Over the summer, an animated children’s movie about K-pop singers and demon boys became the world’s unexpected obsession.
KPop Demon Hunters, directed by Maggie Kang, premiered on Netflix on June 20. Animated in 3D style from Sony Pictures Animation, the story is packed with humor and charm, grounded in its exploration of friendship and Korean culture.
At the start of September, Netflix’s Tudum, an online ranking site, reported the movie had become the streaming company’s top-ranked film of all time, with 266 million views. By the end of the month, the movie had jumped by nearly 50 million views, reaching 314 million.
The movie’s soundtrack has also been successful on Spotify, with “Golden” reaching 480 million streams by the end of September.
KPop Demon Hunters features notable voice actors like Ken Jeong in the role of fan-favorite Bobby, and popular K-pop groups like TWICE and Ejae assisted in producing the soundtrack. The movie has become popular with other K-pop groups posting videos of themselves reacting to clips from the film, or celebrities like WONHO, a Korean singer, who humorously posted his cosplay of the character, Abby.
During KCON USA, a music festival held in Los Angeles on Aug. 2, the girl group Izna performed a dance cover of the film’s most popular song, “Golden.”
The film follows Rumi (voiced by Adren Cho), joined by friends and fellow singers Zoey and Mira in their K-pop girl group, HUNTR/X. Korean culture, and specifically the exploration of Korean mythology, takes center stage in the plot, which brings together elements of magic and demons stealing souls.
These stories influence HUNTR/X to act in secret as demon hunters. Through the magical powers of their music, the three singers work together to keep demons from claiming the souls of mortals by casting a magical barrier known as the Honmoon.
Conflict grows when a new K-pop group, the Saja Boys, becomes popular among mortals. Secretly demons, the Saja Boys become singers as part of a plan to give Gwi-Ma, the Demon Realm ruler, power to enter the mortal realm once more.
The main Saja Boy singer, Jinu, gradually begins to plant seeds of doubt in Rumi, as she keeps an important secret from her friends.
The film attracted students at Diablo Valley College, like Emy Gonzales, a first-year child development major.
“It had nice animation,” she said, “kind of similar to the Spiderman movie animations. And I also found the storyline interesting, with Rumi as an idol due to being part demon and hiding her markings from her two teammates.”
The movie has drawn a diverse audience, from young children to animation fanatics, with its bright color palette, catchy music and intricate plot. However, the fascination with the film also stems from unanswered questions, like how HUNTR/X learned to possess their magical abilities to fight demons.
Fans have also theorized about characters only mentioned within the movie or featured in concept art posted by artists who worked on the film.
“I want them to go into depth about Rumi’s mother, like how it was possible she got pregnant from a demon,” said first-year DVC business major Allie Montiel-Hacho.
In response to its overwhelming reception, Netflix released “sing-along” screenings of the film in theaters nationwide the weekend of Aug. 23-24, which grossed an estimated $16 to $20 million in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
By extension, fans of K-pop and Korean media have also contributed to generating hype over the movie, for example, through references to romantic tropes in K-dramas made cheekily within the film between Rumi and the main Saja Boys singer, Jinu.
At the same time, people familiar with Korean mythology have been vocal about the many references featured, such as the main inspiration for HUNTR/X casting the Honmoon, inspired by a ritual known as gut, where a shaman wards off evil spirits.
These shamans are mostly female, and these rituals often incorporate music and dance, similar to what is depicted in the movie.
Despite social media posts by fans discussing and theorizing about potential sequels, series, and even a live-action film spinning off the original, nothing in the way of a planned follow-up to KPop Demon Hunters has been confirmed by Netflix.
For many fans, a lot still remains to be explored.
“It ended off in a kind of cliffhanger,” said Cecilia Lim, a first-year DVC STEM major.
“I would want to see more of the relationship between Rumi and Jinu. They were falling in love, no? I want to see them perform together. I want to see the other two girls, Zoey and Mira, in the band, and their relationships with the other band members (Saja Boys). I think that would be cute.”