Let me first start by apologizing for my absence. I’ll just leave it at these are fun times all around, and I thank everyone for their patience.
As I had mentioned in a previous post (KPop Demon Hunters), my wife is a big fan of anime and I’m rapidly becoming the same. There are several anime shows we’re watching, all very different storylines/genres from each other. (COMMENT: Okay…not completely true…There’s some similarities between a few of them). Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (COMMENT: colloquially just referred to as “Demon Slayer”) is probably my current favorite though. It’s also one of the most popular anime in the world. Naturally, the conclusion of the series is being presented via a cinematic epic called “Infinity Castle”. I know, anime story arcs are often brought to theaters. However, none have managed to break the records that Infinity Castle has, and none have brought a story, and animation like Infinity Castle. For these reasons, I chose this film for my recent review.
Unfortunately, this is not a standalone film by any means. The most recent season of the show ended with a specific shot, and the very first frame of the film puts you in that ending shot continuing where everyone left off. For this reason, I will provide some very minor spoilers of the series to kind of set the stage for Infinity Castle.
Demon Slayer tells the story of the oldest child of a humble family in the mountains in a world where demons roam the night and feed on human blood for survival. (COMMENT: Oh good another vampire story. Resurrect Anne Rice and Stan Lee! No need for Marvel to re-boot Blade after-all!) Truthfully, they’re not vampires. They’re demons with different strengths and abilities. They don’t drain humans of their blood. They literally consume humans for their blood. Bodies are often torn to shreds, limbs are flying everywhere, etc. However, these demons do disintegrate if they’re exposed to the sun. (COMMENT: It’s all animated. But share the viewing experience with your children only if there’s a psychiatrist in the house!)
One night, the main character comes home from his daily duties and finds his family completely slaughtered. That is, except for his little sister who had been turned into a demon herself! Instead of running away or trying to kill her, he pledges his life to make her human again. While searching for help, he’s attacked by a demon and a high ranking warrior within the Demon Slayer Corps saves him and is convinced to not kill the younger sister. (COMMENT: Think of the Demon Slayer Corps like early Japanese Men In Black. The average person is unaware of the existence of of demons, and therefore unaware of the existence of the corps.) The warrior then recommends the main character to train and sign up for the corps himself. Once the main character passes final selection and is welcomed into the corps, he is sent on various missions where he meets his comrades and the four of them are an unstoppable force of chaos. (COMMENT: My favorite character wears a boar’s head and rocks two serrated swords and just literally runs around yelling and destroying anything to find his prey.)
That’s enough of a taste of the series and the storyline. As I said, I try to adhere to my rule of minor spoilers if necessary. Infinity Castle has the corps fighting the demons in the realm of the father of all demons. The realm is called the Infinity Castle. (COMMENT: It’s probably because it’s basically a never ending Japanese fortress. Just in case you didn’t feel like figuring that out for yourself). The realm defies all laws of physics, and makes for a very trippy visual thrill. (COMMENT: Imagine a samurai fantasy adventure set in a dream sequence from Chris Nolan’s Inception.) It’s an adrenaline fueled thrill ride that starts and continues on until you’re about to stroke out.
The film also provides storylines for key characters that you haven’t gotten to know in depth before the events of Infinity Castle. These background stories serve as an important understanding of a slayer’s chosen sword art form and combat style, as well as why a demon is a demon. (COMMENT: Again….Asian movie about demons. Demons are demons because of their inner demons. Cue Imagine Dragons again!)
The captivating storyline of both the series and the film is only part of the draw to Demon Slayer. The series has phenomenal animation and fantastic voice acting, but Infinity Castle ups the ante on both as though all bets are on this one film. The animation is so gorgeous that it blends 3 layers of different types of animation: characters are clearly classic Japanese anime style, with an almost CGI’d yet Asian water color style background, with highly realistic looking explosions and damage sequences that resemble those from Michael Bay films (COMMENT: Good ones like 6 Underground and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi).
The voice acting has always been great in the series, but because Infinity Castle is the storyline where it’s all or nothing for every character, the emotion and the determination is brilliantly conveyed. As is the pain and suffering. I’m not even saying for an anime. I’m saying the acting is on par with that of a samurai film by the great Akira Kurosawa, and Ken Watanabe’s brilliant performance in Ed Zwick’s The Last Samurai. The anguish, the suffering, the relief after a battle, the audience definitely feels it from the delivery of the actors. (COMMENT: Driving my point home regarding showing this animated feature to your children. Start saving up for that in-home shrink beforehand.)
Finally, the music. I must say, soundtracks for anime series and movies can sound identical to the uninitiated. (COMMENT: I’m still among those ranks.) However, the soundtrack to Demon Slayer has always been unique. There’s an even mix of Japaense classical style, hard rock guitar riffs during the epic battles, and alternative rock/pop songs integrated in key scenes. However, Infinity Castle brings home the chimichangas with a score that actually at first listen could be mistaken for one by Hans Zimmer.
Infinity Castle is a thrill-ride worth seeing on the big screen. The adrenaline fueled visuals, riveting storyline, emotion driven voice acting, and energizing score makes this a huge contender during awards season. For those that would need to catch up on the show prior to seeing this film, that is very easy to do. The episodes and previous film versions of the seasons are widely accessible. As always, enjoy and let me know what you think!