Huntr/x vs. Saja Boys: K-Pop Rivalry with a Supernatural Twist

In the space of a few weeks, KPop Demon Hunters has taken over Netflix’s top charts and movie rankings across the world. Since the 20 June release of the South Korean-produced animated film, its fantasy-adventure story has been streamed more than 33 million times, hitting the global top 10 in 93 countries and currently ranking number two. Fans are already creating their fan art, and online chatter for a sequel is building each day.

The hype, though, isn’t just online. Since the film’s premiere last month, the two fictional K-pop bands who are the stars of the story — the all-female K-pop band Huntr/x, and their all-boy rivals the Saja Boys — have entered real-world music charts, outselling actual K-pop groups such as BTS and Blackpink. Seven of their tracks have entered the Billboard Hot 100, while in Spotify’s US chart, they occupy first and second place — the first time two fictional artists have ranked so highly at the same time.

The film is part Korean high-school fantasy, part caper movie. It follows the three members of Huntr/x — Rumi, Mira, and Zoey — as they navigate their double lives as global pop sensations and the Demon Hunters, a trio of secret warrior women who protect the world from mystical forces of evil. They face off against their mischievous rivals, the Saja Boys, as well as their deadly ancient nemesis, through action-packed chases, slick, choreographed dance routines, and a storyline about friendship, trust, and self-acceptance. Humour, friendship, even a little romance, and a full dose of fantasy ensue.

“The music is so well placed that you don’t feel like it is a song added to the middle of a conversation,” says Ben Salmi. “It gives the film a surprising level of maturity.”

To help make that happen, Kang and fellow director Chris Appelhans collaborated with a Korean music label and brought in industry heavyweights. Teddy Park, the Grammy-nominated producer behind Blackpink’s big hits, and Lindgren, who has worked with BTS, TWICE, and other supergroups and whose credits include the Grammy-winning K-pop album, both wrote and produced songs in the film. Some of the lyrics were changed to suit the plot and characters, but as with any major K-pop act, each track is unique.

“I am not usually a follower of K-pop, but I have been blasting the soundtrack on Spotify every time I get in the car,” says Amanda Golka, a content creator based in Los Angeles. “It’s fascinating how music can be such a universal language.”

Teddy Park, the Grammy-nominated producer who has worked with some of the industry’s biggest names and who wrote and produced songs for the film, was behind one of its best-loved characters, the bespectacled shih tzu Doggo.

Attention was paid to seemingly small details. Although the cast speaks English in the final film, the animation team used Korean pronunciations to shape their lip movements and reactions, so they sounded authentically Korean. When Korean words or lyrics are used in the script, they are highlighted by subtitles or graphics.

Park, for example, was not only one of the film’s key songwriters, but was also behind one of the film’s most endearing — and best-loved — characters: Doggo, the bespectacled shih tzu puppy. “It’s more than an animated movie, it’s a K-pop movie,” he says. “It is a special project for me because it’s animation combined with K-pop, and there aren’t many of those.”

The cultural references go beyond just Korean pop stars to include depictions of Korean fandom culture that many Korean pop music fans will recognise from their own lives: fan signing events, the lighting of colour-coded light sticks, Kalgunmu or perfectly synchronised dance routines, Korean fan placards, and more. K-pop fans say they love how the film reflects the whole K-pop culture rather than just one era or even one band. “It’s not just the exact colour schemes and the lightsticks,” says Golka. “Even when we are following their actions as fans, those details are what make this so authentic.”

The use of traditional Korean symbols is also part of the appeal: references to Korean folklore and shamanism, for example, appear in the supernatural storyline. Huntr/x’s swords and fans are a nod to the tools of Mudang, or Korean shamans; the Saja Boys evoke the appearance and weapons of the Korean Grim Reaper. Folkloric symbols and names, such as the Dangsan tree and the Dokkaebi goblin, appear in the action, as do a pair of folk-inspired mascots — a tiger named Derpy, who symbolises guardianship, and a magpie called Sussy, who is associated with good fortune.