I’m sure you’ve heard of the song Soda Pop! and Golden everywhere now with the handsome 3D Saja Boys, and also the high notes of Huntr/x. Yes, I’ve also got hooked on KPop Demon Hunters AFTER I heard those 2 songs went viral.
So, how do I start this article? Perhaps by relating to you – we didn’t have any high expectations for the animation, right? AND it leaves us with wet eyes and an unsatisfying ending. But the movie is still one of the best animated movies I’ve watched in terms of soundtracks, graphics, details, and many more. I’ll break it down in just a moment. Just need to sort out the jumbled images of words in my head for a bit.
On a surface level, the story is about a girl named Rumi, a half blood. She’s the offspring of a demon hunter and a demon. Making her the killer of demons despite being a demon herself. That’s the main premise itself – the irony of oneself. Then there’s Jinu, a once-human who has succumbed to the Gwi Ma (literally means Devil in Korean). Jinu had sold his soul to Gwi Ma when he was young and struggling to live just to have a better life, which ended up leaving him to leave his family behind to die. Hence, when the conflicted Rumi meets Jinu, the soulless being who can’t forget his sins, they formed a pact to save each other from the influence of Gwi Ma.
As Cringy As It’s Not
Surprisingly, KPop Demon Hunters is not cringy at all. Sure, for non KPop fans, it has some ‘childish’ colourful pops sung by the boy group Saja Boys with cutesy names and cutesy catchy melody. But, hey, welcome to the KPop world where we accept every genre of songs!
What I’m trying to focus on is actually the plot and characteristics of each character. PLOT – I did expect it to be like a puppy love story between 2 idols who overcome their love obstacles by doing some cockamamie gestures. Or, a story about how the FL/ML wins the heart of their interest with cutesy tricks. Whoa, I couldn’t be more wrong, couldn’t I?
The plot of the movie is simple yet perfect enough for us to get immersed in the emotion. Not too shallow, not too deep = Not too light, not too heavy. Just nice. Although I think if you are not familiar with Korean culture and reading between the lines, you might feel the movie a bit shallow. Like, “That’s it?“.
As Cultured As It’s Deep
Now here’s the fun part about Jinu. In Korean belief, those who sin greatly will be punished in the underworld without a remembrance of their past life, and become a grim reaper (Jeoseung Saja/저승사자). Wait, no memory? Jinu has memory! Actually, they should not have a memory to torture them in eternal regrets without knowing what they did. Just like the jeosung saja in the KDrama Goblin.
“Someone called for me?” – Jeosung Saja (Goblin)
However, in the movie, it seems that Jinu’s regret is remembering everything, which is why the Gwi Ma torture him by remembering everything. You don’t see other Saja Boys talk about their past lives, right? Now you see why their boy group name is Saja Boys? In front of humans, they use ‘Saja’ because, used alone, it means lion. But the truth is, they are grim reapers. Their garments in the underworld are a depiction of how the Korean Grim Reaper look.
As Hidden As It’s Obvious
Throughout the movie, there are soooo many more small details that you would understand if you have been in the Hallyu scene for a long time.
Such as how Zoey blindly believes in a crooked traditional doctor more than a modern medicine doctor, the kpop scene behind the stage, the use of lightsticks, the big tree as a symbol of the power source, the blue and purple colour of the demon’s flame, the goblins’ looks, the demon markings, the use of terms, the symbolism of how kpop fans literally give their heart and soul to their favourite idol group, the foods, the use of straw for mineral water bottle, the idol who doesn’t want to rest fearing the fans oblivion, the phone brand focusing on Samsung, the fashion, AHHHH THERE’S A LOT TO LIST!
All of them are based on the Korean belief, culture, and KPop scene almost accurately! The double personality of an idol, the hanok buildings, the demon cat and crow, the stamp of Jinu’s name in his letter to Rumi, the – okay, okay, I’ll really stop now, jinjja.
For instance, you might question, how on earth is being more popular allowing Saja Boys to get the souls, yeah, like I said, Kpop fans literally give their souls once they stan a KPop group (speaking from experience)
As Famous As Its Reference
If you’re not an avid KPop fan, I’m telling you, there’s a lot of ‘cameo mentions’ and hidden references in the movie for famous KPop groups in the real world. The most obvious one is when they look at the music chart. While Huntr/x is No.1, No.2 on the chart is a famous KPop girl group – TWICE with their song title Strategy. They use the real group name and song because TWICE is the group featured at the end of the movie, singing a version of Takedown song (one of the songs created in the movie). Their song Strategy was also used as the soundtrack when Rumi was choosing a costume for their next performance.
Another famous reference is the soundtrack when Rumi first bumped into Jinu. It’s a song by MeloMance (Love, Maybe). If you watch enough romance KDrama, you will 100% know that the director will almost always use the song for a romantic-hypnotised kind of scene. Not to forget they use a lot of famous KPop song title in their lyrics!
You can try watching KDH again to find more on your own, but I’ll just give you the last reference – the Daesung (Big Bang) hairstyle! It’s the hairstyle that covers half of the idol’s face to remain mysterious. Hence, the name of the character with the hairstyle is literally Mystery ㅋㅋㅋ
As Meaningful As Its Messages
Now, the main message in KDH is actually quite heavy. It talks about your self-worth and insecurities. You see, once the characters doubt themselves at the end of the movie, they start hearing Gwi Ma‘s voice in their head, persuading them to succumb to their insecurities. It seems simple, but the reality is, in this generation, we become more self-conscious of our weaknesses and the pressure in day-to-day routine not to sustain our life, but just enough to survive.
Some of us got defeated by these overwhelming doubts that it cost them their own life. Even if they still continue to live, they don’t own their soul, as if they’re just living on autopilot every day.
Another message is shown through Celine – Rumi’s adoptive mother, who tries to hide Rumi’s demonic patterns on her body from the world, even from her best friends. Sowing the seeds of worthlessness in Rumi for such a long time instead of confronting and dealing with it face-to-face. Rather than dealing with a small issue (in this case, the demonic pattern spread), the problem was kept hidden until it’s too big to hide. MEANING: Deal with your issue while it’s still small; the more you keep it, the more it eats you alive.
Conclusion
I see a big potential in KDH as a series. Alas, they made it as a movie. I’m almost mad that it ends that way. #RuJinu for life!!! Based on everything I said above, I sincerely rate KPop Demon Hunters 9/10. It’s a feast for my eyes, my heart, my ears, and my inner fangirl. I would recommend you watch it in Korean dub, there are a lot more hidden references in their words!
Wake me up when the second movie comes out, okay! Until then, TTO BOJAAA!
Muzhameer Putra