“KPOP Demon Hunters” Writes New Chapter in Netflix History with 266 Million Views, Surpassing “Squid Game”

Netflix’s animated series “KPOP Demon Hunters” has established itself as the most-watched show in Netflix’s history. According to Toonoom (Netflix’s official viewing statistics site), as of September 3, the series had accumulated 266 million views, surpassing both “Squid Game” Season 1 (265.2 million views) and “Wednesday” Season 1 (252.1 million views). This achievement was reached just 75 days after the series premiered, and with two weeks remaining in the 91-day tracking period, it is possible that the total view count could exceed 300 million for the first time. “KPOP Demon Hunters” is a musical animated series centered around a K-pop girl group named HUNTR/X, who seal evil spirits through songs to protect the world. It was directed by Canadian-Korean director Maggie Kang, with Sony Pictures Animation participating in its production. The success of the series is attributed to its innovative fusion of Korean elements such as shaman rituals, guardian spirits, and urban Korean landscapes with modern K-pop culture. The U.S. magazine Time analyzed that “the protagonist’s journey of overcoming shame and discovering her identity resonated deeply with adult viewers,” while some critics noted that “Western culture, facing limitations in creativity, found a breakthrough through Korean themes.” The New York Times commented that “‘KPOP Demon Hunters’ has captured the hearts of parents with young children and is creating a cultural impact similar to Disney’s ‘Frozen.’” Music played a key role in driving the series’ global success. Its main OST track, “Golden,” topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. This is the third time a BTS track has achieved this feat, following “Butter” (10 weeks) and “Dynamite” (3 weeks). Other included songs such as “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” also gained popularity, creating a virtuous cycle between the film and its music. Ian Eshandras, the producer of “Golden,” emphasized the synergistic effect in a Billboard interview by saying, “Those who are fascinated by the movie help make the song a hit, and those who love the song return to watch the movie.” The series’ success extended to theaters as well, with special sing-along screenings held in North America on September 23–24 (local time) generating $20 million (approximately 28 billion won) in revenue and topping the box office. Bloomberg described this as “a rare success for Netflix, which had previously shown little interest in theatrical releases.” Netflix promptly released a separate sing-along version of the film, which also ranked sixth among the most-watched films globally, proving its equal popularity to the original version. Director Maggie Kang, who created the series, is being regarded as a strong contender for an Academy Award for creating a work that resonates worldwide through its unique blend of Korean culture and K-pop.