Why Have I Seen Nobody Talk About This?
I think majority of us can agree, KPop Demon Hunters is a damn good film. Great animation, god-damn addictive soundtrack, pretty good voice acting, and the story (while fairly simple) was played out very well.
But I have not heard anyone talk about how KPop Demon Hunters is literally the BEST Enemies-To-Lovers story in a long time.
IMO, enemies-to-lovers trope is overused and sucks. And I honestly did not think there would ever be a good enemies-to-lovers story, ever.
And then I saw KPop Demon Hunters.
I was overjoyed. This is finally, FINALLY, the enemies-to-lovers trope done right!
Yes, I am going to be talking about some spoilers here, so leave now if you don't want them.
Spoiler voiders gone? Okay. Here we go.
The reason this film did it so well is because this is actually a healthy enemies-to-lovers trope. Well, as healthy as we're ever probably gonna get.
Just how Rumi and Jinu interact is fun to watch. They both have agency, they both are their own characters. We're not getting an "audience stand in" with Rumi. We're getting a character. She has her own flaws, her own (arguably) toxic traits, her own strengths. She is a 3D character, not 2D like 90% in this trope (or a Mary-Sue).
And the same goes for Jinu. He's the poster child for "bad guy with a gentle soul", but where other shows/books/movies have it where they're actually just an a-hole behind a gaslighting wall, but is still framed as a good “misunderstood” guy, Jinu is bad guy, but only because of who he works for (and of course what he did in the past, which could be debated in multiple ways).
And the song "Free" really shows why this film works. It doesn't put blame or the work on one character. It is basically saying "if we both don't put the work in, this won't work". It's not saying the FMC can fix the MMC (something that has become so toxic over the years). They BOTH have to work for it.
I do believe the whole soundtrack is trying to fight toxic behaviours (or rather, patterns). If you listen to "Takedown", but instead of imagining demons, imagine a toxic partner there's no difference. It's like they're fighting a toxic guy/gal instead.
The next part is how the betrayal was handled. Its a big betrayal from Jinu, but instead of Rumi trying to crawl back to him, trying to get him to "be better" or trying to "fix him", she "wakes up". She goes to fight Gwi-Ma. She reconnects with her true support system (Mira and Zoey) and fights.
At no point does he fight the girls. Sure this could be strategic, but I don't see it like that. In that moment, he sees the real way to defeat Gwi-Ma. And when Rumi is in danger, he goes in and sacrifices himself because he loves her, but also because she is the true hope of defeating Gwi-Ma, the ultimate manipulative, evil demon. Gwi-Ma goes down, all demons will be free of his voice.
Jinu takes the hit, his eyes on Rumi. And I know many people wanted them to kiss, but I find it so much better they didn't. He still betrayed her, he hadn't earned that right back yet. But giving his soul to save her, it's the ultimate selfless act (something Jinu apparently was incapable of in the beginning) so Rumi can win.
That lack of a kiss is the reason why I think it's the best enemies-to-lovers story. You can love someone without kissing them. In Jinu's final moments, his acts were entirely supportive.
And when he does comeback (you can't fool me Netflix/Sony, everyone saw Derpy and Sussie sitting above the sign saying Comeback), their relationship is on a much healthier ground than majority of other enemies-to-lovers stories.
I honestly hope this is not the last of this type of enemies-to-lovers. I'm all here for healthier interpretations of the trope.
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