Five things you didn’t know about ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
“The world will know you as pop stars, but you will be much more than that.”
“You will be Hunters.”
Since its release June 20 on Netflix, viewers have become obsessed with “KPop Demon Hunters,” the story of Huntr/x, the trio of Mira, Zoey and Rumi, a K-Pop group who moonlight as demon hunters. Together, the group must work to bring down the Saja Boys, a boy band whose members are secretly demons.
It has become the most-watched original release in Netflix’s history, racking up 266 million views.
The film was directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. The pair wrote the screenplay with Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan, based on a story by Kang. The film features the voices of Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-sep, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong and Lee Byung-hun. Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami provided singing voices for Rumi, Mira and Zoey, respectively.
If you’re tired of having sing-alongs to Huntr/x’s songs in your living room, check out Finger Heart: The K-Pop Night on Saturday at the Chameleon. The evening features all the hits from the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack plus songs from K-Pop groups like Seventeen, Riize, Twice, Stray Kids, Katseye, BTS, NewJeans, Blackpink and aespa.
Till then, here are five things you might not have known about “KPop Demon Hunters.”
There was almost no “KPop” in “KPop Demon Hunters”
In an interview with Mashable, Kang said the original idea was to have a “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”-esque group of demon hunters. Kang decided to add K-Pop to bring another Korean element to the film and give the trio a public-facing persona. “That made it a great pitching point and gave it that spectacle and brought scale, and obviously made it a musical,” she said.
Huntr/x was inspired by real K-Pop groups
Once the K-Pop element was added to the movie, filmmakers turned to actual K-Pop groups for inspiration into Huntr/x’s look and sound. Kang and Appelhans worked with South Korean record label the Black Label, an associate company of South Korean entertainment agency YG Entertainment, so YG groups like 2NE1 and Blackpink inspired Huntr/x. Appelhans, in the interview with Mashable, said the Saja Boys weren’t inspired by one specific group but were rather “a love letter to boy band personas.”
Songwriters also took inspiration from “West Side Story”
In an interview with Tudum, executive music producer Ian Eisendrath said the film’s opening song “How It’s Done” was inspired by “Jet Song” from “West Side Story.” “It was so important that we had something that felt like a K-pop hit (and) felt like when you first heard Blackpink,” he said. “It had to have that energy, it had to set up a unique sonic world for these three girls and how they sing together, and it also had to be a banging opening number that everyone was drawn into.”
Each weapon Mira, Zoey and Rumi carry is inspired by historical Korean weapons and shamonic tools
According to language learning platform Lingopie, each Huntr/x member’s weapon is inspired by an actual weapon or tool. Rumi’s weapon was based on the Four Tiger Sword, a ritual blade which symbolizes the protective strength of the four tigers who protect the four cardinal directions. Mira’s sword was based on a curved polearm called the Cheolyeomchu, and Zoey’s weapon was inspired by the Shinkal, or spirit knife, to fight evil spirits.
K-Pop superstars Twice appear in the film … kind of
While the end credits show Twice members Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung performing “Takedown,” the group also has two cameos in the film. In the first, Huntr/x’s manager Bobby shows the trio a top 10 list on his phone, which includes Twice’s song “Strategy.” Later, as the trio makes their way to stage at the International Idol Awards, they pass posters for Twice and fellow girl group Meovv in the hallway.