Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle – Part 1: Akaza Returns (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」無限城編 第一章 猗窩座再来) opened on 18 July 2025, and let's just say it took the cinemas by storm. Like, the cinemas in the area have anything from 25 to 35 screenings per day of this ONE movie, crowding out all other movies currently being screened. Most other movies have only 1 screening per day now, and mostly at weird times (for example, one cinema is showing its single screening of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants to Be Loved at 6:30 a.m.).
I have been following the anime so I thought I would try to find time to catch this movie. Problem is, even with around 30 screenings per day at every cinema in the area, most (if not all) of them sell out pretty quickly... unless you like to sit all the way up front, which is going to be very very very bad for this movie due to its many fighting scenes. But I managed to get a ticket at a reasonable distance from the screen at a reasonable time, and made my way to the cinema after my trip to Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
This is the first in a three-part movie series, and it runs for 2 hour 35 minutes. After watching it, I fully understand why it draws such a crowd. The movie needs to be enjoyed on the big screen with a powerful sound system. Most people don't have a home theatre that can provide that boom without getting complaints from their neighbours. Headphones can be an alternative, but even the best headphones lack the power that comes from what a cinema can offer. The movie takes places in Infinity Castle, and you really need the big screen to enjoy that sense of scale. For proper enjoyment of the movie, you need a large screen and powerful sound system; basically, a cinema experience.
In terms of pacing, there are three main fights taking place in this movie, although the main focus is on Akaza, the Upper Rank Three demon. The other two main fights involve Doma (Upper Rank Two) and Kaigaku (Upper Rank Six). The story shifts between the three main fights, which may feel distracting at first, with its many flashbacks looking at the pasts of these demons and the Demon Slayer corps members that they are fighting with. However, I think it was this "jumping around" that prevented the movie from becoming too linear. It was able to focus on one fight (and the relevant flashbacks) and then, at a suitable moment, switch to another fight to show viewers what was happening concurrently somewhere else in the Infinity Castle. The viewers can feel that the three fights were happening simultaneously, instead of one after another.
As for the story itself... you know the story is good when people (including me) were crying at the death of an Upper Rank demon... The English name of this series is Demon Slayer, but it might have been more correctly named as Demon Redemption. While the fights are amazing, it is the back stories that help draw viewers to this series. The demons have all done very very bad stuff, but their back stories show that they too had a very twisted and horrible past of their own, which led them to become demons. In a way, their immortality is a trap that makes them continue to live through their past sufferings for eternity, and being slain is very much putting an end to their misery as it is ending their ability to cause more suffering.
The Infinity Castle arc will also include fights with Kokushibo (Upper Rank One), which means the second part of the movie series will likely focus on the fights with Kokushibo and Doma. The third, finale part would then be the final face off against Muzan to conclude the entire Demon Slayer story. Given the amount of money Ufotable has made through this series (enough to be caught for evading taxes), I hope they pour a lot of resources to release the next two parts on a yearly basis: Part 2 in summer 2026, and Part 3 in summer 2027. Meanwhile, the success of Part 1 may well mean that cinemas will be screening it until Part 2 arrives. 😅
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