We were joined on the Popternative show by KPop Demon Hunters cast members Arden Cho (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Teen Wolf), Ji-young Yoo (Until Dawn, Expats), and May Hong (Fantasmas, Tales of the City) and directors Maggie Kang (The Lego Ninjago Movie) and Chris Appelhans (Wish Dragon).
The animated musical, from Sony Pictures Animation, premiered on Netflix on June 20 and features original music from a variety of artists and an original score by Marcelo Zarvos (Good American Family, Wonder). The voice cast also includes Ahn Hyo-seop (Dr. Romantic, Father Is Strange), Yunjin Kim (Lost, XO, Kitty), Joel Kim Booster (Fire Island, Loot), Liza Koshy (Liza on Demand, Players), Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-0, Lost), Ken Jeong (The Masked Singer, The Hangover), and Byung Hun Lee (Squid Game, The Match).
Written by Kang, the film follows Kpop superstars Rumi (Cho), Mira (Hong), and Zoey (Yoo) who use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.
On what inspired the idea for the film, Appelhans tells us, “When Maggie was first showing me the idea and we were first developing it, it was right during the pandemic when the world was in a pretty dark place. BTS were doing these virtual concerts and you could see the sense of connection and hope and humanity stirring up everybody stuck in their living rooms. [That’s where we got] the idea that music can be a force that fights against the darker feelings in the world that can bring us together. We’re going to have fun with it, we’re going to be cheekier and have swords and cool costumes, but at the end of the day, we’re not telling a story we don’t believe is actually true. So that really helped.”
On blending music with action, fantasy, and romance, Cho says, “That’s the joy and fun of this project; we really get to experience it all. We don’t have to choose one thing. And I feel like for Rumi, it’s so fun because she gets it all too. The romance, the action, the fun, the heartfelt emotional roller coasters.”
Watch the conversations with Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo, May Hong, Maggie Kang, and Chris Appelhans below.
KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix.
_