KPop Demon Hunters Review
Director: Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans
Date Created: 2025-06-20 14:00
4.5
KPop Demon Hunters Review: This colourful Korean animated film is something new and different for Netflix. Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the film boasts an all-star voice cast with Arden Cho as Rumi, May Hong as Mira, Ji-young Yoo as Zoey, Ahn Hyo-seop as Jinu, Yunjin Kim as Celine, and Ken Jeong as Bobby, Lee Byung-hun as Gwi-Ma and others. The film has a runtime of 1 hour and 35 minutes.
The story is about three of the world’s most popular K-pop idols, Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who, other than work, when they’re not performing for thousands of screaming fans, battle demons determined to destroy human beings. Their bane, though, is a crew of demon boys known as, basically, the Saja boys, in a wild mix of music and magic and teenage angst.
KPop Demon Hunters Review
Just last month, when I saw Lost in the Starlight, I thought to myself, “Why don’t we see more Korean animated features?” And now we’ve got Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, and let me tell you, it is a total eye-catcher. This is like someone heard my wish and gave me something ten times better than what I could have ever hoped for.
KPop Demon Hunters has a catchy premise from the beginning. I enjoy how it brings two totally disparate worlds together — the sheen of K-pop and the terror of supernatural demons. As someone who enjoys music and animated fantasy, this was a pleasant and welcome juxtaposition. You don’t have to be an enormous K-pop enthusiast to follow the story, but it’s helpful to make it more enjoyable to have a bit of background.
I was also impressed with how KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix wasn’t just another animation. Idol stars as secret guardians of the world is cool and empowering. It made me wonder what it would be like to be a pop star, and how stressful the real-life ones have it, and this movie takes that stress and gives it a wacky, fun twist – with demon-fighting.
Visually, this Korean movie KPop Demon Hunters, is a treat. The animation was a bit reminiscent to me of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse but with a Korean flavour. The colours are vibrant or in-your-face bright, and the character animation is smooth and animated. Every scene has a lot of energy, and the art style is very modern.
In some parts, their faces are also quite dramatic, and it made me smile. It’s a form of exaggeration employed by anime, and one which is appropriate for the atmosphere of the story here. Even when the action turns serious, the animation keeps everything lively and fun.
The music is, obviously, a significant part of it for a K-pop-themed movie. I also really enjoyed the music in KPop Demon Hunters. One of my favourites personally was Takedown by Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung of TWICE. The music is energetic and plays well with the action.
Every song was actually its own little mini-concert within the film. It’s not difficult to imagine folks coming back to those parts on repeat simply to boogie to them. The music doesn’t feel forced — it enhances the emotions of the characters and adds to the strength of the story.
And though Rumi’s the lead, each of the characters gets their moment in the spotlight. I enjoyed the manner in which they brought in the girls’ friendship. They fight demons together, to be sure, but they also care for one another psychologically. The movie also addresses cooperation, acceptance of oneself and coping with pressure — ideas to which teens can easily relate.
The evolution with one of those characters (no spoilers, I swear!) was totally unexpected and wonderful. It added some depth to the plot and an emotional climax that I did not expect from the movie.
I must say I totally loved KPop Demon Hunters, but I do think some things perhaps could have been done better. The villain boy band idea, fun as it was, felt a little daft at times. It felt a little rushed at times, too, especially when it was the emotional scenes that perhaps could have had a bit more time or detail on them. And if the film is a celebration of Korean culture, there were gags that appeared to be playing on old national stereotypes.
Summing Up
To me, Netflix KPop Demon Hunters is a wonderful, entertaining movie that I would be happy to watch again, especially with friends who enjoy pop culture and fantasy or with anyone who enjoys action-packed stories with a big personality. The animation is fantastic, the music is iconic, and the theme of being yourself is always in fashion. It has some flaws, but it’s creative, bold and full of life.
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