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The Hit Korean show that are infiltrated schools and stereos in Australia
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The Hit Korean show that are infiltrated schools and stereos in Australia

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In school and dance clubs throughout the country, Australians embrace a genre-bending animation film aimed at a K-pop girl who secretly fights Demons.
The Netflix original KPOP Demon Hunters has become an unlikely global phenomenon, also in Australia, and is now the second most popular English -language film worldwide.

In the nine weeks since the premiere on June 21, it yielded 210 million views and it is second to action -comedy film Red Notice on the Screener list with the most popular films. It is the first animated film to enter the list.

The animation film Kpop Demon Hunters follows a girl band called Huntr/X. Source: Delivered / Netflix

In Australia, Kpop Demon Hunters is currently the number one film on Netflix and spent nine weeks in the top 10.

It has become so popular that Singalong displays will be held this weekend in Hoyts Cinemas throughout the country.

What is Kpop Demon Hunters about?

The English-language animated musical is a lively introduction to the world of K-pop and follows the lives of girls’ group Hundr/X, whose rising vocals help to keep demons away.
The music drives a lot of the attraction of the film and the soundtrack has been the number one album on the Aria hit lists in Australia for five non-nosing weeks. The song Golden also went at the top of the top 50 singles and a rare Aria card double secured.

Directed and co-written by Maggie Kang, who was born in South Korea and grew up in Canada, the film was inspired by Kang’s love for K-pop.

“I have been a fan of these incredible artists and their work for many years, so it is a dream come true to have written and produced original songs for our film by legendary talent such as The Black Label [a leading South Korean record label]”Says Kang.
Dr. Sung-Ae Lee, an expert in Asian cinema at Macquarie University, describes the mix of the film of fast visuals such as channeling “Global Energy”.
She points to the integration of the K-pop culture, which thrives online, and says that it reflects the use of young people from social media platforms such as Tiktok and YouTube, as well as the fangsenschappen.

“I think it’s a kind of turning point … it’s a really innovative idea of ​​K-pop idols plus this fantasy genre,” she says.

Three animated young women in colorful outfits meet a pose on stage.

Kpop Demon Hunters follows the life of K-Pop Superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who use their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans against a supernatural threat. Source: Delivered / Netflix

Although Lee believes that the success of the music, which is performed by real singers, is connected to his narrative context in the film, others have also suggested it demonstrates the potential for animated bands, possibly powered by artificial intelligenceTo achieve success.

Suk-Young Kim, a professor at the University of California, told The Wall Street Journal that shows the success of the film that it is possible that fans make contact with non-human idols.

“This is a long-term dream for K-pop companies,” said Kim. “Here we have idols who never sleep, never get sick, never get older.”

Schoolkids Embrace Hitfilm

The popularity of the film seems to have grown organically without the publicity that contributed to the success of other Netflix -Hits, such as Red Knore.
Sydney mother Alison McLeod says she watched Kpop Demon Hunters with her seven-year-old daughter after it was recommended by the Netflix algorithm.
The 44-year-old says that the film reminded her of the Japanese Mangas series Astro Boy and other animations she saw as a child.

“I had friends who were of Manga and certainly in K-pop music … I knew a bit about the genre and what I could expect. And it just looked nice,” says McLeod SBS News.

What I really enjoyed when we started looking at it were the themes … the girl power.

“It embraces the [non] Typical girl – these three girls are different. They have just presented as really good role models for my little one, she is fiesty. “
Her daughter now makes scenes from the film again with her friends at school, and MCleod says that she recently also attended a seven -year birthday party with songs from the soundtrack during a game of musical bumps (such as musical images, but players are instead of Freeze).

“They swam to the Demon Hunter soundtrack and every child there knew all the words,” she says.

McLeod says that her daughter is mainly attracted to the music, with the soundtrack of the film now on daily rotation in their car and at home. But she also seems to identify more with the characters than those in other films, such as Encanto and Trolls, who have been previous obsessions.
McLeod has previously painted her purple and both she and her partner have tattoos – such as the main character in Demon Hunters, Rumi. She says that the film helps her daughter to embrace differences in personal style and expression as “cool”.

“We are not the norm in society, and I think they are [McLeod’s daughter] It feels like the Huntr/X girls embody that in a very cool way … She will 1756039304 Be like ‘I can have purple hair’. “

A Hollywood film with the Korean culture

The film has also been a hit within the Korean community and remains the top film about Netflix in South Korea.
‘I thought the Korean audience [would] Weersta, but it was really popular and they like it, “says Lee.
“I think it’s because it is the youth culture.”
Lee says she didn’t like Kpop Demon Hunters the first time she looked it because it seemed alerticanized.

“[While] The subject is rather Korean … It is not Korean at all, it is actually Hollywood.

The animation is American for me – the body language and facial expression – they are all American, not Korean.

She says it is difficult to determine exact movements, but an example is shoulders, a common gesture in the US, and very different from gestures in Korean films.
But in other ways it contains cultural Korean tropics and folklore elements that Lee found impressive.

The film contains a tiger and a magpie, a combination that is often seen in Korean folk paintings called Jakhodo. They symbolize happiness and people think they are wardening angry spirits.

A large blue animated tiger with a three -eyed magpie sitting on his head looks at an animated girl with purple hair.

A scene with a big tiger and magpie who talks with the main character Rumi. Source: Delivered / Netflix

‘I was really surprised in the beginning [that] They use it. I think it’s one of the most beloved people’s images [in Korean culture]”Says Lee.

The name of the boys’ band in the film, Saja, also has a double meaning in Korean. It can refer to a lion that symbolizes power and mood, but can also refer to a grim mower, a meaning that makes sense in the film when the band members collect souls.

Animation of five young men in colorful outfits pose

K-pop girl Huntr/X has to fight against Saja, an irresistible rival boy’s band of demons in disguise. Source: Delivered / Netflix

Leah Herein NA, executive producer of the Korean program at SBS, says that the Korean community in Australia is proud of the film and appreciates the careful representation of Korean elements. She says that her children also love the film and sing the songs with friends at school.

Assistantary teacher in Korean studies at Australian National University, Roald Maliangkay, says that the Korean study community-zowel Korean as a non-Koreans is, especially interested in how Korean people’s elements are included in the film.

“I was shown an exhibition of Chosun -Dynasty clothing in the Korea University Museum [recently] And the lady who gave the tour pointed to a very old sword and noticed that it was just like the one used in Kpop Demon Hunters, “he says.

The song Golden was also played everywhere during the recent visit of Maliangkay to South Korea, of which he says it is also a good indication of his popularity among foreign tourists.

Why are KPOP -Demonenjagers so popular?

Employees at the I Heart KPOP store in Brisbane say they have seen an immediate impact on the sale after the release of the film.
“We had so many parents who were looking for one of the merchan from the film,” says shopping worker Aurelia.
The 24-year-old says that the store has always attracted a mixed demography-in race, age and gender but they have seen more people who are not interested in K-pop but love the film.
A recent K-pop party organized by the store in Brisbane, which usually attracts around 800 people, attracted around 1,200 attendees.

“The audience was very fond of the songs of Kpop Demon Hunters,” says Aurelia.

Aurelia has been a fan of K-pop since 2019 after stumbling a video from the Boy Band BTS on YouTube.
“I was really touched by the way BTs talk about their fans, the relationship they had between fans and the respect they had for them,” she says.
Although she was initially skeptical against Kpop Demon Hunters, she says she was fortunately surprised after watching.

“You could see it-as a K-pop fan it was made by fans … I thought that was great,” she says.

Two young women keep their arms up in the form of a heart

Aurelia (left) is a K-pop fan and recently joined a dance party in Brisbane that attracted 1200 people. Source: Delivered / Silvana Sanchez

Audrey Nuna, who speaks Mira in the film, told SBS Korean that she felt that the film would do well.

“When I was recording the songs for this movie, I told my mother,” she says.
“I had something like:” Mom, I think this film is really going to do very well “because I think so many people have a love – even people who are not Korean – have such a love for Korean music, Korean pop, Korean culture.

“[But] I don’t think I could ever have expected that it would be at this level. “

With his themes of girl power, aging and youth culture, Lee says that the film feels “fresh”, and she eventually embraced it.

It is not a typical supernatural Action Highs – it is pretty fresh and [there’s] Flair, that’s why I like it.

Lee believes that the public can also be attracted by the themes of self -acceptance, friendship and empowerment.
Other shows with demon hunters, such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Sailor Moon, are also popular with the Western audience in the past.
“Generation X or even older generations, they are really interested in K-pop and things like that because they grew up with [these shows]”Says Lee.

“These are all female warriors or girls fighters.”

Film arouses interest in Korean culture

McLeod says that her daughter is jealous of her two Korean friends at school because they can understand parts of the songs that are not translated into English.
“Their school teaches Mandarin, and she was” I wish she taught Korean, “she says.

Her daughter now also asks to go to Korean restaurants instead of her usual favorite, who is Japanese.

“I think it’s great that something that is a bit of a counterculture has achieved such a regular popularity,” says McLeod.
“I hope it opened the door for other genres.
“It’s wild that my Anglo-Australian child loves K-pop, I like that so much.”

Additional reporting by Leah Herein after from SBS Korean.

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