Demon Slayer has been a juggernaut in the anime space for the past several years. Ever since the series first aired back in 2019, it has been consistently praised for its great story, fantastic characters, and top-tier animation. And when the first film for the series, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Mugen Train, dropped, it shattered box office records. Now, after four seasons and multiple films, the final arc of Demon Slayer has begun with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle. This film is the first in a trilogy that will conclude this monumental series. Once again being animated by Ufotable, does this start of the trilogy stand on its own merits, or does it falter under the pressure?
NOTE: I watched this film (and the series) in English, and will be talking about the English voice cast throughout.
This film is the start of the Infinity Castle arc, one of the final arcs of the series, and the plot of this film revolves around three major battles: Shinobu vs Doma, Zenitsu vs Kaigaku, and Tanjiro and Giyu vs Akaza. Apart from these fights, the rest of the film has the rest of the Demon Slayer corps trying to survive inside the titular Infinity Castle after the entire corps was transported there at the end of the last season. The goal is to find Muzan Kibutsuji before he can heal from his wounds. But with a castle full of demons, that’s one tall order, even for the strongest Demon Slayer.
Getting this out of the way at the start, this film is not made for newcomers. It doesn’t tell you who these characters are, the relationships between those characters, or what has already happened in the story. The film assumes you’ve watched the previous four seasons and have already grown attached to these slayers and want to see the villains defeated. With that being said, this shit was good. The payoffs for multiple character arcs in this film were more than I could have ever hoped for, and I loved every second of it.
Zenitsu finally locking in and not screaming, showing how far he’s grown, Shinobu confronting her past, and Tanjiro and Giyu working together against Akaza were all incredible and cathartic after so much build-up. But it wasn’t just the heroes who had big story moments; the demons also got their backstory revealed, with Akaza’s being the standout.
Now, this is where my one major negative for the film comes in, because Akaza’s backstory, while emotional and great, drags on a bit. Maybe it’s because they give it to you all at once during the fight, but it was the only time in the film where I could feel the 155-minute runtime. However, this is an issue I have with the entire series, so I was expecting this backstory dump, but man, this one felt longer (still good though). Overall, for fans of the series, this story was still amazing and perfectly sets up the next film in the trilogy while still feeling like a complete film.
The characters in Demon Slayer have always been a strong point for me. I’ve loved getting to know these characters over the years and the actors along with them, and they all put everything they had into this film. Zach Aguilar as Tanjiro was so good that my friend, who watches in Japanese, even admitted that he was perfect in the role. The screams he lets out just make you want to pick up a sword and fight demons alongside him. And then there’s Zenitsu, voiced by Aleks Le, who, up to this point in the series, has been screaming his head off (unless he was asleep). But here, Aleks puts in the performance of his career as Zenitsu finally faces his fears, confronts his past, and skyrockets up everyone's favourite character lists.
Giyu, voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, hadn’t had a lot of screentime in the series so far, so we haven’t gotten much from him. That’s changed in this film as his relationship with Tanjiro and his fight with Akaza have made him one of my favourite characters. Johnny was excellent at showcasing Giyu finally coming out of his shell and wanting to protect those he cares about. In a similar vein, Erika Harlacher, as Shinobu, finally dropped that happy façade, which led to one of the more emotional moments of the film (in more ways than one).
Stephen Fu as Doma was just as he was in the main series, a creepy prick who lies through his teeth and feigns compassion. The character is a dick, and I hope he gets what is coming to him in the next film. A demon I don’t think is a prick is Akaza, voiced by Lucien Dodge. To be fair, he is a bastard (rip Rengoku), but he was always my favourite Demon in the series. So getting to see him let loose once again was amazing. And his backstory, while a bit long, was still emotional, and Lucien delivered a stellar performance. Also, his former master when he was human is voiced by Channing Tatum, which is just fun.
Ufotable is known for its fantastic animation, and this might be some of their best work yet. Every single frame of this film is phenomenal, and some of the best animation I’ve seen in a film or series, period. Hell, it even surpasses their work on the Fate series, which has been the bar for so many years. The combination of 2D and 3D blends perfectly together here and creates some of the most hype moments in history.
Shinobu’s insect breathing forms overwhelming Doma, the various thunder forms on display with Zenitsu and Kaigaku, and the visual spectacle that was the Tanjiro and Giyu vs Akaza fight, all of it was fantastic. The Akaza fight was my favourite (with Zenitsu vs Kaigaku being a close second), as I love how Akaza throws hands. But now, after having watched the film and understanding all the references to Akaza’s past in his fighting style, it’s just perfect.It wouldn’t be a review of Demon Slayer if I didn’t talk about the theme songs, and this film has two. The opening theme is “A World Where the Sun Never Rises” by Aimer, and it was a perfect introduction to the film. This song blasting while the Demon Slayer corps are falling through the Infinity Castle was the perfect way to start. And the ending theme is “Shine in the Cruel Night” by LiSA, and it’s a sombre but hopeful song to end the film. As it plays over the aftermath and teasing what's to come, you can’t help but feel hopeful yet scared for this cast of characters.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle is one of my favourite films this year (fighting with Kpop Demon Hunters for the Number 1 spot). I loved the story, adored the characters, and the fights were some of the best I’ve ever seen. While my issue with the series as a whole remains (the backstory parts) and it felt a bit more egregious here, it doesn’t detract from the fact that this film was bloody brilliant. Do yourself a favour and go see this film now. And if you haven’t watched the series, binge all four seasons (they on both Crunchyroll and Netflix) and then go see it. Trust me, it’ll be well worth it.
Have you seen Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle? What did you think? Are you excited for the trilogy? Let us know in the comments where we can all agree that Akaza is best demon.
