Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Review

Demon Slayer fans can rejoice as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle is hitting UK theatres on 12th September. It’s the first of the three movies covering the last arc of the series where the Demon Slayers fight against Muzan Kibutsuji and the Upper Rank demons. And here at Anime UK News, we are about to give you all the reasons why you should watch it!

Noemi10

The Hashira Training ARC ended with the death of Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, as he decided to use himself and his family as bait to capture Muzan. However, the leader of the demons came up with a plan himself and that’s the reason why the whole Demon Slayer Corps find themselves in the Infinity Castle, where demons reign supreme.

We were invited by Crunchyroll to the press screening, both online and in person. The in-person one was at the Sony offices, and while it wasn’t the traditional cinema experience, it was pretty close! As the movie starts right after Season 3 ended, we find the Demon Slayer Corps in the Infinity Castle, and thanks to the amazing graphics, it seems like the viewers are in the castle with them. As many of the series fan know, the castle is not a static structure; it moves and changes its shape at the sound of the Upper Rank demon that created the space. The place resembles more of a city than a castle, with upside-down buildings and infinite floors. The animation team does a great job in showcasing the castle’s abrupt movements, as I was getting motion sickness just by watching it.

Something else to appreciate about this place is the attention to details that the designer team put behind it as nothing was left to chance, from the thousands of lights to the wooden details. Tanjiro and the Hashira have to fight while being conscious of the castle’s movements and the myriad of demons stopping the Corps from reaching Muzan. In fact, he’s in hiding somewhere in the palace while he deals with Tamayo and the anti-demon serum she injected in his body, which is supposed to turn him back into a human. Tanjiro knows that he won’t be able to save and protect his sister Nezuko if Muzan is not stopped, but if cutting his head off doesn’t work, is the sun their only option? Most importantly, can they survive until daybreak?

When the Demon Slayer Corps fall literally into the Infinity Castle, they are divided, and the Hashira are mostly on their own, so it’s not surprising that they are bound to encounter and fight Upper Rank demons. If there is something that this series has taught us, it’s to never be passionate about a character because there is a strong chance he or she will die. So all we can say is be ready for some heartbreak because the Hashira are willing to sacrifice their lives to stop the demons and get their own revenge.

The movie start at a fast pace, thanks to the fighting scenes and switches to a slower pace when flashbacks are introduced, from demons and humans alike. It’s a back-and-forth that lasts throughout the movie and helps break some of the fighting tension. The movie is long, at almost three hours, but the time passes  swiftly thanks to the change in pace. The series author, Koyoharu Gotouge, introduces the characters as good (Demon Slayer Corps) or evil (demons) for the viewers, but he then shows their pasts, which makes the viewers understand that not everything is black or white, but there are shades of grey, even for the demons!

All those scenes are enhanced by the music (Go Shiina and Yuki Kajiura) that gives it that something more which leaves the viewers on the edge of their seats for a good chunk of the movie—especially the fighting scenes. As the movie opens and closes with a fight, the opening and ending songs are intertwined in the fighting sequences so there is not the usual series opening video that you would find in an anime. The two main songs: Taiyo ga Noboranai Sekai and Zankoku na Yoru ni Kagayake are performed respectively by Aimer and LiSA.

The movie is available in Japanese with English subtitles and also dubbed in English. I personally watched the Japanese version with the English sub and although I thought I might find myself a little bit lost voice-wise, I didn’t need to worry. The Japanese cast did an amazing job, with Natsuki Hanae continuing to voice Tanjiro (Zach Aguilar in English) and Toshihiko Seki (Greg Chun in English) for Muzan, among many others.

Cold Cobra

To say Demon Slayer is popular in Japan right now would be a dramatic understatement, with the previous non-compilation film raking in crazy numbers at the box office over there, so it wasn’t a big shocker that the final story arc was turned into a film project rather than a TV season. Not just one film either, a full-on trilogy and that decision hasn’t hurt the project either as this film broke several box office records in Japan to the point where it’s currently the third highest grossing film in Japanese history. Not just anime films or anything, just highest grossing films in general. Impressive numbers aside, how does it fair looked at by itself?

Given this is the final story arc of a shonen adaptation, you won’t be shocked to know that it’s not a recommended jumping-on point, but to be fair there isn’t a lot of story baggage either. The head of all of the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, was finally drawn out into the open but has escaped into his private dimension known as the titular “Infinity Castle” and to make matters worse he’s pulled pretty much all of the Demon Slayer Corps in with him. It sets up a very simple way to both show how far our favourite recurring protagonists have come since undergoing the recent training arc and show the powers and backstories of both the last few unrevealed Demon Slayer “Hashira” (basically the Elite of the Corps) and the “Upper Rank” demons. It’s literally just characters running around in the Castle and some of them pairing up with demons to have a big fight. There’s not much more to know about it, which is why if you have decided to just pop in and watch this with no prior experience you’ll at least find it easy enough to follow, even if some of the terminology and references will obviously be lost on you…

The film focuses on three fights across its runtime: Hashira Shinobu Kocho takes on Upper Rank Two Doma after immediately recognising him as the demon who killed her sister; everyone’s favourite coward Zenitsu Agatsuma has overcome his role of comic relief and embraced his previously unconscious-only “bad ass” personality to take on Upper Rank Six Kaigaku, who used to be a fellow student of his Master; and main protagonist Tanjiro Kamado and Hashira Giyu Tomioka take on Upper Rank Three Akaza, the same Upper Rank demon we saw take out powerful Hashira Kyojuro at the end of the Mugen Train film/story arc. Now if you’ve experienced the show in the past you’ll know that if you’re a Hashira or an Upper Rank Demon you almost certainly come with a backstory that involves a parent/parents and/or sibling/siblings being brutally killed by a demon or occasionally other humans when you were just a child and I’m here to tell you that doesn’t change here! We’re at the end now, so why break the habit of a lifetime, I guess. These are sprinkled throughout the film as the fights progress and at least serve as a way to “come down” after some of the more action-heavy sequences.

Speaking of which, if there’s one thing Demon Slayer is known for, it’s the beautiful and fluid animation created by Ufotable, and you get plenty of that here, alongside a great soundtrack and good voice work, regardless of whether you watch it subbed or dubbed. I watched the film at home on a TV and I could only imagine how dizzying and exciting it must be on the big screen. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (there’s a mouthful, and that’s not including the “Part 1” that’s on the Japanese title!) is naturally an easy recommend for fans of the series and I’m sure simply as a fun cinematic experience in its own right. Its simple plot and predictable backstories may hamper enjoyment if watching at home or if you’re not invested in the series already, but even then the fights are so well animated you’d be hard-pressed to not at least enjoy it as a guilty pleasure.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle premieres in the UK on 12th September, and tickets are already available for pre-order.