ARMY Magazine - Monthly Issues ARMY Magazine ISSUE NO.7 - JUNE 2019 | Page 14

Another hypothesis suggests that Map
of the Soul: Persona is a continuation of re-
flection of youth that BTS began developing
with their debut album 2 COOL 4 SKOOL.
The “School Trilogy” (2 COOL 4 SKOOL,
O!RUL,2?, SKOOL LUV AFFAIR) focuses
on portraying a defiant teenager. The “Youth
Trilogy” (The Most Beautiful Moment In Life,
pt. 1 and pt. 2, Young Forever) depicts a drifting youth. The stand-alone WINGS
looks into the temptations and conflicts of
the youth, whereas “Love Yourself” series
moves towards acceptance and self-love.
The newest album might imply the self-ex-
ploration, as the youth tries to understand
themselves better. It leaves more room for
upcoming albums to fall into the Bangtan
Universe as well.
New theories spring up every day as
more clues, hints, and references are no-
ticed throughout the content that BTS has
put out. With a few of the significant theo-
ries floating around, it is difficult to pinpoint
if Map of the Soul: Persona will become a
stand-alone album or will it be the gates to
a new series from BTS. However, one thing
is true – the new album opened up a whole new world of concepts and ideas that take
us further to the core of Bangtan Universe.
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In this new path, BTS continues to ex-
plore authentic self-expression and self-ac-
tualization, spreading awareness that there
is so much more than meets the eye; that
everyone is layers and layers of personal-
ities that we must embrace, develop, and
accept—heart and soul.