If you’re not into anime, then I might blow your mind, because Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is actually one of the highest-grossing animated movies OF ALL TIME.
In fact, once you get through a lot of the Disney and Pixar movies on the list (and my GOAT, Super Mario Bros. The Movie), you’ll find Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle at number 30. It made over $790 million worldwide and did well on opening weekend here in the U.S., too, but it dropped off sharply in the weeks that followed.
Well, given that Infinity Castle is now available with a Netflix subscription, I thought I’d watch it since I used to like Demon Slayer, but hoo boy, after watching Infinity Castle, I remember just why I STOPPED watching Demon Slayer. I'll explain.
This Movie Has Way Too Many Characters That It Thinks I Should Care About
I remember when I first heard of Demon Slayer. One of my students was BIG into it, and he told me that it was on Netflix. I asked him if the series was still going on or if it was over, and he said that it was over. You see, I didn't want to get into a One Piece situation where I'd get into the show, and it had like a million episodes.
So, I watched all of the episodes that were available at the time on Netflix only to realize that the series wasn't over. In fact, there were SEVERAL more episodes to go. My student chalked this up to a miscommunication on his part, but I was into the show by this point, so I didn't mind. The only problem - there were WAY too many characters that I didn't care about. In fact, aside from Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Zenitsu, I honestly couldn't care less about the Demon Slayer Corps.
I stopped watching after Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train because that movie pushed a lot of the characters that I didn't care about. And now that I've watched Infinity Castle, I remember just how much I don't care about most of these characters, as many of them have important moments in this film, but I was still so bored!
Everybody Is Running, But They Don't Seem To Be Going Anywhere
Call me an Unc all you like, but my favorite anime comes from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Fist of the North Star, Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop–the thing I loved about shows like these was that they always felt like they were GOING somewhere.
Well, one problem I used to have with Demon Slayer was that it always felt like it was going NOWHERE. Yes, the show feels propulsive with all of the running and slashing, but it always felt like all that running was for naught, and the same could be said for Infinity Castle.
That's the whole conceit of this film. The main antagonist, Muzan, is hidden somewhere in the castle, and the Demon Slayer Corps is out to kill him, but I feel like the whole movie (which is 2 hours and 35 minutes, by the way) is just a whole lot of running to nowhere. What a rip!
The Action Is Enthralling At First...But Then Grows Tiresome
Lastly, when I started Infinity Castle, I thought, Oh, yeah. NOW I remember why I used to love this. The fight scenes are so cool! And they are cool…for a little while. The animation when the Demon Slayer Corps do their breathing techniques is vibrant and expressive, but watching that for over two hours is a real slog! I mean, by the hour-and-a-half mark, I had to get up and walk around since I was FALLING ASLEEP.
It doesn't help that none of the demons are all that interesting, either (IN MY OPINION). If anything, Infinity Castle reminded me that certain anime are just not for me. Needless to say, I won't be watching Infinity Castle - Part 2. I guess I'll just have to go back to watching peak anime…like Attack on Titan.
