10+ References You Might Not Have Noticed In BTS's "Persona" Trailer

BTS dropped an exciting trailer for their upcoming album MAP OF THE SOUL: Persona that is filled with hints, clues, and references. Some of these details are so subtle that they’re easily missed!

1. Skool Luv Affair opening

BTS takes us back in time to their 2014 comeback trailer for Skool Luv Affair…

…by using very similar graphics in the Persona trailer intro.

2. The classroom

If this classroom seems familiar, that’s because it is!

A similar classroom appeared in BTS’s 2014 music video for “Boy in Luv”…

…and in their 2013 trailer for “No More Dream”.

3. The chalkboard

The chalkboard behind RM is scribbled with references to, and quotes by, psychologist Carl Jung who presented the idea that everyone has a “persona”. He called it “a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual”.

4. The number of desks

For much of the video, only six desks can be seen clearly in the classroom.

There is, however, a hidden seventh desk that slips into view, just barely, every now and then. It can be seen here, in the bottom right corner. After the classroom becomes riddled with graffiti, more desks and tables can be seen thrown throughout the room…

…just like they were in “Boy in Luv”.

5. “94” spray paint can

A spray can with the number 94 can be seen on the floor.

1994 is the year RM was born.

6. “President Namjoon”

This is a popular nickname ARMY has given to BTS’s leader. We get two possible references to it in the video. RM appears here as a class president…

…and here at a podium that may remind fans of the podium he read his “Speak Yourself” speech at.

7. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”

This line from the Wizard of Oz is printed on a patch RM wears. In the Wizard of Oz, the Wizard has two forms.

One is a larger than life “All Powerful Oz” illusion he presents to the world as his true self. The other is who he really is, a regular man who hides behind a literal and metaphorical curtain.

8. “A” for “anima”?

RM wears this “A” patch on a school uniform that references BTS’s past school uniform concepts. The “A” may stand for “anima”. “Anima”, which originated from Latin, was originally used to describe ideas such as breath, soul, spirit or vital force. Carl Jung used “anima” to describe the unconscious feminine side of a man.

9. Shadow

Carl Jung labeled the parts of the unconscious mind as the anima/animus, shadow, self, and ego, which are layered behind the conscious mind’s persona. The shadow is a person’s inner “dark side”.

10. “But Namjoon”

These “three syllables” show just how much RM knows about what the fandom is up to. “But Namjoon” is a phrase K-Pop fans use to redirect focus to RM when one of their idols does something problematic, in order to justify their idols’ actions. It refers to RM’s past ‘problematic’ actions, which he has since grown and learned from.

11. The number of outfits

In the video, RM wears five outfits (not including CG RM). There are also five parts of Carl Jung’s conscious/unconscious mind. If we were to label the outfits in the order in which they appear, moving from the innermost layers of the mind to the outer ones, we’d have “self”…