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K-Pop Demon Hunters

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By Lukas Prominksi / Staff Writer

Every year, there’s one movie that really impacts pop culture more than any other. 2022 had “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” 2023 had “Barbie” and 2024 had “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Every one of these movies actually makes sense to be culture-changing. All of them are based on existing ideas that people recognize, and it makes sense that they would sell so many tickets… So why did this year’s “”KPop Demon Hunters” have such an impact?

It almost seems to defy logic; “KPop Demon Hunters” is an animated film based on no pre-existing media that took the world by storm this year. It has more views than “Squid Game,” “Wednesday” and “Stranger Things,” some of the most culturally significant television shows of all time.

Thinking about it logically, “KPop Demon Hunters” achieved this feat for three reasons: The film is on a streaming service most people have, the film has stunning animation and the film has catchy music.

Start with the first point: “KPop Demon Hunters” is on a streaming service that most people have. According to The Streamable, Netflix is the most subscribed streaming service across America. While Disney+ has 57.8 million subscribers in North America and HBO Max has roughly 60 million, Netflix has nearly 90 million of them across the same demographic. 

Because the film is so accessible to kids looking for something children-oriented to watch, it’s found an audience in young kids who want to later show their parents, siblings and so on and so forth.

But why specifically this movie? That brings me to the second reason the film has had such a big impact:  the animation.

Sony Pictures Animation, the animation studio that produced “KPop Demon Hunters,” has had some major hits lately. While they made plenty of B-movies throughout the mid-2000s and early 2010s, they really started to gain the public’s interest with 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

From there, through the critically lauded “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” and into 2023’s sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Sony Pictures Animation has been bringing animation as a medium forward for the last several years. From the serious animation of the “Spider-Verse” films to the more cartoony “Mitchells” art style, they’ve revolutionized the use of the “2.5D” art style, a type of animation that uses 3D models to attempt to recreate 2D art, allowing for what appears to the audience as realistic depth perception within a 2D cartoon. It’s seemingly genius.

“KPop Demon Hunters” uses the same realistic art style of “Into”/”Across the Spider-Verse,” but instead of using flashing vibrant colors to amplify action sequences, it uses an almost Pixar-like skybox with pretty stars, lighting and effects throughout the air.

While people seemed to love the quick action scenes of the “Spider-Verse” films (especially given that Box Office Mojo calculates “Across the Spider-Verse” as the second-highest-grossing animated film of the year it released), it’s hard to deny that the creators, animators and modelers spent so much time on the look of “KPop Demon Hunters” that it rivals what many (IMDb, for example) consider to be the best animated film of all time.

These pretty skylines, beautiful lighting and great models are hard to ignore regardless of how well-versed in film someone is. Considering how jaw-droppingly pretty it is, it’s no surprise that children would fall in love with the film. I actually, however, don’t even think that’s the biggest thing regarding kids liking the film so much. The movie’s arguably biggest selling point (and what really skyrocketed it into popularity) is the music.

While South Korean pop (K-pop) has definitely seen American charts before (think BTS’ “Butter,” “Dynamite” and BLACKPINK’s “How You Like That”), it’s never been quite as ‘in-the-media’ as it is in relation to this film.

The film starts with an entirely original song by K-pop artists EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. This trend continues throughout the entire film.

Every single song in the movie is sung by real K-pop artists who (after the movie’s release) are Top 50 Most Monthly Listeners list on Spotify. These charts are amplified by the sheer amount of word-of-mouth in relation to the movie. With children having backpacks and water bottles with characters on them and playing the music in the movie, they’re inadvertently convincing their peers to watch the movie.

What’s great about more and more children watching the movie is that they’re exposing themselves to foreign cultures while also having fun. Rumi, Mira and Zoey, the three leads in the film, are actually modeled after studying Korean culture, and side-by-side comparisons between the film and real life are everywhere online.

Without any one of these three things (the ease of access, the beautiful animation and the catchy music), “KPop Demon Hunters” wouldn’t have had nearly the same impact that it’s had in the status quo. Something that would have been nearly unthinkable even just six months ago is now our reality, which is actually a great sign for cinema as a whole.

Getting children away from cinematic universes and sequels and towards original ideas is a great way to potentially expose them to films that they wouldn’t have considered before and to expose them to different cultures.

Sports

Boys’ Cross Country Season Recap

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By Mira Woodward / Business Manager

      Last year the cross country team got 17th place at states, but this season they worked to be the first time since the ‘70s to repeat state visits.

     Chase Schumaker a freshman on Varsity, has been running for three years. Chase Westover, a sophomore on JV, has been running for four years. Henry Wisniewski, a junior on Varsity has been running for five years. Tristan Roach is a senior and captain on the Varsity team who has been running for six years. Trevor Ing is a senior and captain on Varsity who has been running for four years.

     Improvements are not made overnight: They take hard work and dedication. For Ing, this means putting in the work during practice and outside of it.

     “It’s showing up to practice every single day,” Ing said, “but it’s more than that. It’s the 22 hours that you’re not at practice, making sure you’re eating well, making sure you’re sleeping well and making sure there’s not a bunch of distractions stressing you out, making you have no energy for practice.”

     Injury is a struggle that can be very common for athletes. Depending on the severity of the injury, it may prevent runners from competing. Learning how to overcome this setback is a crucial part of being an athlete.

     “I got put out of a couple of races because my knee started bothering me, but I overcame it by continuing to show up to practices and doing strength and exercises with coaches,” Westover said.

     Running can be mistaken as only physically tolling, but a 2019 study by “Deconstructing Stigma” shows that thirty-five percent of athletes have mental health concerns. 

     For some student runners, one of the biggest challenges is being mentally there or focusing enough during their races.

     “I kept saying I was slow or I kept giving up on myself before things even started. So overcoming that mental block and getting back into it was a huge problem that I had to overcome,” Ing said.

     An important thing about improving as a team is being able to rely on each other, not just during a race but outside of Cross Country. Some would even say that it is more than friends, but a family.

     “I enjoy being with the team a lot. It’s a good spirit that we have, and it’s like a second family basically. I feel that I’m able to enjoy my life better when I can show up to practice and be with guys that I’m comfortable with,” Westover said.

     Leaving a team behind can be hard for a senior to do, especially if they are a captain. Roach feels that the team is in a great position right now to where he feels comfortable leaving the team in the hands of the underclassmen.

     “We have a lot of young talent right now,” Roach said, “and they just need to understand where the team is at and how to improve it. If they step up, then I think the team can be in a really good place next year.”

        Being a captain of the boys cross country team is a big responsibility. Captains can be a junior or senior but must be interviewed for the position. Ing and Roach are two senior captains this year.  

     “It’s been great so far,” Ing said, “seeing everyone improve and then knowing I had a small part in that makes me feel so much better, and honestly, it makes me faster myself.”

     For Roach, being a captain involves leading workouts, stretching and most importantly, helping out his teammates and coaches.

     “I wanted to be a captain to help my teammates and really just help the coaches do their job and make this group a better place to be. Talking to people and seeing if they’re doing all right as a team,” Roach said.

     For most of the underclassmen, Ing and Roach seem to be who they most look up to on this team. They know how to push their teammates to be their best selves and Wisniewski felt this personally.

     “I look up to Tristan Roach and Trevor Ing. They have always pushed me and always told me I can do better. I didn’t always believe them, but I see now that they were right, they saw the potential in me,” Wisniewski said.

  For a lot of members of boys cross country, this team holds a special place in their hearts. For Ing specifically, this feels more like being a part of a family.

     “I couldn’t ask for a better team to be with. If I had another chance to redo it, I would do the exact same thing I did now,” Ing said.

     For others, this team is a great way to keep not only yourself in check but cheering on your friends as they improve alongside you.

     “Being on this team gives you some responsibility, because it’s you. If you want to get a personal best that’s all up to you. I love having that responsibility on myself and it’s overall really fun,” Wisniewski said.

     Boys cross country has had a great progression over the season and hopes to continue to make the school proud at states this weekend.

     “We’ve accomplished some amazing goals and we’re looking to having a repeat state visit,” Ing said.

     Luckily, this year the boys cross country team was able to pull off the back to back state qualification with them placing 5th at the D1 Cross country regional competition. Vaugh Hamilton was the MVP of the race surging ahead and clutching up passing a bunch of people to place 4th on the team. Seniors Trevor Ing and Tristan Roach lead the team with a 5th and 6th place finish to help carry the team to states. 

Front/Home

Girls’ Soccer team gains two new coaches

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By Zoey Davis

This year’s girls’ soccer team looks different with two new coaches–one for both JV and Varsity. 

     The new soccer staff seems to have a high amount of collective experience. Both new coaches are transferring from extensive backgrounds and histories within the soccer field. Dino Mclntyre, the new head Varsity girls’ soccer coach, has a lengthy high school coaching career.

     “I coached at Walsh Jesuit High School for 30 years. I started the program there in the early ‘90s, when the school became co-ed, and that was the only place I was at for a long time,” Mclntyre said. 

     His past involvement allowed him to lay out the foundation for the new program, which focuses heavily on the player rather than the sport. It aims to create bonds and relationships with the girls rather than being overly coach-like. Mclntyre believes that focusing on the player, rather than the sport, will strengthen the girls rather than drilling practices into them.

     “It’s about connecting with girls and caring about them more than just soccer players. [It’s about] caring about them as a human being because that’s really at the end of the day, what it boils down to. That’s what will last forever,” Mclntyre said. 

     Nina Rorabaugh, the new girls’ head JV soccer coach, is also an intervention specialist at the high school. This past spring, she was also an assistant girls’ track coach. With a familiar face, the girls seem to be comfortable and open; she brings an understanding to the team. 

     “I had some really awesome coaches, and I had some really terrible coaches. I wanted to be able to put myself into a really good position where I can support my athletes from a soccer standpoint, but I can also care for them well outside of soccer,” Rorabaugh said. 

     Rorabaugh has not only coached at the high school level, but she has also coached and played club soccer. 

     “For the past five years, I’ve been coaching youth soccer at the competitive level, and I was ready to take that step into coaching at the high school level,” Rorabaugh said. 

     The two soccer coaches want to focus on the relationship they build with each other and their players. They believe a strong mindset will make a strong game. The main focus they want to establish is an understanding and a long-lasting bond between not only the coaches, but also among the players. 

     Sophomore Ellie Julius, a soccer player who has been through the old program as well, is seeing these changes being made in real time. 

     “It’s affected everybody because it’s new, and it’s different, but it’s affected us in a good way, too. Everyone is getting along much better, and everybody’s getting better,” Julius said. 

     The girls suggest that the new coaches positively strengthen the team overall. Both coaches bring their own experiences–both positive and negative–to the team. Rorabaugh seems to connect with the players well, having that girl-to-girl connection with the teams. While Mclntyre’s experiences bring the team together, effectively and thoughtfully. Both coaches work well together and build off each other to make the team stronger and greater. 

     “It’s important that athletes feel supported, like in school, because we’re student-athletes, not just athletes. So it’s important to me that they know I’m here as well,” Rorabaugh said.