What is the ‘napalm era’? Details explored as fans bash KPop Demon Hunters for referencing a historical event in a lyric

KPop Demon Hunters has taken over the Netflix charts as one of the most-watched movies since its release on June 20, 2025. It is an animated feature film that follows a K-pop girl group called Huntr/x, who are secretly demon hunters. Their mission is to take down their rival band, The Saja Boys — a wildly popular K-pop boy group who are, in reality, demons.

The movie's soundtrack, composed by Marcel Zarvos, features nine original songs and some other songs by well-known K-pop artists. In one of the original songs, How It's Done, which Huntr/x performs, Mira sings:

"Fit check for my napalm era"

Fans have taken issue with this particular lyric because 'napalm era' is associated with the Vietnam War era, which started in November 1955 and ended in April 1975. For the people of Vietnam, this lyric might be triggering because it is a painful reminder of that era.

Why is the lyric 'napalm era' in K-Pop Demon Hunters drawing backlash from fans?

Napalm is a highly flammable, gel-like incendiary weapon that became infamous during the Vietnam War. Between 1963 and 1973, the US military dropped napalm bombs in Vietnam. While napalm mostly caused physical harm, its uncontrollable spread and destructive ability also left psychological effects on the Vietnamese army and the civilians.

During a battle with the North Vietnamese forces in 1973, the South Vietnamese Air Force accidentally bombed Trảng Bàng village in South Vietnam with napalm. An Associated Press photojournalist, Nick Ut, photographed a 9-year-old girl named Phan Thi Kim Phúc running naked on a road after tearing off her burning clothes.

Nick Ut took Kim Phúc, whose body was severely burned, to the hospital, where he urged the doctors to save her life. The girl was saved and grew up to become a peace activist. The photograph Ut took is known globally as 'Napalm Girl' and earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.

This put the spotlight on the destruction that napalm caused and sparked massive international outrage. The chemical weapon was also used during World War II and the Korean War, but it is no longer in use today.

Due to its controversial history, some fans feel that the use of the phrase "napalm era" in the KPop Demon Hunters song How It's Done is insensitive.

KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack debuted at the top of the Billboard charts

According to a Billboard article published on June 30, 2025, the soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters becomes the highest debuting soundtrack of 2025 with its debut at No. 8 on the chart. It also landed on No. 1 on the Soundtracks chart, making it the first soundtrack from a Netflix film to reach that feat in two years.

Last year, the Wicked soundtrack debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 on the December 7, 2024-dated chart, and spent eight weeks in the top 10 chart. In fact, until the week of June 30, that was the only soundtrack in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 2025.

On Soundtracks, the last time a Netflix soundtrack reached No. 1 was on November 19, 2022, when Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4 re-entered the chart at the top spot for its first week. So, although How It's Done is being criticized, the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack has had a huge global impact.

KPop Demon Hunters is available to stream on Netflix.