K-pop Demon Hunters, which released on June 20, on Netflix, opened to positive reviews, with fans praising its animation, voice acting, visuals and music. Co-directed by Korean-American filmmaker Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, it topped the Netflix charts, within four days. Amidst its global success and topping the Netflix charts worldwide, the animated film has faced criticism from Chinese netizens who claim that the film has stolen their traditions.
K-Pop Demon Hunters accused of 'cultural appropriation'
According to KBIZoom (via Sohu News), a section of Chinese netizens accused the film of cultural appropriation and plagiarism. They alleged that certain things like traditional garments, palace architecture, herbal medicine references, and symbolic design motifs are stolen from Chinese culture.
A user wrote, "Is Korea not even trying to hide their cultural plagiarism anymore? This is clearly Chinese" while another called it “cultural theft”.
Demon Hunters is hit in Rotten Tomatoes
As of June 25, the Netflix anime film has a 96 per cent critic score and a 87 per cent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
As per a report in streaming analytics platform FlixPatrol, as of June 22, K-pop Demon Hunters was the most-watched title on Netflix globally, with a viewership score of 771. The same platform also reported that then film grabbed the No. 1 spot in 26 countries between June 21 and 22 and secured a place in the Top 10 in 93 nations.
K-pop Demon Hunters story
The 1-hour-30-minute film revolves around a fictional K-pop girl group called Hunterix. The group was formed under the leadership of Celine, and comprises of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, who are demon hunters. The three-member girl group are against the demonic boy band called the Saja Boys.
The synopsis of the film read: "When they aren't selling out stadiums, Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey 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."
K-pop Demon Hunters has the voices of Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Lee Byung-hun.
