Explain some Korean cultures through animation film Kpop demon hunters.

Explain some Korean cultures through animation film Kpop demon hunters.

Drawing process video of Kpopdemonhunters on Youtube

Cultural Perception of Characters While many international viewers find Derfy creepy, Koreans see her as cute and familiar. She and Sussie are based on traditional Korean symbols: the magpie (bringer of good news) and the tiger (banisher of evil), commonly seen in minhwa (folk art).

Korean Tigers & Satire In Korean folk art, tigers are drawn in a distorted, silly style—reflecting a cultural tendency to mock power and fear. This humor likely stems from Korea’s long history of oppression under its hereditary slavery system, which shaped a uniquely dark, satirical sense of humor.

Revolution vs. Mockery Rather than violent revolution, Koreans often respond to injustice with sharp mockery. For example, the protest movement against President Yoon Seok-yeol involved singing and dancing rather than riots. This theme will be explored in my comic Too Many Thoughts.

Mythical Imagery in the Story In the film, the characters’ demonic transformation features yellow tiger eyes, symbolising primal power in Eastern mythology, similar to the green or violet eyes found in Western fantasy.

Rumi, Mira, and Joey = Three Kingdoms Heroes The trio seems inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms (It is a Chinese novel that has been loved for a very long time not only in Korea but throughout East Asia.)

Rumi = Liu Bei (leader, royal blood)

Mira = Guan Yu (disciplined, martial, role model, wields curved blade)

Joy = Zhang Fei (bold, powerful, aggressive rapper energy)

Saja (Korean Grim Reapers) Saja are underworld messengers—not inherently evil. Korean afterlife beliefs mix Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and shamanism. Some saja are brave, clever or adventurus in the old stories.

Demons The “Gwima” soul-stealing demons are original to the animation, not from Korean tradition.

Dokkaebi (goblins): horned, wild, mischievous, and oddly human. But Not Evil. Dokkaebi are often friendly or foolish. They appear in folk tales, fall for singing, repay kindness with gold, or transform from everyday objects. They’re more like supernatural oddballs than true villains.

Shamans, Women, and Legacy Female shamans (mudang) in Korea were marginalized but deeply feared for their spiritual power—summoning spirits, predicting futures, and performing rituals. The idea of pop idols as demon hunters and spiritual mediums blends this tradition with modern empowerment.

Huntrix and the Saja Boys Since the Saja Boys are dead, only Huntrix can bring them back through a spiritual ritual. No matter how many times we stream I’m Your Idol, they won’t return unless she calls them. So listen to Golden—it might just protect the world and bring the boys back.

I’m a Korean cartoonist. Check the full script of this explanation on https://posty.pe/jhfrd9 Here my blog and Check my cartoons on my homepage http://hannahanna.me

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