“Netflix’s original animation ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ has surpassed the record set by ‘Squid Game’.”
According to the viewership rankings released by Netflix on the 3rd, ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ added 30.1 million views (50.2 million viewing hours) from August 25th to 31st, bringing its total to 266 million views (443.4 million viewing hours). This surpasses the record held by ‘Squid Game’ Season 1, which accumulated 265.2 million views (2.205 billion viewing hours), making it the highest record among all content released on Netflix.
‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ previously topped the box office records in the movie category but was third in the series category behind ‘Squid Game 1’ (2021, 265.2 million views) and ‘Wednesday 1’ (2022, 252.1 million views). However, it reversed the rankings in just one week.
It is particularly noteworthy because it broke the viewership records of works released during the COVID-19 period when streaming on platforms including Netflix was significantly high.
Netflix compares the accumulated viewership over the first 91 days of release to tally the most-watched movies and shows. Given that ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ was released on June 20th, there are still two weeks left for its viewership to be counted, and unless something unexpected happens, it is expected to be named Netflix’s highest-grossing work yet.
‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ tells the story of a K-pop girl group, Huntrix, who secretly work as exorcists, defeating demons with their music. Huntrix is inspired by shamans, while the antagonist idol group, Sajaboys, is based on the concept of grim reapers.
The show has received praise for its meaningful depiction rooted in a deep understanding of Korean culture, from the songs featured in the OST to the setting of the drama and the identities of each character. Korean-Canadian director Maggie Kang, who directed the series, and Korean-American composer Jae Lee, who provided the singing voice for Huntrix’s main vocalist Lumi, have both expressed that “my roots are in Korea.”
The production was handled by Sony Pictures rather than in Korea, and its global release on Netflix has led to it being celebrated as a “popular success of Korean culture.”