Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters surprised me—what looked like animated fluff turned out to be a heartfelt spectacle channeling Jem and the Holograms. Three K-pop demon hunters use music and swords to fight evil while tackling deeper themes: the lies we're told growing up, crumbling expectations, and how ultra-wealthy oligarchs are basically real-world demons. With Spider-Verse animation, complex characters like antagonist Ji-noo, and messages about self-acceptance, it celebrates being weird as your superpower. It's revolutionary female empowerment wrapped in catchy beats—proving your 2am TikTok energy can literally save the world.
The bean counters will expect another hit, and of course the law of diminishing returns. A change of demographic /delay of fans watching has killed far far too many a series, and/or forced a quick ending that detracted from the initial sequence.
This is a great breakdown and I like how the song & lyrics actually work with the series and life. Having a bit more of a sensible think rather than a USA approach where your given the usually disney teen narrative is good. Hopefully the rush to make series 2 keeps the core of the story rather than give in to the capitalism of it all.
When I shared this post on LinkedIn (don't judge), one commenter echoed your thoughts on the lyrics being bound to the purpose of the movie (as well as the lyricist's own K-pop journey). I'd love to do a specific overview of the lyrical match but alas, just getting this one out there triggered all kind of content ID warnings from YouTube 🤣
I'm keen to see what comes next. I think it's set up for a good long-running franchise, but as we all know, franchises can murder the inner child of any story 🤣
Not gonna lie, I absolutely loved K-Pop Demon Hunters... its a fantastic film and story. I've watched it a few times now with Abby, and she's probably watched it 6-7 times.
Loved your deep analytical thoughts on this, and yes! Jem! How could I forget! I can see the parallels.
Jem was awesome 🙂 And I can totally see why this has hit Abby's multiwatch list - it feels like it might be one of those movies that is generation-defining (e.g., Star wars hit me hard when it landed, but we crave different messages these days).
I'll always love Star Wars too.... the eternal fight between good and evil... and the division and conflict it creates without compassion and understanding.
K-Pop is very much sitting in these grey areas, which is why I think it's so good. It humanises so much, where as our current world views seem to lean towards categorising people with different beliefs/lifestyles as 'other' and dehumanising them.
Yeah I feel like there's some faulty wiring in our brains with "us" vs "other" - you can see some of the advantages back when things were the OG Life on Earth™ but it hasn't really kept pace with market conditions 🤣
The bean counters will expect another hit, and of course the law of diminishing returns. A change of demographic /delay of fans watching has killed far far too many a series, and/or forced a quick ending that detracted from the initial sequence.
Star Wars prequels say hi 🤣 Man, they really weren't made for the same group as the original trilogy IMO.
This is a great breakdown and I like how the song & lyrics actually work with the series and life. Having a bit more of a sensible think rather than a USA approach where your given the usually disney teen narrative is good. Hopefully the rush to make series 2 keeps the core of the story rather than give in to the capitalism of it all.
When I shared this post on LinkedIn (don't judge), one commenter echoed your thoughts on the lyrics being bound to the purpose of the movie (as well as the lyricist's own K-pop journey). I'd love to do a specific overview of the lyrical match but alas, just getting this one out there triggered all kind of content ID warnings from YouTube 🤣
I'm keen to see what comes next. I think it's set up for a good long-running franchise, but as we all know, franchises can murder the inner child of any story 🤣
Not gonna lie, I absolutely loved K-Pop Demon Hunters... its a fantastic film and story. I've watched it a few times now with Abby, and she's probably watched it 6-7 times.
Loved your deep analytical thoughts on this, and yes! Jem! How could I forget! I can see the parallels.
Jem was awesome 🙂 And I can totally see why this has hit Abby's multiwatch list - it feels like it might be one of those movies that is generation-defining (e.g., Star wars hit me hard when it landed, but we crave different messages these days).
I'll always love Star Wars too.... the eternal fight between good and evil... and the division and conflict it creates without compassion and understanding.
K-Pop is very much sitting in these grey areas, which is why I think it's so good. It humanises so much, where as our current world views seem to lean towards categorising people with different beliefs/lifestyles as 'other' and dehumanising them.
Yeah I feel like there's some faulty wiring in our brains with "us" vs "other" - you can see some of the advantages back when things were the OG Life on Earth™ but it hasn't really kept pace with market conditions 🤣