FIRST TIME WATCHING: KPop Demon Hunters

nah, the last thing rumi said to celine was "if this is the honmoon im supposed to protect, then im glad its destroyed." and she said to gwi-ma was "so we can make a new one." she wasnt protecting the old one that was built with this image that she had to hide, instead she wanted to put up a new one showing her accepting herself and showing the world who she is. if there was a scene in between the two then you would obviously know she was going to turn it around on gwi-ma but instead it builds the tension of you thinking she has given up. but if you go back to that scene shes agreeing with him because that is how things are and shes accepted that as a part of herself.

Best movie of the year!!!

I've been watching this movie every day, either direct or through a reaction since I saw it 2 weeks ago. One of the things I love is how the songs aren't just bangers but they have story purpose... For instance, the reason that Golden has those ridiculous high notes is because Rumi's vocal range isn't _really_ that high...it's lower. Which she sings when with Jinu in Free... And then that connects to What it Sounds Like and she sings in the lower register again, because that's what her voice without the lies sounds like. As a trans woman, the "All of Me" line never fails to make me tear up because I had that exact conversation with my mom after I came out. And of course, I cry through What it Sounds Like...because one of the things I've had trouble with is my voice... So yeah...all the damn feels. But a big reason this connects with so many people is SO MANY PEOPLE have some aspect of shame they deal with, whether they're autistic/ADHD (like Zoey) or black sheep (like Mira) or mixed race or queer.

Natalie: "I do have tissues" Me: "Oh GOOD. You're probably gonna need them." I've watched this either straight or through reactions about 16 times or so? Tears...every...single...time.

It's funny that you noticed the frames, I can't remember the details but I know the demons are animated at a different frame than the humans and at some point during the movie Rumi becomes animated at the same frame rate as the demons.

Loves all the songs, the full playlist has been playing nonstop on my drive to work everyday since I seen this. IF I had to pick one Takedown, my favorite character is Zoey! There's 2 versions of Takedown, one sang by the singers for the movie and one sang by three members of TWICE (Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung). In the movie, it's the singers, Twice's version is only used in the end credits. And this video https://youtu.be/l8Dr7vzMSVE?si=H8hCowFIH568R3lo Some historical context for Jinu's betrayal of his family, 400 years ago, commoners weren't allowed in the palace courts, however musicians were. So when he was invited to join the palace you can see him leading his family into it, but they are stopped by the guards. They weren't allowed in and if Jinu tried to leave he would be defying the king's choice at the time and would have been charged for treason and would have gotten his family killed or imprisoned. It's why you see the mom holding back the sister because she understands that Jinu was forced to leave them. Jinu is a victim of Gwi'ma. He got tricked into a faustian deal, and then for 400 years was gaslit into believing that he abandoned his family when in reality he was manipulated into a situation where he was forced into losing them. I don't even blame him for betraying Rumi. He knew her for about 2 weeks and only really interacted with her for a few hours and as much as he wanted to believe her that he could be better and regardless of how much he had grown to care about her, he has CENTURIES of Gwi'ma in his head weaponizing his own self-hatred against him. He briefly felt hope with Rumi and then was instantly reminded that he is Gwi'ma's prisoner and has nothing but pain to look forward to FORVER unless he does as he's told. Plus as a fan of mythology was cool seeing some Korean folklore. And there were alot of nods to Korean folklore. 1. The shaman women you see in the more ancient times are called Moodang, and serve as spiritual mediums for contacting spirits and warding off evil. 2. Rumi's sword is a Sa-in Geom (Four Tiger Sword), a ritualistic sword forged in the Hour of the tiger, in the day of the tiger, in the month of the tiger, on the year of the tiger. Tigers were seen as divine beasts, and was thought to channel the energy of the Tiger into a sword used in rituals to ward off evil. 3. Mira's Glaive is called a Gaya Gokdo (Gaya Curved Blade). Gaya was a Kingdom that was in the South western area of the Korean Peninsula. 4. Zoey's blades are called Shin-kal (Divine knives). These blades the size of kitchen knives are used in Shaman rituals for various uses. 5. Saja boys is a Korean pun, as the word Saja is a homonym of both Lion and a psychopomp like the grim reaper in Korean. The black traditional outfit the Saja wear are the same outfit Juhsung Saja are described to be in. 6. While not explicitly named, a lot of the demons shown are those that appear in Korean folklore, like the Dokkaebi wielding clubs, the water dwelling Mulguishin (souls of drowned victims that become ghosts determined to share their fate by drowning others with them), and Mongdal Guishin (The faceless guishin). 7. The tiger and magpie are an homage to a popular Korean art motif called a Hojakdo, which showcase a derpy looking tiger and a magpie. Tigers as I said are regarded as divine beasts, and magpies are regarded as omens of good news and welcome guests. As such, the art are used as wards against evil and a magnet for good luck in a household.

You should try watching AMC, Interview with a Vampire for me and us. I think you’d really like the new show they’ve done. Looks really good esp for a show, plus who doesn’t know the story of these three vampires

You mentioned this would be a good video game but it’s funny because there is a League of Legends KPOP themed band K/DA from 2018-2020 who are Singers/Warriors which means they could be in any Arcane spinoffs. In fact after this film’s success I’d be surprised if Riot aren’t going to try and bring the concept out of retirement.

It's so good, seen it 3 times already c:

Has anyone else downloaded the limited free theme pack from the Galaxy Store? I think it's available un September 12th. I downloaded it right before watching the movie and I'm SO glad I did.

Best movie I've seen in years.

It’s gonna gonna be Golden.

Haha, yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! This movie has brought me so much joy and I'm glad enough people asked you to get you interested in watching it :D I do have a couple critiques (pretty much the stuff you hit on), but overall, you can tell the passion and love that went into the film. It's sweet and wholesome, knows and leans into what it is, the characters are awesome, the humor's on point, and the music is top-notch! I also really appreciate your thoughts and breakdown of the themes. And so fitting that it gets a GOLDEN rating!! :D

I really thought that I wouldn’t like this and avoided it until last week. Gosh I love it.

I regret to inform I am not immune to cartoon men 😔 and Your Idol is definitely a banger I’m so glad you noticed!! Taste!!!

I called it I knew first film back would be either Superman of KPop demon hunters. Both in my opinion the movies that ruled this summer. Honestly Netflix is killing it with Animation

My girls, 10 and 7, watched this with my husband. He told me after that I had to watch it. Now we’re all obsessed, it’s been on multiple times in our house and I’ll be very surprised if my girls don’t ask to go as the Huntrix girls for Halloween! I think it sends such a good message for kids about being true to yourself. Absolutely love this and thanks for reacting to it Nat.

YESSSS DUDE. so excited to see this!

THANK YOUUU

YES YES YES I AM SOOO HYPEDDDD. I ASKED ABOUT THIS TWO MONTHS AGO AND DIDNT KNOW IF IT WAS GONNA HAPPEN 😭😭

Sony fucked up BAD by selling this to Netflix. They had ZERO faith in it. The movie cost them $100 mil, and they sold it to Netflix for $20mil flat. But now it’s been Netflix’s number one movie for MONTHS. Only recently surpassed by a truly wild little doc called Unknown Number. And when it hit theaters for one weekend it was the highest grossing film that weekend.

Got to thank MightyHobo for convincing me to watch this! I've seen it over 2 dozen times now with over a dozen different reactors. I think the movie gets better with re-watches, and re-listens. The lyrics of the songs are genius. I hope the fame that EJAE, the vocalist behind Rumi's parts in the songs, and songwriter for most of the songs, sets her up for life. I wish they had merch lined up for this movie, because everyone would be getting Derpy (the tiger) gifts for Christmas. Sony was paid $20m for KPDH, and it is now the most watched Netflix show, ever, and has made them over $200m.

to your point about Rumi not wanting to protect the Honmoon but then defending it anyway. She didn't change her mind, she built a new one, as shown by the now rainbowy colors instead of gold, and the new one also doesn't work like the old one, allowing for example the tiger to be in the real world, so a new honmoon more in line with rumis morals.

I'm so excited to watch this with you!! :D

Best musical since Greatest Showman 👏

I keep hearing from people how good this is. This was the nudge I needed to watch it 😁

My best friend is obsessed with this movie and I knew you were gonna watch it so I just had to wait, much to her chagrin haha

The singer for Rumi, EJAE, had been told she was too old to lead a KPop Girl Band so she came to America and wrote/sang these songs as Rumi. The song Golden reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and EJAE is the first female KPop singer to accomplish that. Huntrix is also the first girl group to reach #1 since Destinys Child.

This is what I love about Nat's community, we get to watch so many different genres of films..

Been waiting to watch this one alongside you - Big excitement!

I loved this movie and have been recommending it to everyone I know. I’m so happy you reacted to it.

Happy Feature Friday Nat. Haven't seen this movie yet so it will be fun to watch along with you today and see what it's all about 😊 What a great movie Nat. It was really enjoyable. I see what all the hype was about. They certainly missed a trick by not giving it a longer run at the cinema. Thanks for another fun reaction today Nat 😊

This is the 5th time I'm watching this movie. Love it!!