If you had no knowledge of the anime or the manga, you might be surprised to know that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train is one the biggest blockbusters in the world. Having made north of $450 million the movie finally arrived in the United States. Providing the next step in the story, the film shows off the brilliant animation and incredible characters that make Demon Slayer so rich.
Whereas many anime feature films like last year’s enjoyable My Hero Academia film take on side stories, this one picks up right where season 1 ended with Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu boarding the Mugen Train after receiving a message from a crow. Upon entering the train, they realize that they are on the train with the Flame Hashira Rengoku, as well as an incredibly nefarious demon who tests them in ways they may or may not be prepared for.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train truly is a distillation of what makes the anime so great. The animation style is top tier, a dream to behold given that these characters move around so much when the fight. I love how the film mixes elements that are 2-D and “real” environments and blends them together.
The quality is carried over into how the story pushes the characters. While it it incredibly rude to make fans relive Tanjiro’s family being alive when he’s in his dreamscape, it makes his decisions and character that much more potent. This especially comes alive when he has to take drastic measures to wake himself up. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train does not shy away from the brutality visited upon these children and the fight they have been forced into. Despite these dramatics, the movie adds elements of humor that keep the film rolling along (I’m sorry).
If there’s one gripe I have with this story is that the ending, heartbreaking though it is, is brought about by an out of nowhere villain and ended with such a dramatic ending that made this feel more like several episodes of TV smooshed together than the end of a narrative. It would be nice if every cool character got a big dramatic send off in a film but rather than feel like a natural conclusion to the story, it felt like an added shock.
Overall, this is a film I feel that fans of animation will enjoy, though much like the works of the MCU, it’s made all the more richer when paired with watching the first season of the television show.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train is in theaters now.