Fact Check: Did BTS’s “In The SEOM” Game Negatively Portray Jimin And Suga’s Dynamic?
Recently, BTS‘s official game, BTS Island: In the SEOM, received heavy criticism from fans for allegedly including a sequence that misrepresented the real-life dynamic between certain members.
BTS Island: In the SEOM (In The SEOM hereafter) is an official mobile game that is a part of the group’s IP, and takes direct inspiration from real-life incidents involving the members. All seven BTS members took part in designing the characters and supplying with inputs in terms of the storyline and gameplay. It was released on June 28, 2022, and since has enjoyed extreme popularity among fans.
Since the game incorporates direct quotes, exact incidents, and facts about the BTS members into its storyline, it is often seen as a fun way for newer ARMYs to learn about the group’s history and the inter-relationships between the members. So, when some fans claimed that a recent episode of the game had portrayed the dynamic between Jimin and Suga in a questionable light, others couldn’t hold back the criticism.
Some Twitter accounts posted screenshots of the particular sequence where the animated character of Jimin agonizes over the fact that he is not as good as the other members in terms of performance and wonders if he should leave the group instead of becoming a “nuisance” to them.
Thread (it gets worse);; Oomf sent this yesterday from the BTS game btw. I think this was a recent update. It really looks like hybe is trying to push some narratives to the fandom and ramping up mediaplay against him a lot more right now than they've ever done before pic.twitter.com/r2DEHU8SUt
— Star || dm limit (@minieskies) August 8, 2023
This is so fucking weird whoever wrote that shit needs to be fired but someone at hybe definitely has something against jimin.. this is supposed to be a cute little game what the fuck happened pic.twitter.com/gzbSwjdbZh
— dee the astronaut (@zonequal) August 8, 2023
Suga’s character then enters the scene, telling Jimin “Maybe you can practice more, if you have time to feel lost.” In response when Jimin agrees and asks him to watch him practicing, Suga denies and tells him that if he fails to get better, the group will leave the island without him.
— Star || dm limit (@minieskies) August 8, 2023
This particular dialogue has soured the experience of the game for some ARMYs, who found it outright disrespectful to misrepresent the relationship between Suga and Jimin in this way. They pointed out that not only are all BTS members very supportive toward each other, Suga particularly, is often named by Jimin as the one member who has been encouraging to him since the beginning.
yoongi being the one to make it CLEAR he doesn't play bout jimin since day one is my fave thing ever no fuckass writer can change how much BTS values jimin as their member and they always will pic.twitter.com/8wZcaqF5Ei
— kenmin🎰(ꪜ) (@doctorkoobert) August 8, 2023
i hate how they painted jimin and yoongi's relationship in that moment in the game because this is the REAL story .. yoongi always believed in jimin from the beginning. pic.twitter.com/8IlHyYkc4O
— jimin 📁 (@jmfolder) August 8, 2023
Just a reminder that this is yoongi irl always the biggest supporter of jimin always complimenting him his vocals his talent infact he was the one who told jimin that he should be a member of bts that fuvking game was supposed to be a cute little game RESPECT JIMIN pic.twitter.com/rB5dc7LEaD
— R⁷🍁| ʟᴀʏᴏ(ꪜ)ᴇʀ (@minijoonx) August 8, 2023
Angered fans started demanding the makers of In The SEOM take necessary steps to rectify this misleading narrative and take responsibility of the mistake. But did the sequence truly portray Suga as harshly?
In response to this fiasco, some other ARMY accounts posted a screenrecording of the full scene, where Suga’s character actually has a much longer dialogue than seen in the screenshots. In the video, he consoles Jimin’s worries and reassures him that nobody is a good singer from the start, and instead of wasting his time worrying, he should invest it into practice. The part where he turns down Jimin’s request to watch him practice is portrayed as more of a playful bickering between the two characters, as evident from Jimin’s subsequent reaction.
— YoonminGene (@yoonmingene) August 8, 2023
The video has cleared up a lot of the misunderstandings for fans who were upset with the game’s portrayal of the two members.
