How Korean Heritage Shapes Netflix’s Latest Chart-Topper

In just two weeks since its June release, KPop Demon Hunters has taken the world by storm, reaching the number-one position in Netflix global rankings. The cartoon-animated fantasy adventure, set to a K-pop soundtrack, has been streamed more than 33 million times and is Netflix’s top 10 global film in 93 countries, ranking second worldwide. Fan art of the animation’s characters is already appearing online, while demands for a second KPop Demon Hunters are piling up every day.

But streaming numbers aren’t the only sign of its success. Ever since KPop Demon Hunters hit cinemas on 20 June, the two fictional bands featured in the film have been dominating real-world charts, selling more albums than industry-leading groups BTS and Blackpink. Seven songs from the movie have made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 and taken up the first and second spots on Spotify’s US chart, making KPop Demon Hunters the first Netflix film to do so.

Fusing slice-of-life storytelling with larger-than-life K-pop music numbers and effects-heavy fight sequences, the movie chronicles the adventures of Huntr/x, a band of three girl-kids on top of the world by day and a K-pop supergroup on a secret quest to save the world by night. On their journey to fending off evil, Huntr/x members Rumi, Mira, and Zoey must battle their number-one rivals, the Saja Boys, resulting in increasingly spectacular showdowns on stage as the soundtrack to a story of friendship, trust, and finding the courage to be yourself.

KPop Demon Hunters plays to a wide array of audiences, as noted by countless viewers in their reactions. The stunning visuals, fast-paced animation, and relatable coming-of-age narrative interwoven with fun fantasy elements have won over viewers worldwide. As filmmaker Maggie Kang, one of the movie’s directors and a Korean-Canadian herself, says in an interview, the film was inspired by real-life K-pop stars she watched while growing up, and music and sound were “embedded in the DNA of the story”. Every single one of the seven songs appearing on the charts was written especially for KPop Demon Huntersby high-profile music industry experts, including Grammy winner Lindgren, who has worked with BTS and TWICE, and Teddy Park, the Blackpink producer.

Humour, heart, Korean culture, and a bit of fantasy coming together for all to enjoy

Mashiro Sakurai, a 22-year-old Tokyo resident who binge-watched KPop Demon Hunters in one sitting, is one of the fans who has fallen for the world of Huntr/x and the Saja Boys. “The humour was well done and accessible, and while the story is set in Korea, the plot is easy to follow even for people like me who don’t speak Korean,” Sakurai tells SM, recalling the action sequences and world-building in particular. Sakurai is also a K-pop fan who regularly watches K-pop reality shows, which she says made the Korean representation in the film both familiar and new to her: “K-pop reality shows don’t get into too much detail, so it was interesting to see the story of the characters behind the music.”

In addition to carefully choreographed K-pop music numbers, one of the key ingredients of KPop Demon Hunters’ popularity was cultural authenticity, both on- and off-screen. K-pop music, K-dramas, and Korean cinema have been dominating in the US and other Western markets for the past decade or more, but KPop Demon Hunters takes the idea of representation to the next level, according to SM’s sources.

Where other animated films starring Korean characters might feature kimbap onigiri as a reference to Korean cuisine, or a person casually reading a book in Seoul’s Bukchon Village as a nod to South Korea, KPop Demon Hunters embraces Korean culture as a narrative whole. Drinking tea at traditional diners, for example, is a common dining practice for Koreans, while the Saja Boys’ concerts in historic Seoul landmarks such as the city walls, Hanuiwon clinics, public bathhouses, or Namsan Tower aren’t merely backdrop — these details become a means of characterisation rather than just a set, as explained by Lashai Ben Salmi, a Los Angeles-based community leader and organiser for Korean content and culture in Europe.

KPop Demon Hunters’ production team also visited the country to capture Korean details from up close, photographing Myeongdong shopping streets and Korea’s traditional clothes, to historical folk villages and martial arts. Even in the lip-sync, where the actors’ characters speak English in the final film, the movements match Korean, as do their hand gestures and reactions. The animators included Korean words and lyrics from K-pop songs in some parts of the film, further rooting it in the Korean language.

The K-pop fandom culture is also described in vivid detail — whether it is fan signs, light sticks lighting up, Kalgunmu (perfect dance routines), Korean signs, or other fans. The movie doesn’t just focus on a particular group, or an individual, or even one generation of Korean pop stars, as do many contemporary media representations. KPop Demon Hunters encapsulates Korean pop culture in its entirety, which, according to Korean-American entertainer and YouTuber Bea, gives casual fans the chance to access a culture that otherwise might be too niche.

The director says that the directors included traditional Korean folklore in their fantasy, too: the weapons that Huntr/x wield are reminiscent of those used by Mudang, Korean shamans, while the evil Saja Boys are distinctly associated with the Korean Grim Reaper. Details such as Dangsan trees or Dokkaebi goblins, as well as Korean fan and choir costumes, or their film mascots — Derpy the tiger and Sussy the magpie — hint at folklore and mysticism as well as traditions of faith and guardianship.