Crunchyroll Snags License For K-Pop Powerhouse BTS’ Korean Superhero Series ‘BASTIONS’

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May 12, 2023

The titular team makes their debut in the first trailer for BASTIONS (2023), Thymos Media

Thanks to a new partnership with K-pop mega group BTS, Crunchyroll will soon be expanding their library of Korean animation with the boy band’s original CGI superhero adventure, BASTIONS.

Produced by Thymus Media, the five part series follows a rookie eco-superhero group named Bastions who fight to protect the Earth from pollution.

On their path to becoming full-fledged heroes, the Bastions will find themselves face-to-face with the planet’s greatest environmental threat in the form of the supposedly ‘eco-friendly’ megacorporation Wash Green.

A fusion of K-pop music and CGI, the series will be accompanied by a soundtrack jam-packed with several brand new songs from the girl group Le Sserafim, singers Heize and AleXa, and of course BTS themselves. Their theme for the show, The Planet, is one of BASTIONS most anticipated tracks.

According to a statement from Thymus Media sent to The Korean Times, the purpose of the animation studio’s collaboration with K-pop artists is to “raise global awareness of environmental issues.”

“The collaboration with K-pop artists will help raise the global audience’s awareness of environmental issues,” Thymus Media said told The Korean Times. “K-pop singers decided to join hands with us as they found our message relatable.”

A member of the titular team leaps into action in the first trailer for BASTIONS (2023), Thymos Media

In a separate press release, Crunchyroll Chief Content Officer Asa Suehira celebrated how this partnership presented the anime streaming service with “an extraordinary opportunity to introduce fans to more animation styles from Asia”

“And this exciting new series from Korea does just that,” she added, “and having the music of so many K-pop stars really broadens the appeal of BASTIONS.”

BASTIONS is BTS’ first project as a group since they released their June 2022 anthology album Proof.

Late last year, BTS’ agency Big Hit Music announced the group would be temporarily disbanded so that members RM, Jimin, J-Hope, Suga, Jungkook, V and Jin could serve their mandatory military service in South Korea. BTS plans to reconvene in 2025.

Starting May 13th, new episodes of BASTIONS will fly onto Crunchyroll every Saturday worldwide (excluding China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea) at 8:45 a.m. PT/11:45 a.m. ET.

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