K-pop Demon Hunters was assembled 'slop'-style — anime first, music written after, performers hired last — yet became a massive hit, leaving Netflix owning an unexpectedly valuable, evergreen franchise almost by accident.
Pash recounts how K-pop Demon Hunters was made by scripting the anime first, writing the songs after, and hiring performers last — a process he calls 'slopified' — yet it became a massive hit that left Netflix in possession of an unexpectedly valuable franchise. ✦ AI generated
Pash · The Cognitive Revolution · 2026-07-08 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 10:38
the breakout out hit of the last uh you know 12 to 18 months if you're in the teeny bopper crowd is K-pop Demon Hunters and K-pop Demon Hunters is basically Sloppified because uh they went ahead with the cartoon the anime first and the anime required music because it was about K-pop and then they went and they wrote the music first and then you know they went and they found performers after that to perform the music.
verbatim transcript · starts at 10:38
10:38uh you know 12 to 18 months if you're in the teeny bopper crowd is K-pop Demon Hunters and K-pop Demon Hunters is basically Sloppified because uh they went ahead with the cartoon the anime first and the anime required music because it was about K-pop and then they went and they wrote the music first and then you know they went and they found performers after that to perform the
11:01music. So not all of the music is performed by the same performers. And then they went ahead with the Netflix series. The performers didn't get that paid that much. They were just making soundtrack basically. And K-pop Demon Hunters became absolutely enormous. Um for some reason Sony originated the uh the production and Sony sold all the rights to Netflix. So now Netflix has on its hand you know the
11:28one of the key properties of key media properties for this age group uh which is going to which is going to go all the way because number one it's anime so you don't get characters aging out number two you've captured the this this group of you know core kind of like 8 to 12 14 year olds when they're very young so they're going to like you progress the
11:53age group is going to progress older and so you're going to own this property as they get older and as they have more money to spend. So, uh, you know, and Netflix is kind of like doesn't know what to do with it because Netflix's normal strategy is, you know, you have you sign people for, uh, three season deals, you do the first season. If it works out, you continue
12:16for another two more seasons and then you cut because at that point when the three seasons are up, the actors negotiate for higher pricing. And Netflix, most of Netflix shows that doesn't make sense. So, they let go. uh in K-pop Demon Hunter's case, they had only negotiated for that one, you know, one one one thing. So, and they hadn't even engaged with these uh the artists at all, right? The artists were