Reasons to Love: K-Pop Demon Hunters

Anyone who's known me for a bit gets the impression that I absolutely adore myself some truly random entertainment. Mostly because I tell them that. I adore hoary old black-and-white no-budget 'horror' films. I seek out new niches, and new obsessions to adore. I am open to trying new experiences. I will boldly go down rabbit-holes that few have gone down before.

I was introduced to the concept of this one through gifsets on Tumblr, then fanarts, and then decided to see what was up about that. And, oh boy I have myself a new cool thing to rant about.

There's four main reasons to love this movie. The music, the animation, the culture, and the tiger.

The Music

In brief - it slaps. You will find some of it circling around in your head even if it's the most banal and generic offering from the soundtrack [Which is "Soda Pop" by the way]. There's some quality ear worms going on in there. There's no one song in the entire movie that is a fail.

Also, the singers can actually sing, which is the same win that got me hooked on Steam Powered Giraffe.

There's more lyrics with more meaning than your average Western Pop offering and, even if you can't understand the Korean (like me) you can understand that there's meaning in there. Most of the manufactured hits have like a verse if you're lucky, but generally repeat a short chorus a couple of times so they can win at TikTok.

It's a breath of fresh air to hear music with feeling behind it. With real people wanting to make something interesting, instead of CEO's wanting to make a profit.

The Animation

The first thing you notice about the animation in this movie is that it looks... 'jerky'. Even though it's CGI, the animation is nigh-permanently on a lower frame rate than my Western eyes are used to. But there's the beauty of it - this also allows for some very Manga-style visual language with the characters.

Which has some bloody hilarious moments. No spoilers, here. Watch the thing. You're welcome.

The main characters, the three girls of the band Huntrix, go through extreme expressions in seconds and it is peak cinema. Trust me on this. There's no steps between soft, beautiful pop-star faces and the most Manga expression you've ever seen and it is GLORIOUS.

The Culture

This movie is a neat little glimpse into the Korean mindset. It's not ever about the individual, so there's no "Chosen One", but a chosen team. They have each other to fall back on, at least until the All Is Lost Moment. Spoilers.

The band isn't devoted to their vainglory or their egos. They're devoted to their fans. They want their audience to be happy and - for plot reasons - protected from demons. It's a whole thing and you should not be spoiled by the actual title of the movie.

You see the food, you hear the language, you get little bits of the history and glimpses of the everyday things in Korea. And the characters are clearly Asian and not Schroedinger's White Person(tm).

And, of course, the aforementioned music.

The Tiger

Allow me to introduce you to the best characters in the whole film. They do not have lines, but they are the best.

Apart from the multiple eyes, the bird and the tiger are based on what boils down to political cartoons throughout Korean history. The tiger is the emblematic animal of Korea and usually representational of the nation's strength. In the cartoons, the tiger represents whoever's in charge and the time. Drawn to look incredibly dense. And the magpie, representing the people, is drawn looking on in a mixture of contempt, pity, or shame.

For the movie, these guys are demon critters. No threat to anyone but it's clear which one is the smartest one in the whole movie.

There is clearly no neural activity going on in that fluffy blue head. I love them, your honour.

I think they have a sum total of three minutes in the entire movie, but my goodness... they are the best three minutes in cinema history.

So yeah. Watch K-Pop Demon Hunters. It's exactly what it says on the tin and it is worth your time.