Released by Netflix on June 20 without any prior promotion, “KPop Demon Hunters,” produced by Sony Pictures animation, has been one of the biggest animated hits in the last few years. The movie broke records in both watch time and music charts, and even had a two day theatrical sing along release in theaters from August 23 to August 24.
“KPop Demon Hunters,” as the title suggests, is based heavily on Korean culture – both traditional and pop. For the former, animators drew inspiration from traditional demons in old Korean myths to design the demons in the movie. As for the latter, character design, music, and fan culture were all drawn from the Korean pop culture happening right now. The characters of Huntr/x and the Saja Boys were specifically inspired by certain K-pop idols currently working in the industry, such as Jennie from Blackpink and Cha Eun-woo from ASTRO.
Meanwhile, the success of the movie was likely more than the creators could have ever imagined. “Golden,” a song on the soundtrack, was able to top Billboard’s Top 100 for three weeks in a row. In addition, the movie’s soundtrack was the first to have four top 10 songs on the same list at once. Outside of music, though, “KPop Demon Hunters” most notable achievement was surpassing “Squid Games” to become the most watched title in Netflix history.
The story of “KPop Demon Hunters” follows girl group Huntr/x, a trio of singer/rapper and demon hunters who use their voices to maintain the honmoon: a magical shield that protects the human world from the demons in the underworld. When five demons decide to start a rival boy group, the Saja Boys, to take down Huntr/x and re-establish their position in the human world, the girls must work together in order to save their fans and the entire world. A theme the movie primarily explored was the conflict between the demon and human world, illustrated by main characters Rumi and Jinu, who are the lead singers of Huntr/x and the Saja Boys respectively.
“KPop Demon Hunters” was a refreshing new movie that highly exceeded my expectations. Even before watching it, I had already begun to listen to the soundtrack religiously. The soundtrack included traditional upbeat pop songs such as “Golden,” but also darker songs and ballads such as “Your Idol” and “Free.”
My personal favorite was “Free,” a duet between Rumi and Jinu. It’s an extremely vulnerable song, and combined with the amazing singing of EJAE and Andrew Choi, the song is absolute perfection that makes me stop everything I’m doing as it starts playing.
The animation of the movie was also fun and intricate – as expected from the same studio who produced the Spider-verse series. Especially during the first scene of the movie, the attention to detail: the girl’s makeup, weapons, and overall framing of what was happening made the movie just that much better to watch. It incorporated all different types of animation styles as well, seen in funny scenes such as when the girls are eating or when they see the Saja Boys for the first time.
My one critique if I had to give one was simply the short run time. The movie explores such complex themes and ideas that the one hour and thirty-six minutes could not capture entirely. The plot introduction had to be simplified by a lot and the inter character relationships felt rushed – changing almost minute by minute.
However, despite the short run time, all of “KPop Demon Hunters” hour and thirty-six minutes kept me extremely entertained and engaged throughout. With this unconventional movie generating so much success, we can only hope to see more of these in the future.
