After hearing so much about KPop Demon Hunters, I decided to finally watch it. I didn’t go into it with an open mind though. I heard mixed things from different people and the fandom is pretty questionable, so I didn’t expect much.

I was pleasantly surprised, however. The visuals were incredible. The bright pastels and animated use of light set the scene so well and made me want to pause at every frame to just admire the artistry of it. The animation was also delightful. Dancing is one of the hardest things to animate for it to really come to life, and it was executed wonderfully. The “infectious” music and choreography captured the essence of popular groups like BTS and Stray Kids. The facial expressions were readable and exaggerated, making it easy to get a grip on the emotions in each scene. The outfits the idols wore were super intricate and made them look so unbelievably cool, reflecting the KPop trend of having a member for everyone.

KPop Demon Hunters was released in June of this year and instantly blew up. It claimed Netflix’s most watched film title and hit number 1 in 18 countries. Not only was the story interesting and the animation very appealing, the original songs were super catchy and four of them ended up in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. It took a large crew of directors, writers, voice actors, and a huge production team from Sony Pictures Animation seven years to develop and produce the movie. They maintained at least a nearly unachievable 90% on Rotten Tomatoes with stellar reviews. But even still, this movie had a few flaws.

While I did enjoy watching this movie, I did notice some things I have to criticize. The movie is very fast paced, and while that is a good quality for a movie, I didn’t find the romance aspect very believable because it’s rushed. The leader of the girl group, Rumi, and the leader of the opposing boy group, Jinu, had a cliche enemies-to-lovers relationship. While they did have something in common, they started off genuinely hating each other, yet fell in love in a matter of three short one-on-one interactions. Since this is a fictional story that had to fit in the length of a movie, I can’t complain too much. The Saja Boys, the male KPop group in the movie, were also very unsettling. The hairstyles creeped me out whenever they were on screen, but they are unique and colorful, making them stand out. I am not the age demographic for the movie, so some scenes I found a bit corny or hard to watch, but I can see how someone younger would be more amused.

I would recommend KPop Demon Hunters to anyone who hasn’t seen it because its unique animation style, catchy music, and interesting plot make for a great movie. It is definitely popular for a reason and the time spent to make it was well worth it. 

Pros: unique visual style, catchy music, fun plot

Cons: probably meant for a younger audience