By Nick Nitkowski

I feel that it’s impossible not to have at least heard of the name “Demon Slayer”. It’s become quite the phenomenon among fans of anime, of which I am one to a moderate degree as I have not seen every popular anime show out there. There are all kinds of merch and cosplay items that I see all the time. The most notable is Tanjiro’s haori jacket. Needless to say, “Demon Slayer” has cemented itself in pop culture. Ever since I saw “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” in theaters, I was sold on the show. So much so that I went out of my way to start watching the show from the beginning since that particular movie took place after the first two seasons. Luckily, I knew just enough to not be completely lost. Since then, I’ve been keeping up with everything “Demon Slayer” and the way the last season left off made me very excited to see this new movie that is part one of a trilogy to end the franchise. 

For those somehow not in the know, and if you’re not, I’m honestly not sure why you’re reading this review, but here’s the gist: Demons exist and feast on the innocent people in the world. However, there is hope in defeating them. Not by a trio of KPop stars, but an organization of Demon Slayers (not Hunters) known as Hashiras and the organization known as the Demon Slayer Corp. The latest to join are Tanjiro Kamado (our lead protagonist), Inosuke (a crazed man who wears a boar head mask, Zenitsu (an annoying pain in my ass), and Nezuko Kamado (Tanjiro’s little sister who was turned into a Demon) and together they fight against the most powerful demons known as Upper Ranks leading to their leader pulling all the strings, Muzan, the King of Demons. In the movie, they, along with other well-trained Hashiras, find themselves in his endless lair known as the Infinity Castle as they must defend against all the Demons. So, how was this first part?

I found this movie to be very enjoyable… for the most part. I do have a few issues with this movie, which is hard for me to say, but let me start off with the positives first. Much like the series before, it is very beautifully animated with its own unique style that helps it stand out from your typical anime style. The most noticeable difference is the thicker than normal outlines of the characters and the elements used in attacks. It’s always a wonder to behold. On top of that, the action scenes are top-notch as always. The combination of amazing art styles and intense action scenes is part of what made “Demon Slayer” a staple in the world.

Another positive that is a huge one for me personally is Zenitsu, who is the annoying, whining, crybaby, woman-chasing, pain-in-the-ass character that I absolutely hated every time he was on screen. But in this movie, he had a very good scene that made me respect him a little bit more than I did, which I honestly didn’t even think was possible for this particular character. Can’t fully respect him because of all the past stuff, but he gained just a little bit from me in this movie. I’m curious to see if he can keep this up in the next two films.

Now on to some of my gripes with the film, of which there are a few. There were a few moments in the film that would happen right when an important moment in an action scene was happening that gets interrupted for a flashback moment that feels like the film has stopped dead in its tracks, therefore losing the momentum that was just there. This happens more than once in the film. Because of this, one of the other issues that partly contributes to this issue is the pacing of the movie. This movie is over two and a half hours long, and I can honestly say that I felt the length of this movie, which is highly unfortunate. This movie could have easily been trimmed down by a lot. It almost felt as though this movie was originally supposed to be a new season, but instead condensed everything into a feature film. I noticed almost every moment that would have been the end of an episode in the form of a series. I really hope this is rectified in the final two movies.

Additionally, since this is merely a part one of three movies, it does leave one wanting more and not in a good way. I believe the correct term is “more to be desired”. This movie does deliver in terms of action, but it doesn’t deliver a whole lot in terms of story. Most of the Hashiras that are not within near proximity to Tanjiro are basically running off screen for the entirety of the film. Other characters that had big moments teased in the previous season are nowhere to be found here. For example, Muzan and Nezuko, as well as a few others, are basically absent from this film. Imagine watching the first “Lord of the Rings” film, but it only focuses on three of the main characters while the rest are doing stuff off-screen. I’m sure they will make appearances in the next two films, but with this being part of a grand finale, I feel as though everyone has to contribute something in each film even if it doesn’t get resolved yet. 

Overall, it goes without saying that fans are absolutely going to love “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” despite the flaws that I’ve found with it. If it’s action that you’re looking for, then this movie will certainly deliver that to you gift-wrapped with a bow. But if you’re looking for an engaging story with action in it, you might find yourself a bit disappointed like I was. I can only hope that this movie will work better in sequence with the other two, but as it stands on its own, it seems to be lacking which is genuinely a shame to me because it had the potential to be so much more. I realize that I’m probably making it sound worse than it actually is, and I just want to clarify that it is not a bad movie by any means, it just lacked good structure for a part one movie, in my personal opinion. But like I said before, if you’re a “Demon Slayer” fan, then you’re going to love this movie regardless of what I say. But if I had to choose between “Infinity Castle” and “Mugen Train”, I can honestly say that “Mugen Train” was better. Instead of slaying, “Infinity Castle” felt like Infinity with little payoff, at least for now. Here’s hoping that the last two movies manage to stick the landings.

3.5 stars