About

Rumi Sniffing Kimbap refers to a GIF from the Netflix animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters in which a character named Rumi takes a long sniff of a roll of kimbap, sometimes mistaken for a sushi roll, and then makes a funny, overly emotive face. The GIF came to be used for a series of suggestive jokes on Twitter / X and TikTok in June and July 2025. The GIF also prompted a debate about the animators of K-Pop Demon Hunters and whether they inserted exaggerated comedic expressions in the film to generate internet memes.

Origin

On June 20th, 2025, the film K-Pop Demon Hunters was released on Netflix. The film was directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and follows Huntrix, a K-pop girl group that secretly battles demons.

According to Variety,^[1] the film is animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, the same team behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

One scene in the film shows the girl group eating a buffet of Korean food in an exaggerated fashion. The YouTube^[2] channel Netflix Family posted a video on June 20th, 2025, in which, at the 10-second timestamp, a purple-haired character named Rumi can be seen taking a long sniff of a roll of kimbap and then doing an exaggerated sigh. The video, which had its comments disabled, received over 2.3 million views and 14,000 likes in 12 days.

On June 21st, Tumblr^[3] user @sunflower-of-versace posted the earliest known GIF version of the scene, gathering over 400 notes in a week.

Spread

X^[4] user @banzoinhakka reposted the GIF on June 28th, 2025, to celebrate the release of the movie, gathering over 1,000 likes in four days. However, the earliest viral use of the GIF is a June 29th tweet by X^[5] user @hoezayburger, who wrote, "bro this gif is fucking crazy lmfao."

On June 30th, 2025, X^[6] user @GOREJ1RA tweeted, "Springtrap unwashed dih" alongside a GIF of Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters smelling a kimbap roll. The post gathered over 6,000 likes in two days.

Also on June 30th, 2025, X^[7] user @HakarisupremaC posted a screenshot of a post by X^[8] @isjustKaijuOkay that read, "I’m sorry this movie reeks of Reddit energy." The screenshot highlighted a reply by a X user with the username, "Insane Incel R-pist Murderer." The post gathered over 60,000 likes in two days.

On July 6th, singer and X^[12] user Bbno$ posted a video recreating the meme, gathering over 6 million views and 80,000 likes in two days.

pre show ritual pic.twitter.com/qLcEqTfDl8

— bbno$ 👶🚫💰 (@bbnomula) July 6, 2025

K-Pop Demon Hunters 'Meme' Animation Debate

The tweet set off a debate about the merits of exaggerated animation styles, with some Twitter / X users arguing that the movie's animators were giving the characters over-the-top expressions in order to farm memes.

On June 30th, 2025, X^[11] user @ArtofSpongebob joked, "Why is this movie trying so hard to make the next big meme face? _," alongside a GIF of Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters smelling a kimbap roll. The tweet gathered over 95,000 likes in two days.

!

On July 1st, 2025, X^[10] user @SKULLYtwtt tweeted, "This movie looks so overly animated as if they're trying to make a bunch of memes and that’s what’s stopping me from watching it 😭," gathering over 3,000 likes in a day.

Also on July 1st, X^[9] user @heyimcrib tweeted, "Normal people in real life: 'oh this animator wanted to have fun with their scene and make something expressive' / The critically online: 'broooo they tryin to meme brooo like fawwwk bro its so annooying broooo fuuuckk.'" The post gathered over 71,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

yeah idk https://t.co/uv8rVCClCc pic.twitter.com/K7RrfjyS5X

— Manolo el taco parlante (@NewWaveBronze) July 1, 2025

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References