‘Demon Slayer Infinity Castle’ stuns and stirs at cineplexes

I was pleasantly surprised to find very few tickets left for an afternoon show on a working day for an anime movie screening in Bangladesh. Outside the halls, a sizeable crowd waited, dressed up in haoris of their favourite characters. "Demon Slayer Infinity Castle" is here at Star Cineplex, and the hype is real. 

As I settled into the last seat of the M row with just a few minutes to the show, two young ladies came to me and requested to take a picture. Sabikun and her friend came dressed as Zenitsu and Shinobu, and they wanted to take a picture with the girl in Giyu Tomioka's haori, me! People came with their friends, kids, partners, or just by themselves; the hall was filled with fans waiting to see the beginning of the end, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle, play out.

It is hard to write about the return of "Demon Slayer" to the big screen without spoilers, but I am here to assure you this is a spoiler-free article and the movie is yours to enjoy. After widely successful seasons of the celebrated anime, "Demon Slayer" is down to its last three movies before the curtains fall. Following the slow-paced preceding season of the Hashira Training arc, the "Infinity Castle Arc" wastes absolutely no time jumping right into action, beginning from right where it ended in the finale. 

In the usual narrative of the anime, the movie travels through battles and backstories. It features three major battles between Shinobu and Douma, Zenitsu and Kaigaku, and Akaza's faceoff with Giyu and Tanjiro. When the characters are not fighting for split seconds, the viewers could catch their breath while being taken through some of the remaining backstories still left to unravel. Almost all characters of the beloved series make small appearances throughout the 2.5-hour runtime. 

To a general viewer, the movie's pacing might come off as terribly monotonous between continuous fights, origin stories, and being mostly about running towards the whole shebang– Muzan Kibutsuji. There is a lack of a main story that a typical movie would ideally showcase. Yet, this is exactly what the past seasons have been building up to, and all the characters have been preparing for. It is not a standalone movie that anyone walking into the theatre on a fine day can enjoy. "Demon Slayer" fans have been introduced to each demon slayer and demons at length, familiarised with individual breathing styles, strengths, quirks and weaknesses, and their motivations.

The movie starts slow, giving time for the Demon Slayers and the audience to get a hang of what is happening in the rapidly changing infinity castle. After disparate fight sequences with emerging demons, the first two battles take place right away without giving much time to the concerned characters. While Shinobu's desire for revenge and Douma's life before an upper-moon plays out swiftly, the audience broke into loud cheers with the entry of a completely different and headstrong Zenitsu on his own redemption arc. The anime squeezed in its characteristic comic relief scenes as well when the pair of Giyu and Tanjiro coordinated their moves. The last half an hour of the movie is completely hijacked by Akaza, overshadowing everything else. The mysterious and malicious Akaza makes his much-awaited return and Tanjiro gets his shot at avenging Rengoku's death after the first movie of the series. 

Dedicating a 24-minute-long backstory for the bad guy is something out of the ordinary. The movie might not have a well-rounded plot to get behind, but it gets its main antagonist in all its glory. Akaza's story is broken down into minute emotions across rage, rejection, romance, betrayals, and humanises the infamous demon with care. The little kid beside me was crying, grown men behind me were crying, and the grown men beside them were shaming the others for crying.

Besides Zenitsu and Akaza, our faithful protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, shines. Pivotal characters like Muzan, Nezuko, Inosuke, Nakime, etc. do not get much screen time. Kanao Tsuyuri's fate is left at a cliffhanger. Needless to say, you must wait for the last two movies to play out for that.

It is confusing as ever as to where Ufotable gets the budget to make the animation of every new instalment of the series exponentially better. "Demon Slayer Infinity Castle" expectedly delivers and the series looks more visually stunning than it has ever looked. In a rather dark storyline that would follow, the colour palette is loud, and expressive. From calming snowflakes to free-falling through flashing lights, and explosive elemental fight sequences, the movie is a visual treat. It would be unfair not to talk about the stellar music sequences accompanying every battle scene and back story of the movie. Seamlessly woven into the scenes, the clever spatial sound staging, at times, reoriented the audience as if the sound of Nakime's Biwa and the cry of crows were erupting from the rear space of the theatre.

The decision to opt for movies instead of the seasons may have seemed confusing to many but a visit to the theatre is likely to convince you how the big screen does justice to the unmatched animation and the immersive storytelling. The film was first released in Japan in July, and has been breaking records ever since including recently becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all-time in Japan, only trailing behind Mugen Train, the first movie of the series, and overtaking Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away". The movie is continuing worldwide releases in different countries, breaking multiple records in the course.

"Infinity Castle Arc" Part 1 ended with a welcoming invite to watch the next two movies set to release in 2027 and 2029 respectively. If you have been contemplating watching this in the theatres or at home, this is your cue to go book a seat and sit through a visually stunning and emotionally stirring spectacle today.