With the release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, it feels good to be an anime fan
The topic that is sweeping all nerd media is the premiere of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle in theatres in the United States last weekend. As an avid anime lover, I’d be remiss not to share greatness with you all!
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a dark fantasy anime that follows protagonist Tanjiro Kamado who, after the worst day of his life, returns home to not only find his entire family dead, but also that his younger sister Nezuko Kamado has been turned into a demon. From there, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, not only to avenge the murder of his family but to find a way to change Nezuko back into a human.
Season Three’s The Hashira Training Arc concluded with the Demon King Muzan pulling every Demon Slayer Corps member they were aware of into his demon hideout known as the Infinity Castle. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle begins right where the anime concluded with the Demon Slayer Corps members falling, landing and fighting in the Infinity Castle.
Instantly the incredible animation that Ufotable is known for shines right from the start. I personally went to see Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle in theatres five times – three times in dub and twice in sub. Each time I experienced something new about the production. As a manga reader, there will be no plot spoilers for what comes after the first film.
Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee
Shinobu Kocho versus Upper Rank 2 was a fight that showed Shinobu’s hard work and resilience to avenge her sister. Shinobu is smaller than average, and has smaller hands, shorter limbs and lacks the strength to behead a demon. However, she devotes herself to training, helping others, is a brilliant chemist and head doctor. Revealed in Chapter 162 of the manga and during the Hashira Training Arc, Shinobu consumed concentrated Wisteria poison for over a year with the goal of being consumed by the demon who killed her older sister. After being consumed, Shinobu placed her trust in Kanao to finish him off.
Shinobu is canonically the weakest Hashira when it comes to strength; however, during her fight with Upper Rank 2 the audience finally got to witness her anger that Tanjiro picked up on in Season 1. While the kind hearted version of Shinobu is a part of her, witnessing her rage and the result of her plan coming to fruition we truly can appreciate her in her entirety.
Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag was my favorite technique of hers, proving her combat speed skills is the best among the Hashiras, along with her conviction to avenge her older sister. It was sad to see her die; and it will be thrilling to see how her plan fleshes out.
The Way of Water
The showdown between Giyu and Tanjiro versus Akaza had everyone on the edge of their seats. Before Akaza made his presence known, seeing Giyu work in harmony with Tanjiro’s water breathing techniques, that would be not only the most effective but prevent friendly fire showed the difference in the level of their experience. Tanjiro being in awe of how skilled Giyu is while still being able to fight at his side was adorable. Tanjiro has always been self aware of his skills and growth; and next to Giyu acknowledges he still has a ways to go. While Giyu observing Tanjiro’s skills and blending of Sun and Water breathing, acknowledges Tanjiro is fighting on the level of a Hashira.
When Akaza appears we finally get to see why Giyu is worthy of the title ‘Water Hashira’. Giyu is very talented but still harbors sadness and guilt over his best friend Sabito’s death in final selection when he was 13 years old. Sabito was very skilled at his age, some even argue a prodigy. It was theorized that if Sabito had lived through final selection he would have become the Water Hashira instead of Giyu. However, during the battle with Akaza we see that Giyu is extraordinarily skilled to the point where Akaza acknowledges his strength and even stops talking for a bit to lock in on the opponent in front of him.
Our sad boy, introverted aura farming Giyu realized when fighting Akaza Upper Rank 3, that the fight required him to go all out, and the final straw that made him snap was Akaza hurling him around the Infinity Castle, causing him back pain. While most Hashira unlock their Demon Slayer marks by remembering trauma, Giyu experienced a minor inconvenience and that was enough to push him to the next level.
Giyu and Tanjiro worked in harmony during this fight, even with Tanjiro switching between Water and Sun Breathing. The ebbs and flows of their battle felt like the ebbs and flow of the tide going pushing and pulling during different cycles of the moon. While turbulent at times, it flowed with them working together to take out Upper Rank 3. Seeing Water Breathing at its peak by a master swordsman was beautiful to witness.
Finally Awake
Zenitsu entered the Infinity Castle looking for one demon only, the new Upper Rank 6, and former senior disciple of Thunder Breathing technique, Kaigaku. Zenitsu throughout the series was shown to be weak willed, a coward, womanizer and a cry baby. Throughout the series Zenitsu only fought demons while asleep or unconscious because he was always afraid.
Despite his less than stellar qualities, one truth is undeniable about Zenitsu, and that is he is extraordinarily talented. Although, he can only use the first form of Thunder Breathing. Kaigaku is driven, ambitious, rude and self serving. He is capable of using every Thunder Breathing technique except the first. Being co-successors to the Thunder Breathing technique makes sense logically, but was completely unacceptable to Kaigaku. He sees Zenitsu as inferior never acknowledging him as an equal, while Zenitsu in many ways disliked Kaigaku but admired his tenacity, hardwork, and to a short extent his ambition.
Kaigaku folded under the pressure of Upper Rank 1, when he was offered to be turned into a demon, feeling like his greatness was finally acknowledged. However, when word of him choosing to become a demon got back to their master, the former Rumble Hashira Jigoro Kuwajima, he committed seppuku alone and bled out painfully. At this moment Zenitsu had to choose his own path and surpass Kaigaku, ultimately beheading him, defeating Upper Rank 6 with the Thunder Breathing 7th form technique that he created himself.
In the world between the living and dead Zenitsu saw his former master and admitted that he was sorry for what he had to do but he had to choose his own path. Holding back tears, Zenitu’s master told him, “You are my Pride and Joy”.
The Tragedy of Hakuji Soyama
Poverty is a grueling reality that many people around the world can empathize with. After being beheaded by Tanjiro, Akaza began to have vivid flashbacks of his time as a human. His name was Hakuji Soyama, and he was a known criminal who would often get into fights and steal. He stole because he could not afford his sickly father’s medicine. He did his best to take care of his father the best way he knew how.
After his last run in with the authorities, and being branded with a third tattoo on his forearms, that marked him a criminal; Hakuji returned home to be told his father was dead and his father’s last wish was for him to go on to live a normal life and find happiness. Grief stricken Hakuji began brawling with grown men and took all of them down. This is where he met his martial arts master teacher Keizo who taught him the Soryu style, discipline and set his life on a better path. While a student at the Soyru dojo Hakuji took care of Keizo’s sickly daughter, Koyuki, for years and the two fall in love and are eventually engaged.
On the path of finding happiness and a better life, tragedy struck the Soryu dojo as a neighboring rival dojo poisoned the drinking water of Soryu dojo killing Keizo and Koyuki. Hakuji in a blind grief stricken rage killed all 67 men at the rival dojo, tearing them, their weapons and dojo into a bloodbath. As unfortunate fate would have it, Hakuji ran into Muzan, the king of demons who was surprised that a human was causing all of the commotion he heard about. Muzan jabbed his fist through Hakuji’s head vowing to turn him into a demon, the ultimate weapon and Hakuji fed up with life did not care and lost his memories of being human in the process.
A Body of Work
Akaza’s backstory took up a lot of screen time for the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle. He is a tragic villain, who did not become a demon of his own free will. The time it took to tell his story was necessary to the plot. A criticism that is given to the Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Movie is that there is too much time spent on flashbacks and ‘filler’.
Let’s be very clear, Demon Slayer does not have any filler, it has a full fleshed out story from beginning to end. While filler episodes do exist in many long standing anime series like Naruto, Bleach or Dragon Ball Z, Demon Slayer does not fall into that category. The over consumption of short form content, declining literacy rate, lack of critical thinking, chasing virality, and the over production of media that heavily rely on gag/shock humor has affected the way some people interact with art. There’s a place for all types of storytelling but not all of them are comparable nor should be held to the same standard.
If Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle had only been fight scenes, we would have missed out on major story developments. To quote Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, “People don’t make albums anymore, they just try to sell a bunch of quick singles and they burn out and they put out a new one. People don’t even listen to a body of work anymore”. Demon Slayer is a body of work, from the animation, music, storytelling and moral lessons. The runtime for the movie is two hours and thirty-five minutes, and sitting that long in a public movie theatre was probably uncomfortable for many people, but that does not make the movie bad or the backstories unnecessary.
Every detail in Demon Slayer is necessary. Akaza, for example, has layers of his character shown all through his backstory that are reflected in who he is as a demon. Hakuji never hurt women, Akaza does not eat or kill women. His fighting style as a demon resembles the Soyru technique he learned as a human. His compass needle is in the shape of a snowflake that resembles Koyuki’s hairpin she wore all the time. Akaza’s pink hair is the color of Koyuki’s pink kimono. Moreover, the symbol for Koyuki’s name is on Akaza’s chest and upside down on his back; it being upside down represents loss of life. Everything about Akaza is about the love of his life Koyuki. When Muzan stabbed him in the head, that contributed to him losing his memories and him regrowing his head plus the Tanjiro effect, meant he began to regain them. Also as Hakuji took care of his sick loved one’s is reflective of the author’s story who grew up taking care of sick people, minus the murdering and fighting part of course. Every detail is important, you just have to sit back and think critically, research and perhaps go to another showing of the movie.
Every member of the Demon Slayer Corps played a role in the fight against Muzan. At eight years old Kiriya Ubuyashiki assumed the mantle as the leader of the Ubuyakshiki family and the Demon Slayer Corps. He and his two remaining sisters, with the help of Yushiro’s Blood Demon Art and the Kasugai Crows, began mapping the Infinity Castle. Tengen and Shinjuro Rengoku came out of retirement to guard the Ubuyashiki children, while Urokodaki guarded Nezuko as she began the process of turning back into a human. Everyone has a role to play, as we all have watched up until this point come together, and that is great storytelling. Demon Slayer is a body of work.
Ufotable has a high standard of production and they did not cut corners when animating this film. Demon Slayer is often criticized for being ‘carried’ by its animation, and that is not true. Would you criticize a painter for the brand of paint they chose to use when creating their masterpiece? That’s an absurd thing to say. Ufotable has a standard for production and rises to the occasion to meet it. The music in Demon Slayer also contributed to the storytelling; Zenitsu vs. Kaigaku and Akaza vs. Tanjiro and Giyu are my favorites. I hope one day all of the music for Demon Slayer comes in a vinyl collection.
As a child, Studio Ghibli widened the way I view the medium of animation when I watched Grave of the Fireflies. At first, I believed that animation is solely for kids and children’s stories, but with maturity, I realized it is a medium to tell a story, any story.
With phenomenal works of art like Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Suzume’, Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’, and ‘Spirited Away’, I challenge folks to engage with animated stories beyond what they are used to. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is worthy of Academy Award recognition for animated picture and score. While awards are not the end-all be-all of creating art, it is always wonderful to see productions outside of major hitters like Dreamworks and Disney acknowledged for the impact they have on audiences and the animation world.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle hit the box office in the U.S, grossing over $70 million, breaking the previous record holder, Pokémon: The First Movie, for the biggest opening weekend for an anime film in the U.S. It also holds the record for the biggest opening for an R-rated animated film. It is also the sixth largest September opening [Comescore Data], the 10th biggest opening of the year, and Sony’s biggest opening in two years.
It is the coolest time to be an anime fan. Growing up in a time when anime was deemed ‘corny’ to many folks globally, sharing their love for anime is something worthy of acknowledgement.
Crunchyroll recently revealed that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle will not be coming to streaming until 2026. While that is unfortunate news, I encourage those who can to get the full cinema experience now!
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