RIOTUS

Five years ago, during those tumultuous times, I was astounded by the fact that Eiichiro Oda was, after years, knocked off his perch of being the top-selling Manga-ka through his top-selling title One Piece by what felt like an upstart Koyoharu Gotouge and their title Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. After trying it early on when it first started and not feeling the pace, I tried it once again and was hooked. Starting just a few weeks before it ended, I was captivated by the many characters from the hero Tanjiro and the many Hashira, to how each of the upper rank demons had beautifully told backstories as each met their end. Muzan, with his Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal early look, along with just how terribly evil he is. There’s no Piccolo or Vegeta here.

While I finished reading the story, I didn’t watch much of the anime made from it. I did notice just how wonderful the animation done by Studio Ufotable in adapting the series. The bright colors and fluid animation set this series apart from many others in this current era of anime. They raised the standard in adapting the most popular series from Weekly Shonen Jump and other Manga magazines. This also changed things by instead of adapting a series just as the weekly anime episode, they took a major arc and instead chose to make it a major motion picture. After grossing half a billion dollars worldwide and now this is becoming a pretty regular thing, even if they still add this to the TV season as well.

Now, after many arcs with breaks for the animation teams to make the best work possible, we’ve gotten to the last part of the story. The Infinity Castle arc is the climax of the whole tale, and it’s being split into three films, each releasing in consecutive years, like The Lord of the Rings twenty-plus years ago. While I usually stay away from reviews from other critics before seeing a film I didn’t end up coming across the IGN review for while scrolling the many social media apps I peruse all day and noticed they gave this film a very middling score and verdict was pretty much critiquing Demon Slayer for the structure the entire series has been which led me to think why cast the story’s structure as a negative for a something that is continuing what millions of people want and expect of it?

I’ve always had a problem with people who may not like a thing going into something expecting something else. With Infinity Castle, the film starts right where the last episode of the anime series ended. For some, this could be a negative, but I do think it does help to at least watch that episode if you don’t remember exactly what happened before the characters ended up in this torturous castle maze. As I last read this in 2020, I did forget some little details here. Muzan, after being blown up in a trap set by the leader of the Demon Slayer corps, creates a trap of his own within his other-dimensional base, pulling in Tanjiro Kamado, Giyu Tomioka, Shinobu Kocho, Kanao Tsuyuri, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, Genya Shinazugawa, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Muichiro Tokito, Gyomei Himejima, and others in the Demon Slayer corps are pulled into the M.C. Esher-esque castle.

The film looks beautiful with its mix of 2D animation with 3D animation to display the spinning and twisting nature of the castle. The fight scenes are clear with fantastic lighting effects, popping colors, and visual effects that feel like an escalation of the TV show. The pacing of the story is fine for me, as it worked as I remembered it for the most part. They made some editing changes in how some stuff is shown, comparing the weekly chapter nature of the manga, which I feel works better in the flow of the three films. The composition of the shots on screen works; I was never lost, and I don’t think others will be either.

I was lucky enough to have seen this in a packed theater full of young anime fans and people who love Demon Slayer, cosplay, and all. Hearing the crowd cheer, laugh, gasp, and pop from the excitement of what they were seeing on the big screen was contagious. Shinobu vs Doma, the Upper Rank Two, along with Tanjiro and Giyu vs Akaza, the Upper Rank Three, had the audience rapt. The biggest pop was when Zenitsu appeared to face his former comrade Kaigaku, the Upper Rank Six. It reminded me of some of the best parts of the Battle Shonen properties and how much they connect with things like martial arts films or wrestling. Getting to see your faves face these great heel opponents can capture the imagination of so many of us.

I don’t have much to say about the voice acting, as I don’t usually watch this series in either language, but I thought it was quite good. I saw the film Subtitled, my preferred way to watch anime in my middle age, and all the emotion was carried across, and humor as well. The ending might not feel like closure for some, yet I feel that with it being openly marketed as a trilogy, it’s something you should know going in. The ending of the film is good while also setting up some interesting, different conflicts to see in the next film. It left me excited to see how they continue with this grand arc and how they portray the next few major battles.

I feel Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle was a fire time in the theater that will excite fans of the series as well as those who love anime overall. It’s one of the visually best animated films I’ve seen this year and should even impress those who are not familiar with anime outside of Studio Ghibli films.