Sony Animation Studios, the same company that brought us hits like the Spider-Verse movies and The Mitchells versus The Machines, took a wild turn with one of their latest releases, KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix.
It's as if they combined Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, and the K-pop music genre. The story follows an all-girl music group, HUNTR/X, who come from a long line of warrior musicians wielding their voices to strengthen the veil between humans and demons. The veil begins to deteriorate when an all-boys music group, the Saja Boys, who are secretly a band of demons, starts to steal the girls' fans.
With singing not the only battle they have, while in the dark, the girls don armor and take up weapons to kill demons up close and personal.
It's safe to say that no one should underestimate the reach of Korean music, Eastern animation styles, and fantasy as a whole. However, it's clear that Netflix had a lot of faith in KPop Demon Hunters and is invigorated to produce more. This now leaves fans wondering: What's next?
Per The Wrap, two sequels and a live-action remake were allegedly being considered, but before there was too much pushback online, Netflix debunked the live-action rumor, leaving only the two possible animated sequels. Of course, animation fans are relieved about this.
The Wrap's article suggests that Netflix saw KPop Demon Hunters as its own Frozen. It's hard to say they haven't succeeded. Sure, it may have taken many, many risks with other IPs down the line, but Netflix is never shy to give a new idea attention, and if it makes enough noise, they'll support it through and through.
Even creator Maggie Kang had laughs with her team that the concept was a "dumb idea," she admitted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "It could go very weird," she added. Perhaps this was to cope with a potential failure, if audiences weren't as into demon-slaying K-Pop idols as they'd thought.
However, the movie has more going for it than just girls singing and killing demons, though those parts are cool, too. The creative team fully realized an authentic, mythological side of Korean culture that the animation scene didn't know it needed.
As for potential sequels on the way, Kang did not confirm anything, but teased during the interview: “I think it’s going to be part of our lives for a bit. I don’t see the fandom slowing down.”
KPop Demon Hunters didn't just make noise; it blew the roof off, becoming Netflix's most-watched animated original movie of all time. With Stranger Things ending this year, Netflix executives probably couldn't be happier that they've created another new franchise to keep the subscription numbers rolling in month after month.
To be fair, though, Netflix was confident in Demon Hunters since its inception. Dan Lin, Chairman of Netflix, told The Hollywood Reporter, "We knew younger female audiences and K-pop [and] anime fans would love this film, but it’s been incredibly gratifying to see it embraced by an even broader audience and become a favorite film for both adults and kids."
As an animation and music fan, I honestly couldn't be more supportive of the creator of KPop Demon Hunters. Kang pitched this awesome idea several years ago—having been first reported on in 2021—and it's paid off big time. I just hope this relationship with Netflix doesn't lose its voice.
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