K-Pop Demon Hunters made me cry like it was a Pixar film

After enough people recommended it to us, we watched K-Pop Demon Hunters as a family. I mean, a work called K-Pop Demon Hunters would have to be pretty bad for _me_ not to like it.

But I’m going to argue it’s pretty good.

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I went in expecting fun songs and the movie had them. I was expecting stylized but strong animation. Yup. Solid and emotional voice acting? Had that too.

In other words, I went in expecting high production quality and I got it.

But that’s not what I want to talk about.

The actual plot structure was pretty boilerplate. You knew the girls were going to fall apart and get back together stronger. You knew the handsome demon boy would redeem himself. You knew the heroes would win and save the world.

But the individual beats were very strong. The way K-Pop Demon Hunters kept raising the stakes and convincing you to buy into the stakes? That’s good stuff.

At the start of the film, I was more invested in Mira and Zoey than I was in the protagonist Rumi. The other two hunters felt like they had more interesting quirks and personalities.

However, as Rumi was steadily developed as not just a workaholic but a half-demon whose demonic heritage was becoming more prominent, the film got me behind her as a protagonist. As the film explored the issues and traumas and flaws that her heritage brought her, it just kept making her a better character.

In Pocahontas and Moana, right before the finale, the protagonists meet with their maternal teachers who support them. In contrast, Rumi meets with her teacher and surrogate mother Celine before the final battle and their relationship completely falls apart. It’s a powerful scene and sets up Rumi having to go face the king of demons all alone. 

We all knew that she was going to turn it around but they really brought her low before she could start winning.

Two works ran through my head while we watched the movie. Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks (which makes sense since magic and music) and the web comic Sleepless Domain. A love letter and deconstruction to the magic girl genre, Sleepless Domain becomes much darker than it seems while remaining sweet, similar to K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Yeah, we all agreed we understood why people love K-Pop Demon Hunters.