Initially conceived by Kang as a contemporary synthesis of all of the touchstones she felt whereas rising up together with her Korean heritage as a younger baby in Canada, KPop is a neon-hued mix of East Asian demonology/mythology with modern-day stan tradition. Additionally probably taking a heaping dose of affect from ‘90s influences like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed, KPop Demon Hunters mixes the Korean conception of mischievous spirits (assume extra goblins than The Exorcist) with the three-part harmonies of woman energy enlightenment.
But greater than its inspirations, KPop has been blowing up for months now due to its execution and artistry. Like these cheering crowds beneath a traipsing Rumi, we can not look away (and why would we wish to?). With each intention of constructing an absolute spectacle, Kang started creating her Ok-pop mashup at Sony Photos Animation Imageworks in early 2021—that’s the identical animation home that had received an Oscar three years earlier for the road art-infused and comedian book-meets-Brooklyn stylings of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. KPop Demon Hunters is equally kinetic, albeit its visible reference factors appropriately skew slightly extra towards the mainstream and East.
In an interview with Animation Journal, co-director Appelhans stated, “We drew inspiration from a special set of influences: music movies, editorial pictures, Ok-dramas, live performance lighting, a contact of anime.” That confluence of images shines by in a completed movie that evokes the three-dimensional artificiality of Into the Spider-Verse, however with the icy glow of a Madison Sq. Backyard highlight throughout a BTS sellout-run. The motion likewise echoes the summary coolness of a splashy freeze body in old skool Japanese anime reveals like Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing. In different phrases, KPop Demon Hunters is only a pleasure to take a look at, and the identical applies to the soundtrack which options banger after banger written by a small military of musicians, together with real-life Ok-pop star Ejae.
Each inventive choice was made early on to supply a movie that felt like an occasion as huge because the movie’s fictional Ok-pop heroine group, Huntr/x… or like one thing that was value spending cash on to see theatrically. Certainly, when Sony started manufacturing on KPop Demon Hunters, it was supposed for theatrical distribution. Someplace alongside the best way, nevertheless, inside decision-making modified, with Netflix publicly confirming it had acquired the undertaking in 2023.
Finally it most likely proved a boon for KPop’s attain to be out there on the most well-liked streaming service across the globe. Nevertheless it additionally has confirmed an enormous profit in return for Netflix, a streaming service that’s famously struggled to penetrate the cinematic market with titles as well-liked and lasting as TV reveals like Stranger Issues, Wednesday, and Bridgerton. To be clear, Netflix has produced and/or distributed some nice movies, but lots of them had been to enter awards season races, and plenty of extra vanished into the void with out the zeitgeist-shaping pressure of a months-long studio advertising marketing campaign… or the phrase of mouth a really well-liked film can generate.
There are many films Netflix has claimed to be large attention-grabbers, with the service beforehand trumpeting that greater than 230 million households have invested 450 hours into watching Pink Discover, the Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Godot-starring undertaking that felt prefer it was designed by both an algorithm or the model partnership executives at Teremana Tequila and Aviation Gin.
