Over the past few years, Demon Slayer has cemented itself as one of the best anime of the current generation. It’s a series that isn’t afraid to pull punches and tells one of the darkest, and somehow uplifting, narratives in shōnen.
Demon Slayer has also received a ton of commercial success, namely at the box office. Some anime series have tried their hand at making massive movies, but none have the track record of Demon Slayer. The franchise has some of the highest-grossing films of all time, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Demon Slayer’s monumental success at the box office has created a noticeable change in the world of anime. More and more franchises are foregoing seasonal anime adaptations in favor of a chance to strike gold in theaters, for better, or more likely, for worse.
Demon Slayer Is an Amazing Franchise
One of the Best Shōnen Series of the New Generation
Demon Slayer’s success at the box office didn’t come out of nowhere. From the beginning, the quality of this series was easy to see. Ufotable knocked it out of the park in the animation department, creating some of the best fights in the history of anime through its masterful skill.
Demon Slayer also has one of the best protagonists in shōnen in Tanjiro Kamado. The first episode of the series is incredibly cruel, as Muzan slaughters Tanjiro’s entire family and turns one of his younger sisters into a Demon.
Instead of letting this horrific event break his will, Tanjiro decides to become stronger. He devotes himself to his training, working hard enough to become a Demon Slayer capable of avenging his family, returning his sister to her human form, and ending the blight of Demons once and for all.
The Demon Slayer Movies are Massively Succesful
They’re the Highest-Grossing Japanese Films of All Time
There are no anime films bigger than Demon Slayer’s. Not only are there no anime films bigger than this franchise, there are no Japanese films in general more commercially succesful than Tanjiro and his friends, and that’s saying something.
Studio Ghibli has been a name synonymous with Japanese films for the better part of the past three decades, and even Hayao Miyazaki’s best works have been beaten by this franchise. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is currently in the number one spot, but that won’t be for long.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is set to blow Mugen Train’s records out of the water. Everyone saw this movie’s success coming, and it might do even better at the box office than anyone could have predicted.
Now, Other Anime Series Are Doing Movies
These Franchises Wouldn’t Have Made Movies if It Wasn’t for Demon Slayer’s Success
Anime movies within a franchise are pretty rare. Most series, like One Piece, Dragon Ball, or Naruto have plenty of movies to watch, but almost none of them are considered canon. These movies are fun additions to the franchise that don’t need to be watched to understand the story as a whole.
Demon Slayer changed that when it released one of its canon arcs, the Mugen Train arc, as a movie. While Ufotable eventually adapted the movie into a handful of episodes, it was only a movie at first, forcing fans into their local theaters if they wanted to see what happened next in their favorite franchise.
Now, other anime franchises are doing the same thing. Chainsaw Man’s Reze Arc will be a movie instead of a seasonal anime, again forcing fans to leave their homes and head to the movies. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is another great example, and even the best sports anime of all time, Haikyu!!, did the same thing.
It’s a frustrating decision that seems to be motivated by money more than anything. These franchises might not have been willing to take the risk of heading to the theaters if Demon Slayer hadn’t already shown how lucrative it can be.
Anime Shouldn’t Always Be in Theaters
There’s Something Special about Seasonal Anime
There are a ton of great reasons for an anime to be in the theaters, and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle showed a few of them. Zenitsu’s Seventh Thunder Breathing Form, the Flaming Thunder God, almost needed to be seen in the movies. In IMAX, his Breathing Technique made the whole theater shake, showcasing just how strong he’s become.
Other than that and a handful of other moments, like some of Akaza’s attacks, there were more negatives than positives when considering Infinity Castle’s place in the movies. The movie is too long, the flashbacks interrupt the movie’s pacing, and tickets to the movies are expensive.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle would have been better as a seasonal anime. The movie spent 30 minutes showing Akaza’s backstory, and while his backstory is incredible, it didn’t feel like it fit towards the tail-end of an already bloated movie.
It seems like modern shōnen series will be trying to replicate Demon Slayer’s success at the cost of their own franchise. Most of the most succesful Japanese films of all time are one-off Studio Ghibli movies that were made specifically for the movies. These shōnen series are not.
For Better, or for Worse
The future of anime will be in the movie theaters, at least for the next few years. Anime is more popular than ever in America, and fans are flocking to the movies to watch their favorite franchises. Decisions like these remind everyone that money comes before quality for a lot of companies, and it certainly comes at the expense of overall enjoyment.
There are a lot of reasons to celebrate Demon Slayer’s success at the box office. The success of a great anime series like this one will reverberate across the West, allowing anime to grow even further, but it will also take away the joy of being able to watch a great anime series at home.
The next Demon Slayer films will, more likely than not, be even bigger than Infinity Castle. Demon Slayer already holds both the number one and number two spots for the highest-grossing Japanese films of all time, and there’s no way the franchise’s momentum is going to slow down any time soon.
- Created by
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Koyoharu Gotouge
- First Episode Air Date
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April 6, 2019
