Last year, in 2025, a little Netflix animated movie took over the world by storm. Featuring three beloved K-pop idols in a beautiful world that is rich with adventure and danger. This film climbed its way to the top of the general zeitgeist, and as of late, it was given a deserved award for Best Animated Feature Film. Beating other animation juggernauts and has developed a reputation for being overhyped.
Today, we will be discussing how K-Pop Demon Hunters gained popularity on the internet and what the formula was that made them so successful, as well as examining the elements that caught our attention.
For the unaware, K-Pop Demon Hunters (KPDH) follows three pop stars, Rumi, Mira and Zoey. Members of the hottest group, HUNTR/X, live a double life as celebrities and demon hunters. When they are not performing on stage. The girls will be fighting in an underground war against the demons underneath our world.
Using their musical talents to inspire the crowd and attempt the Golden Honmoon. The strongest perfected seal to permanently lock away the demons. Their recent performance was another success. Not wanting to waste the golden opportunity. The leader, Rumi, decided to drop their new song. Meanwhile, their enemy Gwi-Ma schemes a new plan with Jinu; a demon underling to fight the Hunters with their own musical group.
Thus begins HUNTR/X's new rivalry with the Saja Boys. Maintaining their top position on the music charts while fighting back the surge of intense demon activities in the city.
We also learn that all is not what it seems for the girls. Rumi is down with a bad throat problem. In reality, Rumi was trying to cover her demon patterns as instructed by her mentor, Celine.
Rumi's resolve goes badly; the Boys won. Bringing Gwi-Ma to the surface. The instant domino effect of nightmare senarios pilled on as Korea gets pulled into this purple flame. All seems lost until Rumi makes a last stand. The girls reunite, we get this epic musical number, and all is well again. Like any typical Happily Ever After story.
As condescending as that summary may sound. This movie is a simple, well-made meal. It's a tale as old as time. Lies can become mountains that stop us from making the biggest change. Only by opening up can the real change develop. Also, as a joke. Don't fall for way too pretty boys like Jinu with a sob story. He might be a demon.
[...] we must understand the whole." Alright, Tonic man. Circling the point WAYYY too clearly there!
The lessons found in this movie are clear, but it requires some introspection. Rumi's demon heritage is a symbolic display of one's sinful nature. Her coping tactic to cover the patterns is a toxic trait of ignoring the issue and blaming something else. Leading her to self-loathing and evident destruction. But, as we've learned. It's not just Rumi's demons that caused the rift.
The other girls, Zoey and Mira, had their own dark sides. Zoey is a people pleaser, putting the needs of others first to manic levels. Mira was the family Black Sheep; hence, she has trust issues and is distant from everyone. Never making genuine connections.
All these coping mechanisms are just band-aids to a much larger problem they have yet to resolve. Based on their interactions, we can see that none of them are actually listening to each other's issues. They're only feeding each other's mutual hate for the demons, straying from the path of a hunter.
By throwing all this hate and the symbolic diss track against the Saja Boys, known as Takedown. The girls no longer see the bigger picture to bring harmony to the Honmoon. Hate didn't help them win; it only made it worse.
This movie, in my humble opinion. Is very Christian-coded. Especially when you focus on Jinu's motivation and history. As we've learned, Jinu's turn into a demon was due to royalty separating him from his mother and kid sister for a better life. But that isn't the whole story. Jinu abandoned them, and the weight of the guilt gave Gwi-Ma leverage over him.
To bring this to a close, I want to stress the popularity and the backhanded commentary of KPDH. Its animation style is very Anime-like with its own spin. Personally, I called it the successor art style after <Turning Red>
The surge in animation these days is that creators are relying less on realistic anatomy and refocusing to make the characters more animated with various modes to blend the serious with the fun moments. KPDH does that a lot espicially with the carb loading scene in the plane before their escape.
Sure enough, their attention got so popular that kids are singing their songs by heart. Especially [Golden] and my personal favourite [Soda Pop] to embarrass my friends. For something this popular with such a rich tapestry of animation style. Its bound to get overhyped attention from the audience, both the superfans and haters alike.
Recently, KPDH has also won several well-deserved awards. Beating some big names such as <Zootopia 2> and other unrelated animation films like <CSM: Reze Arc> or <DS: Infinity Castle>. What I find troubling about these comments is that they completely missed the point of why KPDH is popular.
The film is simple fun with a dramatic story and an important lesson behind it. Its appeal is firstly for kids and is family-friendly. Comparing it to something like Chainsaw Man is a bit of a stretch because both aren't even in the same ballpark.
KPDH is also good because it was trying to make a new kind of story. There are loads of mysteries about the world as of yet that the audience wants to know. It gives the audience a refreshing look while also playing into the tropes familiar to veteran K-pop/ K Drama fans, which adds a new element of comedy during its downtime.
While the franchise develops, it's also harshly criticised and mistreated in petty ways. In an era when big studios are making movies for the sake of a monopoly. The audience would cherish a new movie like this.
I guess the Pop of KPDH is that thesis that's been hammered time and time again. Old tropes can be used in new ways. No animation is superior; what matters is the value it communicates. Showing studio executives How Its Done.
