A few weeks ago I saw a new animated movie in my Netflix feed. It was titled K-POP Demon Hunters. I ignored it. The title sounded silly and put me off. My first thought was it must be similar to every other badly drawn badly animated cookie cutter movie out of Japan, made for kids who actually like the art of Dragon Ball Z. (ugh) Anime has been flooding Netflix for months. Some anime I’ve seen is not something I can stomach. I usually watch the first episode, then turn it off. Some anime however, is excellent. Studio Ghibli for example.
I also am addicted to You Tube. One type of video I like to watch is movie reviews. The past week or so my feed has been flooded with reviews for K-POP Demon slayers. I got tired of seeing these in my feed; especially when reviewers kept saying they were also reluctant to watch this for the same reasons I was, and they didn’t think they’d like it. Same as me. So, I decided to see what all the fuss was about.
Two words. MIND BLOWN. I loved this. The animation is beautiful. I found out it was created by SONY; the same people who brought us Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, and Across the Spiderverse.
The story is set in Korea where three female guardians are chosen each generation to protect the Earth from demons by using the gift of song. And all the songs in this movie kick butt. They are catchy ear worms for sure. All of them have a place in the story. The words have meaning and move the story along instead of bogging it down.
Great care was taken to make sure Korean culture was expressed. The dress, the food, the scenery, and the demons all showcased Korean lore and culture. Although the story was done in a more modern 3D style, the storytellers kept the fun anime tradition of distorting faces when an extreme emotion is expressed. The directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans made sure tiny details were implemented to reflect Korean life and culture. Even the way the characters mouths formed their words. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but in different cultures people move their bodies differently. Their mouths move differently to form syllables for that language. Kang made sure this detail was not overlooked.
The demons in their true form are wonderful to look at. I especially love the airplane pilot. They are taken from traditional demons in Asian folklore. The tiger and magpie have been depicted in folk art (called Minhwa) as a pair for almost a thousand years. Tiger has a very traditional look, despite resembling the Cheshire cat.
One thing I noticed about the character design is everyone had skinny legs. The demon hunters had legs impossibly long, but they didn’t look grotesque. I can’t say the same for the Saja boys. Saja means lion, but it also means reaper of death The Saja boys IMO could have benefited from some lower body work. Especially Abby. He was all about his abs and upper body, which made him look way out of proportion. He also looked a bit too pretty to be attractive to a straight girl. Again, only my opinion. I didn’t find any of the demon boys attractive except for Jinu. But I’m not a 14 year old.
Sony hit the ball out of the part with this one. I say give it a try. If you don’t like it you can always watch Dragon Ball Z or Pokemon or something.
