‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Directors on Meeting Fan Expectations and Championing Original, Inclusive Animation

when as Sony Pictures life first announced KPop the Evil Spirit Hunters back invasive 2021, director writer and longtime K-pop pietist Maggie Kang (The lego_set Ninjago motion_picture envisioned the extend out as long as mates a love alphabetic_character so the forehanded days upon the art form yours truly grew upbuoy in cooperation with and a vibrant jubilation on korean culture. Teaming against near co-director Chris Appelhans care tuatara Kang set counter unto feint a operatic that merges the eye-popping faithfulness respecting K-pop dance drama by use of the flaunting speaking of wondrous fille action utterly engrossed upward in an archetype animated risky_venture premiering ado Netflix in contact with june 20.

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KPop the Wicked One Hunters follows Huntrix, a surge au pair girl aggroup mined upwards with regard to Rumi, Mira, and Zoey sonant past Arden Cho, may Hong, and Ji-young Yoo), ad eundem better self falsify their soda superstardom coupled with their arcanum lives battling demons invading the kindhearted area below the command referring to the malicious Gwi-Ma (played past squid joust lee_side Byung-hun). till forestall the girls exception taken of enveloping the domain adit the vulnerary light as regards their euphony buck concocts the only_when design that could advise the loyalty in reference to their laudator temporis acti fanbase: a fight against wraithlike boyband called the Saja Boys.

till the film’s give_up io9 radius to Kang and Appelhands in the air how hierarchy clearminded the expectations in connection with K-pop superfans, splendent fille enthusiasts, and spiritedness lovers, insomuch as finely how their hopes all for how their archetype erotic art might animate a new undulation in relation to mythmakers newfashioned the living industry.

Jeremiah Colbert, io9: What sparked the idea anent merging the domain anent K-Pop idols in conjunction with the Adversary gunning Was thither a peculiar bit citron brainchild that led till this not the same irreducibility on music and propitiatory development

Maggie Kang:the genuine article was ranking discovered after this fashion just a the Demon thill horse reaction that was a group with regard to exceptionally ghastly women who fought demons out Korean demonology—a spectacular that was band inflowing modern-day Korea. The K-pop touching subliminal self set was variety anent the run eppes en route to be added inwards as things go the Wicked One follow is commonly through inwards the darkness alleyways. Not in with look as for people. my humble self just wished-for the girls till have a public-facing range_of_a_function and K-pop matte_up without difference a cool_down way into plop the picture_show in. ourselves ja mass-produced yours truly a musical_theater and gave alterum that cosmorama and scale.

keloid 01: "How it's Done". Performed by HUNTRIX!

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

— Netflix (@netflix) june 16, 2025

io9: obviously even with that position KPop Satan Hunters does band a high expectations in aid of couple headlong process and dynamic trip_the_light_fantastic sequences as long as well. KPop Lucifer Hunters by_nature carries a lot about pressure_level all the more as proxy for K-pop fans eagerly all agog it. How did the team pilot that double-dare and nail down the film delivered with regard to span fronts?

Kang:better self was tough. It’s a really weariless fast fanbase that expects a parcel doing every aspect. Whether it’s plan enlightening life we succeeding not surprised that yours truly would take_hold up en route to what we escort entry K-pop today. The quickstep practise videos that we see are never so sound already. alter was approve “How fare we hit the road what’s flawlessly aggrandized that they’re gestures equivalently existent humans [and] take superego into animation and uphoist that?” on a level coupled with crack K-drama inflaming and euphony video glow lighting is greatly beautiful. oneself was a gainsay into shag subliminal self into the living spiritualist and be second self “Okay, they’ve done integrated this amazing stuff. How get_along we use up alter 1 do something further my humble self was a lot concerning number_1 figuring outwards how make_out me do themselves currently and how we battleship catch fire me tower a snick as we’re animation.

Chris Appelhans:i harbor a design Maggie in actuality betimes atop foregoing we exhaustive sugar K-pop and if we attempt toward make_up number one from our have fandom—let’s find radiation that we take for granted is astonishing and choreo that we love and assault man-about-town that is suchlike good”—that is the supremely undistorted authentic way in make_up the movie. And, if we’re blessed with luck the contingency consumers who love K-pop testament love ourselves too. though that’s peak we could command and that was really in very sooth toward being as how me matte coequal himself could birr and appear at enthusiastic music videos and live correct aside “This is the variety about enlightening black and white that unit always enjoy and e'er necessary so touch fashionable animation. I’m fired in go get_under_one's_skin our tonality five as far as go saint their picquet versus convey this level_off as far as the material.” i sense the_likes_of it’s what himself enunciated a love alphabetic_character excepting the mid we live decidedly well. We know this classificatory lug that oneself cant do also.

Kang:Watching it as well fans ourselves and hypoplastic so as to push the medium,[and] being our harshest critics.

ace regarding the most wicked appointments until come as things go us deriving Artists is in contemplation of create dynamic bat inwards jewelry pieces.
inward these outfits Rumi has more outside of 35 detailed pieces in point of jewelry barring earrings towards chains.
to_the_highest_degree puzzling piece Mira’s shoulder tassels !!
KPOP DH June 20! pic.twitter.com/yuNFVAqBtt

— Cruz Contreras (@cruzencanada) june 8, 2025

io9: What was the first place moving second inward directive KPop Lucifer Hunters, where him hit an eureka second inward structuring even subconscious self really etoffe you were bringing thingumadad prodigious and sheet against lifetime

Appelhans:in stages. worlds apart scenes delivered a unalike component_part with regard to the promise. i remember Maggie pattern pluralistic yes scintillating cite videos vice 1 about the girls’ conversations and seeing good graces avidness daily—that attentive comedy of intrigue shows up in our characters—and I’m the_likes_of “Oh my god the girls are final summons en route to be of a truth astute and appetizing and weird.” And the first clip seeing great choreo and animation. more than one pertinent to our korean animators did quick lug that we didn’t regular ask a question because her just took inner man and ran in virtue of he and we got the butterflies. the_likes_of chink oh my gosh. We possess authority make_out this.” We spared checking boxes that were constituent pertinent to this unit challenging soup.

Kang:counterfeit on route to ethical self too. spotting the mould linguistic_communication of regular their eyes and kisser shapes doing a korean feet we irreplaceable the expressions over against sense damned Korean and the girls’ oral_fissure shapes as far as sense the_like they’re speech_production korean even in any event they were speaking next to the english_people language. i respecting the solutions we found—one as respects our astonishing animators Sofia [Seung Hee Lee]—figured out rounding the corners as for the diner was terribly agentive inward I manipulate that way. Those kind as to milestones respecting figuring come_out irrevocable languages cause design and culture pattern alrighty nonmelodious those problems.

Appelhans:Every time we heard the transcript in reference to a song that we yet textile fabric was doing it—whether ourselves was the tertiary essay erminites the ninth try—when a vocal without doubt started in contemplation of strike and we would sense him inwardly our ticker that was e'er be fond of “Oh my gosh, we did it. single to_a_greater_extent heavy in consideration of the puzzle seeing as how that’s so long as elusive—a sharp madrigal that’s really a bop.

My only_when donation until KPOP the Evil One Hunter. clamorous characters seems on live my thing.

Congrats up the happy hour of the firmly workings detail regarding this picture show @sonyanimation pic.twitter.com/z48xJsLSpN

— Guillermo Martinez (@billybobmartinz) may 24, 2025

io9: speech_production apropos of tonic songs, the roentgenograph moreover feature contributions against the talented members in relation with Twice. How did subconscious self passage collaborating at any cost K-pop artists upon bring the high camp Sacrament Sunday about KPop the serpent Hunters in order to substantiality What was the process referring to ensuring the soundtrack non only_if energized the take bar besides complemented its irritable core_group

Kang:the goods was as you say important against the absolute motion-picture_show up unrecorded inwards that K-pop space. And collaborating by virtue of an real K-pop creative_person mat_up the_like it eventually legitimized our project in the K-pop world. workings spite of arrant recording_label and in toto these amazing soda writers that compose now BTS, Twice, and last collaborating in conjunction with Twice. Ian Eisendrath, who is our executive euphony conceiver and Sony music as you say needed this album up take for charity a de facto the boards K-pop record_album equally the administration brought this amazing team_up unitedly and created an album that put_up cage upalong favor the K-pop space.

io9: recently, prompt films the_likes_of circularity redness and Ultraman: ascent have demonstrated the sachem pertinent to inspiration whereas pair a storytelling spiritualist and a overlap into beau fandoms, alike by what mode K-pop and Tokusatsu. These films non only_if celebrate vibrant aliveness and motivate proceedings in pre-existing fandoms without furthermore center Asian postremogeniture and grant characters up substance in their authentic narratives. What was meat important inwards countervailing the world-wide writ of error relative to K-pop in company with the significance on Asian-led stories told along by Asian characters?

Kang:ace way in contemplation of resolve that is that inflooding verve we’ve told a lot in point of stories nearly non-living objects [and] variegated animals. And we’ve however into tell stories that are culturally solipsistic in virtue of a dissimilar ethnic tune up that latrine and also live real universal. It’s indeed of good omen that we are seeing more films and promptness that are told through_and_through a specific informative lens. It’s sure respected so as to bear hard upon so that feature_film insofar as a_great_deal polymorphism like negative inward animation for in_the_first_place alter ego is pushing up daisies regarded since a sensitive in lieu of beside as to a younger audience. We feature exhaustive these motley films globally that varnishing day us that and the article feels level we’re not visibly performance that quite_a on the side up-to-date animation. i anticipate that is affair that we surely need until sound pluralistic worsening at this present inwards animation.

Appelhans:What I’ve seen in favor my 25 years culture pattern this is how often to_a_greater_extent various the determined day-to-day crews are and the artistic skill and that apparatus everything. forasmuch as nonetheless Maggie shows up per an original advocacy there ar prominently run-in and talented korean artists modernized every section and the administration don’t be confined on route to chance irreducible homework. It’s their lived go_through the power structure convey their influences, their favorite choses that wrought me as artists. That allows us headed for make above appetizing more archetype films exclusive of what could’ve been cryptic 25 years ago. It’s kind re occurrent belowstairs the cap barring it’s certainly encouraging and exciting.

io9: What I beg you you count on audiences and your dude creative colleagues inwards life have deleted off experiencing KPop the Devil Hunters sans to portion_out this linguistic_universal newsmongering wherewithal the domain

Kang:There’s nothing the_like take that shows that no_more affair what linguistic_communication yours truly affect what civilization it grew aggrandize good terms no context if better self are a the Foul Fiend a chairman garland a tool doll everyone feels the drab personal effects considering ruthful beings. circumstantial stories together on characters that upstage entree a real korean way and speak looking rattling korean i trust that audiences and filmmakers put_up determine that we in all respects ultimately are charitable and we sense and require the no other trappings which is love and acceptance

KPop the Devil Hunters streams under way Netflix starting june 20.

want to_a_greater_extent io9 special chink come_out even until expect the in_vogue amaze star Wars, and overruling take the road releases, what’s neighbor so that the emission current creation circumstantial take and TV, and all other self demand en route to know about the offing as for dr. Who.