Huntrix ( Kpop Demon Hunter/KDH )

KPop Demon Hunters follows the story of Huntr/x, an all-female K-pop group (Rumi, Mira and Zoey) who double as secret guardians of the world. Beyond the glamour of the stage, these global superstars protect their fans from supernatural threats, squaring off against their villainous counterparts Saja Boys.

When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey aren't selling out stadiums or topping the Billboard charts, they're moonlighting as demon hunters to protect their fans from ever-present supernatural danger.

Three girls are both K-pop stars and Demon Hunters. They use their voices to connect to people’s hearts and form a protective barrier against the demons, who eat human souls. Right before the girls are going to release a new song that will seal the barrier, the Female Lead (FL) Rumi, has trouble with her voice. It is because she secretly has demon marks because her father was a demon—she hides them in shame, thinking her existence is a mistake. Meanwhile, the chief demon makes a K-pop Demon Boy Band to compete with stealing people’s souls.

The Male Lead (ML), demon K-pop boy Jinu, sees that FL has demon marks and tries to talk to her. She learns he is imprisoned by the demon lord by his shameful past. Talking to him helps heal her voice. She wants to help him, and continues to hide her demon markings from the other girls.

Then, her secret gets out. The girl band rejects her and they break up. The barrier is breaking. FL has to accept herself as she is, demon marks and all, and sing to make a new barrier, bringing in the other girls to sing with her. ML sacrifices himself so the barrier can be made, saying FL saved him.

The big twist in KPop Demon Hunters is the reveal that Rumi is actually part-demon, which almost splits apart her partnership with Mira and Zoey.

The ending of K-Pop Demon Hunters was all about Huntrix stopping the demon king, Gwi-Ma, from consuming the souls of the people of South Korea, and re-establishing the protective barrier, also known as the Honmoon, which kept ghouls from entering the mortal realm. Since the 17th century, a trio of singer-warriors have been selected to protect the country from Gwi-Ma with the help of their voice, camaraderie, fighting skills, and the support of the people. The trio for the 21st century was Rumi, Zoey, and Mira. They were this close to converting the regular Honmoon into the Golden Honmoon, thereby permanently shielding mankind from the demons. But that was when Gwi-Ma sent Jinu and the Saja Boys with the aim of chipping away at Huntrix’s popularity and its fandom and making the people susceptible to some good old soul-sucking. That process was made easy by the fact that Rumi’s secret,...

The story ends with the world saved and FL accepted by all for who she really is.

I don’t know when I first encountered a plot like this, but it is familiar enough to me to be like Little Red Riding Hood or Cinderella. The moral of the story is also one I’ve heard again and again. What I had not seen was this story line attached to K-pop.

Here is what is great about a plot like this:

1. It contains all of the essential story elements. Characters, motivation, conflict, climax, overcoming a character flaw that produces a change in the end.

In a simple plot like this, all of the main ideas are developed and seen through to the end. If a story concentrates on a handful of ideas, it can develop them properly. The more threads and ideas and characters are thrown in, the more likely it is that some of the essential elements are missed, not handled correctly, or not communicated clearly—making the end result less enjoyable.

2. The audience understands what is going on.

Having a plot that a good portion of the audience should be somewhat familiar with, communicating well, and not adding in extras means the audience can quickly understand the story. Outsmarting or shocking the audience is not always the best plot. Maybe the story need a plot like a well-designed mobile app, where the user can easily figure out how to use it.

When the audience understands, they can get more emotionally invested. They can predict, consciously or subconsciously, what happens next, getting involved in the story themselves. They can jump on board quickly to, “YES! DEMON BOY BAND!” They can follow the thread, connecting the pieces.

If things are too complicated to understand, it’s just a mess. A simple story is excellent for this.

3. It’s not bloated. The movie is short – 1 hour and 25 minutes, if you exclude the credits. It’s all fun and it doesn’t waste time.

Sometimes, stories need to quickly tell the audience exactly what is going on, instead of dragging it out and being obscure.

Here, the mother figure of our FL states clear as day: “Nothing will change until your patterns are gone. Our Faults and Fears must never be seen.” This is an essential plot element –the character flaw that needs to change by the end– and it is explained clearly and efficiently.

4. It glues everything together. All of the songs, dances, conversations, characters, fights with demons, and K-pop world scenarios like releasing songs or competing for idol awards are all woven together with this thread. It gives meaning and purpose, and uses them to drive the story forward. This is true of all well written plots, of course, but in this instance, it’s grabbing the setting of the K-pop world and brilliantly, and hilariously, tying them up in a demon hunter story.

5. The individual scenes matter. ‘Story’ isn’t always the ‘big picture.’ When we watch or read something, we don’t experience the big picture, we go scene to scene.

It’s the six-eyed bird with the dirty look and grim reaper hat. It’s the animation of girls stuffing kimbap down their throats, the upbeat songs and dances, the integration into a K-pop setting with variety shows and signing events – and having that tied to a simple plot that’s easy to understand gives structure and space for the individual scenes to shine. The scene-by-scene enjoyment is what made this movie great.