K-Pop Demon Hunters: Evolving Myth

About this episode

This episode discusses the success and storytelling elements of the animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters.

In a matter of weeks, the Sony-produced animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters became the all-time most-viewed original title on Netflix. A limited-release theatrical run of the sing-along version of the film, for two days on fewer than two thousand screens after it had been available on streaming for two months, was the #1 movie at the box office for that weekend. With four songs in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Golden" reaching #1, K-Pop Demon Hunters has attained soundtrack feats not seen since Purple Rain (1984) and Saturday Night Fever (1978). And the social media fandom for the movie shows no signs of slowing down. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss the multi-layered success of K-Pop Demon Hunters in its storytelling and in its appeal to fans. Building on longstanding themes of the blog and podcast, we examine the story structure of K-Pop Demon Hunters as a movie that isn't a heroic origin story for its protagonists, and how the character-driven narrative modifies some classic plot beats and character archetypes. Although it isn't an origin story, K-Pop Demon Hunters shares features in common with contemporary Heroine's…

People in this episode

Host: Tricia Barr

Guest: B.J. Priester

Topics covered

• K-Pop
• animated movies
• storytelling
• character development
• fandom
• music charts

Keywords

• K-Pop Demon Hunters
• Sony
• Billboard Hot 100
• animated movie
• Heroine's Journey
• story structure
• fandom

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sony

Books & works: K-Pop Demon Hunters, Purple Rain, Saturday Night Fever

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