BTS Fangirling: What Makes the 'Maknae' So Appealing [Jungkook]

【妄想多め注意】あかんと思ったらそっ閉じして下さい。

[Update 2024/5/3] Images added

The youngest member who is meant to be loved

The existence of 'age-based roles' was something I first encountered in K-POP.
In Korea, there is a vertical social structure based on Confucian values where 'the older cherish the younger, and the younger look up to the older'.

…or so I stated quite convincingly, but what I really want to say is,
the hierarchy of a group of handsome men who have become a pseudo-family is the best—that is what I mean.
Can't I be a little less transparent, me?

As a foreigner (me) who cannot intuitively grasp the social temperature, I reflexively find myself swooning over the visual impact. I apologize for giving up so easily, but it can't be helped.
There's no way an otaku would dislike that; it's a law of the universe.

So, I love the concept of 'Hyung and Maknae'. Especially the 'Maknae' part.
The 'youngest child' is such an adorable, beloved position, isn't it? When Kook calls out 'Hyung!', all the other Bangtan members turn around. You can choose any Hyung you want. What kind of heaven is that?
And the fact that 'it's the Maknae's job to be pampered' is… even in 2D, that would be mocked for being too calculated, yet they are doing it openly in 3D! (Explosion)

When I realized that because roles are determined by age, Kook might bethe Maknae of BTS for life, I felt dizzy. It's not just limited to his teens. A beloved child for life. The best.
I also love the story about how SUGA-hyung, who is a dignified second-eldest in BTS, gets treated like a maknae by his songwriting peers. This relationship is just too flexible…!

I started fangirling suddenly and the introduction got long, but today I want to talk about the appeal of the 'Maknae' and our Jungkook-san.
Honestly, I'm reflecting (just a little) on the fact that I've stepped on the gas more than ever since starting this note, so please take that into account.

What makes the 'Maknae' so appealing

1. The doted-on youngest child

'The doted-on youngest child' is perhaps the biggest force in the world of 'Maknae' appeal.
The sight of him being loved and fully affirmed by his six older brothers is a perfect match for the composition of an otome game.
It satisfies the needs of both those who want to 'dote as a Hyung' and those who 'want to be doted on as a Maknae'.

And since the way our Hyung-line dotes on him easily exceeds my expectations, my limit for how much I can love them keeps being broken.
In my life, I've never doted on anyone other than a baby that much, so I am amazed every day by the variations of affection they throw at him as if to say, 'I'll show you what true doting is!' You guys are amazing…

2. The youngest child who relies on the elders

In the reverse pattern, the image of the 'youngest child who relies on the elders' is also the best. I'll repeat it because it's important: it's the best.
Whether it's Kook's sparkling eyes full of 'admiration' when he looks up at Nam-san, or the way he throws his whole body at Jin-kun to play, there are six Hyungs, so there are six times the patterns of how to be spoiled. How many times can one get deliciousness out of a single grain?
Thank you for making Bangtan seven members, Bang PD-nim!

Kook's cute Gian-like statement, 'Hyung's things are my things, and my things are my things', is famous, but there's also a sense that he thinks the Hyungs themselves are his things, right?
His lap, too. I doubted my eyes at first, wondering if anyone really sits that boldly!

3. The youngest child is the center

'The youngest child is the center' is also an essential point of appeal.
The perfection of the positioning where the youngest, who is treated like a baby, is the strongest character. It's a classic example of gap moe!
The dynamics of the hierarchy reversal, where the younger leads the older, is the best.
Since you can see the Hyungs' trust pushing him from behind, saying 'You can do it,' it's too sweet to call it 'usurping power.' Someone, please give it a good name…!

There is even a sense of catharsis in the narrative of the maknae, who started out with a touch of innocence, leading his older brothers—who all look like final bosses—to achieve boundless success in singing and dancing, and running headlong toward the world with single-minded focus.

4. The child who grows up last

And this is a personal point of fascination I've recently realized.
"The child who grows up last"
It might be a very niche point, but please let me talk about it.
I apologize, but I know it's quite something even by my own standards. Sorry!

Delusional interpretation begins

The inevitable

Jungkook, the 'Golden Maknae' who can do anything.
Even though one would expect him to feel pressure given such a label, he leaps over hurdles with his inherent honesty and vitality.

When reading Jungkook's interviews, the phrase 'I don't know why, but I believe I can do it' sometimes comes up.
I get the impression that the confidence nurtured by the unconditional love showered upon him by his older brothers is the foundation of who he is.
That side of him is so cute and reliable, and I've lost count of how many times I've cheered him on from the perspective of the hyung line, thinking, 'That's our Jungkook for you.'

But there is one thing even he cannot defeat.
That is 'time'.

The helplessness of the youngest

'Begin' is famous as a song about Jungkook's feelings for his hyungs.
The line about not really understanding sadness but just crying resonates with the words Jungkook shared in the behind-the-scenes footage.

The Jungkook singing in this song is about 15 years old. I always associate it with the time when he would look around from behind his hyungs with innocent eyes.
The days of his pure youth, when he seemed to stand helpless before a world that was too vast.

The Jungkook in this song still doesn't have the words to say to his suffering brothers.
I see a poignancy in that, born of his youth.

Faced with the troubles of the hyungs who shaped him, Jungkook can neither comfort them nor solve their problems.
Even if he builds his body and gains strength, he cannot compensate for a lack of emotional maturity.
He cannot solve their problems, nor can he share them, and even if he wants to say something, the words don't come.
My heart aches at the helplessness of a 'child' who can only be in a position of being protected, who can only cry with them and pray for the members' happiness with a desperate heart.

I am still in the 'now'

In BTS: Burn the Stage, when the topic came up that BTS would one day come to an end, Jungkook was the only one who stubbornly replied, 'I don't want to think about it.'

This was footage from the WINGS tour, so Jungkook was barely 20, and the '95 liners were around 22.
In the case of BTS, the hyung line has a very high level of mental maturity, so the maknae line, who retain an age-appropriate innocence, tends to look even more naive, but in terms of age, the '95 liners were also two years older than Jungkook.

Following the hyungs who had entered the adult world a step ahead and were trying to prepare themselves by looking toward the goal that would eventually come, this was the time when the two '95 liners had likely begun to understand the feeling of 'turning BTS into a memory.'
But Jungkook wasn't there yet. To him, the end of BTS was not yet visible.

To me, BTS is 'now.'
I'm taking on various challenges and my capabilities are growing, and there's still so much more to come.
Why would you say something like that?

I don't want to see the end yet.
Behind Jungkook's stubbornness, it seemed like such an unspoken cry was overflowing.

The hyungs smiled as if troubled. V, who had become a man of few words. The members who, before I knew it, had started looking at a world I didn't yet understand.
At first, we were all in the same room, but before I knew it, one by one they opened doors, climbed stairs, and were about to fly off into a sky I couldn't yet reach.

While time was relentlessly changing everything, at this moment, Jungkook seemed to be caught by his youth and unable to move.

The youngest child is the one who becomes an adult last.
The moment I realized that the maknae's role is to keep seeing off the backs of his hyungs, I was completely hooked.

The change shown at the 2018 MAMA

But time flows. It's not just Jungkook who gets left behind.
The time for him to leave the room that had become too small and climb the stairs will come for him too.

Passing through the season of helplessness before he knew it, Jungkook opens the door to adulthood and starts walking.
The first time I felt the change was at the 2018 MAMA Artist of the Year award.

Jungkook, who pulled the sobbing 'Red V' close and pressed him against his shoulder, looked around. That posture was even somewhat proud, and it was very impressive among the members who were in tears.
It looked like a declaration of determination, as if to say, 'It's okay, I'll protect the hyungs next.'

2018, a year when everyone suffered and even thought about disbanding.
By overcoming that trial, he may have climbed one step up the stairs and begun to share the same view as his older brothers.

Life Goes On

While swaying between adult and child, Jungkook matures little by little.
I think that from some point on, he began to look at his hyungs not just with sparkling admiration, but with understanding and kindness.

When V leaked his anxiety about not being able to meet ARMY, or reminisced about the young Jungkook he could no longer meet, the way he looked into his face and offered advice saying, 'This is what I think,' made him look strong enough to return what his hyungs had done for him.

The Eternal Maknae

The maknae who was shy and introverted has shed his boyhood, become an adult, and is about to fly as a pop star.
The child who used to sit on his hyungs' laps and laugh is acquiring the strength to place his hand on his brother's shoulder and support him.
I have nothing but gratitude for being allowed to see that process.
I can also understand a little of V's feeling of missing the young Jungkook, but since I can always meet him in videos, it's truly a grateful world lol

Just as Namjoon will always remember Jungkook with his doe eyes and skinny jeans (RUN BTS! EP. 56), I also saw the young Jungkook, so even now that he has become a ruggedly handsome man adorned with tattoos and piercings, I still see the maknae within him.
No matter how old he gets, I'm sure his hyungs will keep doting on him, saying 'he's grown up so much,' and I think Jungkook will remain the eternal maknae to me. I love him!

Side note

I've been watching so many maknae videos that I've started getting recommendations for other groups, and when Seventeen's maknae was asked if it was hard, he commented something like, 'The doting love from my 12 hyungs is sometimes a bit heavy,' which made me laugh.
I see, that is a lot...!

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