---
title: 'i need to talk about KPop Demon Hunters'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=QdCgAqhbtn8'
video_id: 'QdCgAqhbtn8'
date: 2026-07-01
duration_sec: 971
---

# i need to talk about KPop Demon Hunters

> Source: [i need to talk about KPop Demon Hunters](https://youtube.com/watch?v=QdCgAqhbtn8)

## Summary



## Transcript

Go after the very thing that 
powers the The Honmoon. The fans.
...A demon boy band?
I went down a Korean demonology 
mythology art history rabbit hole.
Demon does not mean one specific 
thing in Korean mythology
in a kinda a similar way that in the 
west fairy are fae, and gnomes are fae.
And If you didn't know gnomes 
are fae I just blew your mind!
in korean mythology
Dokkaebi are different types of I wanna 
say goblin demons; but remove the idea  
of inherent negativity, despite the 
commonness of fangs the vibe isn't orge
its fae trickster who won't commonly 
hurt you if you don't hurt them.
Traditionally, they were never 
human. They have never died. 
They can be ugly or beautiful, but they commonly  
wear traditional Korean hanbok. And 
sometimes appear out of blue flames!
They were said to arise 
from old discarded objects,  
an old basket an old broom, especially 
an object stained with human blood.
I find the idea that they can 
be both nature spirits and arise  
from objects very interesting rather 
than coming from a soul or from earth
Dokkaebi are tricksters, and they dont all want 
the same thing. Some are helpers, Some want to  
seduce humans, some wanna wrestle, some wanna 
wrestle even though they only have one leg!
Theirs also a lot of art of them 
singing and dancing so they like music!
They also often depicted with clubs, but these 
aren't just cave man clubs, they actually work  
as magic wands, and while they cannot create 
matter they can summon existing objects.
Some are friendly enough to have 
over for dinner but if you hang  
out with them too much you start to turn into one.
Which happens in one story and an old man 
has drinks with a Dokkaebi and then has to  
trick a Dokkaebi into leaving him but 
not before tricking him into thinking  
I'd be a really great act of revenge 
to leave him a whole bunch of money.
In some traditions you might make 
an offering to them because some  
are defenders against evil spirits or 
they might help you with your crops.
But in other traditions they’re the 
trouble makers so you do things to  
drive them away or at the very least do 
something to promote the good in them.
Meaning for the movie this group of demons 
being imprisoned by Gwi-Ma may be different  
types of creatures all clustered under 
one label. While Jinu made a bargain;  
others might not have the 
same reasons for being there.
What I learned from my rabbit 
hole was that Korean mythology  
only reinforced the essentially 
not-evil nature of these creatures.
The word Saja has a double meaning. 
Said one way it means lion but said  
another way with a long vowel 
it means envoy or emissary the  
band’s name has this double meaning 
that plays off of the jeoseung saja.
jeoseung saja...
jeoooooseug saaaaja
Oh my god... Its hitting me 
how bad my pronunciation is...
DO NOT COPY MY PRONUNCIATION IN THIS VIDEO!
Be honest... do I sound like that 
cat that goes oh long johnson!?
(clip)
oh long johnson
jeoseung saja
in korean mythology are jeoseung saja are 
kinda like government worker for death.
They’re not evil spirits it’s just 
their job. They carry a death ledger  
of the names of people who’s time is up. 
And they don't cause your death so don't  
shoot the messenger you just follow them 
after you die cause its their sacred duty .
They were typically in medieval 
armor maybe on a horse.
This sleek all black aesthetic for the jeoseung  
saja is based off of old 
korean movies and k-drama.
The Saja boys are definitely not jeoseung 
saja as they have malicious intent,
but them dressing as them comes 
off as a funny threat to me.
You may notice that their outfits they 
wore in your idol are more modern shiny  
versions of their original outfits 
they wore when they pitched the idea
so I think this is canonically a 
costume to them mocking their victims
as in, "If you see me in this outfit, 
its like you’re already dead."
I think this is in character for 
them considering that the soda pop  
song is basically a metaphor for them 
drinking up the souls of their victims.
You're my soda pop, gotta drink every drop.
I like that the romantic arc between Rumi and Jinu 
doesn't have a kiss; it can just be a meaningful  
connection that ends in tragedy. This is super 
smart because it allows the connection between  
Rumi, Mira and Zoey to be the strongest force 
in the movie which makes sense thematically.
It shows serious restraint that their romance 
scenes are just brief sorta awkward conversations  
where you get the sense that they could be 
so much more. Because selling a love story  
between a 400 year old demon and a human is 
already hard but not having to rush it to get  
to a big kiss or an I love you just adds so 
much oxygen and charm to their interactions
i just want to talk
talk?
about your patterns
uhh... but first i wanna talk about those pants.
Teddy bears and choo choo trains, really?
It much more romantic because it doesn't 
feel like a bullet train paint by numbers  
forbidden love that would inevitably 
fight for time with everything else.
Speaking of things that could have gone 
so so so wrong but went so so so so right.
If the catchy songs weren't catchy. And if 
the choreography wasn't so addictive to watch
oh my god it makes me nervous thinking 
of how much was riding on that.
because that would- this would 
just be a different movie.
But Golden and more concerning 
for our souls Soda Pop have done  
extremely well and the album's official 
soundtrack hit number 1 on Spotify.
I think it's interesting how this movie does 
its call to action very nontraditionally. It  
starts "in medias res” in the middle of the 
action. And this is really suiting here when  
you think about it because these girls are 
experts in the two things they do that are  
sorta the one thing so that slow wind up of 
bumbling around being an everyman stage is  
not really needed where and instead we 
can start with their baseline reality.
and there baseline reality 
is bombastic glamorous chaos
and that's why How’s It’s Done is 
a really satisfying way of getting  
into this world. Into their mind set, 
what drives them, what upsets them.
The entire movie keeps the tone very silly 
and high energy and i think that's why they  
stayed away from giving too much 
backstory. Which I wanted more of;  
but that's very good problem to have when I want 
more backstory but I still don't feel empty as  
a viewer I just want more of it because I 
want more of the characters and this world.
It’s honestly beautiful as 
a stand alone piece though
I’m expecting a "tiger" has been spotted in 
the "pasture"... if you catch my drift...
The tiger is made of money.
The world building itself is very folklore 
driven which I love and it's honestly  
an example about how, especially in movies 
when you can do interesting visual elements,  
outright telling is not always a bad 
thing, sometimes it can be very fable-like.
K-Pop Demon Hunters is actually doing a lot 
of that. But it's doing it with rich visuals  
so I think it's getting away with this very blunt 
script. Where it is kinda just telling you things
But its not like it always over explains, 
it doesn't take every opportunity to over  
explain for example Celine or Jinu and 
I think that's why its getting away with  
it because even after the movie there is a 
lot left to talk about that's up in the air.
Also every piece of exposition 
is like very short and punchy  
trying to get the most bang for its 
buck in terms of characterization.
The momentum of the movie is very fast. It 
definitely gives this fun feeling, it can almost  
feel exhausting but a glamorous sort of exhausted 
where I collapse next to my floating steps
The drawback is; this movie didn't make 
me cry and I think that hummingbird tone  
is part of that— however this movie 
has such a unique vibe it scratches  
such a specific psychological itch that 
I don’t know if tampering with that to  
fix my problem wouldn't just break that 
zippy funess to it. Because its going;
beat. beat! beat!!!
at a fast pace
and that makes me feel like I’m following this 
larger than life magical Kpop demon hunter girl.
The humor was a little corny for me, but a couple 
of jokes hit great and were more of my humor.
I just need to look away and... 
relax Bobby... it's just social  
media numbers. Its not the end of the world.
Bobby generally hit very well with 
me. Very cute supporting role. So  
did Mira’s concerning reactions to 
things despite her edgy exterior.
you okay?
uhhh what are you doing...? 
....umm...nothing just 
uh... did you wanna come in? 
I mean yeah if you want me 
to come in I can come in.
The tiger and the magpie fascinated me. I love 
how the magpies animated I love how METAL he is!
I love designs with too many eyes.
He's just such a perfect cute demon bird.
There is a lot of Korean folk 
art about tigers and magpies!
Now the tiger can represent a lot of things it can 
be good fortune but also be a stand in for like  
people in position of power. Or notable for this 
it I think for us protection from evil spirits
it’s ironic an evil spirit like Jinu 
would keep something that keeps him at bay 
like a snail keeping salt 
as a pet. A pet … rock salt…
But within that irony Jinu 
is obviously not the most  
evil demon and he needs protection from 
evil demons so he literally needs them.
Or it kinda of implies Jinu isn't evil and 
this may be some good spirit tethered to him.
Also Jinu’s line about the hat is one 
of my favorite lines of the movie.
I also think this from the credits 
points to the idea Jinu made the hat  
small because the tiger was small... which 
is important information to tell you...
Sometimes I wonder why some cute mascots hit 
harder for me than others. Theirs is this book  
The power of cute by Simon May that has this 
interesting suggestion that on some level in  
order for something to be really really cute 
there needs to be something sorta pathetic about  
it something that cries for our help. Like 
a puppy is cute; but a puppy with a cast on
I'm not sure if that's always true but I was 
definitely thinking about it watching this.
Because that's how I feel about this tiger 
that just sorta innocently… curiously….  
get the flower pot to stand upright but he 
keeps knocking it over. The tiger’s design  
is beautiful based off Korean tiger art, but 
it has very unnerving eyes that are not the  
obvious choice for a cute character that's 
essentially functioning as a walking mailbox,  
but man… he works… I love this tiger. Also very 
boopable nos. The tiger has a boopable nose.
There is also many things I find 
amusing even if they're not haha  
funny to me like how tropey the soja boys are.
Like I think it's funny it's like , "Oh theirs the 
mysterious one the ripped one who's name is abs  
and then theirs the one that's the quote unquote 
"baby" of the group sucking on his water bottle.
I will say the way these characters are flawed 
is very light for a story about shame. But they  
are likeable because it’s kinda what’s not to 
like; they’re very cute and relatable. I too  
enjoy eating and resting. A lot of it is in 
the character design and facial expressions.  
And 5% of it might be that the glitter in 
the eye make up makes my dopamine go crazy.
Rumi, Mira and Zoey feel unique and cohesive 
standing next to each other. This is a good  
example about how similar proportions does not 
equal same face syndrome and can be handled well.
The amount of detail in the nails, face make up is 
astounding. There is more than one make-up look.
Even stuff like both groups' merch feels so 
well thought out. The merch light sticks the  
Saja Boys have. I love how their emblems 
a lion and its like the lions mane is the  
rest of the shape and for the Huntrix’s they 
loos both like the Honmoon and a microphone.
They even cared enough to show the girls out of 
make up making them feel more believable and real.  
Anatomical details like muscles flexing under the 
skin looked cool and helped add weight to scenes.
I like Rumi’s demon marks and how they evolve and 
take on beautiful shining characteristics. Witch  
sorta undoes them as a negative characteristic 
but at the same time I think it's cool and I  
like the symbolism of the marks take on a new 
quality rather than her ever being freed from  
the marks and them reseeding. They're 
like these beautiful healed scars. It's  
neat. I also like how the outfits after the 
girls make up have a subtle pattern to them.
While I think some people will see a beautiful 
character with sorta super physical flaws I  
think the story actually did a good job 
of building that flaw up as plot and lore  
relevant as well as with the demon voice 
creeping in effecting Rumi’s singing and  
making her look demonic and untrustworthy. 
As well as building up that Zoey and Mira  
are used to seeing everything with patterns as 
inhuman and being brainwashed by their training.
And this plays into the lyrics 
of Take Down and why Rumi finds  
it so upsetting. The hatred for demons 
for Rumi becomes a type of self hatred
In the flashbacks Celine braids Rumi’s 
hair in a style similar to her mother as  
she trains Rumi to hunt demons. Rumi’s 
mother has a braid as well and so it’s  
sorta like Celine is emphasizing the half of 
Rumi that she's comfortable with. While the  
obvious thing to develop her is Celine 
the mother, the demon father and Jinu I  
understand tonally why this was either cut or 
not included it keeps the tone way sillier.
I really enjoyed this movie. I’ve struggled 
with my projects all becoming huge and  
unmanageable but I found my script for 
K-pop demon hunters was short and as  
straightforward as the movie. I cant 
believe K-pop demon hunters fixed me.
I’m gonna be thinking about how much Mira asks 
her friends if they're okay for awhile. As well  
as the fact that Zoey’s ramyeon was hamburger 
flavored. I’m suspicious we have another Elsa  
on our hands with Rumi and that my feed will soon 
be clogged with AI baby soja boys or whatever.
But it’s nice to be back, I’m Quinn Curio. 
Thanks for listening. Let me know if there  
is anything very interesting about K-pop 
demon hunters that I didn't touch on.