‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1’ Is a Beautiful, Hollow Anime Disasterpiece [Review]
The first part in Demon Slayer’s epic Infinity Castle trilogy offers visually stunning violence and unbelievable action set-pieces, but literally nothing else. Success can be a tricky thing and while it’s no surprise that the pursuit of mainstream popularity can often come at the expense of creative innovation, it’s still discouraging when a quality property […]
The first part in Demon Slayer’s epic Infinity Castle trilogy offers visually stunning violence and unbelievable action set-pieces, but literally nothing else.
Success can be a tricky thing and while it’s no surprise that the pursuit of mainstream popularity can often come at the expense of creative innovation, it’s still discouraging when a quality property is milked dry and eternally diluted. It’s the type of decision-making that prompts a three-part Hobbit film adaptation, a two-part Wicked, and an ever-growing Secret Wars, not because it’s necessary, but because it will make so, so much money. Is that cynical? Incredibly so, but it’s not an artistic venture that’s guaranteed to fail. This may seem like a very negative introduction to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle, but what’s important to understand here is that Demon Slayer’s first movie, 2020’s Mugen Train, is still Japan’s highest-grossing film — not just anime, but all cinema. Ever since, Demon Slayer has been looking for as many excuses to get into theaters as possible, whether it’s the best approach for the series or not.
Accordingly, it’s completely understandable that Demon Slayer would want to conclude its anime with a feature film trilogy, rather than a conventional season of television. In an age when event programming is at an all-time high, combined with Demon Slayer’s previous blockbuster success, it’s no surprise that Infinity Castle Arc Part 1 was already Japan’s tenth-highest-grossing film after only being in theaters for one month. Fans are going to see this movie, regardless of its quality. It’s the end of the story and they’re already in for the long haul. There’s plenty to enjoy in Infinity Castle and this movie even includes some of the franchise’s most exciting action sequences. Unfortunately, Infinity Castle’s biggest problem is that it barely feels like a movie and it’s emblematic of all the issues that plague overstuffed, underwhelming franchise finales.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle tells an incredibly simple story, which is part of the reason that this movie becomes such a frustrating experience. This film is the first entry in a trilogy that concludes the Demon Slayer series, picking up immediately from the fourth season’s seismic finale. Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and the rest of the powerful Demon Slayer Hashira are pulled into Muzan Kibutsuji’s Infinity Castle, a nebulous eternal labyrinth that would make MC Escher or Dan Flashes dizzy. The heroes plummet into this scenario and then engage in simultaneous battles against some of Muzan Kibutsuji’s strongest demons. These fights boil down to Shinobu and Kanao against Doma, Zenitsu against Kaigaku, and Tanjiro and Giyu against Akaza. These are all thrilling battles, but that is literally all that Infinity Castle has to offer.
Demon Slayer‘s first film, Mugen Train, tells more of an actual story with a beginning, middle, and end, that culminates in the anime’s trademark heightened battle. Not only that, but it’s a story that could be accessible to someone who has never seen Demon Slayer before. Infinity Castle has no interest in appealing to outsiders, but it goes too far in this regard to the point that it forgets the bare elements of what’s needed in a movie. Infinity Castle begins in the middle of action and ostensibly starts with a climax. It’s a jarring structure, especially since it needs to maintain this perma-climax tension over the course of three films. Infinity Castle sacrifices a conventional story in lieu of maximizing its action because it knows that these visual spectacles become the franchise’s biggest talking points. These moments are much less successful when there’s nothing else to offer.
Curiously, Infinity Castle is plagued by many of the same problems that were faced by Avengers: Endgame and are likely to be present in Secret Wars. Infinity Castle is 155 minutes — over two-and-a-half hours — of what’s more or less non-stop action. On paper, this may seem like a fan’s dream come true, but it’s honestly an exhausting experience. This lengthy runtime creates even greater concern for the final entry, which will presumably be even longer and closer to three hours. Brevity is crucial in these movies and it’s wild how demonstrably better Infinity Castle could be if it was just an hour shorter.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle is a real monkey’s paw situation in the sense that it gives fans exactly what they want, but in a deeply ineffective manner. Demon Slayer has rarely strayed from its formula in which epic Demon fights are intercut with tragic flashbacks of these villains pre-Demon lives. Demon Slayer rarely misses in this regard and some of the anime’s strongest material comes from the empathy that’s provided for these Demons in their final moments. This structure is repetitive, but successful and something that audiences have come to expect. Accordingly, Infinity Castle stoops to the same approach with Doma, Kaigaku, and Akaza. The issue with this is that this style of storytelling becomes monotonous when it’s done multiple times in the same movie. Infinity Castle never subverts these expectations and each fight sequence becomes a little more generic because of this back-to-back structure.
This is again where Infinity Castle’s presentation as a feature film sets itself up for failure. In a regular Demon Slayer season, these harrowing backstories have the opportunity to linger and hang over the Hashiras’ heads for multiple episodes. The whole point of Demon Slayer is the fine line between man and monster, and how one bad decision or missed opportunity can tip the scales. Infinity Castle features some heartbreaking flashbacks that absolutely succeed in their goals, albeit only in the moment. The film’s crammed structure means that it’s all-too eager to move onto the next fight instead of dwelling on what just happened. It wants its audience to cry, but then expects them to be pumping their fist and cheering for bloodshed in the very next frame.
Infinity Castle continually robs itself of all its biggest dramatic moments so that nothing works as well as it would if it were just explored in an episodic series. The same is true, but to a slightly lesser extent, with the movie’s action sequences. Infinity Castle takes advantage of its cinematic budget and, once again – to be clear – this is an absolutely gorgeous film that showcases some of Ufotable’s greatest work to date. The film’s structure conditions the audience to groan once its battles stretch out and become as endless as the Infinity Castle’s labyrinthine architecture. A fight that plays out across multiple episodes – or an entire season – can be exhausting in its own ways, but there are still certain natural pressure releases present that are neglected in this movie.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle Arc Part 1 is such a discouraging first chapter in what’s designed to be a grand farewell to one of the decade’s most popular shonen series. It has all the right elements and there’s still so much that works here. For one, its finally possible to cull the Hashira herd now that Demon Slayer is in its endgame. Demon Slayer has a huge cast and Infinity Castle takes advantage of how the plot armor is now gone and all bets are off. A freshly-expendable cast does lead to some tragic surprises that make these villains feel genuinely dangerous. This is just a movie that is definitively not greater than the sum of its parts. Infinity Castle contains some of the best animated action sequences of 2025, but it feels like these fights are destined to be viewed as clip compilations online, rather than repeated viewings of this cinematic endurance round.
As a Demon Slayer fan who has appreciated its efforts during its apex and questioned its growing apathy over time, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle Arc Part 1 doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence for the second and third instalments. Parts 2 and 3 are set to hit theaters in 2027 and 2029 respectively — at least at this point — so it’s still possible for these films to course correct and shift strategies. With any hope, Infinity Castle Part 2 will feel like the franchise’s The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, or The Two Towers, rather than just another 2.5+ hour extended slugfest, against a different rotation of Upper Rank Demons. Demon Slayer is a modern action classic and it’s still possible for the Infinity Castle trilogy to turn things around. It just needs to remember what made audiences fall in love with the series in the first place and that it has so much more to offer than eye-popping action sequences.
It’s the Demon slayer, not the Demon slaying, that’s important.
