Is BTS losing its K-pop identity as it aims for a bigger world stage?

"BTS 2.0 is just getting started!" J-Hope declared as he stood alongside the other six members of the world's biggest band.

It was 21 March and, after a long break, J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook had taken to the stage again - silhouettes against an arch of LED screens framing the historic gate to the royal palace in Seoul, as screaming crowds stretched for blocks.

Tens of thousands turned up to watch and more than 18 million people live-streamed the one-hour show - a slick teaser of the upcoming BTS world tour, with the group's easy camaraderie on display, almost as if they had not spent much of the last three years apart, doing mandatory military service and releasing solo albums.

And yet, in the days that followed, a more complicated story emerged, partly fuelled by a candid documentary about the making of the new album, showing members disagreeing with their powerful agency, Hybe, over the direction and identity of their music.

The group finds itself being pulled in so many directions: Between fandoms, old and new, Korean and global, between artistic identity and commercial expectations, between the creative instincts of its members and the broader strategy surrounding them. And then there is the small matter of being the face of South Korean soft power.

It boils down to a single, loaded question: Is BTS straying too far from K-pop in trying to woo the world?

At home, some fans are debating how Korean the new album Arirang really is - despite being named after a beloved folk song, which is sampled in the hip-hop laden opener, Body to Body.

This heroing of rap is what those defending the album love - it reminds them of an older BTS - while others see the very Korean roots that so many argue are missing.

Still others question that very heavy use of English and the eclectic producer credits, from American DJ Diplo and Australian songwriter Kevin Parker to Spanish musician El Guincho. They blame Hybe and BTS for chasing a lucrative Western market at the expense of originality.

Abroad, however, fans seem less divided, while critics have largely welcomed what they see as an experimental turn. The BBC's review found the rap-heavy Hooligan audacious, the Jersey club-styled FYA "deliciously dark" and the album itself "a genuine return to form".

Arirang - and its lead single, Swim - climbed the charts swiftly, breaking streaming records and dominating Billboard. Hybe's PR game has been in overdrive, with BTS performing at the Guggenheim, cooking up a popular Korean noodle dish on GQ and appearing to rapturous applause on Jimmy Fallon's talk show - despite only RM speaking English comfortably, and the rest mainly sticking to Korean.

But language has never been a barrier for their global fandom. And they know it. "I am the only one who speaks English but that's how we kill," RM raps in the cheeky Aliens, switching between English and Korean.

That tension defines where BTS stands today, as they kick off the biggest world tour in K-pop history - 85 dates across five continents over the next 12 months.

What lies ahead is a high-stakes balancing act even for a band as polished as BTS, with more than 10 years experience of rarely putting a foot wrong.

Missing the Dark & Wild days

Starting on........

© BBC