Late in the back half of director Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ new Netflix sensation, KPop Demon Hunters , musical icon Rumi (Arden Cho) takes a break from her side hustle as a late-night monster-slayer in order to simply slay above an arena stage. Before thousands of screaming fans and a lighting scheme that matches the name of her power ballad about the glories of self-empowerment, “Golden,” our supernatural diva literally rises like a phoenix above the adoring arena to belt, “I’m done hidin’, now I’m shinin’ / Like I’m born to be! / We dreamin’ hard, we came so far / Now I believe!”

The sequence is as formulaic as it is spellbinding. Like its instantly earwormy melody, the scene plays the role of both expressing Rumi’s aspirations—she’s ironically been hiding her entire life the

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