On K-pop and Hunting Demons

Yes, I'm aware of the multitude of reaction videos to the new Netflix hit that is K-pop Demon Hunters, a consistent Top Ten placer in their library of movies (not just animated movies, mind you - but the entire movies catalogue. Not only that, Billboard's Top 100 had four songs from the soundtrack scatered in it's Top !0. At one point, it even held the top two slots (or is that top three?), so it's not as if this were a hidden gem... in fact, it might be a reality that many people may be starting to get K-pop Demon Hunters fatigue. Though watching all the video reactions about the movie, it may still take a while.

So why add one more reaction? And a written blog reaction at that? Well... my answer would most likely be 'why not?'. Yes, I've watched the movie, and I've played the sonds in Spotify, often enough that the app is recogniaing certain songs as my go to favorites. I've also watched countless (okay, I exagerate - but I did lose count as to how many, so countless still applies) reaction videos - curious to see how others were reacting to it. And because there raction videos were reviewing the movie, it was like watching the movie again and again - though in a truncated format.

But the movie deserves commenting on. After all, it IS a good movie - and this time, as I'm understating things. I'm debating on whether I should summarize the story, or give some kind of plot highlight - after all, it is popular, and unless you live under a rock, or an isolated portion of this planet - one where there is no Internet (or Wifi signal), then chances are you've heard of the movie, or the songs via YouTube or TikTok. Plus Netflix isn't inacessible... you can watch the movie on your smart phone (or someone else's smartphone, in case you don't use one).

But just in case you did love under a rock, or a remote part of this planet, let me give a very brief summary of what we will be talking about. The movie is a bout a multi-generational trio of singers, who use their voices to strengthen an invisible barrier, called the honmoon. The latest trio is Mira (a problem child due to her being blunt and opinionated) with a relatively low singing tone. Zoey, the youngest in the group, who grew up in Burbank, USA, before moving back to Seoul (it is just my assumption here), South Korea, trying to find her identity amidst the clashing of cultures - she project's positivity and even innocense, but can take anyone down hard with her rapping talents.

Lastly, there's Rumi - a Second Generation Demon Hunter, as her mom was also a Demon Hunter. Unfortunately, her mom died while Rumi was still a child, making Celine, her best friend and co-demon hunter, promise to care for Rumi. The plot twist? Rumi's dad was a demon - though the back story is not covered by this movie. Sufice to say, Demons have skin markings - almost like tattoos all around their body, and little Rumi aready had the beginning of showing the marks. Celine convinces Rumi that she should always hide the markings while woring on achieving the 'Golden colored hunmun, which will then trap all demons in a separate dimension below ground. So yes, she grew up training to be the now generation's demon hunter with Mira and Zoey, while hiding her shame of being half a demon.

In fact, if there was any underlying message this movie wishes to emphasize, it would be acceptance of self, despite any self-inflicted shame due to some imperfection - be they physical (the visible demon markings), cultural (a child of the West, or East), or social (going against familial expectations of how to act / interact). Accepting themselves for who they are, and not what others say they should be, or do. This is a clear message for the yournger audiences about accprtance of self, and not seeking such acceptance from others. So yes... an important emphasis for the younger audience.

The fact that this is an animation allows dynamic movement - which is highly flexible in drawing sleek action and battle moves, plus facial epressions that can exagerate for comedic instances. I can imagine the difficulty of adapting this to 'live action'. The animation is close to the dynamism of the Sony animated Spider-man movies. Not surprising, since this was made by Sony Animation. One of the big ironic stories behind this movie as well, is how Sony hedged their bet by selling the movie to Netflix with an offer of cost + 20 million dollars as fixed, above break-even price so as to say all yours Netflix... as they (Sony) just want to recoup their costs. This shows the comapny executives having little faith in K-pop Demon Hunters, and wanted to divest their possible profits and risks. A move now seen as a great blunder on Sony's part, as the movie received popular viewing - crossing various age groups, liked by both male and female audiences, shared by kids, teens, young adults and parents. This movie did not open with a bang - hardly any marketing was done (far as I know), it started with modest viewing.

I saw it, and was not attracted to the title and art piece that I saw. The only time I watched it was because I had nothing else to do on a slow day. My reaction? It was funny, the animation was clean, the characters were well thought out - and the music... that was what hit me. Not all, though. But Golden was really superb, Soda Pop was cute, Free was a great surprise, and This is How it Sounds like was another well thought out tune. I would say that the original songs were really well thought out - they seamlessly blended with and even built the story. You could either get goosebumps, or find yourself teary-eyed while watching the songs unfold, and damn... were they clean, crisp and clear. The harmonies were superb! I liked them - but I didn't realize that they were starting to become Billboard top 100 hits. I honestly set everything aside and moved on.

Now, here is where the movie started acting different from the norm. Through word of mouth - it started getting more views... week in and week out, it was becoming Netflix's number one most viewed movie week by week. Whereas a normal movie would start strong, then start losing numbers on week two onwards, KPDH started modest with around 5 million views - but come week two, those numbers gres 200%, then the succeeding weeks saw those high numbers sustaining themselves week in - week out. Meanwhile, the songs were topping the charts; with four of them sitting on the Top 10 (1,2 4 and 7). What was happening here?

Sony did not see this coming, and I think Netflix itself was pleasantly surprised. People started comparing the song Golden as the one to replace Frozen's Let it Go as the most sung song by your girls. The songs from the movie were sutcharting hits by known K-pop groups like Black Pink and BTS... the top groups were being beaten by animated groups. Whoa...

Naturally, I got curious again, and watched it a second time - and better appreciated the story - and yes, I still got teary-eyed on the second viewing. More than that, I started watching reaction videos from YouTube, both of people reacting to the movie on their first watch, and others reacting to the songs - vocal coaches, technical animators, musical arrangers - everyone was getting floored by what they watched and heard - and this gave me an even deeper appreciation of the movie, the songs and the underlying messages.

That said, I would suggest you watchi it - if you are that person living under the rock. It may very well be the best animation for 2025 - and may even vie for Grammies or other awards. It's a fun watch, and I don't get tired of rewatching these - via the reaction videos. It's that good. The funny part? This was not a Korean film - rather made by Americans... okay, Korean Americans wanting to showcase some Korean heritage. Using real singers/composers - and their songs are now being covered by some known K-pop stars. Koreans like what is happening, and there is now a Huntrix tour, where fans can visit features pocations in the movie. Imagine that.

Bravo to the creative team! Producers, directors, composers, musical arrangers, artists, singers - all their efforts blended well to create a Unicorn. The Hohmoon is stronger for all their efforts - and we are all lucky. The obvious questions is 'When's the sequeal coming?". Everyone is wondering about that... I kid you not.

Note: I judt might revisit this post from time to time, see what I 'd like to add here and there. Meanwhile search for hte reaction videos to get a wider / deeper understanding of how people are turning into Huntrix (or Saja Boys) fans.