As Korean pop culture continues to dominate the globe, Netflix’s animated film, KPOP Demon Hunters, effectively blends influences and leaps towards the international appeal of Korean entertainment. Mixing energetic pop songs with K-Drama storytelling stakes, the film has broken through Netflix’s streaming charts, and its proven original animation is still thriving. But beyond the success of the film’s streaming, the production’s soundtrack has also broken records, with its major single, “Golden,” now for award considerations. This breathtaking popularity in multiple ways is a clear evidence of the widespread popularity of Korean entertainment around the world, indicating that the country’s cultural spread is gaining momentum.
For beginners, “KPOP Demon Hunters” is, as the title suggests, an animated musical about a group of K-pop girls who hunt demons. The story focuses on the hunter/X, while secretly hunting demons and maintaining the musical ability to maintain the magical walls that protect the world, enjoying global success. In response, Gwima (Lee Byung-han) of the Devils creates the Saja Boys, a rival boy band who uses his popularity to disguise the demons to drain the souls of his fans. The main hunter/X is Rumi (Arden Cho). He is secretly a store-demon, torn by her legacy when he defeats the devil through her music. This led to a musical showdown between Hunt/X and the Saja Boys, with Rumi unveiling a new song that could break GWI-MA’s soul drain spell.
This will all be a fun bubble gum pop animation adventure, but there are some truly impressive feats that KPOP Demon Hunters has achieved since its June 2025 release.
Multi-faceted domination of KPOP Demon Hunters
“KPOP Demon Hunters” has attracted over 9 million viewers worldwide to mark a considerable streaming number on Netflix, but in the second week it has more than doubled the audience. For an industry that has seen stable audience wear and tear after its debut, animated films ignored that trend, with over 24 million additional viewers streaming the film in just two weeks (via Variety). The film’s positive critical response and strong mouthed words likely supported its persistence, and the film has achieved something impressive 95% critic score on rotten tomatoes. Still, the most striking and important aspect of production is the musical achievements of KPOP Demon Hunter.
Since the film’s soundtrack debuted online, it has regularly tops Spotify’s streaming charts, with the album being released at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. The soundtrack hit single “Golden” surpasses the output of Real-Life Girl Group BlackPink (its member Lisa is an acting star thanks to “The White Lotus”) and has become the best female-driven K-Pop song in history ( BBC). Meanwhile, Saja Boys’ performance single “Your Idol” recreates its success and surpasses BTS’ work as the best charted male-driven K-Pop song. K-Pop has already become a musical powerhouse around the world, and “Kpop Demon Hunters” has wisely drawn to its growing fanbase and achieved its own commercial success.
Given the popularity of the streaming of both the film “Kpop Demon Hunters” and the accompanying soundtrack, Korean pop culture remains a force to be considered. And with toe tapping hits and family-friendly tales, the film is a clear indication that the global presence of Korean entertainment is here.
“KPOP Demon Hunters” is currently streaming on Netflix (and there is still a chance that they’ll get a sequel).
