The fan culture here in Korea has been changing as time goes by and it is definitely different from how it was before when I just came to Korea back in 2012. Now in 2017, fans are getting much more creative with the way the celebrate with their idols' birthday and I think it is really interesting on how they did it.

The very first time which I had encountered fans making into a cinema theatre into a 'BTS' theatre was during their 4th anniversary back in June. It was really interesting because fansites actually went to design a whole stretch of wall with the photos which they took throughout the years. To me it was pure dedication and it allowed the movie goers to actually notice the design when they walked through the corridor leading them to their designated theatre.

For Jungkook's birthday, one of the his largest fansite, Snow Peach, as many of you would have known, went to create a JK theatre just for him. It only had one wall of his pictures but hey it was still dedication and effort. I really enjoyed how fansites spent so much time and effort in allowing not just the boys but also the rest of the fandoms to enjoy such tiny things. To me it was really cool because you don't get to see such level of fandom in other countries. If you do, please let me know.

That aside, I felt that one of the reasons why I am writing this post today is because of some of the issues which I had noticed from the increasing number of fansites spending large amount of money for their idols. Personally I believe that if I had the amount of money which they did or if I'm rich I would definitely spend money on branded clothes and gifts for the boys.
These are only 4 fansites of JungKook and look at the amount of gifts he is receiving. Wow. I'm really impress by how large his fanbase is and I do feel happy for him. During the time when I was reading the comments, some armies thanked the fansites for always putting in effort and gifting him with awesome presents whereas some armies felt that the money spent on branded goods could have been done and spent in other areas such as donations towards the need. Well, if you ask where I stand in this question, I would say more towards the latter.

Of course I would want to gift my idols clothes, perfumes, accessories which are branded but sometimes I also think that it would be better if those money were being spent in areas such as donation for the needier people. That would also definitely be a good cause because others would also get to know their name in a good manner too. I feel that because usually fansites get their fundings from the goods they sell and exhibitions most of them use their own personal money to get those expensive gifts. I have no right to tell them what gifts suit the boys because it is their money and they have their own choice to decide what they want to buy and how they want to spend they money which they had earned.

As a result sometimes I feel like it became a competition between fansites as to who is giving the boys better and more expensive gifts. Some fans might feel that I would want to support this fansite master more because he or she has the tendency and capability to provide the boys with better and nicer gifts. I view this as a rather negative point because I feel that you cannot judge someone's love for idols through the price of the gifts. It is the same as to how many albums or how many merchandises you have for your idols. No. They don't equate to your love for them. I believe is how you stay and support them when they need you. That's pure idol love.

And so which leads me to another point for Rap Monster, our leader of BTS. I will just refer him to Nam Joon here because I find it easier. I recently met an acquaintance who is a fan of Nam Joon and she used her own money to bought a really expensive branded autumn coat for him. It costed around one semester of tuition fee for me but I mean if she's rich and she's alright with it, I'm cool too. I was just surprised by her words. She told me she wanted Nam Joon to feel as loved as Jung Kook because there's honestly not a lot of fansites left for Nam Joon as compared to Jung Kook who gets like birthday buses and trucks etc. That made me kind of sad too because I really do like Nam Joon and I believe without him, none of the bangtan memebrs would be here now. There would be no JK in the team. I wish that people would see his talent and recognise him like how the fans do.

Well, this is just what I feel recently and feel free to let me know what you think about the fandom culture here in Korea. ^^

Cheers.