How I knew Kpop Demon Hunters was going to be bigger than anybody expected
I'll cut to the chase:
Before Kpop Demon Hunters came out, my life was going downhill. I was losing hope day by day after receiving some "no's" on a few job opportunities I was looking forward to.
Then I remembered I watched the trailer a couple of weeks earlier, and just rewatched it- to distract myself. But the more I looked at the trailer, posters, and characters, the more it lit up something in me. Something I thought that had left me forever: my creative spark.
It helped me reconnect with my creative voice again and gave me something to hope for and look forward to after I thought that part of me died and built its grave somewhere I couldn't reach.
Sometimes it only takes one story to re-remind you who you are
and
Kpop Demon Hunters wasn't just a movie for me, no, it was my anchor.
So how did I know this movie was gonna be bigger than expected?? I'll give you three and a half reasons why
(after rewatching the trailer and the movie 15+ times,duhhh).
The movie is centered around K-pop and even teased a kdrama scene during Rumi and Jinu's first meeting. In my opinion, K-pop is one of the most powerful global fanbases, no exaggeration. Just look at BTS; any award they have ever been nominated for, they win; that's how much of an impact they have. I already knew that having a K-pop-based soundtrack would make the movie bigger than expected, and Maggie Kim (The director!!!) confirming in interviews that a kdrama scene was gonna be involved between our two main leads?? I'm surprised most people didn't catch on to the fact that it was gonna be a good movie sooner.
2. The Movie is produced by Sony Animation. That's important because, unlike Disney, Sony Animation lets its animators take full control over what they do with their movies. This is exactly why Sony has become one of the most exciting animation companies in recent years. Movies such as Into the Spider-verse or Mitchells vs The Machines are living proof of what happens when studios allow their animators to go as wild as needed to produce movies that leave an impact on their audience.
Disney's tighter creative reins might be why they lean harder on sequels, instead of letting more emotionally rich, heartfelt stories shine. Sony Animation has continued to raise the bar for animated movies because they care about the film being produced, not because of profit. Disney could learn a thing or two from them.
3. Even before the movie dropped, KPDH was already building momentum; they had fan edits that were gaining attention, Tumblr accounts analyzing each frame from the trailer, and Twitter accounts begging for its release. But no, seriously, shoutout to every single Tumblr, Twitter, Insta, and TikTok account that posted about the movie before it dropped. We saw that this movie was going to blow up beyond anyone's radar, and now everyone sees what we saw back then.
And when How It's Done was leaked by Netflix, it exploded. People were practically calling Netflix, telling them to drop it early when the music video for it was released earlier than expected (Netflix had posted it early, but then realized the movie hadn't been released yet). To be honest, when I first heard it, that's when it really clicked that this movie was gonna be something special. Cause an intro song like that??? Yeah, we were destined for a good time.
Bonus 3 and one half: Ok, maybe I have watched the movie more than 15 times(be honest, who hasn't?), but there was one thing that I noticed that everyone continued to miss. This movie not only had the potential to be a decent kids' movie, but rather a great one, because it was clear from the start that this movie was made with real care. I think that's all anyone is asking when it comes to animated shows and movies, to really care about the story that will be told long after our screen goes dark.
I have to say, seeing all the records this movie is breaking makes me so emotional. I knew it was gonna be something special, I felt in my chest every time I saw a new trailer clip or Twitter going wild because a new frame from the movie dropped. This movie is for anyone who’s ever been scared to show their faults and fears to the people they love. And now look, people are loving it Loud and Proud just like I was when I first saw the trailer. I tear up a little every time I hear the movie breaks a new record cause I knew it was gonna be big, I just didn’t know how big. Y'all surprise me every day, so thank you for loving this movie as much as I do, after all
Happy Fans=Happy Honmoon
🩷💜💛
