K-Pop Demon Hunters is super cool

K-Pop Demon Hunters (aka KPDH) sneaked up on me via my daughter: she’s heard the songs at her nursery, and started requesting them in the car. The songs were catchy; I ended up watching the film a few weeks later.

And wow, the film was really great! I became a fan.¹

I love a good found family narrative, and KPDH is a great example of one. Rumi, Mira, and Zoey come together for a shared purpose (being pop stars! hunting demons!), and find community and acceptance with each other, despite each bearing the burden of trauma. Is it the nerdy immigrant kid in me that loves this kind of narrative? Probably. It feels super warm, and comforting.

Trauma comes hands in hand with shame, which is another central topic of the film, and it’s beautifully handled. The best analysis I’ve seen is this video from Cinema Therapy, which I wholeheartedly recommend you watch:

(The channel also has another video, focused on the HUNTR/X girls specifically, which is also really great)

It’s also clear that the film is made by people who care very much about their work.

The visuals are top notch: some of the artists have posted their production work, and there’s a whole artbook online!. Exploring all that actually led to me rekindling a very old interest in drawing and painting, and I’ve since started sketching with ink and colour pencils, which feels really great after many years.

The music plays a very important role in the film, and is exceptionally made, too. The songs have been stuck at the top of the global charts for months, and it’s no wonder: the soundtrack had some of k-pop’s biggest names working on it, just one example being Teddy Park of Black Label. This led me into an ongoing deep dive into k-pop, which has been fun and rewarding.

I’ve also been reading tons of KPDH fanfiction, via randomly discovering the incredible project that is An Archive Of Our Own (aka AO3) in a random Fedi post. I haven’t read fanfic since my teenage years, and while the overall quality can vary, some works are very well written, and worth exploring. A favourite example is the first chapter of Hindsight, by BigFigNewton, which is a really fun take on an important scene of the film.

I’m grateful KPDH found me when it did, and I’m grateful for the expanded worldview it brought me. The sequel has already been announced for 2029, and I’m sure there will be other stories told in the same universe by the same crew in the meantime (after all, KPDH has been nominated for an Oscar!). I’m looking forward to that!