How Netflix’s Animated Blockbuster Took Over the Music World

KPop Demon Hunters is soaring up global Netflix charts even among those who don’t usually watch the platform’s Korean content, and is already having an impact on the music charts. The film took only two weeks to reach over 33 million viewers globally since its June release and has landed Netflix’s global top 10 in 93 countries, currently placing at number 2 worldwide. Fans have started creating their fan art, and the clamour for a sequel online is growing each day.

Beyond its success online, however, the two fictional K-pop bands at the center of the film have since 20 June become the first animated musical artists to make the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, as well as those of other countries. Their seven-charting tracks, from rival bands Huntr/x and the Saja Boys, have even pushed out industry superstars BTS and Blackpink, topping Spotify’s US K-pop chart and coming in at second place overall.

The film, which K-pop fans in Europe say is hitting a nerve with all viewers, tells the story of a trio of all-female K-pop sensation Huntr/x: Rumi, Mira, and Zoey. They balance saving the world from various mythical beasts with going viral on social media and giving dazzling performances, as they rival the boy band Saja Boys, testing their friendship, trust, and sense of self along the way. The plot, K-pop idols, colourful CGI, humorous moments, and youthful action flick flavours have struck a chord with viewers across cultures.

Its visuals and plot have appealed to viewers, but it’s the music that’s made KPop Demon Hunters a hit, with songs inspired by real-life K-pop idol acts, which have been a growing force in global charts. Maggie Kang, a Korean-Canadian and the film’s co-director, was inspired by the K-pop idols she used to admire, as they reminded her of her family and friends in Korea. The music, the dialogue in the film’s central plotline, doubles as a way to defeat the evil entities, and it is carefully woven in. “It’s not shoved in there. It’s part of the music itself,” says Lashai Ben Salmi, a community leader, commentator, and moderator on Korean culture in Europe. “It gives the film a surprising level of maturity.”

Kang and fellow director Chris Appelhans worked with a Korean label to bring some of the biggest names in the industry to the project. Teddy Park, known for hits with Blackpink, and Grammy award winner Lindgren, known for BTS and TWICE, created original music that sounds at home on today’s K-pop charts.

Amanda Golka, a Los Angeles-based content creator, is not a K-pop stan but admits that she is already a fan. “I have been blasting the soundtrack from Spotify every time I’m in the car,” Golka says. “It’s fascinating how music can be such a universal language.”

Tradition and Korean representation meet the global trend

Korean content has long been going mainstream in the US and other Western markets in the form of K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean cinema. KPop Demon Hunters, however, pushes Korean representation even further.

Day-to-day Korean culture is woven into its fabric, whether in traditional eating etiquette or at locations across Seoul with Korea’s rich history, from its ancient city walls to Hanuiwon healing clinics, public bathhouses, Namsan Tower, and more. KPop Demon Hunters uses the landmarks deliberately, going beyond obvious stereotypes to surprise Korean viewers, according to some, with respectful representation.

To get the details right, the production team spent time in South Korea capturing the cultural details in real life. It visited Korean folk villages, took photos on the streets of Myeongdong, and studied traditional Hanbok dress. The animation is so Korean to the point that, although characters have English dialogues in the finished product, the characters’ lip sync is based on their Korean pronunciation. Characters have unmistakably Korean reactions as well. KPop Demon Hunters even includes some Korean words or lyrics in the plotline, as K-pop artists do in their tracks.

K-pop culture, fandom are well and truly depicted from start to finish, too. Fan signing events, multicoloured light sticks, glowsticks, Kalgunmu (crowds performing perfectly synchronised dance moves to the music), Korean placards: the film has it all. And as a product that straddles culture and entertainment, it showcases K-pop culture and not just one K-pop group or one era. As such, casual viewers can access it more easily while die-hard stans find inside references aplenty.

It also weaves Korean folklore and traditional items into its fantasy action. The swords and fans wielded by Huntr/x, for example, hark back to those of Mudang, Korean shamans and priestesses, while the demons of Saja Boys bear some resemblance to Korean Grim Reaper imagery. Korean folklore is rife throughout the film, from Dangsan trees and Dokkaebi goblins to two of Korea’s zodiacal symbols (cow and rabbit) to other folklore-based items. Folklore-inspired mascots for the clans include Derpy the tiger and Sussy the magpie, which in Korean culture symbolise guardianship and good fortune, respectively.

The film, however, at its core, is about a universal coming-of-age story around self-acceptance. “Identity issues are something that everyone goes through at some point in their lives,” Golka says. “The characters are kind of questioning, wrestling with their identity, but they learn to trust themselves, and in turn, they learn to love and be themselves, and that’s something that has resonated with people,” she says.

With its cutting-edge Korean pop music, authentic cultural detail, and universal themes, KPop Demon Hunters has more than proven its credentials as an animated movie. A hit on Netflix and global music charts, KPop Demon Hunters has piqued interest in how Korean content will continue to make an impact on global entertainment and culture. For now, it’s one to stream.