Hi! It’s Annie!
After BangBang Con, I couldn’t help but fall more in love with the concept of the Magic Shop. Especially after watching their 5th Muster concert and seeing how much they used of the Magic Shop story. That really was the concert for this concept, and it was one of the best concert concepts I have ever seen in my life. The Magic Shop is a visual that continues to be so significant to the image of BTS, which is amazing considering that the idea for this came out several albums ago. So, I kind of want to delve into the idea of the Magic Shop and the world that BTS created surrounding it. Because the idea becomes more and more interesting the more that you look at it.
Magic Shop (Song):
This song was initially created by none other than Jungkook (and also Namjoon who helps out with lyrics on pretty much everything). Seriously, Kookie is such a softie. Between ‘Begin’ where he credits much of his growth to the other members in his group and the story about him telling the others that he only faces issues when he sees the other members facing their own issues; it’s hard to overlook how much he truly cares. The Magic Shop was an idea he got from a book called ‘Into the Magic Shop’ by James R. Doty, but he changed this image so much that it is almost entirely based off of a fictional space he created himself. The ‘Magic Shop’ is a place to go for when ARMY is feeling down or depressed where they can relax and even discover their dreams. The idea for it is that this is the place where they would meet with BTS, have tea, and truly find peace again. The lyrics to the song completely reflect this as it describes the Magic Shop being exactly like this. It’s a place to close your eyes and visit the boys when you truly need them. In essence it’s a heartfelt song dedicated to helping and comforting ARMY.
5th Muster Concert:
The 5th Muster concert depicts several scenes from the Magic Shop on stage and also includes a few skits that also play into the lore of the fictional world. The train seems to be a part of the shop that anyone can enter or exit at will. In fact, it seems as though that’s the transportation to it. BTS arrive in the train at the beginning because the concert itself is the Magic Shop. They even have tea at one point, which is one of the things the lyrics of the song directly depicts. Within their skit the boys establish that the shop has anything you could ever want, such as the exact tea that you might want or DJ Suga playing the exact song that you want to hear. These little breaks do much more than establish the concert, they almost help create the fictional universe that they were starting on in their song. Eventually Hobi discovers a mailbox that contains unrealized dreams or worries and within it finds a note from a “mysterious” someone. This person talks about how they are worried about the first choreography they’ve done and want the group to perform it to put them at ease. This, of course, leads straight into ‘Spine Breaker’, a song that was hilariously choreographed by Jin. Even this comedic moment shows the audience a bit more of how the Magic Shop works.
5th Muster Video Intermissions:
If you’ve ever been to (lucky) or watched a BTS concert, you know that their stages are large and push the envelope of what anyone has ever done at a concert before. In order to set up for these stages, or even sometimes to thematically segway into a different section of the concert, there are pre-recorded videos that are usually the boys in several aesthetic video shoots. These are always amazing to watch and really set up for whatever you’re about to see next. The video intermissions for this concert told an entire story, which is not something I’ve seen them do before. A distressed Jungkook walks into the Magic Shop to find shopkeeper Jimin, who attempts to help him. Jimin arranges for Jungkook to go and see one of the assistants of the shop, a sort of doctor, that might help him with whatever issues he might be having. Namjoon is the first assistant he sees; a very all over the place destroyer of everything. He tries to help Jungkook through playing games like Jenga (which Namjoon always loses) and Jungkook does not seem to be getting any better. He goes through all of the rooms where Yoongi tries to solve his problems through sleep, Jin sits there like a King and tries to use food to solve his issues, Tae takes a lot of pictures, and Hobi dances. When none of this works they eventually find something particular to Jungkook; the shoes he wore for BTS’s first release. In the end it shows Jimin putting Jungkook’s file away after he leaves the Magic Shop and we see that there are files for every ARMY there. It’s clear through this that they are also reminding fans that BTS is not the solution to their problems, but they will comfort fans and try to help them towards finding the solution.
All of this is to remind everyone that BTS have proved themselves as masterful storytellers as well as everything else they’re already good at. They’ve created several storylines within their music before and some of them have even created stories for their music individually. The entire concept for the music videos in ‘D-2’ was the war between the old Agust D and the new one. All of them are so creative in this way. But I had to make a post about Magic Shop for several reasons. This is one of the storylines they have explored in the most depth as well as the concept that has comforted me the most. It’s hard not to return to the evolution of this song of comfort turning into an entire fictional world of comfort. Serious props to these boys for everything that they are so good at and also to Jimin who absolutely killed me as the Magic Shop owner.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 