Tag: demon slayer

Anime Review: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Movie) – Mugen Ressha-hen (2020)

TL;DR – all aboard the demon train! Who will perish and who will survive?

Review (warning: spoilers)

First things first. If you have not seen Kimetsu no Yaiba (Season 1) then you need to watch that before watching Kimetsu no Yaiba (Movie): Mugen Ressha-hen. The assumption is if you’re watching the movie then you’ve already seen the first 26 episodes in season one. Otherwise, you’ll spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out what the hell is going on in this movie.

Likewise, this review will make the same assumption. Feel free to check out my review of season one here if you’re after background information and the origins of Demon Slayer.

Our story starts with reports coming in of demon activity aboard the ‘Mugen Ressha-hen’ (translates to ‘Infinity Train’). Passengers have gone missing, and after demon slayers are sent to investigate and they too disappear, the Demon Slayer Corps decide they need to bring in the heavy hitters.

The upper echelon elite of the Corps are known as ‘Hashira’ (translates to ‘pillars’), and we are introduced to Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Pillar, who is sent to deal with whatever is happening. Joining him are our intrepid main group of budding demon slayers:

  • Tanjiro Kamado – the main character seeking to find a cure for his younger sister and defeat Muzan Kibutsujji (the demon leader) from killing more humans after he discovers his entire family slaughtered by a demon in season one.
  • Nezuko Kamado – Tanjiro’s demon blood-infected younger sister who is the only survivor of his family’s massacre.
  • Inosuke Hashibira – the boar-mask wearing, dual sword wielding, unusually feminine looking (under the mask) warrior seeking to be the greatest demon slayer ever.
  • Zenitsu Agatsuma – a cowardly, often inept, demon slayer who is obsessed with pretty girls and has an especially unhealthy infatuation for Nezuko (this is understandable, however, because Nezuko is very cute unless she goes all Hulk mode…)

It should be said from the outset that all the pillars are different. Not only their powers but their personalities, motives, and quirks all range dramatically, and not all pillars are like-able. Some are cold, stand-offish, and selfish.

This is not the case for Kyojuro who with flaming gold and red hair, wide eyed exuberance, and easy smile makes him the admiration and envy of our young group of budding demon slayers. His skills are literally combustible. Not only is he so hot he’s cool (see what I did there?) but he has an optimism and compassion that can be absent from other pillars. His mother instilled a deep responsibility to protect the weak. This responsibility is something that both Tanjiro and Kyojuro share and connects them by movie’s end. Every life is precious.

This is in contrast to some of the other pillars who see killing demons as the highest priority and saving lives as secondary. If a human life needs to be sacrificed in order to slay the demon then so be it.

With Kyojuro by their side, Tanjiro and the others are optimistic that they’ll solve the mystery and prevent any more disappearances aboard the Infinity Train. Their investigation leads to a confrontation with the demon named Enmu.

Within the demon ranks there are an elite group called the Twelve Moons (six upper demons and six lower demons). They are considered the twelve most powerful demons just below Muzan their leader. Enmu holds the position of lower rank one meaning he is the highest of the six lower ranks and closest to becoming an upper rank demon.

Enmu’s power is the ability to manipulate people’s dreams by going into them, twisting what the person sees and killing them. He revels in the pain and misery of others and sees human hearts as fragile playthings waiting to be crushed. But his powers don’t stop there, not only can he have hundreds of humans under his control, Enmu has fused with the Infinity Train and transformed his body into the locomotive so his weaknesses are hidden somewhere within the train structure. In other words, the entire Infinity Train is the demon Enmu, and he can morph parts of the train into a tentacled monstrous nightmare.

The initial third of the movie is seeing Enmu’s power at work unbeknownst to our band of demon slayers. All are put into slumber, and we enter their hopes and dreams and fears and nightmares. Enmu’s goal is to destroy each of the demon slayers’ spirit core. Under his control are a bunch of human children who he orders into the demon slayers’ dreams to locate the spirit core and smash it. Turns out the spirit cores of each demon slayer are not so easily disposed of, and it’s a wonderful insight into how each spirit core reflects the person.

For example, Kyojuro’s spirit core is surrounded by a land of fire, his heart aflame with intense purpose that prevents access. By contrast, inside Tanjiro, his own little spirits guide the child to his spirit core which is surrounded by a beautiful sea. There are no defences surrounding the core, and the child is stunned that the spirits have actively helped her in locating it. The purity and innocence of Tanjiro’s spirit moves the child to tears and she can’t bring herself to destroy it.

The middle third of the movie has our demon slayers awakened and the revelation that the entire train is demonic. They then go about trying to save the passengers inside while trying to locate Enmu’s weak point.

The best scene in this part of the film is when Nezuko is unleashed and starts attacking the tentacles inside one of the carriages to protect the sleeping passengers. At one point, the tentacles overcome her and it looks like she will be crushed. The sound track introduces this drum beat that slowly gets louder and Zenitsu arrives on the scene. Zenitsu is a hilarious character when awake as he appears to have no fighting skills whatsoever, but when Zenitsu falls asleep, his true skill awakens and he becomes “too-cool-for-school”. His attack involves lightning and the sound track combined with the animation sequence where he saves Nezuko is truly adrenaline pumping.

The battle between the demon slayers and Enmu is epic, and it takes the combined efforts of Tanjiro and Inosuke to defeat the lower rank demon. When finally they slay Enmu, the Infinity Train gets derailed in the process. I found myself as exhausted as the characters were on the screen. But just when you think it’s all over, another demon arrives.

Akaza holds the position of upper rank three and uses martial arts to defeat demon slayers and has regeneration abilities to heal injuries almost instantly. He shows contempt for anyone he perceives as weaker than him and offers those who he sees as his equal the chance of becoming a demon.

Kimetsu no Yaiba (Movie): Mugen Ressha-hen turns out to be less about Enmu and more about Akaza as we get to see for the first time in the series a Hashira/Pillar battle it out with an Upper Rank demon. It’s this secondary battle that elevates the film above other anime films.

At the end of season one, we learn from Muzan that no lower rank demon has ever defeated a Hashira (and as a result the lower six has been a bit of a revolving door for Muzan) and it has only ever been the upper rank demons that have killed a Pillar (and the upper rank demons have remained unchanged).

With this in mind, I was on the edge of my seat because I had no idea who would come out the victor. If epic was the word used to describe the battle between Enmu and Tanjiro and Inosuke, then the battle between Akaza and Kyojuro was colossally Homeric.

As stated above, Kyojuro is one of the pillars that you are drawn to because of his affable personality, and he is not afraid to show his human decency unlike some of the other pillars who exude an impression that they are above humans. He would make the perfect teacher for Tanjiro and his fellow demon slayers, it is truly devastating when Akaza fatally wounds him.

The gut-wrenching fountain of tears that pours forth from Tanjiro and company is both comical and tearful (and you won’t know whether to cry or laugh yourself… you might as well do both), and Tanjiro’s anger at Akaza for fleeing the fight after Kyojuro is slain is a flag that their next confrontation will be earth shattering.

All’s well that ends well. NOT!

When I took my boys to go see this movie, at the end, my eldest son said, “They did my boy (i.e. Kyojuro) wrong dad, they did my boy wrong.”

I couldn’t agree more.

10 out of 10

Anime Review: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Season 1) (2019)

TL;DR – When Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered by a demon, and the only survivor is his sister who has been infected by demon blood, he begins a quest to find a cure and to become a demon slayer to protect the innocent.

Review (warning: spoilers)

For anime fans of Shounen, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will be aware of Kimetsu no Yaiba (aka ‘Demon Slayer’). One of the most popular animes of 2019-20, it achieved a number of awards and nominations that reflected the next anime to rival others in the Shounen genre including Nartuo, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood.

The sequel movie – Kimetsu no Yaiba Movie: Mugen Ressha-hen – became the first non-Hollywood film to achieve the highest grossing movie when it was released in 2020. In the process it also smashed the previous highest grossing anime film – Miyazaki’s seminal Spirited Away – by a staggering $108 million worldwide.

For those of the uninitiated, Kimetsu no Yaiba tells the story of a boy named Tanjiro Kamado who lives in the snowy mountains with his mother and siblings in an era that parallels medieval Japan. Their father passed away some time ago, and Tanjiro has taken on the responsibilities to provide for the family and does so with a lightness and joy of heart that belies the harsh and unforgiving circumstances of where they live.

After returning home from the nearby village selling charcoal, Tanjiro encounters his worst nightmare; his family murdered in a bloody display. But wait, his sister, Nezuko, is still breathing. Barely. Lifting her unconscious form on his back, he runs down the hill in search of help. His mind racing, he doesn’t notice when Nezuko awakens baring demon teeth. Her sudden bucking movement causes Tanjiro to slip and together they fall off a ledge onto the snow. He then sees that Nezuko is conscious but has transformed into a demon. He attempts to reason with her, plead with her while defending against her desire to eat him. His cries manage to reach somewhere deep inside her and she holds back.

Enter demon slayer, Giyuu Tomioka. Blue eyed, cold as the snow falling around him, cold as the samurai blade he wields in his hands, he rushes at Nezuko to end her life (a mercy killing before she transforms into a full fledged demon that will seek to consume more human lives).

Out-matched and out-skilled, Tanjiro now finds himself pleading to the demon slayer to spare Nezuko’s life. Giyuu is not swayed saying his job is to slay demons and that Tanjiro’s sister is no longer human. The stand-off leads to a desperate act by Tanjiro to protect Nezuko and is a clever bit of action that earns Giyuu’s respect. And when he sees Nezuko attempt to protect Tanjiro in turn even though she is starved for human flesh, he questions whether perhaps this pair of siblings may be different. Giyuu sends the pair off to see Sakonji Urokodaki, a master swordsman, who will teach Tanjiro how to fight and hunt demons.

And that’s just the first episode…

There is a lot to love in this series, which I cannot do justice in one review but for me the highlights and aspects I found fascinating were as follows:

  • Tanjiro is a pure spirit. He is incorruptible and does not care for power or money. He is almost beyond altruistic and does not become jaded no matter what is thrown at him. He has plenty of flaws but stays true to his character and optimism that borders on the unbelievable. As the main character, there was serious risk that Tanjiro could have been a one-dimensional character but creator Koyoharu Gotouge makes you want to support Tanjiro no matter how emotional he gets.
  • The Final Selection is a test for demon slayer students who have to survive for seven days on Mount Fujikasane. Demons reside on the mountain and their power equates to the number of students that have been eaten. Tanjiro is thrown into the thick of it when he faces off against the oldest demon on the mountain.
  • Muzan Kibutsuji is the main antagonist. The most powerful demon and the leader of the 12 Kizuki; an organisation comprised of six ‘upper’ and six ‘lower’ demons considered the most powerful of all demons (other than Muzan himself). He is interesting in that we discover he is posing as a human, has a human wife and a human child. Muzan’s reasons behind acting the family man are not revealed and his motives are a mystery. He is so powerful that I can’t see why he doesn’t simply go around biting every human he can get his hands on and turning them into demons (mind you, not every human can handle his demon blood so most die before turning into demons themselves). His only real threat are the Demon Slayer Corps but their number would be small compared to the number of demons Muzan could generate. We know Muzan wants to destroy the Demon Slayer Corps, but we don’t know his end game. Does he want a world full of demons? I don’t think so.
  • Susamaru and Yahaba are two powerful demons sent by Muzan to get rid of Tanjiro. The battle between the demons and Tanjiro and Nezuko is a brilliant set of episodes with outstanding action animation.
  • Kyogai, a tormented demon, that uses drums to spatially rotate surroundings causing his opponents to become disorientated.
  • Zenitsu and Inosuke, a pair of demon slayers, that become Tanjiro’s best friends. Zenitsu is meek, fearful and does not look like he could ever qualify to be a demon slayer (he also gets distracted by any pretty woman and becomes obsessed with Nezuko). His ‘power’ is definitely one of the more original mechanics I have ever seen, and you will have to watch the anime to truly appreciate it. Inosuke is a boar mask wearing demon slayer who single-mindedly wants to be the most powerful demon slayer and slay every demon he encounters. He is constantly trying to one-up Tanjiro even though Tanjiro has no interest in becoming the most powerful demon slayer.
  • The Spider family, led by a demon named Rui who is one of the lower rank demons. This group of demons battle it out against Tanjiro and company and rounds out the first season. This story arc is important as it reveals what it means to truly be a ‘family’ and the ideas of family and how they differ between Tanjiro and Nezuko’s relationship and Rui and his spider demon parents and siblings.
  • Season one ends with a trial for Tanjiro and Nezuko in front of the Hashira, the most powerful demon slayers, and their master and leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki. The trial is whether Nezuko should be killed because she has demon blood in her. The Hashira themselves are all different, and their personalities range wildly which reflects their sympathy (or lack thereof) towards Tanjiro and Nezuko’s plight.

Season one will have you binging all 26 episodes in record time. The animation is brilliant. The background settings and environment (especially the winter mountains) are atmospheric and stunning. The character designs are clean, detailed and engaging. And the action sequences will have your adrenaline pumping in no time.

The story has enough depth and mystery that keeps everything ticking along. And the histories behind the demons as much as the demon slayers will have anime fans analysing everything with a sense of glee.

If there is any shortfall, it is the lack of reveal surrounding Muzan (leader of the demons) and Kagaya (leader of the demon slayers). Their motives on the surface is simple – they want to wipe each other out (or rather Muzan wants to wipe out the demon slayers, and Kagaya wants to stop Muzan). But there has to be more to it than that. How they came to be the way that they are, and what they seek to achieve are never scratched beneath the surface. This is a minor quip in what is a gripping and highly enjoyable anime series. You have been warned.

9.5 out of 10