ANI-MOVIES, *K-Pop Demon Hunters

As their first movie after the blockbuster Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation's musical Netflix direct release of K-Pop Demon Hunters combines the elements of recent hit anime like Demon Slayer and Blue Exorcist with Korean pop music which has reached an international explosion over the last decade. Written by former children's book author Chris Appelhans along with Maggie Kang, this film has been in production for over four years. Animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks which is Sony's computer animation and visual effects department who have worked on everything from MCU epics to Disney live-action remakes of animated classics, there is some rough edge designs and movement, even though most of the characters look like they're Bratz rejects that keep switching between meme faces. The story was an original plot not based on any specific source, despite the fact it's easy to see they took a bunch of anime cliches and threw them into a blender making for a mildly edible beverage. The story is the singular flaw as this movie feels more like the follow-up to an already existing TV series instead of starting off fresh in its own new continuity.

For centuries the evil formless demon lord Gwi-Ma has been trying to ensnare the souls of unsuspecting Koreans. To fight this darkness are a trio of female hunters who use their fighting skills and magical music talent to form a gold energy fence between the human and demon realms known as the Honmoon. The hunters' music allows them to harmonize with the potential innocent mortals they protect and to sweep the demons under the rug. This legacy has gone on for generations with the current incarnation being a K-pop group called Huntr/x made of the tough Mira, the wrapping Zoey, and their lead singer Rumi who is secretly half-demon which even her teammates don't know about. The only one aware of Rumi's background is the band's mentor Celine who was a friend of Rumi's mother, although the movie never really gives any context to that and if Rumi's parents had a real relationship or if it was a forced siring. Huntr/x finishes up their world tour and instead of taking some time off, they immediately decide to release their latest single, again just after concluding a world tour! At the same time, a new boy band named the Saja Boys appear and become the Misfits to their Holograms. The rival group is in reality a team of five demons working for Gwi-Ma disguised as handsome young men with their leader Jinu doing this to have the memories of his mortal life completely wiped away of when he sold his soul for fame and abandoned his family. The Saja Boys know that Huntr/x are really demon hunters, but Jinu figures out that Rumi is half-demon and the two of them seem to bond with their shared hidden pasts. This popularity war culminates in an idol award which the Saja Boys use their shapeshifting skills to trick Rumi into revealing her demonic heritage which breaks up Huntr/x because of all the lies. Gwi-Ma has Jinu and his demonic forces put on an impromptu concert to once and for all lower the Honmoon so they can invade the human realm. Rumi shows up at the last possible minute and somehow musters the strength to overcome the evil magic and unite with Huntr/x to vanquish Gwi-Man forever sealing him away, but only after Jinu sacrifices himself to give them that last bit of energy to take it up to eleven. All their fans seem to have no problems with Rumi being only half-human, plus that Mira and Zoey get over Rumi lying to them for years pretty quickly even after their victory.

K-Pop Demon Hunters was a bold attempt to cash in on the popularity of Korean music groups and how mainstream that anime has become in the West over the last few decades. Sony's animation is up to par with the same quality of the Spider-Verse movies, although the character designs are copy/paste from any generic shojo titles who really do appear like fashion dolls with constantly changing facial expressions. The plot can get exceedingly contrived with forbidden romance hints that are ripped right out of Sailor Moon, and there is a landfill's worth of lore to swallow before you can wrap your head around what is going on. The reality of how hectic the life of a K-pop idol can be is represented well in this movie as it can be literally something out of a soap opera, and anyone whose watched the old Jem cartoon knows what that means. Sony intended for this to be a one-shot production but given the centuries of history that the plot set up and where the story could go from here, it's not too hard to see this spawning off a sequel or prequel franchise.