“KPOP Demon Hunters” Fights for Self-Acceptance & Great Pop Music
K-pop has become an undisputed phenomenon. With groups like BTS, BLACKPINK, and now the fictional Huntr/x, the animated KPop Demon Hunters couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Sony Animation is offering a new type of hero – a group of singing, dancing, weapons-wielding demon hunters and K-pop idols who are here to save the day. For those unaware, K-pop is Korean pop music categorized by groups of same-gender performers. The music style and bands have gained international appeal like no other. KPop Demon Hunters uses the intense relationship between K-pop bands and their fans to spin a story about the demons that live in all of us.
Huntr/x is the biggest band in the world, and their fans are the most important thing to them. Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) make up the band, each with their own strengths. Rumi is lead vocalist, Mira is the visual (slang for the member of the group with the most striking appearance) and main dancer, and Zoey is the main rapper and maknae (youngest of the group). They’re the latest in a long line of female demon hunters whose goal is to create a barrier, known as the Honmoon, between the demon and human worlds. Huntr/x’s music strengthens the Honmoon, and they’re on the precipice of creating an impenetrable Golden Honmoon. The ruler of the demons, however, Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun), has a plan to ruin Huntr/x using a demon K-pop boy band.
©2025 Netflix
Like the recent Sony Animation films that have been released in the past few years, including Into the Spider-Verse, KPop Demon Hunters is a visual marvel. Each of the glowing demons is something to behold. They glimmer and glare, likely to give a young kid a fright or two, but no lasting nightmares like the Disney villains of yesteryear. KPop Demon Hunters also has the obligatory cute, weird animal sidekick in the form of a goofy demon tiger with a three-eyed bird that sits on top of the tiger’s head. They’re the messengers, but also endearing comedic relief in a film that is chock full of endearing comedic characters.
It is and isn’t a surprise that KPop Demon Hunters is becoming beloved by adults and kids alike. The animation style is utterly unique, the songs are far too catchy for their own good, and the moral of the story is important for people of any age struggling to embrace the parts of themselves they think are ugly. However, there’s an ease to the strife the characters encounter in KPop Demon Hunters that slightly undermines the emotional journey. When a conflict arises, it’s fairly quickly and easily solved. For a film that encourages its viewers to acknowledge the grayness of our lives, KPop Demon Hunters doesn’t want to linger in the uncertainty for long. Arguably, that’s the only way we heal the aspects of ourselves we’re ashamed of. We have to sit with the things that make us uncomfortable if we want lasting change.
©2025 Netflix
You might be thinking that this is a kids’ movie, it can’t be too dark, it’ll scare the children. The argument against that outlook is that kids are more capable than we give them credit for. They have the same emotions adults have but without the words to explain what they’re feeling. Films like the two Inside Out movies make the viewer sit in the mess of sadness we experience as humans. KPop Demon Hunters’ ultimate thesis is a great one, but one that’s undermined by the simple path it has chosen.
The oversimplification doesn’t create a negative viewing experience. At the end of the day, KPop Demon Hunters is a brilliant creation of a Technicolor, pop star world where music and the belief in oneself have the power to change things. Hopefully, our world will soon become a little more like the one that exists here.
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