What I'd like to see in a potential sequel to "Kpop Demon Hunters" + what annoys me about some fans
A sequel has been announced for 2029, but I don't know if that's official news. The only thing I know is that there's a good chance of a sequel. Fans already have their own ideas, and I have mine, I don't impose my ideas, I'm just sharing them.
What I'd like to see in a potential sequel to "Kpop Demon Hunters"
1 • I’d like to learn more about Mira and Zoey before focusing on other characters. Maggie Kang (the project’s director) wanted this animation to be Rumi’s story, but now that there’s a good chance K-Pop Demon Hunters will become a franchise, I assume the sequel will focus more on one of the other two Huntrixes. And why not make it a trilogy? Huntrix are three, so I suppose it would be necessary and logical to make it a trilogy to complete the trio’s story.
2 • Like Audrey Nuna, I think it would be cool to see the Huntrix to go on the other cities. I’d even love for them to visit other regions of South Korea, outside of Seoul. South Korea isn’t only Seoul, I think there’s so much to discover about the country beyond that city, that we non-Korean viewers don’t know about. I’m french of guadeloupean and martinican origin (Caribbean or French Caribbean), and I’d love to learn more about this East Asian country. With kpop’s international popularity, foreign fans talk about it as if it were their own country, almost, and people are traveling there. So I know a few things about Korea (positive and negative), but that’s not enough. I plan to do some research and learn about regions outside of Seoul, I love learning about countries and continents, and not just because it’s “trendy.” In my headcanon, Zoey’s Korean roots come from a region in the south of South Korea, she is really south girl. But that’s purely a headcanon, it’s possible her family is from Seoul too. Getting back to the main topic, I’d like the Huntrix to discover other aspects of their culture.
3 • Like Rei Ami, it would be cool to see them on a world tour. I can picture them touring the United States (USA), with Zoey taking the opportunity to show Rumi and Mira certain aspects of the U.S. and break down some of the stereotypes Koreans have about Americans or foreigners. Not in a direct or explicit way, but you understand (I hope), it would happen naturally. Before or after the tour, it would be great if she took them to Burbank, the city where she spent her childhood and teenage years.
4 • That they accept themselves fully. Rumi is half-human and half-demon, she didn’t choose to be born that way. Her parents weren’t meant to meet, their two worlds had no business crossing paths, but they (her parents) chose love over hate. The only thing she can do is accept it and live in peace, she has a great deal of humanity within her and has chosen to be a good person. Mira has a rather strong personality, she grew up as the black sheep of her family. She is seen as difficult and aggressive and doesn’t seem to like doing or not doing things based on the people. She isn’t aggressive just to be aggressive, it probably comes from deep. She’s bubbling inside but seems rather calm on the outside, but she also has plenty of good qualities. She knows how to talk to people, even if she doesn’t always know how to reassure them, and she knows how to be attentive. Zoey is talkative, creative, and thinks she’s boring and weird with her notebooks; she has a sunny personality, she’s bursting with energy and imagination, she seems empathetic, and she feels everything deeply. She should turn that into as quality, it’s almost a gift she has (to feel everything and stay positive despite hardships).
5 • It’s not something where I’m thinking, “this absolutely has to be in the sequel.” In the moment, I’m imagining another trio of girls around the same age or maybe 1 to 3 years younger, competing against each other. Not in direct competition like with the Saja boys, or the demon girls, it would be a shame to repeat the same pattern, but they could also be hunters, and the Huntrix sometimes feel like clowns in the face of this new trio. Or, you know, sometimes we can be real buffons too between girls, unfortunately. Honestly, I don’t know, there are plenty of possible options without repeating the same pattern.
A lot of people would love to see Jinu come back, I really liked his little storyline with Rumi and their song Free however, I don't know, I kind of agree with Ji-young in this interview. He sacrificed himself for Rumi, and I don’t want that to ruin this moment.
What annoys me about some fans
1 • Fans who talk about their headcanons as if they were canon, but who don't accept other people's ideas.
2 • Those who project their personal lives onto the characters. The characters are not us, and we are not the characters.
3 • People who claim that a certain movie was inspired by another movie because of a few similarities. I saw someone say that Frozen was inspired by the Broadway musical Wicked, and that Kpop Demon Hunters was inspired by Frozen. That’s not really the case, Frozen was primarily inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s Danish fairy tale The Snow Queen, published in 1844. Even though the franchise strays from the fairy tale, in the first film released in 2013, we can find some parallels, such as Anna (inspired by little Gerda) who sets out on a journey to find Elsa (inspired by both little Kai and the Snow Queen), she has a few adventures throughout the film and meets other characters. Kristoff is meant to replace the little thief girl. The sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna is also something found in the original fairy tale, Kai and Gerda aren’t blood siblings unlike the sisters of Arendelle, but the book says they loved each other almost as much. Kpop Demon Hunters is mainly inspired by Sailor Moon, a movie whose name I can’t remember and that I don't know, and K-dramas. Maybe there may have been inspirations outside of the fairy tale and the programs mentioned, but in this case they’re minimal, even if the similarities are noticeable.
4 • It’s not something that really bothers me, but some people complain that the animated film is missing certain elements or always want more. It’s understandable, I’d like to know more too, but you have to realize that not everything can fit into 1 hour and 40 minutes, too many elements can sometimes weigh the film down and aren’t always necessary. In an AMA on Reddit, Maggie Kang mentioned that time is money, they don’t pay for anything that isn’t shown in the animation. Maggie and Chris also said they don’t feel the need to make a film longer than 90/100 minutes (1h30/1h40) for now. I think that even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t have been able to fit all their ideas into 1h40 of animation.
Actually, I was in a really good mood when I wrote this. I hope you have a great day or evening (depending on what time you read this) and have a great week.
