BTS announced the release of a new Japanese song, "Film Out" on February 16, 2021.[1] The song was written by BTS member Jungkook in collaboration with Iyori Shimizu, the vocalist of Japanese rock power trio Back Number.[2] It is slated to serve as the ending theme song of the movie Signal the Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit (2021).[3] On March 26, the band released the music video teaser of the song and simultaneously announced the release of a new Japanese-language album, BTS, the Best.[4] The track list was also announced simultaneously.[5] The album contains all of the band's previous Japanese releases since 2017, while including their English-language 2020 single, "Dynamite" as a bonus track.[6] Seven versions of the album had been announced with various supportive materials in each version, such as different posters, photo cards and artwork.[7]
BTS, the Best debuted at number one on Oricon's Daily Album Chart dated June 15, 2021, with 571,589 physical copies sold in a single day to become the best-selling album of the year upon release.[8][9] It debuted atop the Weekly Albums Chart issue dated June 28, 2021, for the period ending June 20, with 782,369 copies sold,[10] recording the highest first week sales by a male foreign artist, and the second-highest first week sales for a foreign artist in Oricon chart history—Mariah Carey's greatest hits album #1's sold 1.047 million copies its opening week in 1998.[11] The album spent three consecutive weeks at number one on the Oricon chart and sold over 885,000 copies in that time.[12] It additionally topped the corresponding issue of Oricon's Digital Album Chart for its release week with 7,603 digital sales,[13] and debuted at number-one on Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart with 807,056 copies sold.[14][15]
On December 22, Oricon announced that BTS, the Best was the best-selling physical album of 2021 in Japan with sales of 992,837 copies[16] per data aggregated during the period dated December 14, 2020 to December 12, 2021. BTS are the first group in Oricon history, the first foreign artist in 37 years since Michael Jackson with Thriller (sold 575,000 copies 1984), and the third foreign artist overall following Elvis Presley in 1971 (sold 225,000 copies of "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me") and the aforementioned Jackson, to top the year-end album sales ranking.[11] The album was additionally the fifth best-performing digital album of the year, with 21,082 downloads.[17] In January 2022, the album surpassed sales of 1 million copies on Oricon, making it the first by a South Korean group in history to do so, and the first by a foreign act in over 16 years since BoA's Best of Soul (2005).[18]
^デイリー アルバムランキング 2021年06月15日付 [Daily album ranking dated June 15, 2021] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
^ ab【オリコン年間】BTSアルバム『BTS, THE BEST』が自身初の年間1位 海外アーティストではマイケル・ジャクソン『スリラー』以来37年ぶり [[Oricon Annual] BTS album "BTS, THE BEST" topped the list, is the first foreign artist in 37 years since Michael Jackson's "Thriller"] (in Japanese). Oricon. December 22, 2021. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
^BTS、ベスト・アルバム『BTS, THE BEST』がオリコン「週間 アルバムランキング」3週連続1位に [BTS, best-of album; BTS, the Best ranked No. 1 on Oricon "Weekly Album Ranking" for 3 consecutive weeks] (in Japanese). Tower Records Japan. July 6, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
^"Hot Albums". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). June 23, 2021. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
^"Top Album Sales". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). June 23, 2021. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
^【オリコン年間ランキング2021】Snow Man、唯一のミリオン達成で「シングル」年間1位 – アルバムランキング 1位～25位 [[Oricon Annual Ranking 2021] Snow Man tops the "Single" list with the only million achievement of the year – Album ranking 1st to 25th] (in Japanese). Oricon. December 22, 2021. p. 3. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
^【オリコン年間ランキング2021】Snow Man、唯一のミリオン達成で「シングル」年間1位 – デジタルアルバム 1位～10位 [[Oricon Annual Ranking 2021] Snow Man tops the "Single" list with the only million achievement of the year – Digital Album ranking 1st to 10th] (in Japanese). Oricon. December 22, 2021. p. 5. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
^Snow Man「日本ゴールドディスク大賞」受賞！BTSは部門賞で10冠、米津玄師は史上初の5年連続受賞 [Snow Man won the "Japan Gold Disc Awards"! BTS won 10 category awards, Kenshi Yonezu won for fifth consecutive year, the first time in history]. Natalie (in Japanese). March 14, 2022. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
^月間 アルバムランキング 2021年06月度 [Monthly album ranking – June 2021] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
