Review: Infinity Castle is Demon Slayer at its best

Since 2019, Demon Slayer has ranked amongst the most popular anime in the world, and for good reason. The show follow Tanjiro Kamado, an up-and-coming swordfighter who joins the ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps. The Corps consists of specially trained humans whose fighting often incorporates various breathing techniques, imbuing their attacks with fire, water, electricity, insects, and other natural and elemental forces. For Tanjiro, the call to arms is personal: his family was recently slain by a demon, and his sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. Despite this, Nezuko retains a considerable amount of her humanity, and Tanjiro is set on finding a way to turn her human again.

Over the course of the past six years, Tanjiro has made friends, lost allies, and battled with numerous high-ranking demons as he's honed his fighting skills and risen in the ranks. In the most recent season -- the Hashira Training Arc -- he trained under the various Hashira (the highest-ranking, super-powered members of the Demon Slayer Corps) in preparation for the final battle against the originator of demons, the supremely dangerous Muzan.

The Hashira Training Arc was a somewhat muted season, one where much didn't happen. It was fairly run-of-the-mill training stuff, but it did its job in setting the table for the finale to come. It allowed us to spend more time with the active Hashira, some of whom hadn't previously gotten extensive screen time. And, in the finale, all of our heroes (save Nezuko, who's being nursed back to humanity, hopefully) were transported into Muzan's Infinity Castle, which gives the latest Demon Slayer movie its name. The castle is, yeah, infinite, stretching in all directions endlessly, pulsing, constantly shifting. It's nigh-impossible to navigate, but hidden somewhere in its depths are Muzan, along with the remaining upper-rank demons, which will be the most powerful Tanjiro and his friends have encountered yet.

(So, I think it pretty much goes without saying that this isn't the best place for newcomers to the series to jump in. If you're curious, the show isn't terribly long, especially compared to legacy titles like One Piece or Naruto. However, if you just want to dive into the hype, this movie will probably at least be enjoyable and entertaining even if the emotional stakes haven't completely been established for you beforehand.)

One of the things that I love most about Demon Slayer -- honestly, maybe the most -- is the humanity that is revealed about so many of the demons Tanjiro faces off against. Often, in the demons' final moments, we're giving a glimpse of their pasts. Demons were once human, though they usually don't retain their memories of their human days. Finding out about the hardship they faced, the trauma they suffered, the loved ones they lost, creates a moment of melancholy catharsis at the moment of victory, their moment of defeat. This is where the series' story-telling always shines brightest. The emotional highs are very, very high indeed.

With Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -- The Movie: Infinity Castle (that's the only time I'll type the full title here), those highs are exactly what we get. Heading into this, I wondered how the movie (and the two more to follow in the coming years) would handle spinning so many plates. There are a lot of characters involved in this operatic finale, and I wondered if I was going to get whiplash jumping between them all. Instead, Infinity Castle smartly focuses in on three key battles, with occasional interstitial scenes to show where other characters are at (including one glimpse of my beloved Nezuko, my favorite character in the series). By doing so, the scale and stakes of the overall finale are sharply rendered without spreading the narrative focus too thin. As the credits roll over a few catch-up scenes, you'll feel like you know where all the pieces are on the board, where we might start the next movie, and whose lives are most imminently in danger. It's strong story-telling.

Each of the three set-piece action scenes rank among the best in the whole series, for so many reasons. As usual, the animation here is just stunning. So many gorgeous effects, dynamic movement, popping colors. Demon Slayer is always a feast of the eyes, and seeing this on an IMAX screen was such a treat.

Excited for this kings to get their showcase in a future film

Further, knowing that we're in the beginning of the finale, the stakes have truly never felt higher. It feels like anyone can die, and after spending a season getting to know the Hashira better, that's a horrible feeling! Each of the action encounters are thrilling, unique, and differently paced, so it never feels like we're in a rut just repeating the same steps over and over, rinse-and-repeat. Rather, each one deploys its interplay of present action and expository flashback differently, making each one feel special.

First up is Shinobu, the Insect Hashira, fighting Doma, the Upper Rank 2 demon who killed her older sister. We get flashbacks of both Shinobu's and Doma's lives, and he's one of my favorite antagonists in the whole franchise (not only because he's hot). The way he talks and comports himself are so at odds with his bloodlust.

The second set-piece focuses on Zenitsu facing off against his former senior disciple Kaigaku, who's a recently-minted Upper Rank 6. This is the fight that gets the least time dedicated to it, but it has some really lovely storytelling woven throughout, mostly coming from the complex emotions Zenitsu feels about fighting against someone he used to admire and work alongside, and wondering if he is making his late master proud.

The final, main-event fight finds Tanjiro and Giyu (the water Hashira) fighting against Akaza, the Upper Rank 3 demon with whom Tanjiro has personal beef. In Demon Slayer's previous movie outing, Mugen Train (the other two theatrical releases were episode compilations), Akaza killed the fire Hashira Rengoku. Rengoku's death has loomed large over the series since then. It weighs on Tanjiro's shoulders, and often gives him the strength to carry on in the face of incredibly adversity. Here, that's certainly at play, and this battle is just absolutely unbelievable. It's brutal, bloody, multi-faceted, and long.

And what makes it such a standout is finally delving into Akaza's past, one of the most detailed flashbacks we've ever gotten for a demon. His backstory is so gut-wrenching, beautifully told, and illuminating, it makes the battle all the more tragic and dramatic. It builds to an incredible finale that feels like a fitting end to this first chapter of a three-part finale. Sure, I was left wanting more, but I was also completely satisfied with what I had gotten.

And perhaps that's what is most impressive about Infinity Castle. In an era where multi-part movies often end so abruptly that you feel a little cheated (Across the Spider-Verse, I'm looking at you), this movie doesn't have that feeling. The story-telling here is so finely tuned, each battle a sort of mini movie of its own, and the way they slot into the larger campaign makes this feel like a preamble that ably stands on its own. It's like Fellowship of the Ring: there's clearly (thankfully) more to come, but this is also a well-told story on its own.

Now, I just need to figure out what to do with myself while we wait two years for the next movie. Maybe a full series rewatch is in order.