Multimodal Metaphors through Visual, Verbal, and Aural Modes in Animated Film K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025)

Abstract

This study analyses the multimodal metaphors in the animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025). The film employs creative audiovisual strategies through the integration of visual, verbal, and aural elements to construct metaphorical meaning, represent abstract concepts, and evoke emotional engagement among viewers. This research addresses two questions: (1) What types of multimodal metaphors are represented in the film? and (2) How are these metaphors constructed through the interaction of visual, verbal, and aural modes? This study employs a qualitative descriptive method supported by multimodal content analysis. The data consist of 52 selected scenes containing metaphorical meaning, collected through purposive sampling from the official Netflix version of the film. The findings reveal four types of multimodal metaphors: contextual metaphor (65.4%) as the most dominant, followed by integrated metaphor (19.2%), pictorial simile and hybrid metaphor are same (7.69%). The results indicate that metaphorical meaning is primarily constructed implicitly through contextual cues rather than explicit visual comparison. Furthermore, the interaction of visual and aural modes plays a dominant role in shaping metaphorical meaning, while the verbal mode functions as a supportive element. This study demonstrates that multimodal metaphors in animated film are dynamically constructed through cross-modal interaction across time.