Kpop group BTS takes a bow at the end of ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in Seoul, South Korea on March 21, 2026. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)
Kpop group BTS during the ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in central Seoul, South Korea on March 21, 2026. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)
A couple takes a selfie next to a banner promoting K-pop group BTS’ comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
This image released by Netflix shows the promotional art for the documentary “BTS: The Return”. (Netflix via AP)
FILE – Korean pop group BTS attends the 2019 Variety’s Hitmakers Brunch in West Hollywood, California on December 7, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Kpop group BTS takes a bow at the end of ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in Seoul, South Korea on March 21, 2026. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)
Kpop group BTS during the ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in central Seoul, South Korea on March 21, 2026. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)
A couple takes a selfie next to a banner promoting K-pop group BTS’ comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The seven members join a live broadcast, broadcast from a beach. A few years ago, it was a common image. But after K-pop boy group BTS took a hiatus from full-group duties for nearly four years, it was a revelation. That’s the scene that begins director Bao Nguyen’s new Netflix documentary “BTS: The Return.” The mostly Korean-language film offers an intimate look at BTS’ journey to their latest album, “ARIRANG,” released on Friday. The seven-member team also follows – RMJin, JiminV, Suga, Jungkook and j-hope – as they quickly learned to adjust to their lives again, together again.Here are the key takeaways from the documentary, which premieres on Netflix on Friday, March 27.
Mandatory military service in South Korea is coming up fast
As BTS fans are well aware, “ARIRANG” is the group’s first full-length work since all seven members served their mandatory military service in South Korea. In South Korea, all able-bodied men between the ages of 18-28 are required to do 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system intended to prevent North Korean aggression.In their documentary, the mention of the BTS service appears immediately. In the first minute, as the group shoots their live video on the beach, RM mentions that he “learned how to work” in the military. The footage then cuts to the boys shaving their heads and putting on their uniforms, quickly joining the team. Actually, they were separated for several years. Before announcing their return in June, the seven members had not been seen performing live together since September 2022.
The road to ‘ARIRANG’ was fast
Shortly after returning from mandatory service, the group headed to Los Angeles in the summer of 2025 to begin work on “ARIRANG,” their 14-track fifth studio album and first in nearly four years. They lived together in the same house. It was tight quarters, and a tight turnaround: In the film, Jin says he joined the band in Los Angeles the day after his 2025 solo tour ended. Because of this, he missed some of the initial writing and recording.The journey was also uneventful. As RM mentions in the film, the longevity of a K-pop group is not guaranteed. Fans of the genre are familiar with the so-called “seven-year curse,” where a band disbands, or loses members, or contracts expire and are passed over. This has not been the case with BTS, considering that they are still one of the most popular groups in the world. The question then was: where does their sound come from?“We’re doing a lot of experiments, trying to find out what makes us special,” RM said. “What makes us BTS?”They also felt the pressure to deliver a good album, and quickly. “We’ve been away too long,” Jimin said over dinner. “Now that we are finally out of the military, we don’t want to prolong this break.”
Los Angeles was a creative hub
Working in and around Hollywood was a source of creativity for the group. The documentary features clips of the studio guys working with Diplo and Pdogg, some South Korean producers.It also shows the group struggling for a lead single and the dynamics in the studio: Suga playing guitar, serious and studious, V consoling a distraught Jin, and more.They then returned to South Korea to finish and mix the album.
The album really started to connect when they had a story
Boyoung Lee, executive creative director of Big Hit Music, told the group that in 1896 a group of Koreans arrived in the US for an education, where they met music producer and ethnologist Alice C. Fletcher. Together, they recorded the first Korean song in the US: “Arirang,” a traditional Korean folk song dating back to the 1400s and the inspiration for BTS’s album title.This meant that the album was a true celebration of South Korea and BTS’ efforts to bring their country and culture to the world. In one scene, Suga mentions the necessary changes to the song “Normal”, claiming that there was too much English and not enough Korean in the original. “For this album, authenticity is important,” RM agreed.
The preparation for their comeback was huge
Some members expressed reservations about how they might be received – what did their fans want, so long ago? And in an industry that requires reinvention? So they worked as hard as they could, and in a surprising way: in one scene, V throws a baseball into a parking lot, apparently blowing off steam. A few days later, he will pitch at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. He was clearly training not to disappoint his fans.Even as the band relax at night together in their shared home in Los Angeles – enjoying pork belly, soju and beer – they are still shown talking about their music, what they could have done differently in the studio, what they want to try in the future. It’s a 24/7 process.“I wonder if we did a good job here,” Jung Kook wonders aloud.
They weren’t sure about ‘Swim’ ‘ARIRANG’ as their first single
Some members of the group thought that the song “Swim” might be too low energy to use as their lead single. But even in 2020 they weren’t sure about “Dynamite,” which was a huge international hit. It was their first English-language single and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, a first for a South Korean music group.Suga started to believe in “Swim”. “‘Oh, can they come back with a song like this?’ I think it’s going to be cool,” he told his teammates, fantasizing about the fans’ reaction. “It’s a nice, mature song for us,” RM agreed. “It’s time to create an atmosphere for adults.”Appearing more mature – and writing songs that mirror their lives – was a priority. “We’ve all gotten old in general,” Suga said. “We tried to express more about being an adult.”
