Latest K-Pop Idol Named By “KPop Demon Hunters” Team As Direct Inspiration Sparks Hot Reactions

The Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters was recently released to much success. The film, released over a month ago, has continued to top music and film charts.

| Netflix

KPop Demon Hunters is about a K-Pop girl group, HUNTR/X, who live double lives as demon hunters. They face a rival boy group, Saja Boys, who are secretly demons. The film being about K-Pop, many have connected the characters to real-life counterparts, and the film’s creators cite various idols as inspiration.

One of the idols most commonly mentioned when talking about Saja Boys‘ leader Jinu is ASTRO‘s Cha Eunwoo, including by the film’s director.

Saja Boys’ Jinu | Netflix

Recently, a member of the film’s animation team spoke more about a source of inspiration for the character.

During an interview with a media outlet, animator Min Hong first spoke about the choreography for “Soda Pop,” mentioning SHINee and MONSTA X as two groups he referenced to create natural movements.

He also spoke about Jinu’s animation, revealing that he referenced EXO Kai‘s expressions to help bring Jinu to life.

To capture the emotional expressions of Jinwoo, the leader of Saja Boys, I took a lot of inspiration from EXO’s Kai.

— Animator Min Hong

Many fans had previously shared that they felt that EXO inspired the film, so they were excited to see Kai’s direction mentioned.

love me right literally played when they walked in. anyone who didn’t think they were inspired by exo is either a newer kpop stan or an exo anti https://t.co/cZAHXJvqqW

— mimi🍒EXOisNINE (@yeolmaerey) July 29, 2025

everyone was fighting over who he was inspired by meanwhile it was jongin on the mood board https://t.co/YdbJOuA8TD

— ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ (@kyoongfairy) July 29, 2025

OF COURSE HE IS THE INSPIRATION https://t.co/NhlOXgFvnE pic.twitter.com/BfrAjLj6Yj

— zkdlin_kai 🌊 (@justanexo_L) July 29, 2025