Did BTS Really Name-Drop an Anime Legend on Their New Album?

When it comes to K-pop, there seems to be one thing on everyone’s mind. There is not much time left until BTS drops its next album, and Love Yourself: Tear will get its big debut come Sunday. The K-pop group will perform the album’s debut single for the first time live at the Billboard Music Awards, and Big Hit Entertainment teased fans further by dropping the release’s full track list — but one title got anime fans real confused.

After all, it isn’t everyday you see Anpanman receive a namedrop in K-pop, and the fact that BTS has a song bearing that name got fans wondering if the band had a collective crush on the anime legend.

If you’re not familiar with the latest BTS track list, you should pay attention to its ninth title. Love Yourself: Tear will feature a song called “Anpanman” that stands at nearly four minutes. The title is just one of several confusing names on the track list, but there is a history behind this one as Anpanman is a very well-known anime series from Japan.

Created in 1973, Anpanman got its start as a picture book series under creator Takashi Yanase. The series ran until 2013 following the author’s death, but Anpanman lives on as an anime. Its first show premiered in March 1979 before a second adaptation went live in October 1988. The second show is still on-going and has collected more than 1,300 episodes, making it one of Japan’s longest anime titles to date. Anpanman has also become a cultural icon thanks to its classical status, and anime all-stars like One Punch Man were even loosely inspired by Anpanman.

However, fans of BTS should not expect the group’s new song to revolve around the superhero. It looks like there is a double-meaning behind the band’s nod to the anime.

So far, fans have uncovered two convincing theories which connect the title “Anpanman” with BTS. One is that the CEO of Big Hit Entertainment, Bang Shi Hyuk, is nicknamed after the anime hero. The song may be about how the producer helped support BTS and bring it to life. Another theory has to do with space as several song titles for BTS’ new album have to do with space, and an asteroid discovered in 1997 was named after Anpanman by Akimasa Nakamura. For now, it seems BTS’ use of Anpanman has less to do with the anime than fans might have guessed, but the K-pop group could always surprise fans. After all, the anime could do with a new theme song if BTS were the ones behind the track…

Have you cracked the code behind BTS’ newest track list? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!