Carl Roberts 
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle expertly picks up the continuing story with great animation, action, and horror.”
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is a direct sequel to the fourth season of the anime television series. It is also a sequel to its fourth, fifth, and sixth film adaptations. Once again directed by Haruo Sotozaki, the film isn’t a compilation like the Swordsmith Village and Hashira Training adaptations. Instead, it is a feature-length multi-film adaptation, the first of a trilogy of movies. It starts at the exact point the fourth season ended.
Do you need to have seen the rest of the series and movies to understand what’s going on? Damn right you do. Otherwise, you won’t get anywhere near the enjoyment that the movie contains. In actual fact, if you go in without knowing the story or what’s gone on before, you’ll be lost. You will have wasted the admittance fee you paid at the box office. If you’ve followed the series and movies from the start, buckle up. You’re in for one hell of a ride.
PREMISE
Tanjiro Kamado is a determined boy who joins the Demon Slayer Corps, an organisation dedicated to hunting down demons, after his younger sister, Nezuko, transforms into a demon.
While growing stronger and deepening his friendships with fellow corps members, Tanjiro has battled many demons with his comrades. Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira have been with him. Along the way, his journey has led him to fight alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen. These include the Hashira, such as Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku aboard the Mugen Train, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui within the Entertainment District, as well as Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji at the Swordsmith Village.
THOUGHTS
Clocking in at a whopping 155 minutes, the film may feel like a huge undertaking. It is, but it is worth every minute spent with it. The movie is sheer brilliance. Effortlessly beginning where the fourth season ended, we are immediately thrust into the action, violence and gore. As could be expected, we start with Tanjiro Kamado falling through the air. From this point on, the film diverges into several plotlines, showing scenes from the past while also keeping us up to date and highlighting simultaneous events.
Tanjiro and Giyu Tomioka fight Upper Rank Three Akaza. Shinobu Kocho encounters Upper Rank Two Doma, realising he was responsible for her sister Kanae’s death. Zenitsu Agatsuma fights his former senior, Kaigaku. Nezuko is placed under the care of Sakonji Urokodaki. At the same time, Kagaya’s son Kiriya and daughters Kuina and Kanata lead the operation by mapping the Infinity Castle with the Kasugai crows and locating its inhabitants, with former Hashiras Tengen Uzui and Shinjuro Rengoku standing guard.
ANIMATION
The animation is exactly what it needs to be. It is beautiful and exquisite. The style we recognise from the Four Seasons shines through in this piece, enriching the viewing experience. It fills the entire screen superbly, giving fans and the audience an experience they deserve. The colours shine through in every scene, the blood and death brought home to us in stunning clarity. This is Japanese anime at its best, never allowing us to tear our eyes from the screen, dazzling us with its brilliance, and amazing us with the quality it holds. The direction from Haruo Sotozaki perfectly complements the storyline he has been delivering. It never fails to impress us.
WRITING
The film is produced by Ufotable and written by the studio’s staff members. And this is where we hit a small problem. With such an epic undertaking with the film, the script starts to grate slightly as we see what some of the demons, especially Akaza, were before they were turned. Akaza recalls his tragic past in a long sequence that, although heartbreaking and informative, drags on for a bit too long. We marvel as we see his journey and why he became what he is. But taking up almost thirty minutes of screentime leaves us feeling slightly exasperated. It isn’t that it’s not good, but it boosts the film. It’s just that it’s a little too long! But with a heavy story in this film and the two movies to come, we can see and feel that this trilogy of movies is going to be epic.
VERDICT
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle expertly picks up the continuing story with great animation, action, and horror. It pulls at our heartstrings with the emotion it holds in between the violence and gore, and it does contain a few shocks along the way. No spoilers, but not everyone makes it out of the film alive or intact. At the same time, fans of Inosuke and Nezuko will feel shortchanged by the lack of screentime they receive. In Nezuko’s case, she appears for around thirty seconds, and then she is gone for the rest of the film.
After being a huge character in the franchise so far, her lack of screentime feels as if she has been sidelined. I’m thinking it’s a deliberate move from the writers, with the plan for her to make a dramatic appearance in the next film. But this, alongside the slightly too long Akaza subplot, are trivial annoyances in an epic Anime film.
Fans and followers of the franchise are in for a real treat, both visually and storywise. For all of us who have been waiting to see where the story will take us next and how certain situations will be resolved, this first part does more than enough to sate our hunger. It leaves us once again on a cliff edge, waiting to see what happens next. When the film ends, we want to scream at the screen, “NO! Don’t stop now!” We have been handed a two-hour and thirty-five-minute anime movie, and we still thirst for more. That’s what makes the film so good. It leaves us wanting to see the rest of it, to watch the Hashira battle the demons and defeat them. We want to see them confront and defeat Muzan Kibutsuji.
WAIT AND SEE!
We will, of course, have to wait to see this happen on screen. While we recover and compose ourselves after this movie, we can look forward to two more incredible movies that will take us to the finale. The questions still haunt us: Will our favourites survive? Which ones will fall along the way? How will it all end? We can keep guessing as to the answers to these questions. But while we do that, we can sit back and enjoy what we have been given here. Settle back, make sure you’ve got a large popcorn and drink to keep you going throughout, and prepare to be dazzled by what lies in store. An epic treat.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is in cinemas now, courtesy of Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll.
Introducing Carl! As the News Editor at Future of the Force, Carl has been an invaluable member of our team since early 2016. His expertise and dedication have made him an integral part of our editorial staff. Beyond his professional role, Carl is a fervent supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an avid follower of pop culture. He has a deep passion for Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the iconic movie franchises Star Wars and Star Trek.
He can be found either at his neighborhood cinema, enjoying the latest releases on the big screen, or at home streaming the newest blockbuster movies.
