My Thoughts on Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Movie 1
This is the first anime movie I’ve ever seen in theaters. Every time a new installment in the Demon Slayer franchise comes out I always think that this is the time when I’ll get bored with the formula, realize the series was never that good to begin with, my enjoyment of the series will dry up, and have no choice but to turn away from it and heavily criticize it. However, that never happens. Hell, even the Hashira Training Arc, which was by far my least favorite, I still liked probably way more than a lot of other Demon Slayer fans did. And this movie is no exception. This movie was awesome. In fact, I’ll even say that this is my favorite installment in the franchise so far. It’s still too early for me to say that the Infinity Castle Arc is my favorite arc in Demon Slayer as there’s still two more movies that are going to come out, slated for 2027 and 2029 releases respectively, so there’s still plenty of time for it to be screwed up. But as a continuation from the Hashira Training Arc, and an introduction to the final arc in the story, this was superb. I don’t normally bring up my ratings here, but I gave this a 9/10 on MyAnimeList, a 9.5 on Kitsu, and a 4.5/5 on Animeplanet, which is the highest rating of any installment so far, and that’s for various reasons, as are why I didn’t take it all the way up to a 10. First of all, the visuals are the best the series has ever been, which makes sense considering that it’s a theatrical movie. Obviously Demon Slayer has always been one of the best looking anime of all time, on a pure technical level, and more subjectively the appeal of the art, the shading, and the lighting, but this movie just takes that even further. Somehow Ufotable never ceases to raise the bar in animation quality and art. When you think they’ve reached the ceiling, they just continue to raise that ceiling, it’s absurd. 11 years ago I thought Fate/Zero was the best, now that seems like a 30 year old anime by comparison visually. I don’t normally discuss voice acting, but in the dub I think the voices have been the best here than they’ve ever been too, and this series has always had a great English dub.
But now onto the story. This movie can be split into three distinct parts. The first part involves Shinobu Kocho confronting Upper Rank Demon 2 Doma, the second part is where Zenitsu fights his former friend and rival turned enemy Kaigaku, and the third part has Tanjiro and Giyu doing battle with Upper Rank Demon 3 Akaza. Each part shows us backstories for both demons and Demon Slayers alike, and each part is interspersed with scenes of other Hashira and Demon Slayers, (as well as the Demon helping them, the one that was with Tamayo) running through the Infinity Castle and engaging in their own smaller battles, as well as a bunch of other scenes that are seemingly smaller on the surface, but are no less important. Some of these include the master’s living daughters and son secretly helping the Demon Slayers from somewhere else, I’m not sure if they’re in the castle or not. I suppose I should go in order. Shinobu’s section was absolutely crushing. And no that wasn’t intended to be a dark joke when I wrote that, but I’m going to keep it regardless because I think it’s funny. But seriously though, we learn her backstory of how Doma killed her older sister, who was as Hashira before her. And she just happens to meet the demon who killed her, Doma. Their fight was one of the best in the series so far, and it was heartbreaking that regardless of her efforts, despite all of her crafty techniques and even doing legitimate damage to Doma, she ended up dead without being able to defeat him. And to make it worse Kanao came in just as she was being crushed to death and engaged Doma in battle too, and while she also managed to impressively do some damage to him, we’re kind of just left in anticipation and suspense as to how that’s going to turn out. This was definitely the most emotional on the Demon Slayers side of things. We got Doma’s past, but unlike with a lot of demons it didn’t endear us to him. Or at least not me. I don’t think it made him as despicably unlikable as that one demon from the Swordsmith Village arc, it’s kind of a middle ground which does make him unique compared to what we’ve seen before in the series.
Zenitsu’s part was great too. It’s a story I’ve definitely seen before in anime, where two individuals were trained by the same person but one of them hates the other because he perceives the other as weak and also feels that their master undervalues him; the other is also angry, but really looks up to the first one. But the first one’s jealousy and hatred turns him evil. But just because it’s been done before doesn’t mean it can’t work, and I think it was handled well enough here to work. This part of the movie made me really love Zenitsu. Aside from a brief moment in one of his flashbacks he doesn’t act at all the way we’re typically used to. I’ve always liked Zenitsu more than most Demon Slayer fans. I’ve said before that I consider characters like him and also Aqua from Konosuba to be an accurate representation of how the vast majority of viewers/readers would be like if they were in their situations, so I find there to be a sense of relatability to them, and also a type of humor that’s strange yet it surprisingly works, at least for me. But in this movie he’s completely different, and this also works too. I feel like most viewers will like him way more in this state; basically the state similar to what we’ve seen him in brief moments before but only while he’s asleep, but this time he’s awake and this side of his personality is fully realized. He fights against Kaigaku, a former rival whom was trained under the same master as him. Their master intended for them both to be the heir of Thunder Breathing since Zenitsu could only use the First Form and Kaigaku could use every form but the First Form, but Kaigaku hated Zenitsu, perceiving him as weak, and felt that it was an insult to be put on the same level as him. Because of this he turned to Muzan Kibutsuji and became a demon, eventually rising to the level of Upper Rank Demon 6, most likely after the deaths of Gyotaro and Daki. Zenitsu was super awesome, it was sad seeing how Zenitsu shared hatred for Kaigaku but also admired him at the same time, would get in fights to defend him when others badmouthed him, which was a gesture that was never appreciated by him.
And then we get to the final part, when Tanjiro and Giyu fights Akaza. And they win. This might be the best part of the movie, which is high praise because it’s all fantastic. Akaza’s past might be the saddest so far, counting all Demon Slayer and Demon backstories. Growing up he had to take care of his sickly father, and part of that involved stealing from those better off than him in order to get money to buy food and medicine. But he was almost always caught, then taken to a nearby lord and beaten to within an inch of his life. Eventually his father died, but he was found by a man whom, after beating his ass, became his master. After that it seemed like life was going to turn around for him. He joined the man’s dojo as one of his only students, he took care of his daughter the same way he always would for his father and eventually married her. But unfortunately tragedy struck him once again when a rival dojo that hated theirs poisoned the well where they got their water; just like that his master and his wife had died. He then took revenge by personally beating to death dozens of members of the dojo that was responsible, which made him a wanted criminal once again, except on an even larger level than he was used to. It was not long after this that he met Muzan. Muzan killed him, but then revived him as the Upper Rank Demon 3, presumably at the beginning of Muzan’s quest to create the Twelve Kizuki. His past was absolutely heartbreaking. It makes literally all of the other tragic backstories we’ve seen so far, on the side of both Demon Slayers and the Demons themselves, seem positively delightful by comparison. And the fight was epic too. It took both Tanjiro and Giyu absolutely everything they had, and even then they just barely won; and even then I think it’s similar to Sasori or Obito from Naruto Shippuden, where they kind of allowed themselves to loose. I was on the edge of my seat when Akaza re-attached his own head after Tanjiro severed it. I loved the contradiction that the author depicted within Akaza’s character. He claimed to hate weak people, and thinks the strong should trample the weak, but inr eality he viewed himself as the weakest of all. Even though he lost his memories of being a human after becoming a demon, those memories were still buried inside of his soul, and they were doing battle with the essence of his current self, which finally came to ahead when he recalled his past. In reality he hated himself more than anyone, for not being able to protect those precious to him when he was human, he wanted to end his own life deep down but he couldn’t due to the being he became and not being able to remember. And it’s heavily implied that he laid the finishing blow to himself.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie is flawed. There are things introduced here for the first time that we should have been made aware of beforehand. Things like Kaigaku’s existence, his relationship with Zenitsu, and the death of their master, and preferably some hints of Akaza’s tragic past, (not every detail, just hints leading up to this arc), among other things. I also don’t remember it being revealed that the master of the Demon Slayer Corpse had two more daughters and a son that were still alive; I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure. These are legitimate flaws, but they also didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the movie. When I analyze anime, I like to dissect if the author still got the emotional response out of me that they intended to despite the flaws. I will always point out the flaws that do exist, but if the answer to that question is a definite yes, which it is here, then I consider that to be a major win. If anything it’s even more impressive for an author to get the intended response out of me even with all of the flaws that it does have. No piece of art is completely perfect, but some have more or less problems than others, and the true mastery of ones chosen art form is not just to reduce those flaws as much as possible, although that is important, but to make us get engross din our emotions and forget about those flaws. That is an unquestionable success in the art of storytelling. Overall, I loved this movie, and I’ll be eagerly anticipating the next two. It sucks that we have to wait two years for the next one, although if it’s as good as this I’ll wait as long as it takes. Quality art takes time to make after all.
But now onto the story. This movie can be split into three distinct parts. The first part involves Shinobu Kocho confronting Upper Rank Demon 2 Doma, the second part is where Zenitsu fights his former friend and rival turned enemy Kaigaku, and the third part has Tanjiro and Giyu doing battle with Upper Rank Demon 3 Akaza. Each part shows us backstories for both demons and Demon Slayers alike, and each part is interspersed with scenes of other Hashira and Demon Slayers, (as well as the Demon helping them, the one that was with Tamayo) running through the Infinity Castle and engaging in their own smaller battles, as well as a bunch of other scenes that are seemingly smaller on the surface, but are no less important. Some of these include the master’s living daughters and son secretly helping the Demon Slayers from somewhere else, I’m not sure if they’re in the castle or not. I suppose I should go in order. Shinobu’s section was absolutely crushing. And no that wasn’t intended to be a dark joke when I wrote that, but I’m going to keep it regardless because I think it’s funny. But seriously though, we learn her backstory of how Doma killed her older sister, who was as Hashira before her. And she just happens to meet the demon who killed her, Doma. Their fight was one of the best in the series so far, and it was heartbreaking that regardless of her efforts, despite all of her crafty techniques and even doing legitimate damage to Doma, she ended up dead without being able to defeat him. And to make it worse Kanao came in just as she was being crushed to death and engaged Doma in battle too, and while she also managed to impressively do some damage to him, we’re kind of just left in anticipation and suspense as to how that’s going to turn out. This was definitely the most emotional on the Demon Slayers side of things. We got Doma’s past, but unlike with a lot of demons it didn’t endear us to him. Or at least not me. I don’t think it made him as despicably unlikable as that one demon from the Swordsmith Village arc, it’s kind of a middle ground which does make him unique compared to what we’ve seen before in the series.
Zenitsu’s part was great too. It’s a story I’ve definitely seen before in anime, where two individuals were trained by the same person but one of them hates the other because he perceives the other as weak and also feels that their master undervalues him; the other is also angry, but really looks up to the first one. But the first one’s jealousy and hatred turns him evil. But just because it’s been done before doesn’t mean it can’t work, and I think it was handled well enough here to work. This part of the movie made me really love Zenitsu. Aside from a brief moment in one of his flashbacks he doesn’t act at all the way we’re typically used to. I’ve always liked Zenitsu more than most Demon Slayer fans. I’ve said before that I consider characters like him and also Aqua from Konosuba to be an accurate representation of how the vast majority of viewers/readers would be like if they were in their situations, so I find there to be a sense of relatability to them, and also a type of humor that’s strange yet it surprisingly works, at least for me. But in this movie he’s completely different, and this also works too. I feel like most viewers will like him way more in this state; basically the state similar to what we’ve seen him in brief moments before but only while he’s asleep, but this time he’s awake and this side of his personality is fully realized. He fights against Kaigaku, a former rival whom was trained under the same master as him. Their master intended for them both to be the heir of Thunder Breathing since Zenitsu could only use the First Form and Kaigaku could use every form but the First Form, but Kaigaku hated Zenitsu, perceiving him as weak, and felt that it was an insult to be put on the same level as him. Because of this he turned to Muzan Kibutsuji and became a demon, eventually rising to the level of Upper Rank Demon 6, most likely after the deaths of Gyotaro and Daki. Zenitsu was super awesome, it was sad seeing how Zenitsu shared hatred for Kaigaku but also admired him at the same time, would get in fights to defend him when others badmouthed him, which was a gesture that was never appreciated by him.
And then we get to the final part, when Tanjiro and Giyu fights Akaza. And they win. This might be the best part of the movie, which is high praise because it’s all fantastic. Akaza’s past might be the saddest so far, counting all Demon Slayer and Demon backstories. Growing up he had to take care of his sickly father, and part of that involved stealing from those better off than him in order to get money to buy food and medicine. But he was almost always caught, then taken to a nearby lord and beaten to within an inch of his life. Eventually his father died, but he was found by a man whom, after beating his ass, became his master. After that it seemed like life was going to turn around for him. He joined the man’s dojo as one of his only students, he took care of his daughter the same way he always would for his father and eventually married her. But unfortunately tragedy struck him once again when a rival dojo that hated theirs poisoned the well where they got their water; just like that his master and his wife had died. He then took revenge by personally beating to death dozens of members of the dojo that was responsible, which made him a wanted criminal once again, except on an even larger level than he was used to. It was not long after this that he met Muzan. Muzan killed him, but then revived him as the Upper Rank Demon 3, presumably at the beginning of Muzan’s quest to create the Twelve Kizuki. His past was absolutely heartbreaking. It makes literally all of the other tragic backstories we’ve seen so far, on the side of both Demon Slayers and the Demons themselves, seem positively delightful by comparison. And the fight was epic too. It took both Tanjiro and Giyu absolutely everything they had, and even then they just barely won; and even then I think it’s similar to Sasori or Obito from Naruto Shippuden, where they kind of allowed themselves to loose. I was on the edge of my seat when Akaza re-attached his own head after Tanjiro severed it. I loved the contradiction that the author depicted within Akaza’s character. He claimed to hate weak people, and thinks the strong should trample the weak, but inr eality he viewed himself as the weakest of all. Even though he lost his memories of being a human after becoming a demon, those memories were still buried inside of his soul, and they were doing battle with the essence of his current self, which finally came to ahead when he recalled his past. In reality he hated himself more than anyone, for not being able to protect those precious to him when he was human, he wanted to end his own life deep down but he couldn’t due to the being he became and not being able to remember. And it’s heavily implied that he laid the finishing blow to himself.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie is flawed. There are things introduced here for the first time that we should have been made aware of beforehand. Things like Kaigaku’s existence, his relationship with Zenitsu, and the death of their master, and preferably some hints of Akaza’s tragic past, (not every detail, just hints leading up to this arc), among other things. I also don’t remember it being revealed that the master of the Demon Slayer Corpse had two more daughters and a son that were still alive; I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure. These are legitimate flaws, but they also didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the movie. When I analyze anime, I like to dissect if the author still got the emotional response out of me that they intended to despite the flaws. I will always point out the flaws that do exist, but if the answer to that question is a definite yes, which it is here, then I consider that to be a major win. If anything it’s even more impressive for an author to get the intended response out of me even with all of the flaws that it does have. No piece of art is completely perfect, but some have more or less problems than others, and the true mastery of ones chosen art form is not just to reduce those flaws as much as possible, although that is important, but to make us get engross din our emotions and forget about those flaws. That is an unquestionable success in the art of storytelling. Overall, I loved this movie, and I’ll be eagerly anticipating the next two. It sucks that we have to wait two years for the next one, although if it’s as good as this I’ll wait as long as it takes. Quality art takes time to make after all.
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