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Many animated films are lined up to be released this June, including “KPop Demon Hunters” from Sony Pictures Animation. It appears to be the first animated movie to focus on the industry and Korean culture as the main theme. So, K-Pop fans are naturally excited about its premiere.
Recently, Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix released the trailer, giving a glimpse into what the upcoming movie is about. We can see a three-member girl group and demons pretending to be their rival. But did you notice that the film represents the reality of the K-Pop industry? If you have no idea about how, stick around as we decode what the trailer tells us about idol life.
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Sony Pictures Animation to Release “KPop Demon Hunters” Film
K-Pop fans are in for a big treat as the upcoming animated movie from Sony Pictures Animation focuses on their beloved music scene with a fantastical twist. Titled “KPop Demon Hunters,” the film will premiere on June 20 only on Netflix. It will follow a K-Pop girl group, called Huntrix, which carries out idol activities by day. But when night falls, the members secretly fulfill their duties as demon hunters.
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The project is generating a major buzz for its star-studded creative team. Korean-American director Maggie Kang will make her directorial debut with the “KPop Demon Hunters.” Chris Appelhans, the director of “Wish Dragon,” helped direct the movie. These two also participated in scriptwriting, alongside Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMecha.
That's not all. The crew behind the film is the same production team that worked on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Even “Shrek” producer Aron Warner is part of it.
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On Reddit, there are several threads about “KPop Demon Hunters. Many members are expressing their excitement, while some praise the creative team. One fan commented, “Okay, that looks really fun. The ‘Spider-Man’ animators have such a distinct style.” Another netizen wrote, “I’m a magical girl fan and a K-Pop fan, [so] this kind of movie was literally made for me. I’m so hypeeeee.”
Maggie Kang is the genius behind the story. It all began with having one goal. "It was really my desire to see Korean people on film in animation," she revealed to Entertainment Weekly. She then shared that the project was initially just about demon hunters since she wanted to showcase Korean demons. “Because demon hunting is usually a side job that's done in secret, it was like, what is their day job?"
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The time she was developing the story of “KPop Demon Hunters” was the same period when K-Pop boy group BTS became a worldwide sensation. Their fun songs ‘Dynamite,’ ‘Butter,’ and ‘Permission to Dance’ gained global success and entered the Billboard Hot 100. Notably, their rise to international fame was during the COVID-19 pandemic. From this, the directors were able to confirm something.
“You had BTS on the rise, and they were doing these virtual concerts,” Appelhans told Entertainment Weekly (EW). “It was affirming this feeling that music, in its own weird way, is a counterweight to darkness and bad stuff." That's when they decided to mix fantasy with K-Pop.
Voice Cast of “KPop Demon Hunters”
Aside from the creative team, the animated film from Sony Pictures Animation is drawing attention for its star-studded voice cast.
“We have an amazing voice cast, and the range of their performances is what gives the film such an original tone,” Appelhans told Netflix. “ByungHun Lee and Ahn HyoSeop bring authentic K-Drama emotion, while Arden, May, and JiYoung blend the charisma of legit K-Pop stars with the vulnerability and comedy of real young women juggling a dual life like no other.”
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Let's start with the members of Huntrix. The imaginary K-Pop girl group consists of three members: Rumi, Mira, and Zoey. Arden Cho is the voice behind Rumi, while May Hong and JiYoung Yoo lent their voices for Mira and Zoey, respectively.
Ahn HyoSeop—known for his role in “Business Proposal”—is the voice actor of Jinu. This will mark his English voice acting debut. Jinu is the leader of the demon boy group, called the Saja Boys.
The other voice cast members are Lee ByungHun, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, Joel Kim Booster, YunJin Kim, and Liza Koshy.
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Arden Cho describes Rumi as “the oldest sister” of Huntrix. “She wants to encourage the girls to, obviously, be awesome rock stars and hunt the demons while covering this deep, dark secret and trying to overcome all of her struggles,” she told EW.
Cho also revealed that she had challenges, like looking for the right balance between being “grounded and real and honest and vulnerable.”
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May Hong shared with EW that Mira is more of a tomboy. She likes how tough she is, but at the same time, sensitive and vulnerable. Hong also revealed that she resonated with Mira since she thinks that people see her as someone harder on the outside than she actually is with loved ones.
JiYoung Yoo says that her character Zoey is energetic, fun, and lovable. Because of her lively personality, Yoo found it challenging to keep her energy up during the recording. "A lot of it was just me trying to get as much energy as possible stored up in my system so that I could go into the booth and give that much energy to her voice, which is a ton of fun, but definitely a new kind of stamina challenge for me,” she told EW.