KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Animated Movie Review

KPop Demon Hunters is a 2025 animated musical/action/fantasy/comedy movie that features three K-pop heroines (Rumi, Mira, and Zoey), following a tradition of ancient female warriors, battling demons as they also deal with their life as music stars, members of a successful group named Huntrix. Trouble arises when a new boy band, the Saja Boys, rises in popularity and steals their fandom but this new group hides sinister secrets, turning the popularity contest into a fight for the future of mankind.

Produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and starring Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong and Ken Jeong, to name a few. It was made by Kang to express her passion for her heritage and country. It was released on Netflix on June 20. 

Right from the start one has to be taken aback by its singular style, the marvellous and beautiful art direction and the swift and fluid animation of the highest order. It's quite fantastic on those terms. I think that visually it's quite breathtaking, incredibly detailed, full of stimulating colors, eclectic music video editing and great character and background designs that are borderline iconic and memorable, especially when we are talking about the main trio with their fashionable hairstyles and outfits. 

The protagonists are quirky, pretty and energetic, playing off of each other very well. When the film was announced, people praised it not only for having three main female characters but also because the comedy involved them having very goofy and over-the-top expressions instead of being always composed and playing it too straight to maintain their "femininity". Demon Hunters breaks that boundary. I think director Maggie Kang herself said it best: "I just wanted to see something different from the Marvel female superheroes that were just sexy and cool and badass. But I also wanted to see girls who had potbellies and burped and were crass and silly and fun, because that's really what I am. So I just wanted to create something that encompassed all of those elements." This is a good step forward because girls being silly is something that is needed in entertainment, it's almost normalized here with daffy jokes about eating lots of food, slapstick, burps, nutty shouting, kooky reactions and things of that sort. It's varied in its comedy, using both character-based humor and visual gags to good effect.

The musical department is just as imaginative, I enjoyed the rhythmic and catchy songs all the way. Even if K-pop isn't my cup of tea I still had a very good time listening to the soundtrack and every song worked very well. So if you were worried about the movie depending on your musical taste then you don't have to anymore because it's not an alienating factor here.

I must say that the world, the art and the writing are all pretty creative and well done, but unfortunately there are some issues with it, the storyline isn't quite as original as I expected, reusing the typical "big secret" and the trite "girl band versus boy band" tropes. It never becomes intolerable but it sort of becomes too conventional and safe to stand out properly. I also wasn't a fan of the cheap Korean humour, the boyband jokes and also males writing stuff that they think women find attractive. I also think it loses momentum by the third act before quickly gaining it for the climax. The character conflicts also could have been less arbitrary or resolved in a more thoughtful manner.

Since a great deal of its components are so greatly made, I think it would be good to see a full animated series based on this world and characters in the future or at least some sequels that explore the possibilities of its universe. I would pay to see these characters in a plethora of hilarious scenarios and plots.

Also, here's some older concept art I found that they used when the project was announced.

In short, it's a fun and entertaining time, especially for teens and kids but parents will also enjoy it's cleverness and the technical feats accomplished will surely make it more palatable than the average kids film. Totally recommended if you believe it may be for you (specially if you are into the subject matter), and also if you can put up with some cutesy weirdness. 

Bubblegum Crisis (1987-1991) OVA Review and Retrospective - Episode 3: Blow Up

In this episode, GENOM (the evil corporation seen before) tests and tries out a new boomer, a combat model capable of causing great destruction. Priss is warned by Linna about this combat boomer and both drive to the battle area where the boomers are having a shootout with the A.D Police. They are aided by Nene and Sylia. All of the girls had a night of bad luck.

Priss finds a lonely boy and waits for his mother to arrive. She cares for the child and tries to support her hard working single mother, who lost her husband and home. Priss is also stressed out and lashes out against Linna. Mason, a fiendish GENOM executive, plans to launch his attacks at the knight sabers; he also tries to evict people out of their houses using his threatening boomer bodyguards.

As the building is being demolished, an accident occurs and the mother of the young boy is killed. Priss then tries to take matters into her own hands by using her exo-suit, but the girls catch up to her and break their code in order to help her.

This initiates a battle between the knight sabers and the deadly combat boomers. 

Here we have some of the usual virtues and flaws seen in the show. Since the animators had no idea if the most current episode was going to be the last one, their stories tended to be sort of awkward and the narrative would repeat some of the same beats and scenarios and their resolutions wouldn't be as definite as they should have. 

This episode has solid animation work and fun character writing moments, but the core dramatic and emotional impact feels a bit stale because of it's very limited runtime, I wish they delved more into Priss' friendship with the boy and the mother, but I gotta say, the little amount of information we get is enough to give it a sadness and melancholy that sort of makes it work regardless.

Bubblegum Crisis (1987-1991) OVA Review and Retrospective - Episode 1: Tinsel City Rhapsody

Bubblegum Crisis was a Japanese OVA cyberpunk series created by Toshimichi Suzuki. It follows a group of women who dress up in mechanical exoskeletons, they are known as the Knight Sabers, and battle against biomechanical villains (mainly robotic beings named Boomers) in a futuristic Japan in the not-too-distant future year of 2032. The concept was tested by Suzuki in 1982 as Techno Police 21C, which had a similar concept. Suzuki took inspiration from a variety of sci-fi action media like Streets of Fire, Blade Runner and maybe a bit of Mad Max, to the point of recreating the opening sequence of Streets of Fire in this first episode, which makes for a highlight.

The central characters are all distinct and colorful (literally), all of them designed by the great Ken'ichi Sonoda (Gunsmith Cats, Gall Force, Wanna-Be’s). 

We have Priss, a singer and dancer who also likes motorcycles and is sort of the focus of the show. There's Sylia, the leader of the Knight Sabers and daughter of the scientist who created the Boomers. Syl has the technology to fight the creatures and runs a lingerie shop as a cover. Linna is a stylish but formal woman, an aerobics instructor who was recruited. Nene is a short, pink haired girl who works for the police force. Mackie is the male of the team and he is an assistant (works mostly from the headquarters). A very lovely line up that we will explore in the following retrospectives.

This first episode introduces us to the world in quite an astounding way. A lot of establishing shots and a captivating sequence that features Priss preparing for her show and singing Hurricane. At the same time, there's a boomer attack that's stopped by one of the Knight Sabers in their iconic armor. After the concert, Priss encounters policeman Leon McNichol, who develops a crush on her. 

The girls meet and discuss their next mission: to rescue a mysterious little girl named Cynthia, but the strange thing is that the kidnappers happen to be Boomers (that's not the only surprise).

It's hard to do justice to these classics, but I gotta say that it's praised and placed among the very best OVA anime series that you can find for many good reasons. I loved the simple but effortlessly conveyed story that is impeccably illustrated and expressed by its gorgeous visuals, via dynamic, detailed and fluidly animated action sequences. The tone that it manages to create purely on audiovisual terms is both melancholic, energetic, dazzling and rhythmic.

You can see that Priss takes pretty much center stage here, indicating that she is gonna be the main character, the director seems to be very much in love with her as well. Not a bad choice but, as we will see, all of the girls will get their time to shine. We get to see some of their dramatic backstories (mostly Sylia's) as well as comedic moments done through silly decisions that say a lot about the characters involved.

At 47 minutes this episode is a bit packed because it has to establish and set up a lot of stuff, like the world, the characters, backgrounds, the politics, the lore and the dynamics between all of those things and how they relate to each other. A great start that I totally recommend to anyone interested.