On March 13, 2026, the Korean boy band BTS released the ‘아리랑’(ARIRANG) animation, a visually captivating teaser video that heralds their highly anticipated full-length album and sets the tone for their upcoming comeback.
According to BigHit Music, BTS’s managing agency, the video is inspired by the story of seven young Koreans, as documented in The Washington Post on May 8, 1896 (“Seven Koreans at Howard”). Some of these individuals made the first known audio recordings of “Arirang” in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 1896. As a modern reimagining, the work draws on the deep cultural significance of these historical recordings, which preserve the authentic voices of young Korean men and the earliest known rendition of “ARIRANG.”
This animation is brought to life under the creative guidance of Director Hur Sungwhe, with Léa Pinto serving as Art Director and Seunghyuk Hwang as CG Supervisor.
Far more than just a preview, the video serves as a creative bridge between BTS’s music and their narrative universe, inviting the global ARMY to reflect on the central question: “What is your love song?”
Léa Pinto is a French visual development artist and art director with extensive experience in the animation and video game industries. Before her work on ‘’ARIRANG,’’ she contributed to a range of high-profile projects, including Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots, the Marathon trailer for Bungie, Goat from Sony Pictures Animation, as well as collaborations with Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation, Riot Games, Blizzard, and other major studios.
In an email interview conducted from March 16-18, she discussed how she came to work on BTS’s “ARIRANG” animation video. She said, ‘’I was contacted by one of the companies working on this trailer, Storyfarm, with whom I had previously collaborated on another project. They reached out because they felt I would be a great fit for this new project.’’
Regarding her role as art director on the project, Léa Pinto explained that her involvement was somewhat unique compared to her previous work, as she participated exclusively in the pre-production phase. She was primarily responsible for developing visual research for the environments, using the storyboard and script provided by the team. ‘’From these researches, I created several visual guidelines for the different teams to follow. The goal was to establish strong concepts that could easily be reused later, define lighting directions for each scene, and design elements such as fireworks, foliage, and more,’’ she said. In addition to these guidelines, Pinto personally contributed background paintings, color keys, and props, including items like the phonograph featured in the animation. She also provided feedback on the visual representation of the BTS members, focusing on lighting, style, and likeness to ensure consistency with the project’s vision.
Interestingly, since her involvement ended after pre-production, Léa Pinto only saw the final visuals, animation, and completed scenes alongside the audience, experiencing the finished work for the first time as it was released.
When asked about the key visual references and inspirations that shaped the design, Léa Pinto explained that the project’s constraints played a major role in guiding its artistic direction. ‘’With limited time available, the team aimed for a simple yet efficient approach, ultimately adopting a manhwa-inspired style featuring vibrant colors and a strong emphasis on shape language, particularly in the concert scenes.’’ She continued, ‘’Beyond these stylistic choices, the primary reference for the trailer was the historical story of the seven young Koreans, as documented in The Washington Post on May 8, 1896 (“Seven Koreans at Howard”), which provided the conceptual foundation and cultural context for the animation.’’
The greatest challenge she faced during the project was time. She noted, “One of the biggest hurdles in projects like this is making the right creative decisions and delivering high-quality work within a tight timeframe.”
About her favorite scene in the video, she said, ‘’I really love what the team achieved on the BTS concert sequence. The backgrounds and FX created by Judit Boór look amazing, and the team did a great job following the color keys I created. The sequence is dynamic, colorful, and brings back great memories for fans, just as intended.’’
Finally, she revealed what she loved most about working on it. ‘’What I love most, and probably always will, is painting. I especially enjoyed working on the different backgrounds for this project, particularly the one that appears at the very end.’’
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