If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I have a slight obsession with Korean pop music and Korean entertainment in general. Since 2016, I’ve effectively given up on the American music industry and completely switched over to listening to K-pop (with the exception of Billie Eilish). So, when I heard that Netflix was producing a movie about K-pop stars who also slay demons, I was…interested. 

I’m not going to lie, I had very low expectations. Netflix has not had the best reputation when it comes to Asian media (we don’t talk about the live-action Death Note). They’ve definitely made up for it by essentially pouring money into the Asian entertainment industry, but most of those projects were managed and directed by the people who had built that industry. The few times Netflix has managed productions on its own have been live-action adaptations of shows such as One Piece. So, let’s just say I had very little to base any amount of trust on Netflix. And I’m glad my expectations were low, because they absolutely crushed it. 

Their first good decision was hiring the studio responsible for Spider-Verse to do the animation. An action-packed, glammed-out, choreography-filled movie like KPop Demon Hunters could only be handled by a studio like that. Not to mention they absolutely nailed the character designs (I have never seen a hotter animated man before). The second good decision was the inclusion of music that sounded like K-pop. It truly was an homage to the incredible pop music that Korea has produced for decades now. I thought my biggest problem with this film was going to be the music. But it turned out to be one of my favorite things about the movie.

Finally, they hired an incredible cast to voice both the speaking and the singing voices of the characters. I have watched and admired Ahn Hyo-Seop, the speaking voice of Jinu, in film and television for years now, and I never imagined that he would be an incredible voice actor too. And don’t even get me started on the amazing vocalists they hired for the members of Huntrix and the rapper they hired for Baby Saja. He literally perfectly imitates the sound and style of K-Pop rappers I have listened to for years. 

All this to say, I am rather proud of this movie. It has given me a way to talk about K-pop with people who would usually know very little about the subject. However, I am still a little disappointed. 

Hear me out. 

As a long-time K-pop fan, there is so much about this film that showcases the great things about K-pop. However, it is not entirely accurate. In fact, a K-pop star named Wooyoung, from the group ATEEZ, voiced his own dissatisfaction over the inaccuracies in this film. The lives of the Huntrix girls are nothing like the lives of real K-pop stars. They do not carb-load before concerts, they do not have control over the release of their new single, and they certainly do not have private jets that can be trashed with no repercussions. The glittering image K-pop presents is simply a mask, a well-crafted facade that glamorizes the lives of these very real human beings. In fact, many K-pop stars barely see a dime during the first few years of their careers. Most of the money they make as individuals comes from brand deals and sponsorships outside of their artistic activities. And if you happen to be one of the many groups that don’t go viral, your chances of seeing any money are slim to none. It is a cut-throat and unforgiving industry. 

My second qualm with this film is its whitewashing of K-pop. I feel like this movie is the perfect example of how much of the Western audience simply cannot watch or listen to anything that isn’t in English. No matter how many strides have been taken in the last few decades to diversify entertainment, the industry and its audience are still too Anglo-centric to move past this one small hurdle. I have heard every excuse to not listen to K-pop music: “It’s too busy-sounding,” “I just don’t like that style of music,” “There are too many different voices.” Blah blah blah. “Golden” now sits at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Out of all of the songs on this movie’s soundtrack, it is the most “K-pop-sounding” of the bunch. The only difference it has from every other K-pop song is that it’s mostly sung in English. In fact, the other flagship songs of this movie, “Takedown” and “How It’s Done,” both have the same quality of music poured into their productions. But their performances on the charts have been much lower than that of “Golden.” My hypothesis: “Takedown” and “How It’s Done” have more recognizable Korean lyrics than “Golden” and are, therefore, less approachable. I fear that this movie may have shot the industry in the foot. K-pop stans have already noticed a pattern of producers adding more English into K-pop songs in an effort to appeal to the Western audience. The “K” part of K-pop is slowly being replaced with the language that rules the world. 

KPop Demon Hunters may have opened the door for more people to explore this music industry, but it may have also shut the blinds on some of the central parts of this industry in an effort to make it more palatable to Western audiences. I truly hope that is not the case, but I can’t help but be a little jaded. 

Again, I love KPop Demon Hunters. But just because I love it doesn’t mean I can’t see the possible consequences of this film’s influence on a music industry I have been an active and passionate fan of since I turned thirteen. 

Priscilla Chang

Priscilla Chang (’25) majored in English literature and minored in linguistics at Calvin. She now works as a missionary teacher in Thailand, teaching language arts at Chiang Rai International Christian School. Apart from her love of reading and writing, she is also obsessed with learning languages, dancing, and watching the latest Korean dramas.