K-Pop Demon Hunters

Huntr/x is the K-Pop girl group sensation. Adored by fans the world over, they balance their public identities as pop stars, with their secret identities as demon hunters, tasked with uniting the world through song in order to forever banish the demon king Gwi-Ma. But when Gwi-Ma sends a super sexy boy band of demons to usurp Huntr/x's spot at the top of the chart, not only is the world threatened, but the entire future of Huntr/x as pop sensations as well!

The three members of Hunt/x are…

Rumi. She is the lead vocalist and the leader of Huntr/x. Rumi’s father was a demon, and her late mother was a demon hunter before her, and a star of the Sunlight Sisters, a forerunner of Rumi’s own group Huntr/x. She wields a Four Tiger Sword, a ritual blade used during the Joseon Dynasty that was believed to possess magical powers. It was used in shamanistic rituals to ward off evil spirits and prevent disasters, and was said to be forged only during the Year, Month, Day, and Hour of the Tiger, which is a now extinct creature in Korea, but is still a symbol of protection in Korean culture.

Mira. she is the visual (the “face”) of the group, and also the main dancer. Prickly, chaotic, and tough, Mira comes from a wealthy background, and is now considered to be the black sheep of her family due to her rebellious nature. She once attended the Met Gala wearing just a sleeping bag, and in combat, she wields a woldo, which means “moon blade” due to its curved blade. It's a Korean polearm much like the Chinese guandao.

Zoey. She is the main rapper, and also the maknae (the “baby”) of the group. Korean-American, born and raised in Burbank, she has notebooks full of ideas for songs that are ready at the drop of a hat. Zoey wields shin-kal throwing knives in combat, which are traditionally used in shamanic rituals to fight evil spirits, and are adorned with norigae, traditional Korean decorative tassels, which symbolizes her feminine spiritual power.

They are best friends, colleagues, and trusted fellow warriors…

For many long centuries, demons have preyed upon humans, stealing their souls, and then feeding them to their ruler Gwi-Ma. Each soul makes Gwi-ma stronger. Each soul brings him closer to taking over the human world.

To stop this, three women were chosen as demon hunters. Prophesied to one day unite the world in song, their goal is to seal the demons off from the human world forever by creating a magic barrier with the power of their voices, known as the Honmoon. When the Honmoon glows golden, that’s when they will know they have succeeded, and Gwi-ma and the demons will be banished forever. With each new generation, a new trio of women are chosen, using their fighting skills to batter back the demons, and their singing voices to maintain the Honmoon.

Now in the present, the current trio is the K-pop girl group Huntr/x. Together, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey fight to top the pop charts and to stop the demons, all under the guidance of Celine, their surrogate mother and manager. Celine was once a hunter too, a member of the Sunlight Sisters, as well as a friend and comrade to Rumi’s now deceased mother.

Things are going great for Huntr/x…

At the top of their games, both in the pop world and the demon hunter world, they’re on the cusp of releasing their newest single, "Golden", so titled because they expect it to be the song that finally unites the world and creates the Golden Honmoon, sealing away the demon world forever…

But…

Rumi seems to be losing her voice, mostly because she is part demon, and her demon patterns (basically magical tiger stripes) have appeared all over her body and have finally reached her throat. However, this is a secret affliction that she has kept from everyone, even Mira and Zoey. They have often loudly wondered why Rumi won’t go to the bathhouse with them, never expecting that it was due to Rumi being afraid that her friends will reject her as a demon.

Only Celine knows Rumi’s secret, and she encourages Rumi to never ever tell anyone of her shameful family legacy. Celine reassures Rumi by telling her that if she can only turn the Honmoon gold, then her demonic patterns will be erased when the demons are sealed away, and she will be free of her shame forever.

Meanwhile, in the demon realm, Gwi-Ma is pissed that his idiot minions keep getting their asses kicked by Huntr/x. He hasn't feasted on fresh souls in forever. Plus, it's embarassing the way Huntr/x dispatches demons so easily, often while singing, and dancing in perfect choreography, sometimes before their cheering fans, who believe it's all just part of the show.

But then a demon named Jinu proposes a new strategy…

In exchane for erasing the terrible memories of his time as a human that keep plaguing him, Jinu suggests fighting fire with fire…

And thus, the Saja Boys are born.

Rumi, Mira, and Zoey are trying to cure Rumi’s voice problem when they happen upon the Saja Boys debut pop-up performance at a pedestrian mall. Jinu, Mystery, Abby, Romance, and Baby wow the crowd with their voices, their talent, and their unbridled sexiness. But despite their undeniable attractiveness, the girls quickly realize who the Saja Boys truly are. They're Demons.

Time to fight.

Unfortunately, the fractures and secrets between the members of Huntr/x prove to be too much. They're off-balance, and not fighting in sync. The Saja Boys defeat them, and Jinu discovers Rumi's demon nature during the fight. But he also helps her hide it from her bandmates. What? That's so... kind and thoughtful of him. But he's a demon? Poor Rumi is so confused, and I think you know what that means...

That’s right, kids, it’s "enemies to lovers" time!

Soon enough, Rumi isn’t just hiding her demonic patterns from her friends and bandmates, but also the fact that she and Jinu are secretly using a ghostly pair of spirit animals—a three-eyed magpie, who keeps stealing the tiger’s tiny hat, and a big blue tiger, who is both clumsy and yet fastidious—to secretly schedule secret rendezvous, where they freely discuss the deepest, darkest secrets they can’t share with anyone else. Rumi speaks of the shame of her heritage, and Jinu speaks of the guilt from the choices he made in his human life that still haunt him, and all while their respective groups are publicly warring!

Oh, the forbidden fruit of enemies to lovers! The sacriliciousness of it all!

The fans pick up on it immediately.

As the big award show looms, where Huntr/x will be performing before a worldwide audience, where not just the fate of the Honmoon hangs in the balance, but their careers too, and all while the girls can’t agree on their new song, and the war with the Saja Boys is growing more intense! The fractures amongst the girls of Huntr/x widen as Rumi finds herself torn between the warring halves of her own heritage. She wants to save herself, and also Jinu, who she believes to be true of heart, and worthy of redemption. But she’s also a demon hunter!

Oh, the humanity!

The night of the awards, everything seems to be working perfectly, only for Gwi-ma to unleash his plan right before the Honmoon glows golden, and his demonic intervention ends up breaking up Huntr/x, and revealing Rumi’s hidden secrets to her friends, bandmates, fans, and the entire world. And with Huntr/x out of the way, Gwi-ma is now free to enact his plan. As the Saja Boys perform on a world-wide stage, Gwi-ma begins to siphon off the world’s souls...

So, with time running out, will Rumi, Mira, and Zoey heal their rift, find their true power, unite the world through song, and bring about the Golden Honmoon? Also, will Rumi and Jinu finally kiss?

I mean… probably, right? I hope so. Rujinu 4 ever.

Born out of a desire to create a new story drawing from her Korean heritage, and modeling Huntr/x off K-pop girl groups like Blackpink, and the Saja Boys off Kpop boy bands like BTS, co-writer/director Maggie Kang ended up creating a visually distinct and really fun love letter to both K-Pop and Korean mythology, peppered with cultural references thoughout, and all while using a kind of "hybrid 2D-3D style" reminiscent of the Spider-verse movies.

A big part of the inspiration for the entire idea apparently comes from Korean shamanism. In Korea, shamans, known as mudang, act as intermediaries between the human and the spirit realms, and conduct rituals, known as gut, for healings, fortune-telling, to resolve conflicts, or to drive away evil spirits, and they will often using music, dance, and costumes in their incantations. Tying that to K-Pop totally makes sense, especially if you’ve seen the movie Exhuma.

If you haven’t seen Exhuma, you should.

Also, I loved the tiger and magpie.

The pair are based on minhwa, which is a style of Korean folk art from the Joseon period, and specifically, the Hojak-do genre of minhwa, which specialized in images of tigers and magpies, often depicting them in a whimsical and satirical way, apparently as a commentary on those in power…

Skewering stuff.

Take that, establishment!

K-Pop Demon Hunters is a quickly paced, high-energy good time. Sure, it’s a little melodramtatic, and the “enemies to lovers” and “denial of your true self” plots are a little rushed, they’re still clearly communicated, so it's fine. Besides, it's funny, it's cute, and it's sincere. It’s all-around well done. Bonus points for the fact that it rarely drags during its 95 minute runtime. Also, the violence isn’t graphic at all, so it’s truly fun for the whole family... but not in a bad way.

Personally, I preferred the music in Josie and the Pussycats to the music in K-Pop Demon Hunters, but that’s just me. You may disagree. That said, however, if you haven’t seen Josie and the Pussycats, then you definitely need to see that one too.

Either way, K-Pop Demon Hunters is worth your time. Thumbs up.