‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Marks a New Chapter of the Korean Wave

In contracts that followed, the Korean wave successfully spread outside the continent, with K-POP BTS and BlackPink groups, and K-dramas like Squid gameThe Oscar -winning film Parasite Getting popular and praising the products and K-Uausses quickly appear on the shelves of global retailers.

This summer, Netflix movie KPOP hunters are devil Join this rank, and quickly move from an unexpected blow to the undisputed cultural tyrant.

The Animated Musical Huntr/X follows, a K-POP girl group that lives a double life like Satan fishermen. They were accused of protecting Hunmamon (or the gateway to the soul), which prevents demons from entering the human world. The ruler of Satan Gwi-MA is a group of children, Saja Boys, to fight Huntr/X for human lives through attractive songs and designs in front of crowds of fans.

Since its release in June, KPOP hunters are devil Netflix has become the most suitable in all times, while its lyrical version-which was released in theaters for only two days-has taken advantage of the American box office in late last month.

The most surprising is its resounding success on the American advertising plate plans. As of the chart on September 20, the song “Golden” remained first for five weeks, which is most in the animation. There are four songs from the film in the top ten, and the soundtrack is now ranked first on the albums scheme. It is now worth noting that the fictional K-POP groups in the movie-which is taught by the real singers of the K-POP-surpasses the real world groups: on Spotify, there are currently more than 50 million listeners per month from BTS and 33 million SAJA children, compared to 32 million listeners per month from BlackPink and 26 million BTS.

Since the beginning of modern K-POP with SEO Taiji in 1992, the music of this type has always been made with both Koreans and non-Koreans into consideration. Many songwriters and producers are from Sweden and other European countries, and some Korean companies have brought foreign talent to work in Korea. Today, with the remarkable exception of BTS, most K-POP groups have at least one member not Korean, which can help a group reach the masses and communicate with the masses elsewhere in the world. Until recently, K-POP songs usually mix Korean, English words or Japanese and Chinese words sometimes for those markets concerned.

However, some entertainment companies adopt K-POP collections and songs that use local cultural elements on Korean banking factors-a concept called Emiratization-this will be more marketable and expanded for non-Korean audiences. This can take the form of songs in English, and the music clips that were filmed on New York -like collections or Los Angeles with non -Korean back dancers, and the like.

The most extreme version of this may be a group like DeAralice-based on the UK and developed in partnership with K-POP SM Entertainment. Its members are not Koreans, and they were not trained under the strict K-POP system in Korea, singing and speaking in English.

In essence, KPOP hunters are devil It is the reprimand of this trend. Although the film was moving and book in the United States, it is proudly a Korean producer: his team consists of Korean citizens and diaspora members, his music is characterized by a mixture of Korean and English words, and its story is strongly affected by Korean culture.

This commitment can be seen in the preparation, as the characters in the Olympic Seoul Stadium perform a time in the historic Bukchon Hanok village, or go in romantic outings along the Seoul Fortress wall in Naksan Park ITAEWON category and A strong woman does Pong soon. It can be seen in the effects of Korean folklore – for example, the boys were named Saja and like Jeoseung Saja, Korean Korean harvest, and high sports black caps, called ComeThe upper class of official occasions during the Joseon family. Film gestures also to Korean folk art, Mina,, Which were seen on the Jino comrades of the animal, the Derby The Tiger and Soussi Al -Aqqq, which was commonly photographed in the art of Joseon era.

Besides these visual options, the film conspiracy honors Korean heritage and identity. The film imposes its main characters on facing their identities. Rumi hides her heritage, Satan, while Gino distorts his human past, and he is only by falling in love to become a reality with themselves and embrace those who are really. This plot device may remind the Koreans of expatriates to be proud of their Korean heritage. After all, many songs and artists participating in the film are part of the Korean diaspora, and the K-POP itself owes the Koreans who moved from Australia, Canada and the United States to Korea to participate in the music industry.

RUMI, Mira and Zoey jumped to attack a crowd of demons. Netflix

Beyond her dedication to Korean culture and history, KPOP hunters are devil It is also just a greeting to the K-POP itself. Although the film embraces fictional elements, it also requires this world to accurately reflect, and provides fans to the fans of dedications and an enjoyable entry point for those new in this phenomenon.

Huntr/X and Saja Boys have distinctive light sticks of their own, wave at concerts and are used to show membership in Fandom-which the film fans are already returned. The film also shows how quickly the K-POP fans move from a favorite group to a new group, especially recently, when for the first time up to 70 new groups each year. Like their real world counterparts, the new Huntr/X and Saja Boys members are launched at an expected pace, regularly with fans and appear on various offers.

In K-POP, good idols should declare their love for their fans and mean that, but the boys Saja succeeded the flowers they receive from fans in garbage, while showing the behavior of the idol he supervises. According to the formation, after one general meeting, fans begin to predict the members of Huntr/X and Saja Boys, whose history dates back to each other, and the generation of “TLINGO” to associate the imagined or real relationship.

Even when he praises the world of K-POP, Satan fishermen It also turns this text in main ways. The members of the idol collections usually perform the songs as determined by their management companies. However, in the movie, Huntr/X calls the shots, and their manager, Bobby, what he said.

While Asian and Asian American women are often photographed in American cinema as negative and sexual things, Huntr/X-Rumi, Mira and Zoey-Zoey-strong stars are strong but they are in their doubts despite being K-Pop stars around the world. In a blatant contradiction with the actual K-POP collections, the appearances of their members and characters are often homogeneous, the Huntr/X stars are unique to each other in their backs, musical strength points and sounds.

In fact, the boys Saja are the ones who are less distinct. Jinu is only given a suitable name. Other members lack distinctive characters and are called accordingly: Abby (for the absolute value of the muscles), the child (because he is nice and face for the child), romance (for his heart in the shape of a heart), and ambiguity (in relation to the long bangs that cover most of his face). Like K-POP stars, it is mainly objected to through their appearance, which are shown by fans, Mira and Zoey, whose eyes have become the hearts of humor, then ABS, then corn on the cup, and finally popcorn when you watch children first.

Although K-POP idols were very sexual, Huntr/X members are not. For example, in Korea, the length of the hair symbolizes femininity, and almost all female idols have long hair. Here, Zoey SPORTS Short Hair, RUMI hair is installed in a braid, and long Mira hair is designed in a ponytail.

The objection to men instead of women is noticeable and somewhat imagination in a country that includes the widest gender wage gap between the organization of economic cooperation and the development countries. in Atlantic OceanIn the South Korea, journalist Anna Louis Susman writes that in South Korea, the sex is the most severe “social rift line”. Increasingly, amid the emergence of 4B movement, women refuse to dating, marry, childbearing and sex with men, as is documented in many surveys of social sciences and in the works of Mira Choi, PhD. A candidate at Yale University.

It is a miracle that South Korea had a strong cultural impact, given its population of only 52 million. With the emergence of K-POP, South Korea has become a unique source of soft energy. But with the growth of industry and became more universal, she found itself with something of the identity crisis. Halllyu and K-Pop products are struggled in particular, with the amount of their Korean roots to maintain the desire for more global expansion.

KPOP hunters are devil He explains that consumers are not looking for a product that has been stripped of Korean cultural elements or the Koreans themselves. You do not need to simulate America or any other bob culture to be successful. The audience enjoys its distinction and because it is something different from what they already know and can be consumed elsewhere.

Many wondered and speculated the factors that made this movie very common. Sometimes the movie is just a movie, and the efforts to repeat the success of the original often fail. But with her victory, KPOP hunters are devil It seems that it has been clarified in the next chapter of the Korean wave-which is known as K-POP, even as a global brand, which does not need to get rid of the Korean.