To say that I was pleasantly surprised by Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters would be an understatement. Like many others, I was expecting yet another flashy movie about shallow love and the power of friendship; however, KPop Demon Hunters was anything but that. I found myself wondering just how a movie like this was able to succeed in a world of struggling films. I’ve broken it down into three major categories of cinematic decisions: storytelling, animation/character design, and music. 

The first pillar of KPop Demon Hunters that contributed to its success is its animation style. The movie features vivid facial expressions for the main characters, with bright colors and flashy lighting. Each character in KPop Demon Hunters is distinct with a unique style and personality, allowing the audience to resonate with them.  Additionally, I really appreciated the scenes where the three main characters, Rumi, Zoey, and Mira, didn’t wear makeup. Maggie Kang, the movie’s writer and director, posted on X in response to a fan’s post, “Bare face was an important look I wanted to feature in the movie…” This is huge for the acceptance of bare-faced women in media, especially featured in a movie about pop stars with glamour and blitz. I do, however, have some complaints about the movie’s animation. 

Throughout the film, I noticed multiple times that the characters often seemed to lack emotion while singing–a stark difference from when the characters were speaking regularly. This shift from expressive speaking animation to a mostly straight face while singing is a stark change and is bound to be noticed, especially with the powerful lyrics of the songs. Secondly, I strongly dislike the animation used for the mass of faceless demons that appear twice in the film (the train scene and the ending scene). There were no details or faces on any of the “demons” in the mass, and it overall felt like very early/sloppy CGI. I suspect this was to save time on the release, but it leaves questions about why these demons have no faces while every other one we see on screen has a specific design, emotions, and expressions. 

The second pillar of this movie was its music. This is perhaps the area that keeps the movie relevant, with multiple social media trends continuing to go viral months after its release. The movie features the K-pop group HUNTR/X which the main three characters create. The voice actors did not sing their own parts, so EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami were brought on the team as the singing voices for Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, respectively. “Golden” by HUNTR/X was the movie’s biggest hit, reaching over 996 million streams on Spotify and spending multiple weeks as No. 1 on the Hot 100. The full soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, showcasing exceptional overall songwriting that is not only relevant to the movie context but also lends itself to casual listening. This brings great hope for the artists’ future careers and sets an impossibly high bar for future music-reliant films.

The third and most important pillar for KPop Demon Hunter’s success is its cinematic decisions: storyline, characters, and theme. A popular theme in film lately is the found family trope, where multiple characters from diverse backgrounds form their own community (Moana 2, Fantastic Four, and Lightyear). This is displayed with Rumi, Zoey, and Mira. The girls come together with their own backgrounds and flaws, but they find solace in each other and their friendship. I also enjoyed seeing multiple character backgrounds, and not simply Rumi’s (who could be considered a singular main character). This helped create well-rounded relationships between the characters and set the film up for success by giving fans multiple complex characters to love and discuss. Jinu also serves in this aspect for the male audience–we see many times where Jinu is vulnerable with his emotions, and never once is he reprimanded for it or seen as less of a man or something to be fixed. This is crucial for men, especially teenage boys, to realize that emotional vulnerability does not make you less of a man. The only issue I had with the film's cinema was the major gaps it left. However, these can be hard to identify as plot-holes since a sequel is confirmed. For now, I hope to fill in these obvious holes in the film as attempted foreshadowing for the next movie. 

In sum, KPop Demon Hunters is a worldwide hit due to its cinematic design, animation, and music. It’s exciting to consider how this movie and its success might change the world of film, with struggling companies forced to change and adapt to criticism of their movies if they want to survive in the economy. Sony seems to have found the perfect blend of humor and cinema to create successful films, and I am looking forward to seeing more greatness in the sequel.