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Once upon a time, there were two
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original animated children's movies.
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Stay with me here. The first movie had
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everything going for it on paper. Big
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studio budget, several well-known
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actors, and a premise that was supposed
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to be safe and marketable. The kind of
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film that normally gets prime
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advertising slots and happy meal toys.
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But during development, something went
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very wrong. Test audiences rejected it
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so completely that it failed its initial
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screenings by 100%.
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Yes, actually 100%. And when it finally
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slumped into theaters after lots of
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changes, controversy followed it like a
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shadow. The second movie, well, it took
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a different path entirely. Smaller
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budget, much more accessible for
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families, less familiar faces, and a
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story that felt somehow even more niche.
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It was the kind of story that took
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universally loved themes and put an
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incredibly fun spin on them. But no one
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really expected anything crazy to come
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from it. Here's what's super
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interesting, though. Neither film had
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much marketing, and I don't think I saw
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a single ad for either one of them. But
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then something beautiful happened.
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Audiences fell in love with one of them
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regardless. We're talking millions of
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people sharing genuine excitement, the
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kind of organic momentum that you can't
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manufacture. One of these movies
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reminded me of my love for animated
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films and why it's my dream to be able
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to work on projects like this in the
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future. The other, it made me wonder
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what in the world has happened to the
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magic of this genre. That second movie,
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the one that swept me off my feet,
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that's K-pop Demon Hunters. And listen,
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I will just go ahead and confess, okay,
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I absolutely had no idea what this movie
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was about. As a very casual K-pop
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listener, the very first thing I ever
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saw in reference to this movie was a
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cosplay. Then I saw another, then
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another. So, I finally sat down to check
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it out. And now, three viewings later,
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my social media algorithm is completely
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broken, and I'm watching fan compilation
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videos at 2:00 a.m., no regrets. But
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here's the thing that hit me while I was
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in this completely unexpected spiral. I
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hadn't felt this way about an animated
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movie in years. I was sitting there
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smiling at my screen, humming along to
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the incredibly catchy songs, and then
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being genuinely invested in these
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characters in a way that felt so natural
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and effortless. So, let me tell you why
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this movie completely won me over.
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Because honestly, it understands
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something that I think we've just
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forgotten across the board in
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storytelling, especially when it comes
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to animation. First of all, the
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animation itself. All of the lead
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characters are absolutely beautiful
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while being exaggerated, unique, and
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fun. Big, expressive eyes, hair that
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moves like it has its own personality,
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magical girl action sequences that are
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over the top. They're allowed to be so
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feminine, silly, dramatic, strong,
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powerful, and cute all at the same time.
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And the exaggeration adds to their
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likability instead of taking away from
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it. The character design philosophy is a
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breath of fresh air. Roomie, our female
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lead, isn't strong in that hollow girl
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boss way we've gotten so used to.
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Sometimes she's shy. Other times she's
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naturally funny, vulnerable, emotional,
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flirty, nurturing. She feels like a real
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girl who just happens to be dealing with
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supernatural stuff. And the romance,
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yes, romance, is genuinely cute.
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Remember when the Disney princess was
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just allowed to fall in love with the
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prince? Yeah, it's been almost 12 years
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since we've seen that, and even then, it
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was very much a subplot. But both the
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male and the female lead of this movie
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get moments of just really simple,
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sweet, genuine interactions with each
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other. Genu, the guy, is literally
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designed to be handsome, charismatic,
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and strong willed without it being
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problematic. He's not the joke, and his
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intelligence isn't dumbed down. He's
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just as strong and complex as Roomie,
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and their characters work together so
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seamlessly. But here's what's really
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cool. When you look at the overarching
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themes of this movie, it brings you back
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to the basics. An objective good versus
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objective evil. Heroes who sacrifice for
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something greater, not just a story
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about finding yourself, redemption and
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overcoming deeprooted shame. All of this
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is wrapped up in a story about
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friendship and music that defeats
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demons. Music that's actually dominating
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streaming charts in real life and has
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already broken records. And the movie
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never stops to explain why you should
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care about any of this. It just shows
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you this beautiful world, lovable
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characters, and trusts you to buy in
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completely. Something else that struck
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me, this movie clearly respects its
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source material and its audience. It
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takes Korean storytelling traditions,
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K-pop culture, including its adoring
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fans, the universal themes I mentioned
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before, and magical elements, and treats
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them all with such genuine love and
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care. The end result of all of this, an
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incredible fandom literally forming
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overnight. I've seen people of all ages
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fall in love with these characters,
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cosplays getting millions of views,
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makeup tutorials, hair tutorials, real
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life K-pop boy and girl bands have been
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recreating dances from the movie and the
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internet is just eating it up. Because
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here's the thing, this feeling I had
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watching K-pop Demon Hunters, I used to
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have it all the time with most Disney
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movies. And I think that's what has made
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this experience feel so special and also
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kind of bittersweet. just like my
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experience with Nintendo, although I
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definitely have not had a soft spot for
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Disney in quite a while. But again, I
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was a '90s baby who grew up on Disney
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movies. And for many years after that, I
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fully believed in their magic. There was
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even a period in my life when I would
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genuinely say Pixar doesn't miss and
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mean it with my whole heart. There was
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this stretch in the '9s through like
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2010 where Disney movies just trusted
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their own formula. You know, Aladdin
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didn't need to pause a whole new world
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to discuss power dynamics. It just
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showed us two people discovering wonder
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together. Belle got excited about books
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and learning without making a statement
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about empowerment. Hercules was
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incredibly strong and heroic without
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feeling guilty about it. And Rapunzel
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could dream about floating lanterns
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without anyone questioning if her goals
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were big enough. The point is, these
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characters were extremely memorable, and
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so many of them taught and showed us
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important lessons. But here's the key.
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None of it was forced on the viewer and
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they were genuinely fun to watch. Like
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you wanted to hang out with them. You
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wanted to be them. And for me, I started
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seeing this shift after the success of
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Frozen. Disney started second-guessing
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everything that made them special.
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Princess love story suddenly needed to
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be deconstructed or just removed
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entirely. Beautyc.
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Wonder became something that needed to
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be grounded in modern reality instead of
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just enjoyed. And that's what makes
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K-pop Demon Hunters feel so refreshing.
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It's not trying to deconstruct anything.
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It's not apologizing for being magical,
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beautiful, romantic, or fun. It just is
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those things. And it not only allows,
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but encourages the viewer to really
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enjoy them. So, what happened? How did
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we go from the old Disney magic to well,
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what they're doing now? We see the
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industry give reasons of, well,
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audiences are too picky now. People just
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don't care about original IP anymore.
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The theater is too expensive. And while
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I'm not denying that some of those
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things can contribute, the industry and
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its critics continue to disregard the
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big elephant in the room. For years now,
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mainstream entertainment has become more
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about correcting and grounding the
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audience instead of just entertaining
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them. Writers are more interested in
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cramming in a modern ideology they find
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important, often accompanied by bad or
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lazy writing, rather than just telling a
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great story and making us care about
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characters organically. And you know
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what's interesting? The box office
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doesn't lie. We have financial proof of
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what's working and what isn't. Take the
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Snow White remake as the perfect
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example. They took a story about finding
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beauty in unexpected places and
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apologized for all of it. The lead
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actress publicly criticized the
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original. They used CGI dwarves,
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okay, heavily removed the romance and
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made sure to supplement with all the
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girl boss messaging. They lost $115
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million just to make something that took
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everything people loved about the
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original and stomp all over it. Or what
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about the movie Wish? Their big 100year
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celebration movie. It lost them 130
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million. This was supposed to be their
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triumphant moment and instead it became
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something completely forgettable.
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Strange World lost over 100 million due
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to a whole mix of things, including
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forced, heavy-handed messaging. And
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Pixar's latest movie, IO, is essentially
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following down the same path. To be
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completely honest, at this point, I'm
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pretty done with Disney, Pixar, and just
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Hollywood in general. Because on top of
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all the lowquality stories, forced
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messaging, and modernized
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regurgitations, so many studios have
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stopped respecting their old formulas
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and source material. entirely. Whether
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it's classic fairy tales, books, beloved
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games, or even their own previously
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successful properties, there's almost
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this contempt for the original. This
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attitude of we know better, and we keep
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seeing it in the liveaction remakes and
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unnecessary sequels. They keep taking
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old things that worked and making them
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worse. But even though it's technically
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part of these industries, I still have
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hope for original animation being
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created at least somewhat outside the
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main machine. Because it's not just
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K-pop Demon Hunters. Sony also figured
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it out with movies like Spider-Verse and
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Wish Dragon, which actually was written
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and directed by one of the same people
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behind Demon Hunters. Even more mature
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animation like Arcane saw huge success.
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Even though unfortunately for Riot, it
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still wasn't enough for more people to
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join League of Legends. And then even
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more niche films like Flo and The Boy in
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the Heron. Yes, it's anime, but they
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prove that unique, thoughtful
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storytelling still works. Other anime
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like Demon Slayer, Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen,
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Ferrerin, they're breaking records
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because they prioritize making you care
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about characters first. And they expose
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the fact that so many studios have
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forgotten this critical thing. Movies,
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shows, and games are inherently supposed
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to be entertaining. When you respect
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your audience and create with them in
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mind, they will show up clearly. They'll
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buy tickets, they'll create fan art,
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they'll cosplay, they'll watch movies
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three times and post a video talking
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about it. And all of this brings me to
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why I think we might be witnessing
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something pretty important here. K-pop
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Demon Hunters is not a fluke. It's proof
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that original IP success is still
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possible when you offer highquality
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storytelling and escape instead of
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cramming it full of poorly executed
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modern ideologies, complete disrespect
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for source material, or past successes
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that audiences love or just plain bad
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lowquality or lazy writing. When
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creators remember that entertainment,
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beauty, wonder, love aren't dirty words.
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When they trust their audiences to be
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smart enough to find meaning and well-ld
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stories. When they celebrate traditional
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values and relationships instead of
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apologizing for them, that's when magic
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happens. This movie reminded me how much
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I missed just enjoying something.
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Characters who actually liked each
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other, characters who fought for things
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outside of something self- serving, and
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beautiful, attractive designs meant for
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the spotlight and celebration instead of
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modernization and punishment. Success
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looks like stories that allow you to
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escape real life and make you feel
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something real. When characters are
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likable and relatable. When the story is
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genuinely entertaining, when you trust
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your audience to have fun. That's when
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people beg for sequels. That's when you
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know you've created something that
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matters. Thank you so much for making it
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to the end of this video, and I'd love
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to hear from you. Are you a watcher of
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animation or anime? If so, please drop
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some of your favorites from Le. I would
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love to check them out. Thanks again for
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being here, and I'll see you in the next
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one.
00:11:47
[Music]
