A Perfect Blend of K-Pop Energy and Traditional Korean Heritage

Since its release in June, Netflix has crowned KPop Demon Hunters as the most-watched film across the platform. The number of people streaming this fantasy adventure about three K-pop idols with supernatural superpowers is growing. The musical film has been streamed more than 33 million times in just two weeks, and at the time of writing, it’s on the global top 10 in 93 countries, and number two in the world.

KPop Demon Hunters is also getting fans to draw and post their fan art, while many users are posting, sometimes daily, their desire for a sequel.

The Streaming Success Has Translated Into Chart Dominance

But the phenomenon is not limited to Netflix. Since the release of the film on 20 June, the two bands around which the film is based, the good, all-female Huntr/x and the evil boy band Saja Boys, have made it to the charts. Their songs are far outselling other K-pop giants such as BTS and Blackpink, with a total of seven songs from the movie cracking the Billboard Hot 100. The two bands have taken the first and second spots on Spotify’s US chart — the first time a fictional act has achieved this.

The Plotline

KPop Demon Hunters follows the adventures of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, members of all-girl K-pop band Huntr/x, as they balance the regular pressures of being K-pop idols with their secret lives as demon hunters who work to save the world from forces of darkness. They are frequently in conflict with their rival band, the evil boy band Saja Boys.

The battles are spiced with impressive stage performances and slick choreography, with high production values. Scenes of friendship and conflict between the girls, trust and acceptance, and the importance of being who you are at the centre of the story, provide some more emotional and even poignant moments.

As with any good fantasy adventure, there is a healthy dose of humour too.

All this has been a winning formula across demographics and cultures, according to community leader and influencer in the Korean field, Lashai Ben Salmi. It has also been helped by the catchy music.

Co-director Maggie Kang, a Korean-Canadian, is a long-time fan of the Korean pop idols she watched growing up. In KPop Demon Hunters, music is a potent force: a counter to the darkness the three main characters must face. Songs are embedded in the film naturally, so they do not jar with the plot. “It gives the film a surprising level of maturity,” says Salmi.

For the film’s music, Kang and Appelhans, who had previously only worked in the Western animation space, collaborated with a Korean label and got some of the biggest names in the K-pop industry to write original music. Teddy Park, known for his work with K-pop supergroup Blackpink, and Grammy Award winner Lindgren, who has worked with other K-pop bands like BTS and TWICE, created original tunes that are as good as what you would expect to hear from Korean pop idols.

Not everyone is a K-pop fan, but can’t help getting hooked by the soundtrack. Amanda Golka is a content creator from Los Angeles who generally does not follow K-pop, and had not come across the Korean music bands that KPop Demon Hunters was based on. She’s now in on the fun. “I have been blasting the soundtrack from Spotify every time I’m in the car,” she says. “It’s fascinating how music can be such a universal language.”

Infusing Culture Into the Plot

Mixing the music of Korean idols into the world of animated fantasy adventures was not the only way that the production team of KPop Demon Hunters brought their Korean-ness to the film. K-pop, Korean TV shows (K-dramas), and Korean movies and films have been seen in Western countries like the US, but have gone mainstream. The Netflix release takes it a notch higher, with some Korean viewers feeling they are getting some of the best Korean representation to date.

KPop Demon Hunters features Korean life — from table manners to everyday meals to scenes shot at Seoul landmarks such as the city walls, the Hanuiwon medical clinics, public bathhouses, and Namsan Tower. The move also transcends stereotyping: the result is not a pastiche or a caricature, but a sensitive and accurate representation Korean viewers are used to not seeing often on screen.

The production team also visited South Korea and the rest of the country to get details for the characters’ wardrobes and the film’s background. The visited folk villages, took photos around the city, especially in Myeongdong, and studied traditional clothing and items to use in the film. The animation reflects the production’s commitment to getting the detail right: the English words the characters speak in the English-language film had their lip movements reflect the Korean way they would have pronounced them. The way they react and act is distinctly Korean, too. Some of the dialogue in the film is in Korean words and lyrics.