"Happy Fans, Happy Honmoon!": KPop Demon Hunters and the Utopian Negotiation of Fandom

This paper explores the idealized image of K-pop in KPop Demon Hunters (2025), an animated musical film that became an unexpected global phenomenon. Drawing on feminist media studies, this research conducts a close textual analysis to examine how the film constructs a utopian reality where female stars possess full agency while simultaneously retaining their glamour and resisting sexual objectification. As a text bridging fan reception and mainstream media production, KPop Demon Hunters offers unique insights into the contradictions of global K-pop fandom and signals K-pop’s ongoing evolution into global popular culture.