The Animation That Made K-Pop History

While you might not be K-pop obsessed, chances are you’ve heard of KPop Demon Hunters. Released in June, the Netflix original has dominated global charts since its debut. After two weeks on the service, the film was streamed over 33 million times, across 93 countries, where it debuted in the global top 10. As of this week, it is number two on the Netflix global rankings, where it has already held for two weeks. Fans have created fan art, and Netflix 2 is trending online by the minute.

Chart performance and hype, however, have not been limited to the streaming charts. Since 20 June, when the film debuted, the two fictional bands whose rivalry frames the story, the virtuous all-female band Huntr/x and their antihero archrivals the Saja Boys, have outpaced real-life K-pop giants BTS and Blackpink. The seven songs in the film that have landed on music charts include Billboard Hot 100 and the top two positions on Spotify’s US chart. It is unusual, to say the least, for a work of fiction to break into the music industry this way.

Set to the hypnotic beats of original Korean-language songs, KPop Demon Hunters stars the trio of Huntr/x — Rumi, Mira, and Zoey — as they balance their meteoric rise to worldwide superstardom with their secret vigilante identities as K-Pop Demon Hunters who protect the world from monsters and demons. Fight scenes against the real-life villains Saja Boys are intercut with supercharged concerts, high-production-value action, and an overarching coming-of-age story about friendship, trust, and being yourself. Humour and pathos, Korean and Western pop culture references, song and dance, as well as splashes of magic and folklore, are all part of a winning formula that has drawn in audiences around the world.

The eye-catching animation and plot may be a draw for many fans, but it is the music, some of it with an edge, that has turned KPop Demon Hunters into a bona fide cultural juggernaut. In the film, popular music is central to the plot as music and dance banish demons, and in the real world, the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is true to form, with songs embedded in the story so seamlessly, co-director Maggie Kang says, that they never jar with the plot.

Kang, a Korean-Canadian who co-directed the film with Chris Appelhans, said she based the characters on K-pop idols she grew up listening to, as well as the K-pop industry around them. “When we were writing, we thought a lot about how music can be integral to the themes and the action of a story and is never ‘inserted’ into the scenes,” she told Zdnet. “The music itself can help the characters in the film.”

Finding the right sounds for such an ambitious project was no easy feat, so to create the authentic feel, the co-directors and producers brought in Korean label H1ghr Co., along with music industry megastars Teddy Park, who has worked with Blackpink and multiple other K-pop stars, and Grammy Award-winning Lindgren, who is known for his work with BTS, TWICE, NCT and other K-pop artists.

Community leaders who cover the Korean scene in the US and abroad agree. “It gives the film a surprising level of maturity,” says Lashai Ben Salmi, founder of Hankyung, a European-based non-profit dedicated to the education and promotion of Korean culture.

Authentic culture, from everyday life to Korean dramas, K-pop, and the growing presence of Korean films and actors in Hollywood, has already become the norm in the US and other Western markets, but KPop Demon Hunters goes further. The film, while not set in real life, is embedded in the everyday Korean dining traditions, traditional attire, and family relationships, including the casual Korean use of the word mother, for instance, are all sprinkled throughout the story. Daily Korean life is on display at historic cityscapes, such as in the ancient Korean city wall that appears in the film, at the Hanuiwon medicinal clinics and public bathhouse, and Seoul Namsan Tower. But such details, Kang says, are far from superfluous: “We made a conscious effort to feature cultural markers that Koreans would see in the film and find that representation accurate and not offensive or token.”

Film insiders confirmed this was a top priority from the outset. “In our visit to South Korea, we walked through folk villages, photographed Myeongdong streets, and studied traditional clothes,” Kang said. “The main characters, though they speak English in the final film, are animated with lip movements to match Korean pronunciation. They are authentic, even in their facial expressions.”

Animation is not the only indicator of authenticity, insiders say: KPop Demon Hunters also includes Korean words and songs, including references in dialogue to the Korean pronunciation of the color purple. The Korean world of K-pop fandom also makes an appearance. In addition to fan signing events and the vibrant colours of light sticks, the production team rendered Korean placards, concert hall signage, and Korean-style choreography (Kalgunmu) in the film. “The reference points are specific to K-pop in that they are across genres and generations,” Kang said. “They cover the whole pop industry.”

Korean symbolism is also sprinkled throughout the fantasy action. Huntr/x’s weapons, their swords and fans, for instance, resemble the accoutrements of Mudang, traditional Korean shamans. The Saja Boys, by contrast, bring to mind the Korean Grim Reaper. Dangsan trees, Korean Dokkaebi goblins, and folk-inspired song and dance all feature in the film. Traditional Korean folk village characters Derpy the tiger and Sussy the magpie, shown in the movie, even serve as good luck guardians.