K-Pop Demon Hunters is one of Netflix’s newest animated movies to be released this year, and wow, has it taken the world by storm. With a catchy soundtrack, breathtaking animation, and complex characters, it’s no wonder this film has quickly become a global pop culture phenomenon.



The animation was done by Sony Pictures Animation studio, which has also animated films such as The Mitchells vs The Machines (2021) and The Wish Dragon (2021), both of which were also in collaboration with Netflix and released straight to the platform, while the Miles Morales’ Spider-verse films received international theatre releases.



K-Pop Demon Hunters is a fun new take on the world of k-pop, especially since the genre itself became so popular in the late 2010s with groups such as BTS, BLACKPINK, Twice (who did a cover of one of the songs in the movie, and released a song with the movie soundtrack), Monsta X, and more.

We dive into the background of what it’s like being famous, and are also gifted with some amazingly mundane moments that make the fictional groups, Huntrix and Saja Boys, seem more human and real to us as an audience. This is especially noticeable in what is probably one of the most exciting movie intros and song ever – we see the girls talking about carbo-loading, and then proceed to watch as they absolutely demolish the food laid out in front of them. Oh, and they also casually jump out of a plane to get to their concert on time, no biggie.



As for the characters, we have the Huntrix trio, serving as the protagonists as they fight against demons to protect humanity. All three of them are unique, and use their differences to work together in both their performances and hunting. On the other hand, we have the antagonists – the Saja Boys serving as the face for the demon king Gwi-Ma, and Jinu, lead singer and visual of the boy group. Jinu is everything you want in a morally grey character – he is honest, he lies, he makes promises and breaks them, he refuses to help and yet still does. It also doesn’t hurt that he is annoyingly attractive and funny. Also, the second song they perform is probably one of the best villain songs we have seen in an animated movie in a long time.

Speaking of the music, just… wow. The entire soundtrack is catchy, and I have had multiple songs playing on repeat in my head since first watching the movie. The lyricism is beautiful, the Korean parts are given a chance to shine as both sung and rapped lyrics, and the instrumentals are fantastic.

Jinu is everything you want in a morally grey character – he is honest, he lies, he makes promises and breaks them, he refuses to help and yet still does.

The production team also did a good job in casting the singing voices of all the characters, finding Korean singers for the idols, and Korean voice actors for the characters. One of the more unexpected casts was EJAE for Rumi’s singing voice, which in hindsight was a phenomenal choice. EJAE’s vocal range is extraordinarily impressive, which is best expressed in the songs How It’s Done, Golden, and What It Sounds Like. Similarly, Jinu’s singing actor was Andrew Choi, whose vocals were also given a chance to shine in the songs Free and Your Idol (aforementioned villain song).



The producers also made sure to research Korean culture in order to reference it properly – this is shown through Zoey’s half-American, half-Korean heritage, and the design of the demons. This also comes through when the Korean actors are speaking in English, and you can hear the distinct Korean accent on some of the words, most noticeable in Jinu and Gwi-Ma’s voices. Another part of Korean culture comes through with a traditional Korean game show, which are generally used to interact with groups and perform fun challenges, as well as the use of honorifics and the polite bowing.

Going into the animation, Sony made use of similar animation styles to Spider-verse, which comes forth in some of the character expressions when they are being goofy or exaggerating something. This leads back into the animation revolution of animating girls to be silly and expressive, which became more prevalent in Encanto (2021) and Turning Red (2022). K-Pop Demon Hunters leans more into the Turning Red style of animated expressions, with emoting eyes and blubbering conversations that are more endearing than annoying.



The animation for the motions is also awe-inspiring – the fight scenes flow smoothly and the moves are insane. At the same time, the animation of the groups’ choreography is just as amazing – if anyone knows k-pop, they know that the choreography that goes into some of their songs can be difficult. While a group of three is still easy to choreograph (and thus animate), once the groups start getting bigger, the choreography starts getting more difficult in order to give each member of the group a chance to shine. The Saja Boys received such treatment during their performance of Soda Pop and Your Idol, but the animated choreography is more noticeable in Your Idol, which is a powerful and dynamic performance that has the members jumping around and switching positions in the first half of the song, showcasing the animators’ talent.

While a group of three is still easy to choreograph (and thus animate), once the groups start getting bigger, the choreography starts getting more difficult in order to give each member of the group a chance to shine.

What also makes K-Pop Demon Hunters unique is the fact that fictional K-Pop groups have their songs topping charts. As of July 10th, Huntrix’s song Golden hit No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global Chart, while the movie soundtrack itself is currently sitting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, a feat which hasn’t been accomplished since Wicked’s release last year. The film itself has reached No.1 on Netflix’s movies in 41 of the 93 countries Netflix is available in, and Top 10 in all 93 countries. Seven of the songs from the film’s soundtrack are also charting on Billboard’s Hot 100. As an added bonus, three members from the girl group TWICE (Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung) also lend their vocals to a cover of the song Takedown, which slaps just as hard as the song performed by the cast members.

So, if you are looking for a fun yet insightful movie, where allusions can be made to hiding parts of yourself from the world and then coming to terms with it, girls who are comfortable being themselves and wearing embarrassing pyjamas, two underappreciated animal sidekicks whom the fandom have lovingly dubbed “Derpy” and “Sussy”, catchy music, and amazing, action-packed animation, then K-Pop Demon Hunters is a movie you don’t want to miss out on.



Reviewed by Samantha Crerar