Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Multimodal Rhetoric and Global Engagement inKPop Demon Hunters: An Analysis of Narrative, Emotion, and Cross-Cultural Appeal

Chenqi HuangChina Agricultural University*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

KPop Demon Huntersrapidly achieved global popularity, but the mechanisms through which its multimodal design facilitates audience immersion and cross-cultural engagement remain underexplored. This article examines how the film coordinates multiple rhetorical resources to sustain narrative transportation in a hybrid K-pop animation. Drawing on Narrative Transportation Theory and multimodal rhetorical analysis, the study focuses on fifteen minutes of emotionally intensive sequences selected from across the film, analyzing the interaction of visual, sonic, narrative, and industrial cues. The analysis identifies four interrelated dimensions through which the film organizes viewer understanding and emotional investment: music-driven narrative structuring, the visual articulation of globally shared youth growth struggles, recurring color schemes and symbolic patterns that stabilize interpretation, and the integration of supernatural mythology with recognizable K-pop industry realities. These dimensions form an organizational logic that aligns perceptual rhythm, emotional resonance, and narrative readability, reducing counterarguing and lowering the threshold for entering the fictional world despite cultural and generic difference. The findings indicate that the film's global appeal depends less on viewers' prior cultural knowledge than on the experiential coherence produced by coordinated multimodal rhetoric, and they invite further theorization of how specific rhetorical mechanisms differentially shape audience immersion and the evolving configurations of Korean soft power in virtual idol-centered media.

Keywords: KPop Demon Hunters; multimodal rhetoric; narrative transportation; Korean Wave
Published: July 6, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.BJ35043
Volume: CHR Vol.114
pp. 96-110
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