K-Pop Demon Hunters: A Phenomenon of Hope and Cultural Impact
Movie: <K-Pop Demon Hunters>
K-Pop Demon Hunters, 2025
Directed by Maggie Kang
K-Pop Demon Hunters, also known as KDH, has recently surpassed the highest number of views on Netflix and is gaining phenomenal popularity not only in Korea but also worldwide. Rather than knowing the work itself first, I encountered the high popularity of the work through numerous parodies, cover videos, and word of mouth. So, I was curious. What aspects have captivated people so much? Therefore, this week's movie is the currently most popular animation, <K-Pop Demon Hunters>.
Interpreting K-Pop Demon Hunters, it means K-Pop demon hunters. As the title suggests, it tells the story of exorcising evil spirits through K-Pop. It is largely divided into two categories: the Huntress, who are the hunters, and the evil spirits.
Among them, Lumi, a member of Huntress, has the identity of Huntress but actually has an evil spirit mark. This is because she was born between an evil spirit father and a human mother. She hides her identity and experiences conflict due to her identity, but eventually achieves the exorcism of evil spirits as Huntress, which is her own will.
People empathized with the main character, Lumi. This is because it was a story that applied to young people who feel like they don't belong anywhere, immigrants, teenagers experiencing identity confusion, and people working hard for their dreams. Lumi is in the process of moving towards her goal, but she conflicts with the things that block her. But even so, she moves forward with hope. She says,
"The funny thing about hope is that no one can feel it for you. You have to feel it yourself."
Lumi talks about hope. She is the most hopeful character in the play, and hope is the driving force of her life. In fact, there is a contrasting figure who clearly shows the difference in perspective on hope. That is Jinwoo, a member of the evil spirit K-Pop group, the Lion Boys. Jinwoo recalls his past mistakes and says that he can never go back. There is no hope for him. In the latter part, the above line becomes a foreshadowing.
Even at Lumi's words to have hope, Jinwoo continues to participate in the will of the evil spirits to ruin the world, and eventually disappears at the hands of Huntress.
Hope is something that only I can give myself. Others can never plant hope in my heart. Hope is literally the belief that something will be achieved, it is my state of mind. Lumi showed that if you think you can, you can, and the movie says through Jinwoo that if you think you can't, you can't.
How should I have hope? To have hope, you must first have a dream. You must have a goal to achieve. This is because hope is the belief that you can reach that destination. Without direction, hope is in vain. Also, it is necessary to consider which is more life-efficient, having hope or not having hope. In that case, the direction of having hope is the one that creates much more momentum in life. I must think that I will definitely do well and succeed. As long as I live, I might as well say that I must have hope. Hope is the fuel of life. Just as a car moves forward with gasoline and electricity, life moves forward with hope as fuel.
I wanted to give a message to overcome the fear within me and find confidence in myself. Lumi had the mark of a demon that she had to hide and live with, and Jinwoo has fear within him. What I wanted to say with the two characters was that everyone has parts they want to hide inside, but they should always try to overcome them. I wanted to say that even if we cannot completely eliminate the anxiety and fear we have, we must develop the inner strength to acknowledge it.
What made KDH more interesting to me as a Korean was that things familiar to me appeared. The main character sits on the floor instead of the sofa and eats gimbap and cup ramen. There is always a sheet of tissue paper under the spoon, and Naksan Park, which I often go to, appears. (Even the shape of the fortress walls of Naksan Park, the nature of the land, the shape of the hurdles dividing the boundary between grass and concrete, and the buildings visible behind Naksan Park were so similar to the real thing.) Ttukseom Park is located on the subway, and there is a pink seat for pregnant women inside the subway. The scenery was so familiar to me as a Korean, so I was very interested. (In fact, there is a psychological term called 'simple exposure effect' that people feel high favorability towards things they see often.)
It had the function of newly introducing Korean culture to foreigners, and Koreans were able to feel familiar things and increase their interest.
K-Pop Demon Hunters once again showed that one movie can change things. The success of KDH has greatly increased the number of tourists visiting Korea. Hanbok experiences increased by 30%, and visits to public bathhouses increased by 84%. The number of Korean-related search terms on Google has increased 10-fold, and the number of monthly visitors to the oriental medicine clinic, which is the actual background, has increased more than 3-fold. Among foreigners, there is a travel package called the KDH pilgrimage that bundles Namsan Tower, Naksan Park, Myeongdong, and Hanok Village, which are the settings for the appearance.
When Korean immigrants brought gimbap to school as children, they were discriminated against for smelling bad. But now, foreign children ask their parents to make gimbap for them. One movie has changed the culture and the world.
I dream of living wonderfully with wonderful people in a wonderful world through acting. Conveying a message to the world through a work and having it reach people has an enormous ripple effect. I reconfirmed a similar appearance of my dream coming true through KDH. I feel once again how powerful a work has. I will definitely live wonderfully with wonderful people in a wonderful world through my acting and through the works I do.
No comments yet.
