NEW YORK (AP) — Within the colourful, animated, musical world of “KPop Demon Hunters,” everyone seems to be a fan. Most of the people rocks T-shirts supporting their favourite idols. They maintain mild sticks and stare starry-eyed at stadium phases; they scream, they cry, they cheer, they purchase the merch.
It should not come as a lot of a shock, then, that the Sony Photos/ Netflix movie itself has impressed related fanfare, having topped the streamer’s world rankings. Followers have flooded the web with artwork, covers, cosplay and choreography in response to the film, which follows the fictional Okay-pop lady group HUNTR/X as they combat demons.
And it isn’t simply the movie that is a summer time hit. The “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack has topped the charts — debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Soundtracks chart and No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
This is how “KPop Demon Hunters” turned the 12 months’s shocking success story.
Musical custom — and Okay-pop — are honored
The “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack makes use of a few of the finest and brightest within the style. That included a partnership with Okay-pop firm The Black Label, co-founded by tremendous producer Teddy Park, identified for his work with YG, Blackpink and 2NE1 — empowered lady teams used as references for the movie’s protagonists, the trio HUNTR/X.
It is one of many many causes the musical movie’s soundtrack stands by itself. Filmmakers “really did their homework,” says Jeff Benjamin, a music journalist who makes a speciality of Okay-pop.
Certainly, they did loads of analysis. One of many movie’s administrators, Maggie Kang, mentioned that her staff prioritized “representing the fandom and the idols in a very specific way,” as to not disappoint Okay-pop followers.
They pulled from a treasure trove of influences heard at each nook: The fictional, rival boy band Saja Boys’ hit track “Soda Pop,” for instance, references the ’90s Okay-pop group H.O.T.
And it has labored. “KPop Demon Hunters” is the best charting soundtrack of 2025, with eight of its songs touchdown on the Billboard Sizzling 100. It peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200. To place that in perspective: Lorde’s “Virgin” and Justin Bieber’s “Swag” did the identical.
In some methods, it recollects Disney’s “Encanto,” which topped the Billboard 200 and produced a No. 1 hit, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno ” in 2022. Equally, “KPop Demon Hunters” embraces “the original soundtrack, which is a lost art form,” provides Benjamin.
Tamar Herman, a music journalist and creator of the “Notes on K-pop” e-newsletter, says the film succeeds as a result of it embraces animated musical custom and genuine Okay-pop music manufacturing kinds in equal measure. She considers “Kpop Demon Hunters” to be “a musical with songs inspired by K-pop,” not in contrast to a Jukebox musical, the place the songs of ABBA are reimagined for “Mamma Mia.”
Audiences starvation for one thing new
The novelty of the movie, too, appears to be resonating. The place many animated movies depend on adapting current mental property, “KPop Demon Hunters” is unique. And it comes from an unique perspective. “It’s not completely Korean, it’s not completely Western and it’s kind of right in that middle,” says Kang. “It’s like not pulled from one side; it’s kind of flavors of both. So, I think that’s what makes the movie feels a little different.”
And “the core story is what’s drawing everybody in,” says Kang.
San Francisco-based cosplayer and content material creator Nanci Alcántar, who goes by Naanny Lee on-line agrees. “It’s not only a K-pop group, but it also tells a story of their journey, of how they transform into powerful warriors,” mentioned Alcántar in Spanish. For her, it goes past Okay-pop — it’s concerning the narrative.
Kang’s method to cultural authenticity, too, might have contributed to the movie’s crossover attraction. Moderately than explaining Korean components like HUNTR/X’s go to to a conventional drugs clinic or translating Okay-pop mild stick tradition for Western audiences, she opted for full immersion. “We just wanted everybody to just accept that they were in Korea,” Kang mentioned.
The director mentioned this technique of “throwing people into the deep end of a culture” breaks down obstacles higher than heavy-handed clarification. “We just wanted to keep everything feeling normal,” she defined. “If you don’t shine a light on it, it just becomes more easily accepted.”
Creative animation connects
Zabrinah Santiago, a San Diego-based longtime Okay-pop fan and freelance illustrator who goes by ItmeZ on-line, was so impressed by the animation fashion of the film that she raced to make fan artwork. She offered illustrated fan playing cards of HUNTR/X and Saja Boys at her sales space on the Los Angeles Anime Expo, held in July, two weeks after the film was launched on Netflix.
And he or she wasn’t the one one. A search of #kpopdemonhunters on Instagram yields hundreds of fan illustrations of HUNTR/X and Saja Boys.
Japan-based Youtuber Emily Sim, often known as Emirichu on-line, says the character designs and unique plot drew her to the film. Sim, with greater than 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a 35-minute video concerning the film. In a week-and-a-half, it garnered practically 450,000 views.
“I love seeing all the fan art and just the ways that this movie has creatively inspired people,” Sim mentioned.
Kang says for “KPop Demon Hunters,” her staff needed to deliver collectively demons and Jeoseung Saja — the grim reaper in Korean mythology — for a movie that would look each very conventional and modernized — what she says is widespread in Okay-dramas however not in animation.
Herman compares the film to a different Sony animation: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which additionally attracted a broad viewers with its artistic animation. “And it’s a fun, animated musical, which we haven’t had in a while,” she says. “It’s campy, it’s engaging, it’s universal.”
And Okay-pop followers see themselves represented
Santiago was initially skeptical of the title “KPop Demon Hunters.”
“I feel like with big companies they kind of like to use K-pop as a bait. They kind of like to take advantage of K-pop fans’ sincerity,” mentioned Santiago. “But I felt like with this one, it was such like kind of a love letter to K-pop fans.”
Certainly — if the movie wasn’t genuine to Okay-pop followers’ expertise, or mocked them, it’s unlikely to have grow to be so in style, says Benjamin. As an alternative, there are Easter eggs for the devoted Okay-pop listener.
Herman agrees, and says that the movie has in-jokes for Okay-pop followers, not in contrast to a kids’s film that options some humor meant to attraction particularly to folks.
“Figuring out what makes K-pop tick in a way that resonates with musical fans was really important to this movie,” mentioned Herman.
For Kang, that was all the time on the coronary heart of the venture. “Fandom plays a huge part in the world being saved at the end of the movie,” she mentioned. “So, we were really confident that we were doing that justice.”
___
Karena Phan reported from Los Angeles. Juwon Park reported from Seoul.
