We guide BTS towards their goal. The door is right there.

As Taehyung takes the blindfold off of the little girl, the door begins to open. This is BTS trusting us and unveiling their struggles and shadow side to us, believing that through this process, we will gain a better understanding of them, and together, this will help push and lead us towards a better future, together. Together, we are one, and we will be stronger than ever. Hit us with whatever you have, however many bullets you got. We don't care anymore, we will face whatever the future holds head ON.

It's also important to note that, one of the reasons the main protagonists in Maze Runner never tried to escape from the maze at the beginning of the story, was because they didn't know what lied ahead outside of the maze, and they didn't want to know because they're afraid. Now we are united as one. You see how Jin also brought the dove that he thought was once dead, but now revived with him. As they all gathered together, the dove was finally released and free. We are finally free.

Anddd now a reference to Lord of the Flies! In Lord of the Flies, "the conch represents civil discourse on the island, and only works as long as the boys all believe in its power and the necessity of the idea it symbolizes". The conch is a fragile and vulnerable object, which is the reason why the characters in Lord of the Flies would take such good care of the conch. 

When Jungkook blows the conch, he is calling out to the rest of his members in order to alert them, which is what Ralph, one of the main protagonists of Lord of the Flies did, to alert his friends. 

But what is Jungkook trying to alert his friends of? 

The incoming explosion. The Shadow is coming, it's chasing after them. (Just like Pompeii)

This scene represents BTS getting ready to go head-on with their shadow. They're ready to fight for their freedom and independence.

The next scene shows Jungkook holding the conch, wearing a dark velvet red robe along with the rest of his members, just like how they did in Fake Love. 

ON is the reverse of N.O. 

NO = being trapped to conform 

ON = liberation from being confined

In fake love, the boys were running away from their fears, but this time, they're facing their fears head-on. They're no longer afraid of their shadows because they have ARMYs. Instead of keeping their fears to themselves, they're now sharing it with us.

The fireballs from the volcano that blasts out can be seen as bullets. They are no longer afraid of whatever comes, no matter how many bullets that comes at us. We are bulletproof eternal, hence "We are Bulletproof: The Eternal".

After they've learned to face their fears and shadow head on, everything that was once dead now revives and is reborn. The trees that were once dead is now growing again, and the boys finally escape the maze they were once trapped in.

Now finally, we have the Lion King reference. 

Circle of Life = Reincarnation  

"What goes around comes around". Come Prima. 

Just like before, they die then are reborn again.

Each white dove you see in this scene represents a member of BTS. The members continue to walk towards the top of the cliff. And in the next scene, we see Jungkook run straight towards the top of the cliff, smiling.

Again, though Map of the Soul: 7 is not a part of BU, i found a nice and interesting parallel between this scene in the MV and Prologue:

Jungkook runs towards the future, along with the rest of the members walking towards the future behind him, knowing that better and much greater things lie ahead. No longer are they afraid of what the future holds. They know, the future holds amazing things for us.

HYYH The Notes, Map of the Soul: 7 

2 August, Year 22 - Yoongi 

"If we are together, we can smile"

In the end, we can see that BTS are actually Divergents (referring to the book and movie “Divergent”) and that's why they're walking away. In No More Dream era, they were stuck without a dream, they were being confined into the different factions that society told them they should be put in.

Now they have a dream.

[qforqazaq]

Ninety One – Men Emes

Okaaaay, people, here comes a long-awaited comeback from Ninety One that screamed, no, shouted so much culturally significant meta at me I could barely handle it. Ironically, when I was watching reactions to this MV, most people were so bloody oblivious to anything that was happening on the screen that I was painfully restraining myself not to slam my head on the table, but then remembered "oh, right, that's why I'm running this blog in the first place."

Okay, let's start with the video, shall we?

The opening scene is obviously with Alem because if 91's song doesn't start with Alem there's something definitely wrong with it.

Anyway, we have Alem looking like a mo-fo mafia boss, a Kazakh Don, if you like, in an office that's practically littered with KZ references. First, your eyes might catch those weird looking symbols on the desk, which are actually Orkhon-Yenisei runes - a script of Old Turkic tribes aka one of the direct ancestors of Kazakhs - that I was going to talk about for ages, but didn't have a good excuse to. So thank you Ninety One for bringing that up, I can unleash my inner linguistics nerd upon people regarding the subject in a separate post. The runes are actually read from right-to-left (because that's how it works) as "l" and "r", although I'm not sure of their implied meaning here. My theory that means just that: "left" and "right", for whatever deep reason.

So, while you're admiring Alem's outfit and hairstyle as he's showing off his results of perfecting The Stare™ (I had a theory his stares are so intent because his contact lenses keep drying up and it's his attempts not to blink much when cameras are on), you notice not only that Samsung is the main sponsor of this production (is it surprising?), but also that there's a picture of random people on the background, and a funny-looking statue next to the window. Except for that is not a picture of random people, that is actually a photo of the leaders of the Kazakh national movement/autonomy against Communists in the 1910s - Alash Orda, which I'm probably going to elaborate on in another post. For now, I'll just say that these were the writers, poets, social and political activists, the Kazakh Intelligentsia™, who were later prosecuted and repressed by the Soviet regime. Very important addition to the set if you ask me, and very deliberately chosen.

As for the funny-looking statue, that is a miniature "Balbal" of Kültegin or Kül Tigin, who was the General of the Second Turkic Khanate of the same Old Turkic people who used to write in the aforementioned Orkhon-Yenisei runic script. We can talk about it later on, for now, I can only say that 10 seconds into the video and my inner history nerd was screaming very much delightedly at these references. Didn't expect that much meta in such a short amount of time, eh? And we didn't even mention how cigars are allowed now, along with the whiskey-looking tea in a tumbler.

Anyway, then we are abruptly cut to AZ and, shortly after, ZAQ with an eagle. And no, it's not just a "lol, look, a bird", that's the Golden Eagle, a species that was trained and used for eagle hunting by the Kazakh nomads for centuries. Which is why we have it on our flag too. Btw, extra kudos to ZAQ for delivering his lines while having an eagle on his arm without its hood. I would have been more than slightly concerned if I were him.

If you don't know much about that aspect of nomadic life in Central Asia, I recommend watching the critically acclaimed documentary film The Eagle Huntress about Aisholpan - a 13 y.o. Kazakh girl from Mongolia being the first female mastering the art. FYI, it is narrated by Daisey Ridley aka Rey from Star Wars. Watch it.

The scene is black and white, and AZ and ZAQ are wearing suits which look very agreeable.

Then, we have the bridge that is delivered by very blond Bala, which isn't the best look on him in my opinion, but he's wearing a suit too, which is always a good idea. Bala, you must know, has perfected his camera acting and now successfully flirting with it without so much as breaking a sweat. Good job Juz, you know what you're doing.

Now, when we're done sharing niceties, can we, please, focus on the background - which is, of course, all lofty and fiery - specifically, on those symbols carved on the wall? And what are they? Yes, you guessed right: the Orkhon-Yenisei runes, yay. FYI, it says "QAZAQ", in its very palindromic fashion - the meaning here, I assume, is quite self-explanatory.

In one of the cuts we see that Bala is actually there with a dog. And, guess what, it's not just a dog, it's actually a Tazy - the Kazakh national hunting breed, of which, quite frankly, I did not know anything before researching for this MV. See, even I'm being educated here, I feel so enlightened.

After that, we have the chorus, and all five of them are first standing and then walking like a bloody band of gangsters, all suited and effortlessly cool, as if towards an important tét-a-tét with a competing band. My immediate association was Crows: Zero (I'm sure, my fellow Japanese weeboos get what I mean) - lots of shonen swag and badassery. I approve.

In the meanwhile, Bala is showing off his moves, again, very at ease, chill and relaxed.

Chorus moves to the second part of the song with another rap verse from ZAQ. Do you remember that set in the previous black-and-white scene with the rappers? This one is that same set i.e. a carcass and insides of a Yurt - a traditional nomadic portable house used by Kazakhs for centuries. We see ZAQ sitting in what looks like a Khan's throne with battle spears and fur skins of wild animals. And no, nobody is trying to offend animal rights activists and humanists, just trying to showcase the culture here, alright? As you've noticed hunting has always had cultural significance for Kazakhs, and, well, it's survival in the bloody Eurasian steppes we're talking about here, with windy -50°C in the winters you've got to wear something to protect from freezing over, you know.

ZAQ delivers his lines in his usual very efficient fashion, and we cut to Ace walking over to the race track, very stylishly so that it might as well be a car commercial, to a parked Ford Mustang (and, yay, we've got a budget for a nice car now!) that's drifting its tires out in the shots in-between. Did I mention Ace's wearing a suit? I'm telling you, a car commercial.

I have a feeling that a Mustang was chosen deliberately, a subtle shoutout to horses as another culturally significant symbol and animal for Kazakhs. They could've gone for a Ferrari for the sheer visual effect of it, but I suppose Samsung is generous, but not that much.

And then, we have a chorus with a dance break. Interestingly, despite the numerous cuts and camera angles, and even blinding background lights that obscure the view, I did not mind how the dance was shot. The choreography itself is nothing short of cool: very laid-back, effortless, with easy open moves and a masterfully feigned nonchalance. I know I'm using cool and effortless a lot, but what can I do, they are the keywords for this MV. I like those claps btw, remind me of hilarious dances in Kazakh weddings lol. Very ironic. In either case, my compliments to Asiya for her work, bravo.

While you're still getting over the choreography, you're introduced to AZ casually lying among many ladies in night gowns, and yes, we now are allowing this too along with cigars and whiskey-looking teas in tumblers. Don't get me wrong, AZ is wearing a modest pair of black silk shirt with black trousers (can't say the same about his wild tricoloured mess of hair), and evidently still can't take his hands off his nose (he does keep rubbing it), but the whole scene, the wide shot of it, looks so unapologetically hedonistic that it might as well be a Gucci Guilty commercial. Well, Ninety One definitely went all Gucci in this MV, so associations are unsurprising. Scrumptious.

The only cultural reference we've got here is the neon rune "r" on the background when AZ is sitting up.

Then, it goes back to the chorus with the guys standing with more fire in the background. There are other cuts from previous scene including the one with Alem throwing off 10000 Tenge bills with that photo on the back while staring into the camera.

Conclusion? A+ to the production team, especially set designers, Bibotta for the styling, and Yerbolat for knowing what looks good and what doesn't.

All and all, it was a good MV, a good break from artificially colourful secluded studio sets.

Now let's move to the music.

The song starts with, what I thought, those weird sounds from some Japanese instruments, but upon hearing the chorus my immediate reaction was "wait, is it a hip-hop beat from the early 2000s?"

Honestly, it isn't a very pop song. It screams hip-hop, and I dare say, this song was meant to be performed by the rappers only, which was somewhat proven true given that AZ and ZAQ were both writers and composers of Men Emes. Its hip-hop nature shows even in the structure: there are no vocal verses, only a bridge and a chorus performed by the vocalists, and everything else is just rap. And oh my, that's some rap, indeed.

First, can we just address, that once again the rappers of 91 managed to sneak up another controversial line bordering with vulgarity? I am talking about the first two lines of AZ's rap here, those who don't know what I am talking about, ask me about it later. The audacity though, huh. In either case, that got an incredulous chuckle out of me upon realisation. Congratulations, boys, mischief's managed.

AZ was his extravagant self in general, wouldn't say he brought a lot of literary value in this track, to be honest. Well, especially compared to ZAQ (and it is always difficult to compete with ZAQ's lyrics), who's just unleashed the study of "how many words and rhymes with "u" and "ü" sounds I can shove into one rap verse while making it sound intelligible and meaningful." And did so successfully, I must say. Personally was always astonished how masterfully he manages to use the vowel harmony - one of the linguistic traits of the Kazakh language - weaving syllables to the whole other level of wordplay. Lyrically, all cultural references in the MV seem justified, given how ZAQ is lamenting over how "his nation is moving with a snail speed" and such. With this, he is brushing the socio-political problems in the country, it seems. And it is very promising, as in this country high profile artists don't risk doing that.

(Btw, a mention of Surtur was another delightful nod to my inner nerd who loves Norse Mythology, and a reference to Cthulhu was rather amusing. Lovecraft wouldn't've minded.)

I had many problems with voices in this track. For some reason, I couldn't recognise half of them. I only clearly heard Bala, Ace's voice became obvious only when he moved to an octave higher, and I didn't even realise it was Alem singing in the beginning. Was very shocked to know that it was ZAQ, not AZ, rapping with that higher voice in the second part before switching to his usual old school style. We're trying different things, I see, though I wouldn't mind them toning down their tuner game a bit. I know who's singing what now only thanks to the MV.

To sum up, it's a very different 91 song. Not that it's very astounding in its originality with blending different genres in one as you'd expect, but it's probably refreshing to hear something bold, audacious, yet simple, very hip-hopesque circa 2001 from them. It seems they're deliberately trying to diversify their audience throwing a track like that. Which isn't bad at all, I rather enjoyed it. (By the way, those drums in the bridge section sounded almost tribal. Just saying.)

Despite the MV and song screaming "WEALTH", "SWAG", "COOL" and "SUAVE", I do not actually think it was only about showing off. Well, of course, a part of the message was a la "look what I've got in the end, despite all your judgement" with "you're not me" and all that. However, I think it was also targeting and mocking the spoiled kids of corrupt government officials or just corrupt rich "bosses" in general who always act as if rules and law are not made for them. "Yeah, you're cool, but not the coolest, might be rich, but not the richest, and even good-looking but not really. Don't be so full of yourself, you're not the centre of the universe" kind of message. And that imagery of Alem as a mafia boss in his office is juxtaposed with all those cultural artifacts hinting on what is actually more important and valuable, especially with the Kazakh cultural leaders of the 20th century watching from the picture on the wall. And Alem throws those bills as if saying "yes, I'm doing that, but it's just money, so what." Even AZ looks somewhat lost and empty-eyed lying there among girls when he's not trying to convince you how envious you should be right now.

Probably it's me reading too much into this, I don't know, but the MV only amplified the feeling that you've got to read between the lines, it isn't all about bragging.

For now I'll give the MV 9 out of 10, and the song is a solid 7.

Peace out ✌️

[silverglyph]

FRAME BY FRAME - All References in the MIC DROP Fan Video by Kiera and Arwen (with pictures and links)

First of all, go follow @seiyoko and @salukiart, they are amazing artists, animators, and creators!

If I missed any references, please message me and I will add them in!

The opening line of Dope - 0:13

At 0:08 in the video, all member’s names are graffiti’d on the walls.

A line from the song Come Back Home

From about 0:25 to 0:29, Steve Aoki’s eyes watch over the boys from the Mic Drop remix. Also, the TV says ARMY <3

Also at 0:29, there are posters lining the walls from BTS’s past comebacks. If you look closely, you can also see their logo on the controllers (this is much more easily visible later on in the video). The room MIGHT also be modeled to look like a room in their current dorm but I’m not sure.

At 0:30, the first screen of the game finally shows up, and it lasts for about 10 seconds. In that time, we can see:

The stage is modeled from their first music video, No More Dream

J-Hope (who’s character name is written as JHS in the game-- short for Jung Hoseok, his real name) is firing a Supreme gun that shoots fake money (lol).

The little mascot in the Info section is Van, a mascot from the BT21 series created by BTS and Line. Each mascot was made by/represents one member of BTS, except for Van, who represents ARMYs.

“Today, your dream begins! A new path has been opened, don’t hesitate!” I am pretty sure these are lyrics from one of their songs since, throughout the video, Van pretty much mostly speaks in lyrics. I haven’t been able to find this one though.

At 0:41, the stage changes to reflect their We Are Bullet Proof Pt. 2 music video.

Van’s quote “It’s like a desert here, there’s nothing but rocks” is a reference to the hidden song on the LYH album, Sea.

ALSO, a some of the monsters designs are based on lyrics and references from BTS’s music. I’m sure all of them are but I just can’t make the connection. Maybe the rock monster is also a reference to Sea?

Edit: Apparently most of the enemy designs are based off of album covers! This is according to Kiera’s twitter.

At 0:46, Suga joins the party as MYG (short for Min Yoongi, his real name).

J-Hope’s special attack at 0:48 is a reference to the short movie he stars in during the Wings era called MAMA (also the name of his solo song in the Wings album).

I’m not sure I even have to put this, but the great transition at 0:51 is a dead ringer for the iconic MIC MIC BUNGEE move that Suga and J-Hope do in the Mic Drop remix MV.

So now Suga is in the frontlines, attacking. His method of attack is the lighter he’s seen with throughout the entire HYYH series. It first made it’s appearance in the I NEED U music video (seen clearly at 0:29).

The stage has changed to reflect their music video N.O. The red and white color palettes of the monsters in this area are supposed to reflect the red and white album.

And at 1:05 (we’re only A MINUTE INTO THIS VIDEO WOW), they’re in the classroom setting from Boy In Luv. I have no idea what the monster is supposed to be. Is it balancing on a candle? Chalk? Does it represent the red string of fate???

Whoa hey, it’s 1:07 and we’re in the Just One Day music video! I’m fairly sure that paper airplane monster refers to the paper airplane J-Hope had in Spring Day? (At 3:20.) I don’t recall paper airplanes in their other MVs unless there was one in Just One Day that I missed?

Also, it looks like V has shown up! (As KTH, or Kim Taehyung.)

Suga’s special attack starts at about 1:09 and lasts until 1:14. In it, he throws a rock at the monster, an alarm goes off, and a piano falls on the monster’s head. This is a reference to the short film FIRST LOVE, released during the Wings era. In it, Suga throws a rock into a music store, where a piano sits, and an alarm goes off.

Back in the real world at 1:15, we can see more detailed posters from different eras. I just know the Dope era one on the right.

At 1:18, we’re in the underground subway setting for Danger. (If it wasn’t obvious, the stage appearances correspond to the order the actual music videos were released in.) V unleashes his attack, unfurling black wings and firing feathers. In the MV for Blood, Sweat, and Tears, as well as other subsequent material during this era, V was seen and associated with black wings. I think he’s fighting the Gucci snake? Because V loves Gucci in real life?

Also, Van is back! “It’s already your second year, time flows fast...” references their song Second Grade/So 4 More (which is an underrated BANGER btw).

Also, easter egg time: There’s graffiti reading “What Am I to You?” which is the title of one of their intro songs.

New player! Jin (aka KSJ, aka Kim Seokjin) appears at 1:24 and fights by blowing kisses :). Blowing kisses at ARMYs is pretty much his thing lol. Also, blowing kisses sends out hearts that hurt the enemy, and while that’s a common visualization for blowing kisses, I pray that its also a reference to Jin’s heart events.

They’re at the storefront present in the War of Hormone MV. The enemy he’s fighting is, I think, one of the black-clothed goons from Not Today and the Mic Drop remix MV. (It also appeared in Kiera’s last full-length fan animation of Cypher Pt. 3. That video is itself chock-full of references! Incidentally, I believe Van’s quote here is also referencing that song.)

Two seconds later at 1:26, Jimin (aka PJM, aka Park Jimin) makes his appearance. This time, they’re at the bonfire scene from I NEED U (also appears in their prologue MV I think). Their fighting a flower monster that I don’t know the significance of.

Jimin attacks with an umbrella. I think the umbrella is from the Love Yourself short films but I’m not entirely sure.

At 1:37, we get our first look at the achievement system in this game.

It’s all the awards they’ve won up until this point! Really awesome touch.

Two new players appear this time: Jungkook (JJK, Jeon Jungkook) and RM (KNJ, Kim Namjoon). I have no idea what Jungkook’s attack is: he pulls some string from his wrist and it transforms into a spear?  Jungkook’s attack may be referencing the move from DNA. Strands of DNA come oout of his arm and form a spear. (Thank you @bangpdofficial!)

The stage is a scene from their Dope MV. Van’s quote, “so this is Bangtan style,” references the same song.

I am almost certain that the lion enemy has a mane modeled after the lily flower that appears frequently in the Bangtan Cinematic Universe. It’s even got six petals.

At 1:46, Jimin unleashes his special attack. The attack involves him eating an apple and then teleport-kicking the enemies. I think this is a reference to his short film, LIE.

The stage is from the For You MV, a song/MV exclusively released in Japan. I am not sure what the enemies are supposed to be.

Jimin’s kick transitions into the next scene, where the stage is modeled after the tunnel scene from the RUN MV. I am pretty sure the enemy is a reference to Baepsae/Crow-tit, and this bird represents the wealthy older generation.

A wild BTS lightstick appears at 1:53! (Also, we got some new scenes of their room with some new posters.) 9:18 might refer to the date the Love Yourself album was released (thank you anon!)

A new stage shows up at 1:55. I don’t quite recognize it but it might be the Japanese version of I NEED U? We can also get a clearer look at the bird from Baepsae.

At 1:57 we come to yet another new stage modeled after the Japanese Run MV. It’s filled with graffiti of the names of a ton of their songs. 

V activates his special attack. A single lightbulb hangs from the ceiling and a table appears, which he kicks towards the baepsae. I believe it’s a reference to his interrogation scene in his short film, STIGMA.

Also, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, V’s attack animation ends with him giving a peace sign and his adorable puppy Yeontan popping out of his pocket.

Two minutes into the video and we get a new stage (modeled after the Fire MV) and we finally see RM’s attack. He pulls out a giant lollipop and smacks enemies with it. He’s frequently seen with a yellow lollipop in the Bangtan Cinematic Universe.

And now they’re in a stage modeled after the Save Me MV.

Again, the stage changes into one based on Young Forever. I don’t know what that enemy’s supposed to be, but he’s pretty cool looking. And an animation for downed party members has never been so cute. (But what is that in Jin’s arms?)

At 2:08, RM provides an assist move that revives V and Jin. It takes the appearance of his BT21 mascot, Koya.

We get another look at the achievements screen at 2:10. It’s coming along nicely!

And a level selection screen a couple of seconds later! Not only does it show the title of the MV, but the description includes the album the song came from. The level code is also the date of the comeback (thank you @bangpdofficial)

2:18 shows a stage based on the Blood, Sweat, and Tears MV, as well as my favorite enemy design in the whole video: a dear featuring the circle designs from the Wings album cover. 

For his special attack, RM unleashes a phone booth to crush the enemies, referencing his short film REFLECTION.

More awards!

Also, seems like the boys have started taking notes. You can see a DNA strand drawn on the bottom one (blocked a little by the YouTube bar--sorry about that).

New stage at 2:30! It’s the train from Spring Day. Van’s line about forgetting shoes also references the lone pair of shoes featured many times in that video.

Jin summons his pet sugar gliders to restore the HP of the rest of the party (to the bewilderment of Van).

Jin uses his special attack in the Not Today stage at 2:45. He takes a photo with the polaroid camera seen many times in the Bangtan Cinematic Universe, and it turns the enemy to stone. It crumbles away under his touch. This might relate to the way Jin crumbled as though he were stone in the Blood Sweat and Tears MV.

At 2:50, we’re taken to a new stage. I think it’s based on the Japanese MV of Blood Sweat and Tears. Van’s quote is another reference to the song Sea.

A closer look at the controller at 2:55.

Even more awards! Too many that I can’t even count ‘em.

And at 3:03, we see a DNA-based stage. Van’s quote is once again from Sea.

Jungkook’s special attack has all the other members in BTS appear behind him in succession before he delivers a punch to the enemy. It’s safe to say that this references the song (not the short film) BEGIN, which is something of an ode to the hyungs of Bangtan. <3 (song) (film)

3:20. Hey look it’s pretty much a direct replica of that one scene from DNA (at 3:49).

At 3:25 we get our first look at the game over screen. Among a bunch of other “you have failed” messages, there’s this one (”don’t be such a try-hard”) that further references Baepsae.

Looks like they keep getting knocked out in the Mic Drop stage. That weird rainbow ball from DNA is tough.

Van’s words of encouragement are nearly a direct quote from the best-known line in Sea. “Where there’s hope, there’s trials.”

Last but not least, BTS’s achevements have earned them a spot on the world’s scoreboard, their debut on Billboard’s Hot 100 as number 28. <3

This fan animation was absolutely stellar and the attention to detail was mind-blowing. Even the tiniest details like how each member’s idle animation would work had so much thought put into it. Again, mad props to @seiyoko, @salukiart and @yowgurt for their incredible work!