K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025)

[Greg]

I knew going in, this was not for me. But I felt the need to see.

And I was correct. I didn't care for the music. The story was pretty sappy. And the animation wasn't all that great.

But I didn't hate it. I think the filmmakers did very well what they were trying to do. There were some parts I found amusing. I really liked the big Demon Cat and the Six Eyed bird in his little hat. There were some good complications in there and the message wasn't horrible. There was even some sword work.

But not for me.

[Drunk Monk]

Why would you even bother with this? It'd be like me watching Home Improvement. 

[Greg]

Watch Home Improvement? I worked on it!

Curiosity compelled me. Plus there is ownage. I mean, have you seen it, Mr. K-Pop Aficionado?

And if you think that's the worst choice for viewing I made this weekend, think again.

[Drunk Monk]

Watch Home Improvement? I worked on it!

My point exactly.

I'll get there eventually. We'll likely resubscribe to Netflix in the fall, after we absorb all our summer expenses. 

I thought this was a series, but it's a movie, is it?

[Greg]

One off.

[Drunk Monk]

Seen. And yes, this was custom made for me. Loved it.

Tara has Netflix set up at svale now and insisted we watch it. It’s immensely clever if you know K-pop & Korean culture in general. I’m surprised the animation didn’t work for you Greg,as it had some of the team from spiderverse, however I imagine the the anime expression caricatures didn’t work because that’s a style that takes some getting used to (particularly the scene where Huntr/x first meets the Saja boys.) 

There were some deep nods to K-pop fandom, especially Twice, who provided the singing on Takedown. The music sounded like poppified K-pop if that makes any sense at all. It was flattered and easier to digest - like soda pop. The song tracks topped the Spotify charts, some of the highest ever for a K-pop act. 

The Tiger and magpie were great - Tara said the Tiger was based on the creator’s cat. The Magpie/Tiger motif was lifted from Chosun art. 

Tara also said there were some deep Easter eggs like when Rumi & Jinu meet, the scene and music is an homage to Business Proposal, a K-drama that the voice actor who played Jinu was famous for (Tara says it’s a funny series - she’s deeper into K-dramas like much of her gen). I could see references to BlackPink, BTS and Stray Kids in the bands. There’s a meta level of caricature in the role of three Huntr/x gals jn that K-pop distinguishes the roles of K-pop bands just so and the characters echo real life performers - Rumi is like a fusion of BlackPink’s Jennie & Jisoo.

And I was impressed that Mira wielded a woldo - the Korean cousin to one of my fav weapons, the guandao, which I still practice weekly. 

While I enjoyed this thoroughly, I must agree with Greg. This is not for D00M, not recommended. You guys are way too old to get K-pop.

There’s talk of a sequel because why not?

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

After two season openers from series i follow that were major bum outs (squid game https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...0#pid79960 & black mirror https://brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/...1#pid79961 ) I needed something cheerful so I revisited this. I wanted to place the songs, which have skyrocketed up the charts, and like a lot of K-pop, grown on me since my first listen. Also, there are so many Easter eggs and fan theories that I wanted to check out. It held up well on the 2nd viewing. A lot of the depth didn’t sink in the first time - mostly the Korean culture stuff which makes a lot more sense after reading about it in assorted coverage. A lot of the detail escaped me. 

Perhaps you’ve heard of the theatrical sing alongs happening now. There’s some big screen stuff in here so that’s tempting but all those songs are way out of my Tom Waits vocal range, not to mention all the Korean lyrics (which I wish the subtitles translated). It’s playing in town. The new English language Ne Zha 2 and Jackie’s new The Shadow’s Edge aren’t playing in the Cruz but the K-PDH is. Figures. 

I regret not taking more pix of the cosplayers at GalaxyCon. There were a few and that would e filled out my KFM report better. I was really off in my shooting, but I didnt have a story so I shot randomly and missed a lot.