Lea Salonga, TWICE, and more perform original songs for Netflix's 'KPop Demon Hunters'
Netflix's new animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, is currently taking the internet by storm. It has not only received positive reviews from viewers, but it also features original songs performed by several talents, including the Philippines' very own Lea Salonga and K-pop superstars TWICE.
The film was released on the streaming platform on June 20. It centers on K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira, and Zoey as they use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet: an irresistible rival boy band called the Saja Boys, who are demons in disguise.
It features the voices of Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo as Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, respectively. They are joined by Ahn Hyo-seop as Jinu, the leader of the Saja Boys, and Yunjin Kim as Celine, Rumi's foster mother and former demon hunter.
A separate cast provides the singing voices of the characters. According to the film's end credits, Salonga lends her vocal prowess to Celine for a brief scene.
The voice cast also features EJAE as Rumi, a songwriter for K-Pop groups like Red Velvet; Audrey Nuna as Mira, known for her singles Damn Right and Comic Sans; Rei Ami as Zoey, who gained prominence with Freak; and SM Entertainment singer Andrew Choi as Jinu.
Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung of the South Korean girl group TWICE have also been tapped to perform the film's lead single, Takedown.
“I have been a fan of these incredible artists and their work for many years, so it’s a dream come true to have original songs written and produced for our film by legendary talent such as THEBLACKLABEL,” director Maggie Kang said.
“I also couldn’t be more thrilled about our collaboration with Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung of TWICE. It really legitimizes our film and songs in the K-pop world. It’s proof that we achieved what we set out to do, which is make a real K-pop group,” she added.
This is not the first time that Salonga lent her singing voice for an animated film. She is famously known for providing the singing voice for Princess Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin (1992) and the titular character in Mulan (1998) and its sequel, Mulan II (2004).
Apart from that, she voiced Yasuko Kusakabe in the 2004 English dub of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro and was part of the cast of the Netflix animated series Centaurworld. She also guest-starred and voiced the characters Amalia and Dia in the FX animated series, Little Demon.
