When KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix in June, nobody could have predicted the global phenomenon the animated movie would become. Clocking in at over 236 million views to date, it’s secured the crown as the most popular Netflix film of all time. Months after its release, the hype is still going strong.
Produced in partnership with Sony Animation Studios, KPop Demon Hunters centers on an all-female K-Pop group called Huntr/x — made up of eclectic trio Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) — who lead double lives as demon hunters. When they find themselves face-to-face with a rival boy band whose members are secretly demons, the girls must come together to protect their fans before it’s too late.
“We wanted to tell a story about how music can be this connective force and unite people,” creator Maggie Kang, who co-directed the film alongside Chris Appelhans (Wish List), tells The Nerds of Color. “It’s really great to see the movie doing that around the world.”
While the story is wholly original, KPop Demon Hunters incorporates many elements of traditional Korean mythology and culture, resulting in a unique blend of fantasy and realism. For Kang, the project was deeply personal.
“I questioned myself a lot: ‘Am I really Korean enough to tell this story, to represent our culture? Am I doing it in the right way?’” she says. “Ultimately, I really had to trust our instincts as storytellers and creators and just be like, ‘Well, this is my connection to my culture.’ And I think once I realized everybody has a different connection to their culture… It just freed me creatively.”
To commemorate the film’s record-breaking viewership, The Nerds of Color sat down to chat with Kang and Appelhans, as well as vocalists EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, who provide the singing voices of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, respectively. They discussed their favorite things about the fandom, why the hit song “Golden” resonates with so many people, the funniest TikToks they’ve seen about the movie, and much more.
Check out the full interview below:
KPop Demon Hunters is available to stream now on Netflix.
