It was the most unusual ceremony he had ever held when a Korean monk held a Buddhist ritual for a popular K-Pop boy band.

His mission: to guide the band’s soul peace and rebirth.

Gone are the bands—or rather, they’re never alive except in the fictional world of the animated Netflix hit K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Still, YouTube videos are popular.

Despite playing the villain, the Saja Boys have won loyal followers, their looks and swagger. Even their name – Saja – is transformed into “Angel of Death” and so on.

The live service is a true Buddhist ritual called Chondojae, usually performed by monks to mourn the family, lasting over two hours and attracting more than 4,000 viewers – more than he had seen at the ceremony, even offline, the monks are a virtual Youtuber who tend to be anonymous.

This is no joke. The BBC confirmed that he was a registered monk. But he can’t guarantee the salvation of the Saha boy, and even without leading, Ginu.

“That will depend on his good karma. I can guide him, but I can’t promise.”

When K-Pop Demon Hunters landed on every chart – Netflix said it has become the most watched movie ever – Koreans are now intoxicating. The film was inspired by Korean Americans and produced by American studios Sony and Netflix, deeply Korean.

It’s a story about the fabulous demon hunters whose power comes from their music – in this case, it’s a savage K-Pop girl band called Huntrix. Of course, the soundtrack that fans around the world are now singing every day is rooted in South Korea’s biggest export: K-Pop.

All of this has caused the Korean madness, like in many other places, an obsession with the Korean culture at the center of the film, and even a little bit of FOMO – because unlike the United States and Canada, there is no plan to release the movie in the cinema here.

“See all the edits of singing in the cinema (online)…I’m jealous of Americans!” wrote a fan on social media. Another vow, “If KDH comes to the cinema, I’ll even have a day off” – it’s a huge hope for the hard work culture in Korea.

Part of the fanaticism is driven by respect. Many Koreans are on screen with awkward descriptions of their country, especially given the current popularity of this culture. If there is such a global blow, you will make mistakes.

“I’ve seen a lot of movies and dramas that involve Korean culture, but they’re always full of mistakes. They’ll confuse it with Chinese or Japanese traditions, suggesting that the actors speak awkward Korean and reduce everything to shallow imitation,” said Lee Yu-Min, a woman in her 30s.

“But I was very surprised by KDH’s portrayal of our culture,” she pointed to the opening ceremony, saying: “A thatched roof house in the Jose dynasty, the average people of Hanburk (traditional Korean clothing) with their unique hairstyles – the details are almost perfect.”

She said she “never thought” it would capture hearts around the world like this.

The songs in the movie have become the most streamed song on Spotify, and Track Golden Hit is ranked No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100.

There are also many Korean fanatics. Surprisingly, one of the biggest beneficiaries is the National Museum of Korea, which carries traditional Korean artifacts from the film.

Now, it is Asia’s most popular museum and now line up to stretch out outside in front of the door. It recorded more than 740,000 visitors in July, twice as much as last year.

“I got there at 10 a.m. Sharp, and that was when the museum was open, but there were about a hundred people waiting,” Lee Da-Geon said.

But she was still empty-handed: “Everything I wanted was sold out.” Her wishlist includes a badge with tigers and hi p-the movie’s animal characters Derpy and Sussie, inspired by folk paintings.

For someone like Choi Nyun-hee, the surge in sales is a driving force, who runs the craft business. “My income has increased about five times,” she said, adding that her products are now exported to the United States and Australia.

She said she discovered the K-Pop Demon Hunter when the tiger-shaped “Norigae” was a traditional pendant with mother-of-pearl that “suddenly started selling.”

Choi previously worked at a museum where she developed an educational program on Korean artifacts. After watching the movie, she believed that “Korean culture was fully played and weaved it into a story.”

For others, it’s not just the resonant image and symbolism. “Rumi is the heroine, and she is hiding her true self because of embarrassment and shame. I’m related to it.” “In Korea, people are very worried about what others think.”

YouTuber Park Jin-soo, who worked in the Korean film industry, admitted that he initially regarded the film as “a bizarre animation based on K-Pop,” but when he finally watched it, he found that he loved it very much.

“I personally want to see KDH on screen, especially when Korean movies are in desperate need of blockbuster movies,” he said.

“Currently, they’re fighting for sharing the same pie, but streaming and cinema have their own purposes. If they work together to shape the trend, if it spreads, will the pie they’re fighting for eventually grow bigger and bigger? I think KDH can play that role.”

For him, the “singing” experience – something that only cinemas can offer – is a way to turn streaming hits into box office blockbusters.

More than two months after the movie was released, the momentum of the movie has not slowed down—in fact, it is spilling into the cinema. In North America, a special “singing” screening made K-Pop Demon Hunters Netflix’s first movie at the box office.

Now, Korean fans are calling out the same experience, many of whom say online: “I want to sing KDH in the cinema!”

The film will be screened at the Busan International Film Festival in September, which announced limited singing screenings this year, although tickets are expected to be scarce.

Lee Yu-Min, who watched the movie more than five times on Netflix, said she was determined to do it if it arrived at the cinema: “I will definitely drag my husband – he hasn’t seen it yet.”

“I’m cheering for KDH screening in South Korea,” said online fans. “I know nothing is confirmed, but I’ve started to remember all the lyrics.”

Another asked, “K-pop Demon Hunter is being screened in North America, Canada and the UK… So why not be at K-pop’s home?”