Back in June, I talked about the hit KPop Demon Hunters was becoming, and it just kept growing…and growing,

This week, not even six month after its explosive popularity on Netflix, there will be a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Derpy and Sussie Balloon (the tiger and the magpie for those not familiar yet).

Love ’em or hate ’em, KPop Demon Hunters are the animated hits of the year, and I’m fine with it as a someone who has been telling people for the past 15 years K-Pop is on the rise. That being said, the idea of an animated K-Pop group is nothing new. The K-Pop industry has been dabbling in the idea of the virtual animated and motion capture idols for some time. Not to mention some non-Korean groups like Gorillaz from Great Britain and Japans vocaloid mega star Hatsuni Miku.

So, as Huntrix and Saja Boys takover the Christmas gift world this year, here are some animated K-Pop groups, that did it first:

MAVE

MAVE is a hyperrealistic virtual girl group formed in 2023 by a subsidiary of a gaming corporation. They took advantage of 3D CGI, some deep fake and other animation methods. There was also some AI use so they could communicate if four languages. The real performers identities were undisclosed, which is a cool thing in an industry that had a rep for turning down talent if you don’t have the perfect look. They only really did two big songs, but “Pandora” was a pretty big hit.

PLAVE

PLAVE is a virtual boy band formed in 2023 that is currently having a successful run. Unlike MAVE, they aren’t going for a Hyperrealistic look, but instead have created their own animated world and lore.

Their name is a combination of “Play” and French word for dream, “rêve”, taking advantage of the make-believe world they created. Individual members have even joined other K-Pop groups on their social media post thanks to motion capture, and they have built up a good sized following.

Superkind

SuperKind was a hybrid group, but they only lasted about three years. They started out as a regular five-member, but they introduced two motion capture members few month later. Each of these two had very with different personalities, one almost an antagonist. They disbanded earlier this year, but with the growing trend of motion capture and AI, they should have hung on a while longer.

K/DA

K/Da is the best known on this list, because they were created by Riot Games as four versions of League of Legends characters. Two of the members are from hugely successful K-Pop group i-dle (Miyeon and Soyeon) as well as two non idol pop stars Madison Beer and Jaira Burns. They were formed to promote the League of Legends World Championship in 2018 (and sell some special skins to avid gamers, of course). Their debut single Pop/Stars even went Platinum and hit Number one to the US World Chart.

KPop Demon Hunters isn’t going anywhere for awhile, and there is even a sequel in talks, but remember there were others out there already wanting to be be your (animated) idol: