Welcome back from the trenches, ARMY!
Ticket presales are ending and all participants (plus a few others) are all wiping the sweat off of our brows. I hope everyone who got tickets will help make the concerts a fun and energetic experience for other ARMY and BTS members. I'm really looking forward to seeing the ways we make it special together!
This comeback is going to be BIG! There are hints that we might be getting a live streamed performance at Gwanghwamun Square around the time that the album launches so I've already cleared my calendar that evening to watch the live stream. Honestly, its' hard to believe there will be new BTS music in two months!
Without further ado: January 18th-24th
Sunday, January 18th:
-"Arirang" becomes the fastest album to reach #1 pre-saved album status on Spotify with 1.49 Million pre-saves. The previous record was held by Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" at 6 days and also got 6 million pre-saves before it was released. "Arirang" currently has just over 2 Million.
-RM posts a couple pictures from a restaurant that served food with the new album logo on his Instagram story.
-An update was added to www.2026bts.com: What looks like an album cover and hidden voice notes from the members. In the gray image it appears that the members are in suits, though it is hard to see their faces, or really any other details.
Ticket presales are ending and all participants (plus a few others) are all wiping the sweat off of our brows. I hope everyone who got tickets will help make the concerts a fun and energetic experience for other ARMY and BTS members. I'm really looking forward to seeing the ways we make it special together!
This comeback is going to be BIG! There are hints that we might be getting a live streamed performance at Gwanghwamun Square around the time that the album launches so I've already cleared my calendar that evening to watch the live stream. Honestly, its' hard to believe there will be new BTS music in two months!
Without further ado: January 18th-24th
Sunday, January 18th:
-"Arirang" becomes the fastest album to reach #1 pre-saved album status on Spotify with 1.49 Million pre-saves. The previous record was held by Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" at 6 days and also got 6 million pre-saves before it was released. "Arirang" currently has just over 2 Million.
-RM posts a couple pictures from a restaurant that served food with the new album logo on his Instagram story.
-An update was added to www.2026bts.com: What looks like an album cover and hidden voice notes from the members. In the gray image it appears that the members are in suits, though it is hard to see their faces, or really any other details.
Monday, January 19th:
-RM posts a picture from the dance practice room. It looks like someone is being filmed in the background.
-Rolling Stone releases an interviews with Jungkook stating that when he is preparing to be on stage his priorities are singing and dancing rather than how his face looks. He describes himself in three words "passion, laziness, and just because", he says he is inspired by ARMY and the people and things around him, but he wonders if he is the kind of person that gets inspired.
-Vogue posts interview videos with Jimin and a romantic letter Jimin reads saying "Love, to me, is simply this: to hold you in the heart with constancy in presence and absence alike."
-RM posts a picture from the dance practice room. It looks like someone is being filmed in the background.
-Rolling Stone releases an interviews with Jungkook stating that when he is preparing to be on stage his priorities are singing and dancing rather than how his face looks. He describes himself in three words "passion, laziness, and just because", he says he is inspired by ARMY and the people and things around him, but he wonders if he is the kind of person that gets inspired.
-Vogue posts interview videos with Jimin and a romantic letter Jimin reads saying "Love, to me, is simply this: to hold you in the heart with constancy in presence and absence alike."
Tuesday, January 20th:
-V's "Type 非" photobook is released as well as his art exhibition by the same title. It features many photos in various outfits and hair colors taken shortly after his release from the military. There is a sort of story told throughout the display about his processing of emotions and dealing with the expectations of society. The only other characters we see in the short videos are a lighter and a frog. Several ARMY have noted the symbolism of a frog being a creature that thrives in both water and land. V confronts the frog about this duality and is consumed by it, similar to Jung's thoughts that you must accept the inferior parts of yourself in order to be transformed. A couple images also reference "Bluebird" a poem by Charles Bukowski. There could probably be books written trying to explain all of this fascinating artful content. V even visited the exhibition in person on the opening day!
-V later responds to a complementary Weverse posts saying that he enjoys pajamas more than combat uniforms and he has lost the militant automatic snap to attention. His Instagram post sharing some of the images from the exhibition is marked as sensitive content within hours after posting.
-Jin posts a selfie (selca?) to show off his agelessly handsome face.
-A report from South Korean Ministry of Culture's 2025 National Image Survey report, Jungkook ranked #1 in impacting South Korea's national image as an individual singer.
-TirTir posts another pose of V on Instagram.
-V's "Type 非" photobook is released as well as his art exhibition by the same title. It features many photos in various outfits and hair colors taken shortly after his release from the military. There is a sort of story told throughout the display about his processing of emotions and dealing with the expectations of society. The only other characters we see in the short videos are a lighter and a frog. Several ARMY have noted the symbolism of a frog being a creature that thrives in both water and land. V confronts the frog about this duality and is consumed by it, similar to Jung's thoughts that you must accept the inferior parts of yourself in order to be transformed. A couple images also reference "Bluebird" a poem by Charles Bukowski. There could probably be books written trying to explain all of this fascinating artful content. V even visited the exhibition in person on the opening day!
-V later responds to a complementary Weverse posts saying that he enjoys pajamas more than combat uniforms and he has lost the militant automatic snap to attention. His Instagram post sharing some of the images from the exhibition is marked as sensitive content within hours after posting.
-Jin posts a selfie (selca?) to show off his agelessly handsome face.
-A report from South Korean Ministry of Culture's 2025 National Image Survey report, Jungkook ranked #1 in impacting South Korea's national image as an individual singer.
-TirTir posts another pose of V on Instagram.
Wednesday, January 21st:
-RM changes his Instagram bio to say "a r i r a n g . ." and then later in the week takes away the ellipses.
-Jin is mentioned in an interview where it is disclosed that Jin is single behind the camera and being in a relationship feels like he is breaking his commitment to ARMY. Many fans got concerned that that meant he wasn't happy. General consensus was that if he is married, single, or in a complicated relationship, we want World Wide Handsome to be happy and know how much he is loved.
-Jungkook's Golden goes Platinum in Canada, the only Kpop artist to do so besides BTS.
-JHope posts an Instagram story image from their dance practice room.
-News about Mexico asking for clarity on ticketing comes to the surface where the group is mentioned in a speech by Mexican leadership.
-Jimin shares some behind the scenes images on Instagram from his Vogue photoshoot.
-RM changes his Instagram bio to say "a r i r a n g . ." and then later in the week takes away the ellipses.
-Jin is mentioned in an interview where it is disclosed that Jin is single behind the camera and being in a relationship feels like he is breaking his commitment to ARMY. Many fans got concerned that that meant he wasn't happy. General consensus was that if he is married, single, or in a complicated relationship, we want World Wide Handsome to be happy and know how much he is loved.
-Jungkook's Golden goes Platinum in Canada, the only Kpop artist to do so besides BTS.
-JHope posts an Instagram story image from their dance practice room.
-News about Mexico asking for clarity on ticketing comes to the surface where the group is mentioned in a speech by Mexican leadership.
-Jimin shares some behind the scenes images on Instagram from his Vogue photoshoot.
Thursday, January 22nd:
-Ticketing Pre-Sales begin! Still waiting to hear stats from this but many people waited and many tickets sold out quickly. Some locations gained enough attention that they decided to add three more shows. All three days at Goyang Stadium were sold out in the pre-sale. Over 1 Million people were in the queue for Munich's show! Some ARMY are still waiting for a show in their country but 2027 tour dates still have yet to be announced. It already is a big tour so we are praying for health and well-being for everyone involved in the tour production.
-RM posts a picture outside of dance practice
-JHope posts on Weverse "I can't wait to see our ARMY!" at the exact moment certain tickets go on sale. Glad to know they are just as excited to see us!
-Jin poses in a Weverse post with a precious award that he won because of ARMY's voting around New Year's Eve. (Note the horses in the background are the fourth horse reference we have seen this month. Could be nothing, but could be something.)
-Ticketing Pre-Sales begin! Still waiting to hear stats from this but many people waited and many tickets sold out quickly. Some locations gained enough attention that they decided to add three more shows. All three days at Goyang Stadium were sold out in the pre-sale. Over 1 Million people were in the queue for Munich's show! Some ARMY are still waiting for a show in their country but 2027 tour dates still have yet to be announced. It already is a big tour so we are praying for health and well-being for everyone involved in the tour production.
-RM posts a picture outside of dance practice
-JHope posts on Weverse "I can't wait to see our ARMY!" at the exact moment certain tickets go on sale. Glad to know they are just as excited to see us!
-Jin poses in a Weverse post with a precious award that he won because of ARMY's voting around New Year's Eve. (Note the horses in the background are the fourth horse reference we have seen this month. Could be nothing, but could be something.)
Friday, January 23rd:
-Yunth uploads an image of V in much softer tones than his exhibition images.
-Marie Claire posts more images of Jin and a transcribed interview is shared. He states he hopes to stay healthy for the upcoming tour and his motto of making life fun has drawn him to challenge himself with new things.
-Jin posts on Instagram two images including himself, snow, and seven chairs of different colors.
-Yunth uploads an image of V in much softer tones than his exhibition images.
-Marie Claire posts more images of Jin and a transcribed interview is shared. He states he hopes to stay healthy for the upcoming tour and his motto of making life fun has drawn him to challenge himself with new things.
-Jin posts on Instagram two images including himself, snow, and seven chairs of different colors.
Saturday, January 24th:
-Marie Claire releases more images of Jin, this time in a brown suit leaning against a vintage car.
-V posts an image on Instagram stories for 3 hours of his plant that is dying and asks why. Later, he responds on Weverse to a couple posts encouraging him in his plant-parenthood saying he only had it for three days.
-Jimin posts an image of himself and JHope in the dance practice room.
-Marie Claire releases more images of Jin, this time in a brown suit leaning against a vintage car.
-V posts an image on Instagram stories for 3 hours of his plant that is dying and asks why. Later, he responds on Weverse to a couple posts encouraging him in his plant-parenthood saying he only had it for three days.
-Jimin posts an image of himself and JHope in the dance practice room.
That's it for this week, ARMY. Only two more months until new BTS music!
Borahae!
Borahae!
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