About KPDH movie adaptation
I remember perfectly watching the original cartoon on TV when I was a kid, then on internet when I was a young adult. The contrast between the censured version of my childhood and the original version was stunning: in TV, the french adaption kept the fun aspect of Huntrix chasing demon while having to debute their Kpop idol career, but sugarcoated the darker aspect of the indutrie. So rewatching it later with matured eyes was like discovering an entirely new story. The same sensation came back this year with the new movie.
Sure, as a product take appart of the TV show it's a real banger and possibly a really nice invitation to discover the original anime but as an original fan, I understand the necessity of adapting the story to kid movie support but I can't help but think it missed much:
First and foremost by getting directly with the "ennemies" of the second season ( I make ennemies with quote because of the later revelations on the Saja Boys mid second season and third season, and no, season 4 and foremost doesn't count, it should be classified as sequel spinoff) and focusing only on Rumi and Jinu relationship while Huntrix is already on top of the Kpop world we missed a lot of the little interactions that was making the original univers real.
I caught myself missing the season one rival idols: the AngelBeat girls band and these fuckers of Ever After, a four members boys band, who were in constant competition after the three groups debuted in the same time in three differents agence. Their absence is especially palpable after watching the uncensored serie were the competition leads to some extreme situation were Sae-Wu (Ever After leader and kind of Rumi's rival and love interest) goes to such lengh that movie!Jinu looks like a saint compared to him (even Gwi-Ma says that making a deal with him would be useless, he only accept because it ends up inconveniencing the hunters). Let's not forget AngelBeat leader Hyu-Wa's tragic fate at the end of the third season. I don't get me started and the producer Jo-Kun, this b****** was a manipulative freak in the kid show but the uncensored version clearly shows him grooming Zoey, thank god Celine put him in his place before he could hurts her too much but he's the cause of Hyu-Wa dismissed and deserved his final fate.
The second season opens with this kind of award for the week's winner like in the movie and Rumi and Sae-Wu exchange sarcastic glare, each sure to be the winner while Hyu-Wa looks at them with a little smirk thinking her group will claim victory. Their faces when the presentator announce "SAJA BOYS" will never not make me laugh. This season is more focused on Huntrix duty as hunters while exploring the Saja boys background and Rumi's feeling about her patterns, her love triangle with Sae-Wu and Jinu is rather catchy even if after discovering Rumi's half-demon nature Jinu try to keep it platonic while Sae-Wu become more aggressive in his flirting with Rumi (raising some very worrying red flags) while discovering he's not as straight as he think. But sorry Sae-Ru and Rujinu shippers, it's Mira and Ahn-Beo (Abby's true name who steal the show): here they got through a real development, they actually talk and share their story and learn to love each other and I'm so happy that they got their happy ending as a couple. The second half of the season is almost all about Rumi's coming to term with the consequences of being an half-demon (she's constantly starving because she doesn't consume human soul despite needing it, when the Saja boys notice it, they panic and try to feed her themself.) When the Saja boys plan is finally achieve (same as the movie but Gwi-ma doesn't came in our world in fact, it's Rumi who is projected in the demon real with them there is this scene:
Jinu and Rumi stand before Gwi-Ma, Rumi is forced to kneel while the demon king contemplate the teared up honmoon and the flow of soul coming to feed him: "Jinu, you serve me well. Kneel to receive your reward." When Jinu kneels, Gwi-Ma takes a human form (it's necessary to erase his memories, faciliting the operation) and extend his hand on the demon singer, who smirks, create a daguer similar to the hunter's weapons and use it to snatch Gwi-Ma's rosary and seize a very specific pink and blue pearl, who dissolve and make place to none other than Ryu Mi-Yeong, Rumi's mother and Chae-Ran, the Saja Boys mentor... and Rumi's father. Then Baby and Mystery cast some spell while Romance, Abby and Jinu takes the Ryu family away from Gwi-Ma. Once in their territory who has been prepared to protect them from the wrath of the king, Rumi and her parents have a tearful reunion while Chae-Ran explain that Jinu, Abby, Mystery, Romance and Baby are younger demon that he takes under his wing when they first arrived in the demon realm as it is a coutume (more of an instinct) and by demon standart, the Saja boys are Rumi's sworn brothers, explaining why Jinu kept his relation with Rumi platonic until she know the truth. The season end with the family and Hutrix plus Bobby and Celine reunite and planing to overthrow Gwi-Ma.
The third season accentuate the necessity for human's soul to arboring bad feelings too like shame, sadness and culpability. The fifth episode is about a world where the Golden Honmoon is achieve and therefore the world is now 100% psychopath with no morality, showing that is not the good way to end the hunter's combat (hence the rainbow honmoon at the end of both the serie and the movie). Rumi is also embracing both side of her with her friends and family support. At the end, she devour the only soul who could satiate her forever: Gwi-Ma, hereby becomming the new demon queen, with her parents and brother support she turns the demon world from a wasteland to a not so bad place with a city and a plain and rivers of clean waters. Jinu and her finally accept their romantic love for each other with Mi-Yeong and Chae-Ran blessing, all demon get their souls back and the choice to stay in the demon realm, advance in the afterlife or becomming human again, all choose to stay but Abby who return to Mira in the epilogue we see them giving the love and support their family denied them to their children, both realm can communicate so none of them are isolate and Zoey is now a strong woman standing for herself and who use her position as CEO of Sunlight entertainment to protect young people (trainees, idols) from the derive of the industry.