Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, cute and courageous girls star in the super stellar animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” Out-of-the-box characters and story line make the movie a worthwhile watch.
“KPop Demon Hunters” (2025) is about a fictional K-pop girl group called Huntr/x. Huntr/x not only tops charts but fights demons as well. Their music and fans are used to keep demons from taking people’s souls to feed to Demon King Gwi Ma (Lee Byung-hun). Jinu (Ahn Hyoseop), a demon, gets the idea to stop Huntr/x by forming a boy band of his own, the Saja Boys. The girls fight the Saja Boys, and Jinu finds out that Rumi (speaking voice Arden Cho, singing voice EAJE), a member of Huntr/x, is half-demon. Huntr/x fights the demons that are in their world while writing a diss track on the Saja Boys. Before the Saja Boys can take souls, Huntr/x steps in. The stellar girls take a well-deserved break.
The animation is smooth and detail oriented. There are Easter eggs that show that the Saja Boys are demons. For example, in the song “Soda Pop,” the boys’ legs bend in ways that are not human. Also during this song, the demons’ patterns are shown briefly. The animation shows passion for the project.
In my opinion, the soundtrack is exceptional. “Soda Pop” was a catchy and fun way to introduce the Saja Boys. “Your Idol” was an excellent way to prepare for the climax of the movie. “What It Sounds Like” is a beautiful three-part harmony between the girls and was a gorgeous way to end the action. My only complaint is that I wish that there were more of the other Huntr/x girls, Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), in “Golden.”
The songs are a hit after hit after hit. The song “Your Idol” was the first song to hit number one on the “Billboard Hot 100.” “Golden” followed shortly after. These songs broke records for the highest charting K-pop groups. “Your Idol” broke BTS’s chart-topping song, “Dynamite,” and “Golden” broke the record for the longest time a song from an animated act was a No.1 hit.
In “Golden,” the music shows the way that a character with an intriguing secret hides herself from the world. When the song has a lot of back up instrumentalists, she is putting on a performance, hiding her true self. When it is just her vocals, she shows her demon patterns. As the instruments come back into the song, she starts to hide more and more of who she is. Through the song lyrics and the instrumental track, this character shows that she is unable to be and accept herself.
The girls complement each other in different ways. Their outfits are cohesive while also being distinct.
The Saja Boys were embodiments of different K-pop stereotypes.
The singing voice for Rumi, EAJE, was also the songwriter. She was originally the demo voice actor for the singing voice of Rumi when she was creating the songs. Eventually, the directors ended up giving her the part. This was a cool way that the songwriter got to be more involved.
“KPop Demon Hunters” is a fun and different movie that does not fit the mold, and it is great for a rewatch. It is available on Netflix and in theaters starting today. My rating: 10 out of 10 would recommend.
Meet the band
Mira is the visual artist of Huntr/x. She is bold and fierce while still remaining feminine and kind. Her outfits throughout the movie show this. Most of her outfits have some type of skirt. Some outfits have little bows that are on her pigtails. Her pajamas have an adorable little polar bear. Her makeup contrasts this; it is bolder. The patterns on her outfits are darker in color and have bolder patterns. She also cares for her friends. She notices that there is something going on with Rumi and tries to find out what is wrong with her. Her role as the wilder member is emphasised by her lyrics, “Called a problem child ’cause I got too wild.”
Zoey is the lyricist and rapper of Huntr/x. She is a major people pleaser and tries to settle the fights. She does not like people being mad at her. She was raised in America, and her line in “Golden,” “I lived two lives, tried to play both sides. But I couldn’t find my own place,” shows that she struggled to fit in with both of her identities, being both American and South Korean.
Rumi is the lead vocalist of Huntr/x. She was born into the demon-hunting/K-pop life, because her mother was a warrior. She hates that she has to hide her full self from Zoey and Mira, and that a member of the Saja Boys discovered her secret.
