Between medical issues and some big family events, it’s been quite a while since I have posted.  I thought that I would start back in easy with just a writing prompt.  I have plenty of backlog, but something else came up.  Something that completely blindsided me.  So, I found myself realizing that I was going to break my rules for the gems section and talk about the new movie K-Pop Demon Hunters.  

This movie is not off the beaten path or rarely talked about.  In fact, it has garnered so much attention that you can easily go onto you-tube and find dozens, if not hundreds, of people reviewing, breaking down the music video’s, or doing first watch reactions.  I know, I went down the rabbit hole watching many of them myself.  Yet, as I thought about it, I knew I wanted to write about this movie.  For one big reason.  It hit hard.

It’s been a long time since a movie has been this good.  The last movie I can remember enjoying to this degree that was this masterfully done was Coco.  And I miss the Disney musical animations.  I grew up on them.  Coco, was a wonderful callback to those days.  Moana as well.  They came out at a time when my husband and I were starting to question Disney and Pixar, and for a moment we thought things were going to go back to the silver age of having tight stories that explore deep themes and were supported by amazing music.  However, that didn’t happen.

Then out of the blue comes a new Sony movie on Netflix, and suddenly a large handful of the you-tubers I watch are talking about and praising K-Pop Demon Hunters.  I thought, that’s great and continued on with my life without really watching any of the videos, just skimming titles.  After all, I don’t really like subscriptions, and I wasn’t subscribed to Netflix and didn’t really want to subscribe for a single movie. 

Finally, one of my favorite you-tubers, (Greg Owen) posted a video about “When The ‘Silly’ Movie is Seriously Great” (check it out if you’re interested).  He talked mostly about K-Pop Demon Hunters but I also saw it included The Lego Movie, which I really like.  So I finally gave it a watch.  About a fourth or a third of the way through I had to stop, subscribed to Netflix and finally watched K-Pop Demon Hunters.  Then sat there wondering why I hadn’t watched it sooner.

Now, there is already a lot out there, as I’ve already mentioned.  So, I’m going to lightly touch on all the good things and then try to add a little of my own touch to the conversation.  

First off, the visuals are so eye-catching.  I got big into anime in high school and this definitely had a feel of that, but it was also, how to say it, slightly more generic.  Anime can be quite stylized, which not everyone likes.  I think this movie did a good job of marrying western and eastern animation into a style that is pleasing.  On top of the style, which is good, they add in the fun little breaks in reality, like the popcorn eyes, that eastern animation styles really like.  And then third with animation is the fact that every shot is so well thought out, especially during the ‘music video’ portions of the movie.

Which also leads us into the music.  Every musical section is meticulously crafted.  From the animations, to the camera angles and panning to, most importantly, the song’s.  The lyrics are beautiful.  The music is catchy, fun, and emotional.  And the singing.  The singing is magical.  And most of all, for me, that I can’t emphasize enough, is the enunciation that these singers have.  I can not stand when I can’t understand a singer.  I had no problem with these songs, well, except for when they sing in Korean.

Which is another part that is so much fun.  I don’t speak Korean but I have, over the past five years, fallen in love with Korean rom-coms and it was absolutely amazing to me how they wove Korean into these songs without ever detracting from the English.  You can understand everything you need to without knowing Korean but if you dive into those lyrics it makes the songs even better.  And yes, there are you-tube videos about that as well.  

Both of these aspects of the movie, along with the spectacular voice acting, would make this song a fun romp in a world full of demons.  Yet there is one thing that truly makes it rise to the level of Coco and classic Disney movies.  That, of course, is the basis of all excellent entertainment.  The Story.  

What a breath of fresh air to once again sit down and go on an emotional journey that touched my heart and soul while filling me with hope.  To find something that not only seeks to entertain but also touches on deep psychological issues and archetypes.  That this story has themes and a plot driven forward not just by things happening but by the characters themselves.  That everything interweaves together because the characters have their own thoughts, feelings, and goals. 

Now there is so much that could be pulled apart from the plot but, as there are thousands of hours of people already doing that I will focus on a few key points for me.  

First, I know that there are a lot of people saying that they wished there was more of this or that in the movie.  They wanted more of the demons to be flushed out or more of Rumi’s backstory, etc.  After watching the movie several times, I can see where they are coming from but I also disagree.  I watched an interview with the creators, and they talked about how difficult it was to balance the screen time between Rumi and Huntrix against Jinu and the demons. As well as the fact that they had a lot of ideas about the backstory that just didn’t make it onto screen, because it just wasn’t needed.

I completely agree.  It would have been fun.  It would have been nice to have more information and character building but it wasn’t really needed.  The story was tight and gave the details that were most important to understand the dynamics between the main characters.  Anything more could have easily overbalanced the pacing.  I did see that some details were hard for some people to pick up on.  Like the fact that Rumi was raised by her Aunt who was also a Sunshine Sister and I do think it would have been good if those details were a little more obvious.  I also think one you-tuber made a good point about the fact that it would have helped to have seen a little more of the aunt and her influence on the girls.  Yet the story still works without it as the central dynamic is about the relationship between Huntrix and Rumi and Rumi and Jinu.

Now my second rumination is on the final song.  Something that a lot of people overlook is the note that Rumi sings just as the demons are at the end of ‘Your Idol’.  It’s that clear note that interrupts them and precedes us seeing Rumi.  It seems most people just kind of overlook this, but I feel it was extremely important.  

This note, of course, interrupts the demons just as everyone is approaching to be consumed.  Great, but it goes deeper than that.  It mirrors the song that we heard at the prologue, the song that was without words, that was sung by the first hunters.  It is pure music.  A soft, crisp note that cuts through the noise of the ‘world’ and speaks straight to the heart.  I believe that this shows the genuine quality of what the demon hunters are supposed to represent and, the fact that we hear it before seeing Rumi, represents that she has come here in that capacity.  As well as the fact that she is now in balance with herself, before she ever starts singing ‘What it Sounds Like’. 

She also repeats what I think of as the ‘Demon Hunter Chant’.  This sounds like something that would have been passed down from demon hunter to demon hunter and I think that last line is very important.  “When darkness finally meets the light.”  I personally read into this that the original demon hunters knew what it would take to finally finish the fight for good.  That the honmun becoming permanent could only happen when the hunters, or maybe everyone’s, darkness was accepted, found the light.  That we have to learn to love ourselves and others for who we are, even when, most especially when we aren’t perfect.  Rumi chanting this as soon as she showed up was also a clue that she came as a demon hunter and that she has finally realized the truth behind those words.

Finally, she sings ‘What it Sounds Like’.  On my first watch through this instantly reminded me of Mulan’s ‘Reflection’.  While the themes of these two songs are slightly different, they hit the same spot for me.  

I grew up in a somewhat difficult family.  Feeling like I often had to hide who I was behind a wall, a facade.  These personality traits weren’t necessarily bad things overall, just not well accepted.  Much like Mira.  So, ‘Reflection’ was very personal.  And later I struggled with feeling like there were two of me. The more volatile side I was with my family and the more fun loving person I was with my friends and then my husband.  And this also led to me feeling very depressed, much like I think Rumi felt at times.  Therefore when they began to sing ‘What it Sounds Like’, I honestly broke into tears.  I still do.  

And that’s probably the real reason I decided to write about this movie.  Because beyond all the good that it is, great visuals, catchy songs, amazing story, it’s the fact that this movie tackles a subject that can become personal for every person that it sticks.  And that’s what storytelling should be.  It should bring people together, uncover our own hidden lies and truths, and leave us feeling something more than what we entered with.  

I am so glad that I took the plunge and watched K-Pop Demon Hunters, even if it meant I had to sign up for Netflix for a month for it and if they ever release it on DVD I will pre-order.  So, what did you think of the movie?  And if you haven’t seen it yet I urge you to go and watch it, no matter how silly the title makes it seem you will walk away, at the very least, having had a great time.