BTS’ V is causing a sales sensation in Japan with his latest magazine cover, even before its official release.
V graces the cover of W Korea’s September issue — his first magazine cover shoot since completing military service — and the announcement has generated massive buzz both in Korea and abroad.
Just one month after his discharge, V has returned with flawless visuals and a distinct sense of style. The teaser video announcing the issue has already amassed 19.14 million views, quickly approaching 20 million, while the behind-the-scenes video surpassed 10 million views in just 10 hours, proving the explosive response.
World-renowned stylists such as Law Roach — credited with making Zendaya a red carpet star — and Karla Welch, who has styled Justin Bieber and Camila Cabello, even “liked” V’s photoshoot images, reflecting the global attention he is drawing.
Before reservations for Korea were even announced, Japan’s largest online shopping mall, Rakuten, began early pre-sales. On Rakuten’s K-pop Magazine & Photobook Bestseller rankings, all spots from No. 1 to No. 10 were occupied by W Korea’s September issue featuring V.
On Qoo10 Japan’s K-pop Magazine & Photobook Bestseller rankings, the V-covered W Korea issues also swept all top 10 positions, while also claiming ranks 12–18, 20, and 21 — meaning 17 of the Top 20 spots were taken by the same magazine issue, an unprecedented feat.
V’s unshakable popularity continues in Japanese popularity polls as well. From July 28 to August 3 (KST), he topped the male idol ranking on Japanese idol popularity site NEHAN for the 227th consecutive week. In the same period, he also held the No. 1 spot for the 223rd consecutive week in the “20s Korean Actor” category on Korean actor ranking site BIHAN.
On K-culture platform K-board, V ranked No. 1 for the 183rd straight week in the “K-pop Idol Popularity Ranking,” and has remained No. 1 throughout the entire history of the “Korean Drama Male Actor General Election” and “Flower Boy Election.” K-pop portal KPOP JUICE also lists him at No. 1 for all periods in both overall ranking and “Most Bookmarked” category. V further proved his influence and star power by recording the highest mention volume among K-pop artists on X (formerly Twitter) and trending on Japanese Google Trends.
— Star News Via Korea Times
