It's the animated hit 2025 needed — and it's not a Pixar or Disney movie

They have one of the most-watched movies in the world on Netflix and the highest-debuting movie soundtrack of 2025.

Oh, and they’re animated characters.

Meet Rumi, Mira and Zoey, a fictional female K-pop trio better known as Huntr/x, who are the stars of Netflix’s animated summer sensation, KPop Demon Hunters. Since its June 20 release, the movie has slayed the pop culture conversation, inspired countless fan art and memes, dominated streaming and music playlists — and there’s no sign of losing steam.

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The Sony Pictures Animation movie follows Huntr/x, whose members secretly moonlight as demon hunters tasked to maintain a magical barrier that protects humans from the dark underworld. Their singing voices keep the worlds sealed off from each other, but a rival demon boy group, the Saja Boys, threatens to suck people’s souls dry and weaken the barrier in order to infiltrate the human realm.

Currently No. 2 on Netflix’s list of most-streamed movies globally, with nearly 94 million hours viewed, KPop Demon Hunters has notched a 95% critics rating and an equally impressive 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The soundtrack rocketed to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in its second week of release, making it the highest-charting soundtrack of the year. Its original songs have topped the U.S. Spotify chart, surpassing previous peaks set by K-pop superstar groups BTS and Blackpink.

Real-life K-pop idols have taken notice too, with some participating in dance challenges on TikTok, producing music-video-quality song covers and praising the movie on social media. Netflix is submitting the KPop Demon Hunters power anthem “Golden” for awards consideration, releasing it as an official single on July 4.

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“It’s incredible to see a movie that is about connection actually connecting people,” Maggie Kang, codirector and cowriter of KPop Demon Hunters, tells Yahoo of the “whirlwind” response.

She and KPop Demon Hunters codirector-cowriter Chris Appelhans have seen proof that the movie is striking a chord among all demographics, from mothers and daughters to K-pop newbies to “gym bros.” Many are already calling for a sequel.

“We always felt like the movie has such a bigger audience than the title implies,” Appelhans tells Yahoo. “If you love music, if you like identity stories [and] if you like to laugh, those are such broad and appealing things [that the movie offers].”

‘A breath of fresh air’

One of the biggest draws of KPop Demon Hunters is the vibrant, pop-art animation style that Sony Pictures Animation — the studio behind the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movies — has become known for. From a punchier color palette to anime-inspired character designs, the movie is a feast for the eyes.

Zoey, Rumi and Mira perform onstage as Huntr/x in KPop Demon Hunters. (Netflix)

Marissa Yonamine, who reviews movies on TikTok, was initially drawn to the film because of Sony Pictures Animation’s “great track record,” citing the studio’s past successes The Mitchells vs. the Machines and the Spider-Verse films. “That gave it credibility,” Yonamine tells Yahoo. “Immediately, I fell in love with it.”

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It also helps that the animation amplifies what the characters are going through internally as the story unfolds — a key point in the development of the plot and the overall look of the movie. Appelhans says it goes hand in hand with creating “great characters, stories, personalities and entertainment value, and also [including their] struggle, pain and wants. And that dovetails so well with the music.”

“It was a very intricate puzzle that we had to put together because there’s so much variety [in the scenes],” Kang says. “OK, we need the music to do this. They need music scenes to be music videos. They need the comedy to do this. I feel very proud that we were able to achieve what we wanted for each scene, whether it’s comedy or emotional or visual.”

Mira and Zoey in KPop Demon Hunters. (Netflix)

Stylistically, the film is “a breath of fresh air from an animation perspective,” Crystal Bell, digital culture editor at Mashable and a K-pop expert, tells Yahoo — “the expressiveness of the characters, the way that Zoey’s eyes turn into hearts or burst into popcorn when she gets too hot. I love those little details that feel so specific to the visual language of this film that maybe others aren’t [doing].”

‘The best K-pop songs released this year’

In an early scene,the Huntr/x girls bump into the Saja Boys and hear the group’s bubbly, crowd-pleasing “Soda Pop” for the first time. After fighting off the urge to groove to the beat, Rumi begrudgingly admits, “It is annoyingly catchy.” And in another equally addictive song, the sinister “Your Idol,” the Saja Boys exert their power over the fans as they confidently sing, “Your obsession feeds our connection, so right now give me all your attention.”

It’s a sentiment that fans — K-pop lovers and nonlisteners alike — have obeyed of the soundtrack’s seven original tracks, all of which have landed on the Billboard Hot 100.

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The team recruited proven K-pop hitmakers such as Teddy and Ejae (who provides the singing voice for Rumi), whose credits include writing and producing songs for artists like BigBang, Psy, Blackpink, Aespa and Red Velvet, to help shape the songs. Members from K-pop sensation Twice added street cred when they lent their talents to a track as well.

“That was our goal: Could we make a fictional but very real-feeling idol group? That was the bar,” Kang says. “We just wanted it to feel very authentically K-pop so that our groups can slide into the industry and stand on their own. It definitely feels like we’ve done that.”

Their creative risk-taking paid off.

“Some of the songs on the soundtrack are the best K-pop songs released this year so far,” Bell says. She pointed to “Soda Pop” as a prime example of good timing and perfect execution converging to create the ideal summer song.

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“K-pop is very seasonal,” Bell says. “Every season brings a different tone to an artist’s release, so there’s a definite spring, summer sound. The fact that this song from a fictional boy group captured that summer sound that a traditional boy group would release is just perfect.”

Outside of being addictive earworms, the songs also push the narrative forward, heightening the emotional stakes and adding to their appeal.

“Golden” drops at a crucial turning point in the movie for Huntr/x, particularly Rumi, whose secret half-demon identity is unmasked just as the group is close to sealing off the demon world.

“A song like ‘Golden,’ it’s an ‘I Want’ song, which a lot of great pop songs are. Those coming-of-age songs, where it’s like, ‘I started from nowhere, I was the loser and now I’m the king,” Appelhans explains, referencing early ’00s Kanye West raps as an example of what he wanted to accomplish. “It’s so archetypal pop.”

A celebration of K-pop’s global reach

KPop Demon Hunters embraces K-pop for its ability to unite, from the bonds between members to the parasocial connection with fans — and “threads the needle quite well between spectacle and sincerity,” Bell says.

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“[K-pop fans are] often celebrating the [genre’s] stars as fantastic and glamorous, and also celebrating them offscreen. Like [Blackpink’s] Lisa being goofy in a TikTok, you’re like, ‘Oh that’s real — that’s off-camera Lisa,’” Appelhans says. “That duality is very satisfying.”

That level of authenticity was something he and Kang wanted to lean into, hence the portrayals of Huntr/x (and, to a lesser extent, the Saja Boys) as fully formed characters with relatable mannerisms and imperfections rather than unattainable caricatures of pop stardom.

Rumi, Zoey and Mira. (Netflix)

“I want weird girls who do stupid faces,” Kang explains of the trio.

The movie also positively depicts K-pop fandoms as diverse, loyal and tight-knit, and the collective feeling of community that often comes with being unapologetically open about a shared interest. It equally emphasizes that music and fans of it can be impenetrable sources of good (as is the case with Huntr/x) or evil (Saja Boys).

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“With any global phenomenon like the Beatles or other boy groups, there’s always going to be fans who are ‘obsessive’ — and that’s correct to a certain degree — but there are reasons why they gravitate to those art forms or groups,” Yonamine suggests. “[They] speak to them on another level and they feel seen through the music.”

“I’m glad that KPop Demon Hunters is able to humanize and be able to give a reason to why fans love [K-pop] so much,” she says.

The Saja Boys in KPop Demon Hunters. (Netflix)

Toni Hopkins, a filmmaker who reviews movies on TikTok, was already a K-pop fan when she dove into KPop Demon Hunters at a friend’s suggestion. Since then, she’s listened to the soundtrack “nonstop,” appreciating many of the film’s inside jokes and critiques about K-pop practices and K-drama conventions. (There are subtle critiques of idol diets, relentless schedules and the life-and-death pressures of maintaining success.) Hopkins says it’s made her “want to dive into that world more.”

K-pop artists like BTS, Enhypen, Monsta X, Zerobaseone and Exo’s Baekhyun have all tipped their cap to the movie on social media and at their own concerts, adding legitimacy to the movie’s depiction of what it’s like to be an artist today.

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“It is a huge compliment that the K-pop industry is seeing it and recognizing it,” Kang said, “and even Twice saying this was a great representation of what their lives are.”

Fills a much-needed void

Original animated films have struggled mightily to gain traction in recent years, with studios like Pixar and Disney relying on sequels or live-action remakes in order to make a dent at the box office. It’s left a gap that KPop Demon Hunters has unexpectedly filled, proving there’s an appetite for bold, fearless stories if done well.

“A lot of shows and movies that come out nowadays are missing a soul or a heartbeat, and you can feel it in this movie,” Rachel Ruff Cuyler, a filmmaker and content creator, tells Yahoo. It’s evident “the cast and crew had fun making it,” which she says comes across onscreen.

Mira, Rumi and Zoey in KPop Demon Hunters. (Netflix)

And a movie about a group of demon-slaying huntresses who use their K-pop personas as covers has a lot more depth than you would expect.

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Rooted in Korean culture and mythology, and primarily set in Seoul, KPop Demon Hunters delves into themes that are very much universal, from generational trauma and self-acceptance to overcoming shame and embracing one’s true identity.

“We’re seeing women being portrayed as feminine while still being badasses. It doesn’t need to be one or the other. You can have both,” Hopkins says. “I think that’s why it’s refreshing to see them act goofy and crazy and silly, but still be these beautiful, defined stars.”

Fans are ‘writing the next movie’

Despite having a runtime of under 100 minutes, KPop Demon Hunters has taken on a life of its own through fan art, video mash-ups and fan theories about what a potential sequel could entail.

“Chris and I joke that they’re writing the next movie,” Kang says of the robust chatter, noting that fans are even posting comics and storyboards online.

“It’s just getting bigger and bigger by the day,” she adds. “We don’t normally see new [intellectual property] doing this. So I hope it shows everybody that people want new stuff and people want things that are weird and different, and they’re excited for it. It felt like [the audience] finally got a glass of water that they’ve been wanting to drink for a long time.”