‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Administrators on Assembly Fan Expectations and Championing Authentic, Inclusive Animation

When Sony Footage Animation first introduced KPop Demon Hunters again in 2021, director, author, and longtime Okay-pop devotee Maggie Kang (The Lego Ninjago Film) envisioned the mission as each a love letter to the early days of the style she grew up with and a vibrant celebration of Korean tradition. Teaming up with co-director Chris Appelhans (Want Dragon), Kang got down to craft a movie that merges the dazzling precision of Okay-pop choreography with the spectacle of magical woman motion, all wrapped up in an unique animated journey premiering on Netflix on June 20.

KPop Demon Hunters follows Huntrix, a rising woman group made up of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey (voiced by Arden Cho, Might Hong, and Ji-young Yoo), as they juggle their pop superstardom with their secret lives battling demons invading the human realm underneath the command of the sinister Gwi-Ma (performed by Squid Sport‘s Lee Byung-hun). To forestall the women from enveloping the world within the therapeutic gentle of their music, he concocts the one plan that would threaten the loyalty of their diehard fanbase: a rival supernatural boyband known as the Saja Boys.

Earlier than the movie’s launch, io9 spoke with Kang and Appelhands about how they balanced the expectations of Okay-pop superfans, magical woman fans, and animation lovers, in addition to their hopes for a way their unique movie may encourage a brand new wave of mythmakers within the animation business.

Isaiah Colbert, io9: What sparked the thought of merging the world of Okay-Pop idols with demon looking? Was there a defining second or inspiration that led to this distinctive fusion of music and supernatural motion?

Maggie Kang: It was first conceived as only a demon hunter concept that was a gaggle of actually superior ladies who fought demons from Korean demonology—a film that was set in modern-day Korea. The Okay-pop of all of it was type of the very last thing to be added in as a result of demon looking is often executed at nighttime alleyways. Not in entrance of individuals. I simply wished the women to have a public-facing picture and Okay-pop felt like a cool factor to set the film in. It naturally made it a musical and gave it that spectacle and scale.

Observe 01: “The way it’s Performed”. Carried out by HUNTRIX!

Kpop Demon Hunters premieres THIS FRIDAY! pic.twitter.com/U3y6Cq23CH

— Netflix (@netflix) June 16, 2025

io9: Clearly with that title KPop Demon Hunters does set a excessive expectations for each electrifying motion and dynamic dance sequences as properly. KPop Demon Hunters naturally carries numerous strain, particularly for Okay-pop followers eagerly anticipating it. How did the crew navigate that problem and make sure the movie delivered on each fronts?

Kang: It was powerful. It’s a really loyal, devoted fanbase that expects so much on each facet. Whether or not it’s design, lighting, animation, we made positive that it will maintain as much as what we see in Okay-pop at present. The dance follow movies that we see are so good already. It was like “How will we take what’s so nice that they’re doing as actual people [and] convey it into animation and elevate that?” Even with some Okay-drama lighting and music video lighting is so stunning. It was a problem to convey it into the animation medium and be like, “Okay, they’ve executed all this superb stuff. How will we take it one step additional?” It was numerous first determining how do they do it at the moment and the way we are able to take it up a notch as a result of we’re animation.

Chris Appelhans: I believe Maggie actually early on mentioned all of us love Okay-pop and if we attempt to make it for our personal fandom—let’s discover lighting that we predict is superb, and choreo that we love, and go “Dude, that’s so good”—that’s the most sincere, genuine strategy to make the film. And, if we’re fortunate, the opposite individuals who love Okay-pop will find it irresistible too. However that’s all we may management and that was really actually useful as a result of it felt like you can go and have a look at nice music movies and be impressed by, “That is the type of editorial lighting that I at all times love and at all times wished to see in animation. I’m impressed to go get our lighting crew to go increase their sport to convey this stage to the fabric.” I really feel prefer it’s what you mentioned, a love letter from the medium we all know very well. We all know this particular stuff that you would be able to’t do, additionally.

Kang: Watching it as followers ourselves and desirous to push the medium,[and] being our harshest critics.

One of the tough issues to do for us Simulation Artists is to create dynamic motion in jewellery items.
In these outfits Rumi has greater than 35 particular person items of knickknack from earrings to chains.
¿Most complicated piece? Mira’s shoulder tassels !!
KPOP DH June 20! pic.twitter.com/yuNFVAqBtt

— Cruz Contreras (@cruzencanada) June 8, 2025

io9: What was probably the most thrilling second in directing KPop Demon Hunters, the place you hit an eureka second in manufacturing if you really felt you had been bringing one thing distinctive and particular to life?

Appelhans: In phases. Completely different scenes delivered a special a part of the promise. I keep in mind Maggie performing some actually humorous reference movies for one of many ladies’ conversations and seeing in animation each day—that actual comedy exhibits up in our characters—and I’m like, “Oh my god, the women are going to be actually cute, and lovable, and peculiar.” And the primary time seeing nice choreo and animation. A few of our Korean animators did some stuff that we didn’t even ask for, they only took it and ran with it, and we acquired the butterflies. Like, “Test, oh my gosh. We will do that.” We stored checking containers that had been a part of this entire bold soup.

Kang: Just like me, too. Discovering the form language of even their eyes and mouth shapes on a Korean face, we wished the expressions to really feel very Korean and the women’ mouth shapes to really feel like they’re talking Korean, despite the fact that they had been talking within the English language. One of many options we discovered—one among our superb animators Sofia [Seung Hee Lee]—discovered rounding the corners of the mouth was actually useful in them really feel that approach. These type of milestones of determining sure languages for design and magnificence actually cracked these issues.

Appelhans: Each time we heard the model of a music that we lastly felt was doing it—whether or not it was the third strive or the ninth strive—when a music actually began to hit and we might really feel it in our guts, that was at all times like, “Oh my gosh, we did it. Yet another piece to the puzzle” as a result of that’s so elusive—a pop music that’s really a bop.

My solely contribution to KPOP Demon Hunter. Screaming characters appears to be my factor.

Congrats to the remainder of the arduous working crew of this film! @sonyanimation pic.twitter.com/z48xJsLSpN

— Guillermo Martinez (@billybobmartinz) May 24, 2025

io9: Talking of pop songs, the movie additionally options contributions from the proficient members of Twice. How did you method collaborating with Okay-pop artists to convey the musical components of KPop Demon Hunters to life? What was the method of guaranteeing the soundtrack not solely energized the movie but additionally complemented its emotional core?

Kang: It was actually essential for the whole film to dwell in that Okay-pop area. And collaborating with an precise Okay-pop artist felt prefer it lastly legitimized our mission within the Okay-pop world. Working with Black Label and all these superb pop writers that write for BTS, Twice, and finally collaborating with Twice. Ian Eisendrath, who’s our govt music producer, and Sony Music actually wished this album to really feel like an actual, legit Okay-pop album, so that they introduced this superb crew collectively and created an album that may maintain up within the Okay-pop area.

io9: Recently, animated movies like Turning Purple and Ultraman: Rising have demonstrated the facility of animation as each a storytelling medium and a bridge into beloved fandoms, akin to Okay-pop and Tokusatsu. These movies not solely have fun vibrant animation and convey life to pre-existing fandoms but additionally heart Asian heritage and permit characters to heart of their genuine narratives. What was most essential in balancing the worldwide attraction of Okay-pop with the importance of Asian-led tales instructed by Asian characters?

Kang: One strategy to reply that’s that in animation, we’ve instructed numerous tales about inanimate objects [and] completely different animals. And we’ve but to inform tales which are culturally particular by means of a special cultural voice that can be very common. It’s actually promising that we’re seeing extra movies and animation which are instructed by means of a special cultural lens. It’s actually essential to attempt to characteristic as a lot range as potential in animation as a result of, primarily, it’s nonetheless considered a medium for extra of a youthful viewers. We’ve all these completely different movies globally that exhibiting us that and it looks like we’re not likely doing that fairly but in animation. I believe that’s one thing that we actually want to offer extra range at this stage in animation.

Appelhans: What I’ve seen in my 25 years doing that is how far more numerous the precise day-to-day crews are and the expertise, and which means the whole lot. As a result of when Maggie exhibits up with an unique thought, there are extremely skilled and proficient Korean artists in each division, and so they don’t must do any homework. It’s their lived expertise they convey, their influences, their favourite issues that formed them as artists. That enables us to make extra fascinating, extra unique movies than what may’ve been potential 25 years in the past. It’s type of occurring underneath the hood, but it surely’s actually promising and thrilling.

io9: What do you hope audiences and your fellow artistic colleagues in animation take away from experiencing KPop Demon Hunters desirous to share this common story with the world?

Kang: There’s nothing like movie that exhibits that it doesn’t matter what language you converse, what tradition you grew up in, irrespective of in case you are a demon, a chair, or a toy doll, everyone feels the identical issues as human beings. Telling tales with characters that emote in a really Korean approach and converse trying very Korean, I hope that audiences and filmmakers can see that all of us finally are human and we really feel and wish the identical issues which is love and acceptance

KPop Demon Hunters streams on Netflix beginning June 20.

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