We are Bulletproof: The Eternal

I didn't even realize that this was something I could rate on MAL. This MV was released as a fan gift in celebration of BTS's 7 year anniversary of their 7 member band. It tells the story of the band's journey from 2013 to present and thanks their fans for listening to their music.

I remember the first time I heard this song within the context of their album, Map of the Soul: 7. For the first time in my life, I cried due to a piece of music. This song and music video are jam packed with references to their earlier work which only long ... time fans would be able to catch. For example, the music shows the members running through their music video sets in release order and finally arriving (via flying whale) at a concert stage filled with purple lights. The whale as well as the color purple are two very important symbols that connect to the band.

the line, "our once ridiculed and shameful name is now proof set in steal, bulletproof" is a direct call to the name of the band "Bangtan Sonyeondan (Bulletproof Boys)" while the line "throw stones at us, we are no longer afraid," is a direct call back to their song, "We are Bulletproof pt2."

As a casual listener, these parts may be lost or overlooked, but for a fan of the group, there are many small and intimate details. This song is very special to me.

This was probably the first BTS song I’ve actually heard whole. I can’t say that I was impressed, but I also can’t say I was expecting to be.

There’s not really much that would catch attention of someone who isn’t already invested in this idol unit. The animation is okay-ish. Don’t expect something too anime though, as the only element here that could be compared to more regular anime is the chibification. While it’s watchable, I’ve seen plenty of animated music videos for indie musicians with much, much more effort. (To be fair I’ve also seen some with much less, so there’s that.) There’s one benefit ... though – it’s certainly significantly less cringe-inducing to consume over the live action music videos of BTS.

The song itself is the embodiment of a generic pop song written entirely for commercial purposes. If it weren’t in Korean, I would be unable to distinguish it from tracks that play in a shopping mall. Okay, I admit that might have been a bit unfair towards the actual songs that usually play there.

Overall, nothing to write home about. Let’s just enjoy the brief period of peace until the BTS army discovers this was added to MAL and spams it with 10/10s.