“K-pop Demon Hunters: The New Face of Global Fandom Power”

On June 20, 2025, “K-Pop Demon Hunters” was added to Netflix. In just 48 hours, it was the most-watched show on the service’s global Top 10 list. It has stayed there ever since, topping the weekly charts on the platform, even beating out long-running hits like Stranger Things and Bridgerton. The movie’s success isn’t just good for streaming; it shows how K-pop’s huge online fan bases can make a single release a cult classic around the world.

The movie told the truth when it said it was based on BTS’s wave. The director, Maggie Kang, said that the carefree “Dynamite” era of the group made her think that an animated musical about idol culture could be the same hit with people from other cultures as any Disney movie. But Netflix really pushed the link. The movie’s bubblegum song “Soda Pop” was hummed by BTS leader RM on a Weverse Live. In response, Netflix changed its X (Twitter) bio to “BTS NOTICED SAJA BOYS 7.01.25,” which was a wink to ARMY and a sign for people who might be interested in what all the fuss was about.

The Saja Boys, who wear masks and are evil, are HUNTR/X’s rivals. K-Pop Demon Hunters is made up of these two made-up groups. The songs they were singing quickly disappeared from the screen. On July 4, the Saja Boys’ “Your Idol” was the number one song on Spotify in the U.S. Along with BLACKPINK’s Rosé and BTS’s Jungkook and Jimin, they were the only K-pop group to ever top that chart. The happy HUNTR/X song “Golden” made it to No. 3 on the Global Top 50 the next day. Four other songs from the soundtrack also made it into the top forty. They did better than Drake and Billie Eilish’s new songs that came out at the same time. The music videos were the same. The video for “Golden” was the most-watched video on YouTube for two days. It also got more views in its first week than any other Netflix soundtrack video.

Next, something happened that chart watchers had never seen before: fans got together. The first was ARMY, but Blinks, Atinys, Stays, and a lot of other smaller fandoms also joined. These streaming parties were always popular on TikTok and Discord. “Let the demons eat the charts” was a silly rallying cry that got everyone to work together. From July 6 to July 8, the Saja Boys were the most-streamed K-pop group on Spotify for 36 hours straight. Since the chart started again in 2020, this was the first time a male act other than BTS had held that spot. Also, it was the first time the crown was held by a made-up group.

In the fandom bubble, no one thinks that this will last forever. It’s been ten years since BTS made music and changed culture. That mountain is too high for a real group to climb in one comeback, and a cartoon group that only lasts one hour can’t do it either. Fans say this is part of the point: it’s so crazy that it took a well-made animated band and K-pop fans from all over to steal a streaming record from the group that started the Hallyu wave. The stunt doesn’t get rid of BTS’s history; it builds it up. The original kings are still used as a guide for success by even made-up kings.

What’s really important is what goes on behind the scenes. The Saja Boys and HUNTR/X aren’t afraid to use tropes from the idol business. It’s easy for them to switch between Korean and English hooks in their songs; they even dress in colour themes. What the script does, though, is turn those clichés into a fantasy story about abuse, sacrifice, and love that doesn’t work with others. This is something that anyone who has seen the bad side of K-pop fame will recognise. Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times both said that Kang and co-director Chris Appelhans do a great job of balancing stan culture with martial arts. A reviewer called it “a fangirl fever dream that still hits hard.”

Netflix is already making more films like this one. Just hours after they came out, preorders for Saja Boys’ light sticks crashed two Korean shopping sites. Insiders say that plans are already being made for a small world tour that will be like a concert with live dancers dressed in 3-D-mapped costumes. Without a doubt, this shows that the line between anime and real idol life has never been thinner. We’re not sure if those demons will stay on the charts after the summer is over, but one thing is for sure: K-Pop Demon Hunters has shown that when K-pop fans decide to move together, even the biggest streaming services have to change their plans.

They may not be real, and their win may not last long, but the moment they beat BTS will be remembered as a crazy, unlikely win made possible by millions of clicks and a love of catchy songs about neon swords and bubblegum vengeance. Soon, BTS will be king or queen again. For now, the fandoms they helped build have shown that they can make fake idols look very real.