‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle’ Review: Setting the Stage for an Epic Finale
Going into Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (that title is a mouthful, which is why it will be mostly referred to as “Infinity Castle” from now on), it was immediately apparent that the first part of a planned trilogy of films to wrap up Koyoharu Gotuge’s adaptation of his own manga series would be filled with exposition. After all, “Part Ones” usually do the bulk of the table setting so that we can get to the “good stuff” in subsequent installments. However, this overreliance on exposition creates a plethora of issues that filmmakers, no matter how talented they are, are primarily unable to overcome.
The trouble with poorly handled and heavy exposition
The first and most pressing problem is that it often makes the dialogue feel dense and uninteresting. The audience views these movies as “homework” for the following parts, rather than a singular endeavor that, yes, does promise bigger things down the line, but should be able to stand on its own two feet.
The second problem exposition brings is that few filmmakers know how to make huge chunks of plotting feel digestible for the viewer. Recently, Christopher McQuarrie created incredible parallel montages to make the bloated plot in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning feel dynamic and easy to grasp. One line responds to another in a completely different environment, making the stakes feel much more significant—and it worked.
Sadly, he is one of the only ones who know that exposition on its own is dull and can bog down the quality of an otherwise immaculate motion picture (see Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One as a great example of this). When you’re giving audiences information for them to understand regarding the future of whatever franchise you’re plotting, you can’t expect them to enjoy drawn-out sequences where characters explain things over and over again if the photography (and cutting) aren’t making things exciting.
For Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, director Haruo Sotozaki and Ufotable have a different way of dealing with exposition that will hopefully instill a sense of awe for the viewers in their 155-minute-long first part, which was dubbed after its release as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle – Part 1: Akaza Returns (that’s an even bigger mouthful!). Instead of explaining to audiences the fate of several characters as Tanjiro Kamado (Natsuki Hanae) and the Hashira enter Muzan Kibutsuji’s (Toshihiro Seki) castle verbatim, another visual idea should be approached to make the dense bouts of exposition feel less like… well… exposition.
A jumbled narrative structure becomes pure mythmaking for Infinity Castle
The movie begins right after the show’s last season left off, with Tanjiro and the others being magically transported inside the “Infinity Castle,” as they fight Muzan’s demons with the sounds of Aimer’s “A World Where the Sun Never Rises.” The sequence is immense and jaw-dropping, taking full advantage of the gargantuan IMAX screen (and aspect ratio) in ways that many animated films don’t do.
Quickly enough, though, Sotozaki will frequently stop the present-day action dead in its tracks to constantly flash back to past fragments of the Hashira, or, for the bulk of the picture, Akaza (Akira Ishida). In a way, this makes the narrative feel frequently jumbled and confounding, especially for audience members who have never seen a single episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (spoiler alert: bad idea. You will probably hate this if you’ve not taken the time to watch the series).
When you’re in the middle of an action scene and, all of a sudden, we cut to an extended sequence of a character’s past, which goes on for some time, it can undoubtedly halt momentum and create a less exciting picture, especially considering how bloated the runtime already is.
Many will express that Sotozaki is simply padding the runtime with as many flashbacks as possible and is hindering any attempt at what may be considered “good pacing” (whatever that means), especially when the present-day action is rapid and exhilarating. None of the characters waste any time in fighting as many intricate and (extremely) powerful demons as possible in the hopes they get closer to Muzan, but his “Infinity Castle” is just that. It goes on forever, with no end in sight.
And yet, what if I told you that these fragmented flashbacks, which are more frequent than you’d expect (even for the standards of an anime), are what make the first part of Infinity Castle so captivating? This approach to exposition—on the fly, with flashbacks acting as “gap fillers” whenever necessary—feels refreshing and actively turns this relatively complicated story into one of pure mythmaking. We’re not just telling the story of Tanjiro taking all the skills he learned to fight off Akaza but also developing the antagonist in ways that will devastate you by the time the confrontation gets into its final (final) round.
Through these extended flashbacks, Sotozaki creates the myth of Akaza: his past life as a human, the training he endured, the tragedy that shaped who he became, and the dark path he strayed on until today. It’s pure drama, captured in the most artful way possible through an animation style that constantly refines itself to respond to the needs of the movie: freeze frames give great dramatic weight to some of the film’s most tragic scenes, while slow motion allows the audience to appreciate the impact of each breathing technique Tanjiro or any of his allies employ on the demons.
There’s a great sense of anticipation within the action, as well, that turns significant hits, whether in Tanjiro’s breathing or Akaza’s techniques, into raw moments of self-actualization. Both characters are stuck in a perpetual rut of bloodshed that isn’t benefiting them in any way. Tanjiro has a goal to achieve, and Kibutsuji’s presence has made it even more personal for him.
Similarly, Akaza’s quest for power is corrupting his mind and body, and he must choose whether to free himself from those shackles or continue on a trajectory that won’t reward him in any way. The push-pull is at the heart of the movie’s best segment that had the audience gasping for air. Not only is it an incredible drama with narrative movements that continuously surprise and enthrall the audience, but Infinity Castle is a supremely animated, excitingly kinetic work of art, where each image stuns the soul and is rife with tangible meaning.
Final thoughts on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle
One can watch it on mute and glean a great deal from how Sotozaki moves his characters through the puzzling maze of Muzan’s Infinity Castle or examine the way he sits with the figures that hold the most importance for this movie. And as much as Infinity Castle contains its fair share of eye-widening action that’s bound to stimulate the senses of everyone, even the not well-versed, where it succeeds the most is in its poignant dramatic shifts, either within the action or in frames that see the character reflect on what made them choose the direction they’re in now and contemplate whether they should break away from where they’re going.
It’s profoundly moving material that ensured no dry eye would remain in the packed IMAX auditorium where this writer saw the movie. The tragedy that befalls Akaza is one of great dramatic power. By the time the credits appear in a rather haphazard fashion, with LiSA’s “Shine in the Cruel Night” priming moviegoers for an even darker second entry, you’re still wiping the tears from how Akaza’s story ended and may never look at the villain the same way again.
That’s the beauty of Demon Slayer — humanizing characters who aren’t and making us feel each ounce of emotion that our protagonists experience at every turn.
Perhaps it’s bloated, and possibly its exposition-heavy structure prevented the action from hitting at a more rapid rate than it would have without any flashbacks. However, in an era where exposition delivery has become more common and uninteresting, Sotozaki’s device is a welcome change of pace from what could’ve been a dreary and lethargic first part before Tanjiro faces his greatest challenge yet.
We’ll have to wait a while for that one, but the effort put into Akaza Returns basically signals to all of us that parts two and three will be well worth the two-year gap between projects. After all, masterpieces take time to produce…
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