BTS return from military service - but does their album live up to the hype?

The return of BTS is a big deal.

In case you were in any doubt, just look at the frenzy surrounding the South Koreans' comeback.

On Saturday, the band will kick off a sold-out, 82-date world tour with a free concert in Seoul, which is expected to be attended by more than 250,000 in-person fans and will be live-streamed on Netflix to more than 190 countries.

When the tour wraps up in 2027, BTS are expected to have generated more than $1bn in revenue. Some more outlandish estimates suggest they will eclipse the $2bn haul of Taylor Swift's Eras tour.

Even so, demand is so high that Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has written to the South Korean government asking for BTS to play more shows in her country.

Eager fans have pre-saved the band's tenth album, Arirang, more than five million times on Spotify - the highest number ever achieved by a K-Pop group.

And shares in the band's record company, HYBE, have soared in anticipation of the release.

During the band's four-year hiatus - during which all seven members completed South Korea's mandatory 18-month military service - the company's operating profit dropped by almost 37.5%.

Accordingly, the expectations for Arirang are huge.

Fans are desperate to see the group back together, but with the K-Pop industry shaken by scandals and stalling album sales, there's a sense that BTS's return is a litmus test for the genre's continued international appeal.

The band could have played it safe. Before taking time off, the band had settled into making sleek, shimmery retro-disco tracks like Dynamite and Butter - designed to appeal to the sort of listener who finds Bruno Mars too crass and abrasive.

Surefire radio hits, they cemented BTS as the biggest K-Pop band on Planet Earth - especially in English-speaking markets.