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

When Sony Photos Animation first introduced KPop Demon Hunters again in 2021, director, author, and longtime Okay-pop devotee Maggie Kang (The Lego Ninjago Film) envisioned the challenge 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 authentic 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 below the command of the sinister Gwi-Ma (performed by Squid Sport‘s Lee Byung-hun). To forestall the ladies from enveloping the world within the therapeutic mild of their music, he concocts the one plan that might threaten the loyalty of their diehard fanbase: a rival supernatural boyband referred to 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 fanatics, and animation lovers, in addition to their hopes for the way their authentic movie would possibly encourage a brand new wave of mythmakers within the animation business.

Isaiah Colbert, io9: What sparked the concept 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 bunch of actually superior girls who fought demons from Korean demonology—a film that was set in modern-day Korea. The Okay-pop of all of it was form of the very last thing to be added in as a result of demon looking is normally achieved at the hours of darkness alleyways. Not in entrance of individuals. I simply wished the ladies 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.

Monitor 01: “The way it’s Finished”. 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 nicely. KPop Demon Hunters naturally carries numerous stress, particularly for Okay-pop followers eagerly anticipating it. How did the staff 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 loads 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 immediately. 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] carry it into animation and elevate that?” Even with some Okay-drama lighting and music video lighting is so stunning. It was a problem to carry it into the animation medium and be like, “Okay, they’ve achieved all this wonderful 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 will take it up a notch as a result of we’re animation.

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

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

Probably the most troublesome 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 bijou 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 essentially the most thrilling second in directing KPop Demon Hunters, the place you hit an eureka second in manufacturing whenever you actually felt you have been bringing one thing distinctive and particular to life?

Appelhans: In phases. Completely different scenes delivered a special a part of the promise. I bear in mind Maggie performing some actually humorous reference movies for one of many ladies’ conversations and seeing in animation each day—that actual comedy reveals up in our characters—and I’m like, “Oh my god, the ladies are going to be actually cute, and cute, 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 bought the butterflies. Like, “Test, oh my gosh. We are able to do that.” We stored checking bins that have been a part of this entire formidable soup.

Kang: Much 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 ladies’ mouth shapes to really feel like they’re talking Korean, despite the fact that they have been talking within the English language. One of many options we discovered—one in every of our wonderful animators Sofia [Seung Hee Lee]—found out rounding the corners of the mouth was actually useful in them really feel that means. These form of milestones of determining sure languages for design and magnificence actually cracked these issues.

Appelhans: Each time we heard the model of a track that we lastly felt was doing it—whether or not it was the third strive or the ninth strive—when a track actually began to hit and we might really feel it in our guts, that was all the time like, “Oh my gosh, we did it. Yet another piece to the puzzle” as a result of that’s so elusive—a pop track 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 laborious 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 gifted members of Twice. How did you strategy collaborating with Okay-pop artists to carry the musical parts 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 vital for your complete film to reside in that Okay-pop house. And collaborating with an precise Okay-pop artist felt prefer it lastly legitimized our challenge within the Okay-pop world. Working with Black Label and all these wonderful pop writers that write for BTS, Twice, and in the end 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 wonderful staff collectively and created an album that may maintain up within the Okay-pop house.

io9: Recently, animated movies like Turning Pink and Ultraman: Rising have demonstrated the ability of animation as each a storytelling medium and a bridge into beloved fandoms, resembling Okay-pop and Tokusatsu. These movies not solely have fun vibrant animation and produce life to pre-existing fandoms but additionally middle Asian heritage and permit characters to middle of their genuine narratives. What was most vital in balancing the worldwide enchantment of Okay-pop with the importance of Asian-led tales advised by Asian characters?

Kang: One approach to reply that’s that in animation, we’ve advised numerous tales about inanimate objects [and] totally different animals. And we’ve but to inform tales which are culturally particular by means of a special cultural voice that may also be very common. It’s actually promising that we’re seeing extra movies and animation which are advised by means of a special cultural lens. It’s actually vital to attempt to function as a lot range as doable in animation as a result of, primarily, it’s nonetheless considered a medium for extra of a youthful viewers. We’ve all these totally different movies globally that displaying us that and it seems 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 way more numerous the precise day-to-day crews are and the expertise, and meaning every thing. As a result of when Maggie reveals up with an authentic thought, there are extremely skilled and gifted 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 attention-grabbing, extra authentic movies than what may’ve been doable 25 years in the past. It’s form of occurring below 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 reveals that it doesn’t matter what language you communicate, what tradition you grew up in, regardless 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 means and communicate wanting very Korean, I hope that audiences and filmmakers can see that all of us in the end are human and we really feel and need the identical issues which is love and acceptance

KPop Demon Hunters streams on Netflix beginning June 20.

Need extra io9 information? Try when to count on the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and every thing you could find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.