Face Yourself is the third Japanese and fifth overall studio album by South Korean boy band BTS. It was released on April 4, 2018, through Big Hit, Virgin, Universal Music Japan and Def Jam Recordings. The album contains Japanese versions of songs previously released on the group's second Korean studio album Wings (2016) and the Love Yourself: Her (2017) extended play (EP), as well as three new, original Japanese-language tracks: "Don't Leave Me", "Let Go", and "Crystal Snow". Its debut at number 43 on the Billboard 200 made it the third-highest-charting Japanese album in the history of the chart.[1]
The album was announced on February 1, 2018, along with an April 4 release date and details for three limited editions. A tentative tracklist revealed new Japanese recordings of the songs "Go Go" and "Best of Me" from the band's 2017 Korean EP Love Yourself: Her,[2] as well as the inclusion of "Crystal Snow", originally released back in December 2017 as part of a triple A-side single album with the Japanese versions of "Mic Drop" and "DNA".[3] The completed tracklist was released on March 8.[4] That same day, "Don't Leave Me" was announced as the opening theme song for Japanese drama Signal, a remake of the 2016 South Korean television series of the same name.[5] A preview of the song aired on March 15, causing it to chart on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 prior to its official release—it peaked at number 25.[6][7]
Four versions of the album were made available for purchase: three Limited editions, and a CD-only Regular edition. The Type A and B versions both included a 32-page booklet, and featured exclusive content viewable on Blu-ray and DVD respectively.[9][10] Type C included a 68-page booklet,[11] while the Regular edition contained a 24-page booklet.[12] All albums share a standard track listing.
The album debuted at number one on Oricon's Daily CD Album chart.[13] It remained there for seven consecutive days, and ranked at number one on the Weekly Album chart with over 282,000 accumulated units sold,[14] breaking a six-year-five-month-long record previously held by Kara, for the highest first-week sales by a Korean artist on the Oricon chart.[15] This made it the highest-grossing album by a male artist on the Oricon chart for 2018 at the time.[16] The album ranked at number 12 on the daily chart on its eighth day of charting,[17] but surged back up over the course of the following weeks, reaching as high as number two.[18] It spent thirteen successive weeks on the Oricon chart, with 324,381 accumulated units sold,[13][19]
and became BTS' first Japanese album to receive Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) on May 10.[20] Oricon announced in June, that Face Yourself and BTS had made the top ten of their "Album Ranking" and "Artist Sales Ranking" charts for the first half of 2018, coming in at fourth and sixth respectively. BTS was the only Korean artist to enter both charts, and the highest ranked international artist.[21]Tower Records Japan reported the album was the second best-selling album by a Korean artist in Japan for 2018.[22]
The album was awarded Double Platinum certification by the RIAJ in January 2019, for selling over 500,000 copies. It was the first album by a Korean act to achieve this since Kara's Super Girl in December 2011.[20]
Following the album's release, "Don't Leave Me" entered Oricon's Weekly Digital Singles chart at number 28, with 4,611 digital copies sold for the period dated April 2–8.[23] "Let Go" debuted at number 40 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100,[24] and entered South Korea's Gaon component Download Chart at number 63.[25] In February 2021, the song was certified Silver by the RIAJ for surpassing 30 million streams in Japan,[26] and gold in Brazil, in 2024, for 20,000 equivalents sold.[27]
Four of the album's singles ranked on the BillboardWorld Digital Song Sales chart in the US. "Dont Leave Me" debuted atop the chart with 9,000 sales, earning the band its record seventh number-one, while "Let Go" followed at number two, and "Intro: Ringwanderung" and "Outro: Crack" entered at numbers four and five respectively.[28]
^BTS（防弾少年団）、4月4日リリースのアルバム収録新曲が坂口健太郎初主演ドラマ主題歌に - エキサイトニュース [BTS new album released April 4th includes theme song for Kentaro Sakaguchi's first starring drama]. Excite Music (in Japanese). March 8, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
^Kim, Bo-ra (March 8, 2018). [공식입장] 방탄소년단, 日드라마 '시그널' 주제가 부른다 [[Official Release] The theme song of the drama 'Signal' is sung by BTS]. Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月03日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 3, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 4, 2018. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月04日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 4, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 5, 2018. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月05日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 5, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月06日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 6, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 7, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月07日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 7, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 8, 2018. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月08日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 8, 2018] (in Japanese). Oricon News. April 9, 2018. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018.
デイリーCDアルバムランキング 2018年04月09日付 [Oricon Daily CD Album Ranking April 9, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 10, 2018. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018.
デイリー アルバムランキング 2018年04月13日付 [Oricon Daily Album Ranking April 13, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 14, 2018. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018.
^Jeon, Jong Sun (April 13, 2018). 방탄소년단, 日서 K팝 그룹 발매첫주 최다판매…카라 기록 깼다 [BTS, sells the most for a K-pop artist in the first week of release...breaks KARA's record]. Seoul Economy Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
^デイリー CDアルバムランキング 2018年04月10日付 [Oricon Daily Album Ranking April 10, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 10, 2018. Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
^デイリー アルバムランキング 2018年04月23日付 [Oricon Daily Album Ranking April 23, 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). April 24, 2018. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
^Yu, Byuong-cheol (June 25, 2018). 방탄소년단, 日 2018 오리콘 상반기 결산 '앨범 랭킹'-'아티스트 세일즈 랭킹' 동시 톱 10 [BTS, 2018 Japan Oricon's first half 'Album ranking' and 'Artist ranking' Top 10]. Korea Economy TV (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 7, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
^연간 2018년 14주차 Download Chart [Download Chart – Week 14 of 2018]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
^ストリーミング認定 月次認定作品 認定年月：2021年 2月 [Streaming certifications Monthly certified works | Certification date: February 2021]. www.riaj.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved March 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
^年間 アルバムランキング 2018年度 [Annual Album Ranking: 2018] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
^【第51回オリコン年間ランキング 2018】安室奈美恵さんが総合首位、AKB48がシングル9年連続1位・2位独占 [[51st annual Oricon ranking 2018] Amuro Namie is the overall best performing artist, AKB 48 ranked first and second on the single year end chart for 9th consecutive year] (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
^Oricon digital sales references for Face Yourself:
