There is something deeper happening in popular entertainment right now, and it deserves our attention.
At the recent Golden Globe Awards, animated films centered on demons, demon-human hybrids and spiritually deceptive narratives were not merely nominated. They were celebrated.
KPop Demon Hunters took home Best Motion Picture – Animated, while its song “Golden” won Best Original Song – Motion Picture. At the same ceremony, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai received a nomination in the same animated category.
To many viewers, this may seem like a cultural footnote, another awards show honoring popular films. Spiritually, however, it should stop us in our tracks.
These stories are not just entertainment. They are shaping how millions of people, including Christians, perceive the unseen realm.
Scripture tells us plainly that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Yet what we are seeing now is a steady reimagining of those very forces as misunderstood, conflicted or even redeemable.
Both KPop Demon Hunters and Demon Slayer revolve around a recurring and dangerous theme: the merging of human identity with demonic power. In Demon Slayer, the central emotional hook is a demonized sister who retains her humanity.
In K-pop Demon Hunters, the revelation that the main character herself is half-demon is not treated as a curse. It is framed as a strength. The film goes even further by portraying demons as capable of redemption.
That message directly contradicts Scripture.
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Jesus never treated demons as morally complex beings in need of understanding. He cast them out. He rebuked them. He exposed them. James 2:19 reminds us that even demons believe in God and tremble. There is no biblical framework in which demons are rehabilitated, redeemed or reconciled to God. They are rebels, deceivers and destroyers, fully aligned against His will.
Yet modern storytelling is steadily softening that reality.
The common defense is predictable. “But the shows portray demons as bad. The heroes are fighting them.” That argument misses the point entirely. The danger is not simply the presence of demons as villains. The danger lies in their normalization, humanization and rebranding.
Second Corinthians 11:14 warns us that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” Deception rarely announces itself openly. It disguises itself as something appealing, relatable and emotionally compelling. When demonic imagery is wrapped in stunning animation, catchy music, heroic narratives and sympathetic backstories, it lowers spiritual defenses. What once would have caused discomfort now feels familiar, and sometimes even admirable.
And this content is not niche.
KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix in June 2025 and quickly became a cultural juggernaut. It topped the U.S. weekend box office, became Netflix’s most-streamed film globally, and surpassed 300 million views. Its soundtrack dominated the Billboard charts. For 15 consecutive weeks, it remained in Netflix’s Top 10.
This is not fringe entertainment. This is mass influence.
Children are watching it. Teenagers are watching it. Adults are watching it. Christians are watching it.
And many are defending it, unaware that the spiritual framing beneath the surface is subtly rewriting what Scripture has already made clear.
First Peter 5:8 tells us to be sober and vigilant, because our adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. That warning does not disappear because the lion is animated, musical or marketed as heroic.
We are living in a moment where spiritual warfare is being reframed as fantasy, demons are being portrayed as allies or victims and discernment is being replaced with cultural acceptance. That is not accidental, and it is not harmless.
The question is not whether Christians should watch animated films. The question is whether we recognize when entertainment begins to rewrite spiritual truth, and whether we are willing to call it what it is.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
I didn’t watch it. I don’t plan on watching it. I am an artist and we can do better than this. I would love to see a biblical based series that is animated well.