When Sony Pictures Animation announced for the first time Kpop demon hunters Back in 2021, director, writer and long-term K-pap devotee Maggi Kang (The Lego Ninjago Movie) The project was imagined as a love letter in the early days of style, which she grew up and with a vibrant festival of Korean culture. Create team with co-director Chris Appelhans (I wish dragon)Kang prepared a film to craft, which merges the bright accuracy of the C-Pop choreography with a magical girl action spectacle, all wrapped in an original animated adventure premiere on Netflix on 20 June.

Kpop demon hunters Huntrix follows, an emerging girl group, which is made of Rumi, Meera, and Zoe (Aven Cho, May Hong, and G is the voice by G-Yanga Yo), as they gather their pop superstardom with their secret life, which is played by Sinister Gee-Ma ( Squid gameKa li ben ben-hun). To prevent girls from covering the world in the treatment of their music, he controls the only plan that can endanger the loyalty of their dying fanbase: a rival supernatural booraband called the punishment boys.

Prior to the release of the film, IO9 talked with Kang and Applends about how he balanced the expectations of K-Pop Superfan, magical girl and animation lovers, as well as inspire a new wave of mythmkers in their original film animation industry.

Isaiah Collbert, IO9: Did K-Pop statues promote the idea of ​​merging the world with a demon hunting? Was there any decisive moment or inspiration that caused this unique fusion of music and supernatural action?

Maggi Kang: It was first conceived as just a demon hunting idea, which was a group of terrible women who used to fight the demons from the Korean demon-a film that was set in modern Korea. This was the last thing to be added to the K-Pop of all because the demon hunting is usually done in the dark street. Not in front of people. I just wanted the girls to have a public-affected image and K-pap felt like a good thing to set the film. This naturally made it a music and gave it a spectacle and scale.

Track 01: “How It’s Dun”. Performed by Huntrix!

The KPOP demon hunters premiere this Friday! pic.twitter.com/u3y6CQ23ch

– Netflix (@Netflix) June 16, 2025

IO9: Obviously with that title Kpop demon hunters Electrification determines a high expectations for both dynamic dance sequences. Kpop demon hunters Naturally there is too much pressure, especially for the K-Pop fans, it is anxious. How did the team navigate the challenge and ensure that the film was given on both fronts?

Kang: It was difficult. It is a very loyal, dedicated fan that expects a lot on every aspect. Whether it is design, lighting, animation, we ensured that today we will catch what we see in the K-Pop. Dance practice videos we watch is already very good. It was so “How do we take which is so great that they are as real humans [and] Bring it into animation and elevate it? “Even some ke-drama lighting and music video lighting is very beautiful. How do we take it a step forward?” It was known long ago knew how they do it in the present and how we can take it to a rung because we are animation.

Chris Appelhans: I think Maggi really said that we all love the c-pap and if we try to make it for our own fandum-then we think we think we think we are amazing, and Korio that we love, and “man, it’s so good”-This is the most honest, authentic way to make a film. And, if we are lucky, other people who love K-Pop will also like it. But all this we can control and it was really really helpful because it felt that you can go and watch great music videos and be inspired by this, “This is the kind of editorial light that I always love and always wanted to see in animation. I am inspired to go to increase my game to bring this level to this level.” I feel like what you said, the medium through which we really know well, a love letter. We know this special item that you cannot do.

Kang: Want to see it as fans themselves and push the medium forward,[and] Being our harsh critics.

One of the most difficult things for us is to create dynamic movement in jewelry pieces for simulation artists.
These organizations have more than 35 individual pieces of jewelry from earrings to chains in Rumi.
The most complex piece? Meera’s shoulder tasles !!
Kpop DH 20 June! pic.twitter.com/yunfvaqbtt

– Cruise Contrares (@cruzencanada) June 8, 2025

IO9: What was the most exciting moment in direction Kpop demon huntersWhere you hit a ureka moment in production when you really felt that you are bringing something unique and special to life?

Appelhans: In the stages. Different scenes gave a separate part of the promise. I remember that Maggi was doing something really funny reference video for one of the girls’ conversations and was watching daily in animation – that our characters show accurate comedy – and I like, “Oh my God, girls are really cute, and are going to be adorable, and strange.” And for the first time looking at Great Korio and Animation. Some of our Korean animators did some goods, which we did not even ask, they just took it and ran away with it, and we got the butterflies. Like, “Czech, oh my gosh. We can do this.” We kept checking such boxes that were part of this entire ambitious soup.

Kang: Like me too. Finding their eyes and mouth -shaped language on a Korean face also, we wanted the emotions to feel very Korean and feel the shape of the girls that they were speaking in the English language, even though they were speaking in the English language. One of the solutions we found- Sophia, one of our amazing animals [Seung Hee Lee]- It was really helpful in them to round the corners of the mouth. Such milestones actually broke those problems of detection of some languages ​​for design and style.

Appelhans: Every time we heard a version of a song, which we finally felt – whether it was the third attempt or ninth attempt – when a song was actually a hit and we would feel it in our courage, it always liked it, “Oh my gosh, we did it. For another piece puzzle” for the puzzle “because it is so elusive – a pop song that is actually a pop song.

My only contribution to the KPOP demon Hunter. Screaming characters seem to me.

Congratulations to the rest of the hard work of this film! @Sonyanimation pic.twitter.com/z48xjslspn

– Guillermo Martinez (@BilllybobMartinz) May 24, 2025

IO9: Talking about pop songs, the film also contributes two -time talented members. How did you contact to cooperate with K-Pop artists to bring elements of music Kpop demon hunters For life? The process of ensuring the soundtrack not only activated the film, but also made its emotional core complement?

Kang: It was really important for the entire film to be in that ke-pap space. And with cooperation with a real caps artist, it seemed that it finally legalized our project in the K-Pop world. Black labels and working with all these amazing pop writers who write for BTS, twice, and eventually cooperate twice. Ian Isndraratha, who is our executive music manufacturer, and Sony Music really wanted to feel this album like a real, legal ke-pop album, so they brought this amazing team together and created an album that could hold in the K-Pop space.

IO9: RClearly, like animated movies Red bend And Ultraman: Rising The power of animation is displayed both as a story and a bridge, such as in cute fandams such as the K-Pop and Tokasatsu. These films not only celebrate vibrant animation and bring life to the already existing fans, but also keep the Asian heritage at the center and allow the characters to the center in their authentic stories. What was the most important in balanced the global appeal of K-Pop with the importance of Asian-led Asian-led stories mentioned by Asian characters?

Kang: One way to answer this is that in animation, we have told a lot of stories about lifeless things. [and] Various animals. And we have not yet told stories that are culturally specialized through a separate cultural voice which can also be very universal. It is really promising that we are watching more movies and animations that are told through a separate cultural lens. It is really important to try to facilitate as much variety as possible in animation, because mainly, it is still considered as a medium for a small audience. We have all these different films globally which are showing us and it seems that we are not really doing so in animation yet. I think this is something that we really need to give more diversity at this level in animation.

Appelhans: I have seen doing so in my 25 years that the actual day-to-day crew and talent are diverse, and it means everything. Because when Maggi shows with an original idea, every department has incredibly experienced and talented Korean artists, and they do not need to do any homework. This is their living experience that they bring, their effects, their favorite things that shape them as artists. This allows us to make more interesting, more original films than what may be possible 25 years ago. It is happening under the hood, but it is really promising and exciting.

IO9: What do you hope that your fellow in the audience and animation will take the creative colleagues away from experiencing Kpop demon hunters Want to share this universal story with the world?

Kang: There is nothing like a film that shows in which language you speak, in which culture you have grown up, whether you are a demon, chair, or a toy doll, everyone feels the same things as humans. Telling stories with characters that emit a very Korean way and look very Korean, I hope the audience and filmmakers can see that we are finally human and we feel and we want the same things that are love and acceptance.

Kpop demon hunters The currents on Netflix begin on June 20.

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