Demon Slayer movie review: Mugen Train is action anime worthy of hype

The 2020 Demon Slayer film made headlines and historical past when it premiered in Japan in late October. The primary feature-length movie based mostly on the favored Shonen Leap manga and anime collection amassed greater than $350 million at Japan’s field workplace throughout its opening weekend, surpassing not solely the document set by Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away as the best grossing Japanese movie of all time, however the fourth-highest grossing movie of 2020, interval. This occurring as the way forward for the movie trade stays in flux within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic speaks to the evident truth of anime’s financial and cultural dominance as world leisure.

Now, greater than half a 12 months for the reason that movie’s launch, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Film: Mugen Practice lastly makes landfall within the States. Given the large focus of fanfare and newfound mainstream consideration towards the collection within the wake of its premiere, the query stays: Is that this movie worthy of the hype? For probably the most half, it emphatically is.

Picture: Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

Directed by Haruo Sotozaki, who oversaw Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’s first season and is about to return for season 2 subsequent 12 months, Mugen Practice picks up instantly after the occasions of the tip of the primary season. Sequence protagonist Tanjiro Kamado, his demon-slayer cohorts Zenitsu and Inosuke, and his demon-possessed however pacified sister Nezuko race to help the upper-rank demon-slayer Kyojuro Rengoku, also called the Flame Hashira, in investigating the disappearance of 40 folks aboard the mysterious Mugen Practice. (Mugen is Japanese for “Infinite,” however this has nothing to do with Infinity Practice.)

Greater than merely a continuation of the collection’ broad plot, the movie relies instantly on an arc of Koyoharu Gotouge’s authentic manga, and is meant as a canonical bridge between the occasions of season 1 and a pair of. This itself is novel: Hottest anime franchises (e.g. My Hero Academia, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and so on.) boast a number of feature-length films, which are usually enjoyable, non-canonical aspect tales, unconcerned with the arc of the collection’ primary characters and extra centered on “what-if” situations. Normally, anime franchise movies permit for extra unfastened experimentation by way of animation and characterization.

For probably the most half, Mugen Practice advantages from its position as a canonical footnote within the collection’ bigger arc, with one exception. Curious newcomers to the collection might be left adrift, given the absence of exposition across the characters or who they’re combating and why. There’s no straight reply about precisely what a “Flame Hashira” is, or a transparent clarification of Enmu, Mugen Practice’s antagonist. The film doesn’t discover what that freaky “Decrease Rank 1” kanji tattoo on their eye means, apart from the plain implication that (1) they’re a demon, and (2) they’re out to slay demon slayers.

Picture: Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

Mugen Practice assumes the viewers is aware of what was coated in season 1. There’s no time for a recap, because the movie makes use of each minute of its two-hour runtime in service of pushing the plot ahead. That may sound like a knock towards the movie, however in truth, the concepts and themes on the core of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba’s attraction stay intact, to the purpose the place, even with out exposition, the movie is certain to be a blast not only for current followers, however for anybody tapping in to see some whiz-bang swordplay and indulgent 3D motion scenes. There are many each right here.

With a lot of the primary creatives on the tv collection returning for the movie, the break between the artwork model and visible composition of the movie and the anime collection isn’t dramatic. The dynamic CG-animated set items which characterised a number of of probably the most visually exceptional sequences within the first season return in Mugen Practice. A number of the impeccably rendered combat scenes and dramatic beats rival and even eclipse the anime’s most notable moments, just like the Inception-esque rotating climax of the Tsuzumi Mansion Arc, or the breathtaking finale of the primary season’s phenomenal nineteenth episode, “Hinokami.”

Whereas Mugen Practice doesn’t handle how the characters ended up on this story, the writers do a unbelievable job of speaking why viewers ought to care about them, significantly within the case of Kyojuro Rengoku. Launched late within the first season, Kyojuro wasn’t given a lot character or motivation. Mugen Practice addresses the issue by revealing that regardless of Rengoku’s imposing fame as one of many elite members of the Demon Slayers Corps, and his phenomenal, nigh-otherworldly prowess as a swordsman, he’s in truth only a huge, unblinking dork with a not-so-subtle ego, a burning need to help others, and a reasonably tragic backstory regarding his father’s legacy because the earlier Flame Hashira. In a film filled with thrilling and memorable scenes, Rengoku is the middle of most of them. He’s more likely to develop into the movie’s breakout character, particularly after he takes middle stage throughout Mugen Practice’s explosive finale. The dramatic end result of that sequence will undoubtedly reverberate all through the collection’ future shifting ahead.

Picture: Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

Finally, what makes Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Film: Mugen Practice a terrific movie, except for being a pitch-perfect adaptation and interstitial continuation of the anime collection, is that it houses in on what makes its core solid of characters tick, and encapsulates that attraction in memorable standout scenes. Early on within the movie, Tanjiro and his cohorts are ensnared by Enmu, who makes use of a spell to make their deepest wishes manifest. For Rengoku, that dream quantities to being adored and sharing a second of sibling bonding together with his youthful brother Senjuro. For Tanjiro, it’s for his sister Nezuko to be restored to her human self and reunited together with his household, who have been slaughtered by the collection’ principal antagonist. And for Zenitsu, it’s an idyllic second of comedian, romantic bliss with Tanjiro’s sister.

However probably the most memorable of the dream sequences is Inosuke’s: It portrays him as some kind of militant mole-man spelunking by means of a subterranean cavern, together with anthropomorphic animal caricatures of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Nezuko. It will get bizarre. The movie returns to those dream worlds periodically all through the movie, ingratiating the viewers with Tanjiro and his cohorts through the moments and those that matter most to them, intermingled with their very own respective quirks and eccentricities. It’s sufficient to actually pull the viewers into the headspace of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’s protagonists and drive dwelling simply why precisely the collection has endeared itself to so many followers of each the manga and anime collection.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Film: Mugen Practice is an excellent encapsulation of the collection’ strengths and attraction, stuffed with moments of pulse-pounding motion, heady emotional gravitas, and unbelievable character-affirming moments of levity and humor. It isn’t the very best level for collection newcomers to hop aboard the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fandom, however nonetheless, it affirms itself as a completely entertaining thrill-ride that feels each consequential and important to observe.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Film: Mugen Practice will launch in theaters on April 23. Earlier than visiting a movie show, Polygon recommends studying our information to native state-by-state COVID precautionary measures.