there's an idiot for everyone

The first generation of demon hunters we see are set in the 조선 (Chosun) era, which is a VERY common place to start for a lot of Korean media. There are no specific singers/performers they are referring to here, but they are based on 무당 (mudang). Korean female shamans. There are male shamans as well but those are not as well known and not popular. That is why the boy band Saja Boys are based on 저승사자 (Jeosung Saja) aka Korean underworld magistrate/grim reaper.

Anyway the mudang have various roles in Korean paganism/spiritualism. Instead of flashy musical numbers with weapons, they perform 굿 (gut), rituals that vary by region and function.

The second generation of hunters we see have the flapper girl aesthetic (American 1920s fashion) which was popular in Korea around the 1960-70s. This also is probably shouting out to the og Korean "girl group" aka the Kim Sisters (김시스터스) of the 1950-60s. They might not have been the MAIN influence but the trio singer composition and their fame for being popular among US troops in Korea (which launched their career in the US) doesn't feel like just coincidence.

The third generation we see has the Korean 1970s to maybe super early 80s aesthetic. I couldn't think/find any trio girl groups during this time, but they feel like a mix of The Pearl Sisters (펄 시스터즈), Lily Sisters (릴리 시스터즈) and Kye Eunsook (계은숙). Not the most confident with this one. Thanks to a kind bsky person, it does seem like it was MOSTLY based on the Pearl sisters, esp if you look at an old video of their performance.

The fourth generation is the 1980s, which is when the word "k-pop" starts being used to describe the songs. BUT MAN, THIS SET PISSES ME OFF BECAUSE WHY ARE THEY ALL DIFFERENT 80S KPOP STYLES? COORDINATE GIRLS!!! Again no specific girl groups jump out at me but looks like this is a reference to Settorae (세또래, aka "The three friends") seen by their performance video, which capture similar vibes.

The fifth and final generation we see before Rumi/Mira/Zoey are STRONG 90s K-POP. The whole aesthetic of stars and the hairstyles SCREAMS S.E.S which is one of the classic 90s kpop girl groups of the time.

In particular their appearance for the music video "Dreams Come True" comes to mind. The video now feels really dated but back in the day, the effects and stuff they used were the HOT SHIT. Extremely nostalgic Korean media

And ofc we got the modern trio, which I won't really comment on because they are mix of the current (2010s to 2020s) kpop and I feel like the current fans will have better knowledge of this than I about it. so that's it for now! Of course there may be some other stuff I missed or got wrong possibly, which I will fix if anything comes up. Feel free to correct me as well in the replies!

Update 6/26/25: I think people got confused on what I was trying to cite in terms of time period for the hunters. If we go by strict fashion sense it definitely harks earlier decades of AMERICAN HISTORY. But I am looking at all of this thru a Korean lens so some of the recognizeable early American fashion were popular during different times in Korea specifically. Feel free to reblog/comment the fashion refs bc that in itself is interesting too.

And speaking of fashion, I do really like how each of them have the iridescent accents on their outfits, which are reminescent of Najeonchilgi (나전칠기), the Korean art of inlaid mother of pearl pieces on furniture, jewlery, etc.