Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle

Note: This review contains spoilers for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Although the original Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga had ended in 2020, the anime adaptation by Ufotable is still going strong, so much so that their interpretation of the Infinity Castle arc was announced as a film trilogy. The first part, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (Full title: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle – Part 1: Akaza Returns) (Infinity Castle) released this year to strong critical reviews and an equally explosive box office, breaking several records and surpassing 2020’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (Mugen Train) as the highest-grossing Japanese film worldwide. Rather impressive, to say the least, which is how I watched the English dub alongside those who had only seen Mugen Train and Episode 63 of the anime, contrasting with my own experience as an anime-only viewer who had kept up with the series from the beginning. Although I did feel that Infinity Castle lived up to the hype, I couldn’t help feeling that the film format had, ironically, created a major issue that Mugen Train did so well at avoiding.

Immediately following the events of the Hashira Training arc, Muzan Kibutsuji (Greg Chun) has retreated into his stronghold, the Infinity Castle, and trapped the Demon Slayer Corps inside. As the Demon Slayer Corps search for Muzan, they fight off hordes of lower-level demons and begin battle against the Upper Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki, including Upper Rank Two Doma (Stephen Fu), Upper Rank Six Kaigaku (Alejandro Saab) and Upper Rank Three Akaza (Lucien Dodge). Any hope of defeating such powerful demons may require confronting the past, however uncomfortable it may be.

Like Mugen Train before it, Infinity Castle is canon and adapts roughly the first third of the Infinity Castle arc from the manga. As such, this film is required viewing for Demon Slayer fans, especially if they’re anime-only fans.

That said, I got invested in the events of Infinity Castle and what happened to the characters. Each of the fights carried special meaning for those involved and gave room for more growth, both in terms of combat skill and maturity. I was particularly impressed with Zenitsu’s (Aleks Le) fight against Kaigaku, as he had really come into his own and started redeeming himself as a character. Seeing different backstories also proved interesting, as they helped give a better idea of the connections between the opponents or offered a new perspective. By the end of the film, I even felt bad for Akaza, as he ended up surprisingly sympathetic. The story did feel incomplete by the end, and I wished it had some sort of indicator that it would continue in a Part 2, but it did at least cut off at a climactic point.

Zenitsu (Aleks Le) goes through some much-needed development.

Ufotable is also clearly at the top of their game, as Infinity Castle represents the best that Demon Slayer has ever looked. The fight scenes have immaculate animation, with beautifully-rendered attacks, dynamic movement and even some visual effects that looked almost real, including water and explosions. Perhaps the most impressive feat is the Infinity Castle itself, which perfectly captures its labyrinthine nature with a lot of meticulous and well-crafted CG. All of the blood and gore certainly justify the R-rating, though it never feels excessive. The music and voice acting also help elevate it to a new level, with an indication that it can only get better from here.

Since I watched this film with some who had no familiarity with Demon Slayer outside of Mugen Train and Episode 63, which flows directly into Infinity Castle, I can confirm that it’s possible for those who haven’t been keeping up to get invested in the story even if they don’t know exactly what’s going on or why certain moments carry narrative weight. However, I would still say that having some familiarity with the series goes a long way, even if it’s a fan giving a quick recap (the film doesn’t provide one of its own).

While it’s hard to judge Infinity Castle too harshly, since it’s only a third of a story arc, the one thing that really got in the way was the pacing. There’s a certain flow between fights and backstories that creates awkward starts and stops to the point that I checked my watch multiple times throughout. The final hour, which gives us Akaza’s backstory, really doesn’t help, as it’s the longest of them all and really grinds the otherwise quicker pace of the fight to a halt. Since there are occasional cuts to black, where one might cut the film into individual episodes, I found myself wondering if Infinity Castle might have worked better in the TV format. Contrast this with Mugen Train, which also featured backstories but still flowed more like a feature film as opposed to multiple TV episodes stapled together.

Akaza's backstory is about as long as a regular episode.

If you’re into Demon Slayer, there’s no reason not to watch Infinity Castle and there’s plenty that would make it an enjoyable watch even for the uninitiated. However, I hope that Parts 2 and 3 pick up the pace or, at the very least, adapt the material more with the feature format in mind.