Demon Slayer: Kimetso no Yaiba is objectively one of the most popular anime of all time. Based on the manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, the shonen series follows Tanjiro on his mission to save his demon sister Nezuko by joining the Demon Slayer Corp in their fight against Muzan and his demonic army. Even with its divisive later seasons, Demon Slayer is still a massive hit, as fans would tune in each week for the gorgeously animated battles and hilarious antics between Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and the rest of the Hashira. But the anime has one glaring flaw that many fans struggle to overlook.

Most of Demon Slayer focuses on the physical battles between Tanjiro, his comrades, and the demons. Season 1 eased Tanjiro in as he fought unranked and lower-ranked demons. But since the Mugen Train Arc movie, he’s been facing off against the Upper Moon Demons and somehow prevailing. Being the kind soul that he is, Tanjiro tries to comfort the dying demons in their final moments. But, as they share their life stories from before they turned into fiends, audiences can’t help but groan at a poorly used anime trope.

Demon Slayer’s Flashbacks Are Notoriously Frustrating

The anime flashback is a trope that has already been memed into infamy. After a hard-fought battle, a character will lie dying on the floor with everyone around them crying. But before they move on to the next life, the episode takes a 15-minute-long diversion to recount their entire life story. Some anime use flashbacks incredibly well to establish their characters, the history of the world, or to recap past events if a series is particularly confusing. Shows like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and even Attack on Titan use flashbacks well. Unfortunately, Demon Slayer does not.

While it is a trope for the medium as a whole, Demon Slayer‘s flashbacks have become a formula unto themselves. The trend was most notable in the “Entertainment District Arc,” after the Demon Slayer Corp finally managed to kill Daki and Gyutaro, with each character being given almost an entire episode dedicated to their flashbacks. But even the Hashira get a lengthy flashback when their lives are on the line.

[RELATED – Demon Slayer Reveals Bonus Swag to Hype Infinity Castle’s Release]

Why Demon Slayer‘s Flashbacks Are So Bad

The problem isn’t with flashbacks as a whole. As previously mentioned, some anime make great use of the technique. But, to put it bluntly, Demon Slayer‘s use of flashbacks is lazy and has negative consequences on the rest of the respective season. Fans now know that when a demon is close to dying, the episode will pause from the action to show their backstory. This expectation and the flashback itself drastically kills the frenetic pacing created by the intense battle scene that has likely lasted for the past few episodes. For a show that relies so heavily on the strength of its action, culling the pacing so suddenly for a flashback removes the energy from the fight. So, when we then rejoin the present to see Tanjiro kill the demon, it doesn’t feel as exciting.

Most egregiously, Demon Slayer‘s use of flashbacks is lazy from a writing perspective. Fans love an interesting and sympathetic character. But there are much better ways of making an audience care about an antagonist than info-dumping their backstory into a single flashback right before they die. To many, it feels like a cheap way to elicit sympathy and tears before they are killed. Demon Slayer‘s villains and complex Hashira would be far more interesting if their backstories were hinted at throughout the season, either through smaller, more incremental flashbacks that influence their decisions in the present or even through how they behave in the present.

The series has shown it can do this with Muzan, who has already been shown to be complex through his limited screentime in the past seasons. So, why is it so hard for the show to do with its Upper Moon Demons?

Fans are hoping that the upcoming Infinity Castle movie will move beyond this trend and layer the villains’ and characters’ backstories into the overall story rather than halting the present progress to throw a slow flashback at the audience. We’ll find out for ourselves when Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle releases in US theaters on September 12th, 2025.

The post Demon Slayer’s Most Annoying Problem Has Always Been a Part of the Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The highly-anticipated AnimeJapan 2025 event has finally commenced, unpacking a bunch of news and exciting updates about upcoming shows. The event also reveals news about the Demon Slayer’s upcoming Infinity Castle trilogy, with the first part being released this year. As confirmed by the Demon Slayer official website, fans will get a key visual clear stand as a special gift during the special edition theatrical screening of the anime. The stand includes an illustration of the anime’s key visual and comes with a background mount that fans can use to recreate three-dimensional visuals when displayed together. The offer is only available in Japan for those attending the theatrical screening on April 4th, featuring a special edition of the film from Tanjiro Kamado’s Determination Arc to Hashira Training Arc.

There are twelve variations of the clear stand with each visitor getting any one of those pieces. The website prohibits the resale, duplication, reproduction, or distribution of content on social media. Tanjiro Kamado’s Determination Arc refers to his unwavering resolve to turn his sister Nezuko back into a human and defeat the demon responsible for his family’s death. Meanwhile, the Hashira Training Arc happens right before the final fight against Muzan Kibutsuji and the Upper-Rank Demons. The entire Demon Slayer Corps is training to improve themselves and even awaken their Demon Slayer Marks by meeting the extreme requirements for them to activate. The first part of the film trilogy is all set to hit the theatres.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Reveals a Big Surprise for Collectors (But There’s a Catch)]

What to Expect From Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Trilogy?

The first part of the trilogy will hit Japanese theatres on July 18th and U.S. theaters on September 12th. The film will be available in several countries in August and September, with the dates varying based on the region. The trilogy will cover the first part of the Final Saga, with a strong possibility that it will also adapt the Sunrise Countdown Arc. However, there hasn’t been an announcement regarding the Sunrise Countdown.

The finale of the Hashira Training Arc sets up the Infinity Castle Arc’s premise as the demon slayers are forced inside Muzan’s hideout. They will be fighting the Six Upper-Rank demons. The first three have been undefeated since the beginning of their introduction. In contrast, Muzan has replaced the bottom three, who will be introduced in the arc. While the fight against the Upper-Rank demons is ongoing, the Demon Slayer Corps also sets out to defeat their biggest enemy, Muzan Kibutsuji.

His appearance has caused significant loss in the Corps, but they refuse to let him destroy everything in his path. Even after the death of their leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the Corps stood strong. Many Corps members, especially the Hashira, have awakened their Demon Slayer Mark, but the villains still prove to be a bigger challenge than anything they have faced so far. Fans will witness some of the most intense fights in the show with stakes higher than ever. It’s also the most tragic arc of the story as the Demon Slayer Corps suffers its biggest loss in history.

H/T: Demon Slayer anime’s official website

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When Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke aren’t putting their lives on the line fighting demons in the very appropriately titled Demon Slayer, they’re putting on their romantic A-games to impress the women around them. Tanjrio loves Mitsuri, and there could be a romance on the horizon between him and Kanao, Zenitsu is obsessed with Nezuko while also throwing himself at any woman that breathes near him, and Inosuke… well, Inosuke loves himself more than anyone else. To celebrate the upcoming release of the first Infinity Castle movie, Demon Slayer’s official website got romantic with its latest promo in honor of White Day — a Japanese holiday that falls a month after Valentine’s Day.

Romance isn’t a major part of Demon Slayer‘s core plot, as much of its screentime is dedicated to jaw-dropping animated battles between the Demon Slayer Corp and Muzan’s army of demons, as well as the occasional, frustrating mid-fight flashback. But, in the show’s quieter moments, the men of Demon Slayer have proven their charm time and time again, and the latest promo only adds fuel to that fire.

Demon Slayer Celebrated White Day With a New Promo

You may remember ComicBook previously covered Demon Slayer‘s 2025 Valentine’s Day promo — if you don’t, go check it out, it’s really cute. That promo put the women of Demon Slayer front and center. For White Day, it’s time for the boys to take center stage in a new piece of art released by Studio Ufotable.

The promo features 11 of Demon Slayer‘s most popular male characters (not including Muzan). Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke are obviously in the mix, as are Gyomei Himejima, Giyu Tomioka, Tengen Uzui, Kyojuro Rengoku, Muichiro Tokito, Obanai Iguro, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Genya Shinazugawa. Apparently, this White Day celebration takes place post-Mugen Train Arc movie, as Rengoku is nowhere to be found. In the artwork, each character is baking up a sweet treat to give to their significant other (or others, in the case of Tengen). Check out the artwork below.

[RELATED – Anime Streamers Have Met With Trump Allies to Block Piracy Sites in the US]

Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle Arc movie debut is easily one of the most anticipated anime releases of 2025. The film opens in Japanese theaters this July, but Western fans will have to wait a little longer to see the Demon Slayer Corps begin their assault on the Infinity Castle. The Infinity Castle movie releases in the US on September 12th — meaning we have to try and avoid spoilers for almost two months!

The Infinity Castle movie will be the first in a trilogy that is expected to set the box office on fire and will bring the immensely popular Demon Slayer franchise to a close. The film is hoping to emulate the success of the Mugen Train Arc movie, which grossed over $400 million worldwide when it was released in 2020 and is still the highest-grossing anime movie of all time.

While the first film is set to release in theaters this year, there is currently no news on the subsequent two films in the trilogy. Some fans are hoping that a new movie may be released each year. However, given the sheer amount of work Ufotable’s staff has to undergo to adapt the “Infinity Castle” arc into each film, the wait will realistically be slightly longer.

H/T: Demon Slayer Official Website

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With Demon Slayer‘s Infinity Castle movie fast approaching its theatrical release date, Studio Ufotable and Crunchyroll have been giving fans more and more content to enjoy. The anime streaming service recently added two live shows — the first Demon Slayer stage play adaptation and two live concerts — but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Demon Slayer will have two theatrical releases this year. As well as the first Infinity Castle movie, Aniplex has confirmed via their YouTube channel that the Mugen Train Arc movie is also chugging back into theaters with some technical enhancements for all those film buffs out there.

The Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Arc movie was first released in theaters in 2020. The film follows the show’s debut season, as Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu teamed up with the flame Hashira, Rengoku. The film pushed the four Demon Slayers to their limit and introduced anime-only fans to the Upper Moon demons (in this case Akaza), with devastating consequences. Although the rerelease has only been confirmed for Japanese theaters, fans in North America will want to keep their eyes out for additional announcements for other participating regions.

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Arc Movie Gets 4K Theatrical Re-Release

The Mugen Train Arc movie is already the highest-grossing anime movie to be released in theaters, but that’s clearly not enough for Studio Ufotable and Aniplex as the film is heading back to theaters. The movie will be re-released in Japan on May 9th, 2025, just over a month before the Infinity Castle movie releases in Japanese theaters (July 18th). The movie will run in theaters for five weeks, with its re-release ending right before the July 18th release date of the Infinity Castle movie.

But the new screenings won’t just be a standard re-release. The Mugen Train Arc movie is getting digitally upgraded to 4K, with improved audio for the re-release. Japanese audiences can enjoy the film in three premium formats. The film will be released in IMAX, in Dolby Atmos & Dolby Cinema, and in 4DX & MX4D. Watching a Demon Slayer fight scene in 4DX would be wild!

The theatrical re-release is part of the “Kimetsu Theater – Demon Slayer Special Compilation Screening,” an event that will bring all of Demon Slayer‘s current arcs to the big screen from April 4th. To celebrate the event, a new trailer has been released, highlighting the Mugen Train Arc movie’s upgraded graphics.

[RELATED – Demon Slayer’s Abby Trott Talks Saying Goodbye To Nezuko (Exclusive)]

Can Demon Slayer‘s Infinity Castle Movie Live Up to the Hype?

There’s a lot resting on the first Infinity Castle movie. The film will be the first in a trilogy which will bring the entire Demon Slayer franchise to a close. The series, based on the manga by Koyoharo Gotouge, is one of the most popular anime of all time worldwide, and one of the most-watched shows on Crunchyroll.

However, fans will be the first to admit that the latest seasons have been far from flawless. The “Swordsmith Village Arc” and the “Hashira Training Arc” seasons were both incredibly divisive, and have undoubtedly turned some more casual viewers away from finishing the series. As a result, Infinity Castle may have a much harder time besting Mugen Train Arc‘s $473 million box office take — which will now increase again after the re-release.

H/T: Aniplex

The post Fan Favorite Demon Slayer Arc Gets New Trailer Ahead of 4K Re-Release appeared first on ComicBook.com.

New reporting indicates that major entertainment industry companies and brands – specifically those related to the Anime genre – have gathered together to meet with a US Congressman to discuss new anti-piracy initiatives. Companies like Amazon, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery (via Consumer Technology Association) reportedly met with US Representative Darrell Issa at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, where talks were said to focus on the subject of digital piracy from foreign sources, and whether blocking access to entire sites was an actionable measure.

According to Representative Issa, these discussions “really went well, because there was a level of consensus on most of the issues by virtually everybody. There are solutions around the world, and we need to find one that works for the United States.” The next step is Issa meeting with additional companies like Paramount, Google, YouTube, and Verizon for further research and consultation geared toward getting his anti-piracy bill, the “American Copyright Protection Act” to the table.

American legislators and entertainment companies have been struggling to address online piracy since torrent sites and other lanes of Internet piracy started appearing in the 2000s. The biggest challenges have been getting a clear-cut definition of what constitutes “piracy,” and then, if and when a site is liable for hosting pirated materials. Even if a pirating site is identified, the method of cutting off access to it can be extremely challenging, as hackers and pirates are well aware of the censorship limits that hamstring most companies trying to stop the spread of copyrighted content.

[RELATED: Anime Piracy Sites Are Beating Major Streamers]

That all said, major companies have taken some surprising (if not evolving) stances on the issue: such as Google, Reddit, and Craigslist all blocking SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA ( the “PROTECT IP Act”) from becoming law back in 2011. The issue has typically been concerns that attempts to block piracy could quickly downslide into federal overreach and censorship; in fact, Issa was one the Reps who opposed SOPA at the time of its proposal, citing the fact that it would give the Department of Justice too much discretionary power over the Internet.

Now there are similar concerns about what Issa is proposing with the American Copyright Protection Act. Issa has been a controversial figure in politics for years now, stoking ire over issues like questioning the payment of disability claims to 9/11 first responders; helping to fund the recall of California governor Gray Davis (and election of “Governor” Arnold Schwarzenegger) in 2003; and, more recently, refusing to certify Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election, and voting against impeaching Trump for “incitement of insurrection” during the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That kind of track record has anime fans wondering if there could be an ulterior motive for putting this kind of restrictive bill in place.

Issa’s American Copyright Protection Act follows on the heels of congresswoman Zoe Lofgren’s bill, “The Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act”, which was recently tabled and seeks to establish a more concrete definition of what is “piracy.” In the summary of that bill, Lofgren writes, “A decade ago, I was at the center of the successful effort to prevent the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) from becoming law. That was not because I support copyright infringement, but because I support the open internet. Now – after working for over a year with the tech, film, and television industries – we’ve arrived at a proposal that has a remedy for copyright infringers located overseas that does not disrupt the free internet except for the infringers.”

Why Is Piracy So Bad For Anime?

Anime has been a genre with one of the most sophisticated piracy networks – to the point that it’s arguably its own sub-genre. Because piracy sites can base their servers in places with lax copyright laws, knocking down one server location often simply results in the relocation and redistribution of pirated material. The issue for anime gets even worse when it comes to the corresponding issue of leaks, where new anime content is put out on the Internet before it even premieres on its primary broadcast and/or streaming platforms. These are increasingly becoming make-or-break issues, as anime has entered an era of carefully-coordinated simulcast release strategies. Those new strategies are being put in place in large part to both better service anime’s global fanbase and cut down on the appeal for fans to run out and pirate material rather than wait for slower methods of rollout.

This new era of legislation aims to grant federal organizations the ability to censor entire IP addresses or DNS servers, so that entire piracy farms can be prohibited from being accessed from the US, no matter how those piracy sites try and shift online locations or rebrand their names and/or web addresses. Of course, the cynical view of Issa’s proposal questions how it (and Lofgren’s Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act) could potentially be weaponized to control which sites get tagged for “piracy,” or get censored altogether based on other negative criteria that could be leveled against them. In a climate where political motivations have been openly influencing news media decisions, it’s a reasonable concern to have.

If nothing else, this legislation and the level of top brands it’s attracting are a major sign: Anime has become such a valuable content block for virtually every company in entertainment/streaming that they are willing to go to great political lengths to protect its value. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the often rebellious and counter-culture-minded anime fandom will take to having their back-alley paths to accessing content restricted by the major streaming/broadcast companies.

Reporting by The Ankler via CBR

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The Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movie is just a few months away. At least it is for Japanese audiences, as US fans have to wait until September to get their hands on the first of three new movies that will bring the insanely popular anime to a close. Studio Ufotable and Crunchyroll have heard the cries of the fan base; ‘What will we do between now and then? Watch another anime? Binge-watch the entire series again?’ While you absolutely should do both of those things, Crunchyroll just dropped two new Demon Slayer releases for you to sink your teeth into before the Infinity Castle movie releases later this year.

Studio Ufotable’s Demon Slayer anime adaptation, based on the beloved manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, first debuted in 2019. So far, the series has run for four divisive seasons, and a tremendously successful feature-length film. Seasons 1 and 2 of the show were beloved by the entire fan base as audiences fell in love with Tanjiro’s mission to save his sister and defeat the Demon Lord Muzan. But, the show began to fall off with its last two seasons, and much of the hype surrounding the franchise has died down. But, these two new releases should hopefully reignite that passion before the Demon Slayer Corps goes to war in the Infinity Castle.

[RELATED – Everything to Know About Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle Movie Trilogy]

Crunchyroll Adds Two New Demon Slayer Projects

There’s already so much Demon Slayer on Crunchyroll for fans to get lost in. But, the streamer just added two new additions ahead of the Infinity Castle movie. If you need a recap of how Tanjiro began his journey towards the Infinity Castle, then you can relive Demon Slayer in live-action. The first Demon Slayer Stage Play is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. The performance, which runs for 149 minutes, recounts the first season of Studio Ufotable’s anime, as Tanjiro comes face to face with demons for the first time and Nezuko is transformed into one.

If you don’t need to recall the entire saga but want that dose of nostalgia for the early seasons, then Crunchyroll also has two Demon Slayer live concerts available to stream. The first concert comes with an animated introduction from Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke, before diving into the gorgeous music of Demon Slayer. Two concerts are currently available to stream, with the first covering Season 1 of the anime, and the second covering the Mugen Train movie.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Movie Releases This September

The release schedule for the first Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle arc movie may be frustrating for US and European fans. The new film will release in Japanese theaters on July 18th. Western fans were hoping for a simulcast. But, unfortunately, we’ll be waiting a little longer for the beginning of the end for Demon Slayer. The Infinity Castle arc movie releases in US theaters on September 12th.

An official synopsis for the Infinity Castle arc movie has been released. Along with a lengthy recap of the story so far, it reads, “With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji. The destination of where Tanjiro and Demon Slayer Corps have fallen is the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle. And so, the battleground is set as the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons ignites.”

The post Demon Slayer Hypes Infinity Castle Movie With Two More Surprise Releases appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is coming back with a new movie kicking off a brand new trilogy of feature films coming to theaters, so it’s time to get ready for what’s coming next. Demon Slayer‘s TV anime wrapped up the fourth season of its run last year with its adaptation of the Hashira Training Arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series. It was then quickly confirmed that the anime would be continuing, but rather than a new season as fans thought, it was announced that the anime would be returning to theaters instead for the next phase of Tanjiro Kamado’s story.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle was then announced to be the next step for the anime, and it was confirmed to be a brand new trilogy of feature films going to theaters. Touting that it’s going to be adapting the final battles between the Demon Slaying Corps and Muzan Kibutsuji’s demonic forces, this new trilogy is going to be bringing the heat when it finally kicks off later this year around the world. So here’s everything to know so far about what to expect from this massive project in the making.

When Does Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Come Out?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will first be coming to theaters on July 18th in Japan, and then in the United States and Canada beginning on September 12th. Distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, the international release dates for the film break down as such:

• August 14: Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan
• August 15: Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam
• August 20: Philippines
• September 11: Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean (Jamaica, Aruba, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Curacao), Central America, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland (Italian-speaking), Syria, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates
• September 12: India, Mongolia, Spain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Kenya, Latvia, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Romania, Southern Africa, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom
• September 17: Belgium, France, French-speaking Africa, Luxembourg, Switzerland (French-speaking)
• September 18: Moldova
• September 25: Austria, Germany, Switzerland (German-speaking)

These release dates are only for the first film in the new trilogy, however, as there have yet to be any release windows or dates announced for the final two films.

What Is Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle About?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will be picking up right from where the TV anime left things off as Tanjiro and the other surviving Hashira (along with every single Demon Slayer) have been transported to Muzan Kibutsuji’s mysterious Infinity Castle. The synopsis for the film begins to tease itself as such, “Tanjiro Kamado – a boy who joined an organization dedicated to hunting down demons called the Demon Slayer Corps after his younger sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. While growing stronger and deepening his friendships and bonds with fellow corps members, Tanjiro has battled many demons with his comrades – Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira.”

The synopsis continues with,  “Along the way, his journey has led him to fight alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira, including Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku aboard the Mugen Train, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui within the Entertainment District, as well as Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji at the Swordsmith Village. As the Demon Slayer Corps members and Hashira engaged in a group strength training program, the Hashira Training, in preparation for the forthcoming battle against the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji appears at the Ubuyashiki Mansion.”

The synopsis then drops an ominous tease for the final battles with, “With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji. The destination of where Tanjiro and Demon Slayer Corps have fallen is the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle. And so, the battleground is set as the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons ignites.”

RELATED: Demon Slayer Takes on the MLB’s Best Players in Wild New Short: Watch

Where to Read in the Demon Slayer Manga

If you wanted to get the jump on the new movies, the best place to start is with Demon Slayer‘s original manga release. The series is now complete, and will likely adapt the final chapters with this new trilogy. Therefore, if you wanted to be prepared for everything that goes down the best place to do it is starting with Chapter 140 of Gotoge’s manga. This chapter picks up right from Tanjiro and the others getting dropped into the Infinity Castle, and goes up to Chapter 183. This arc runs for 44 chapters in total, and is the longest arc in Gotoge’s manga overall.

This arc spans across the many final battles between Tanjiro and the others against the final members of the Upper Ranks, but there could be a final surprise in store even for those aware of how the manga keeps going from this point on. Because technically there’s still one final arc that takes place after Infinity Castle that runs for 22 chapters on its own. This trilogy is touting that it’s going to be bringing the anime run to an end, and if all 66 chapters are adapted we could be seeing 22 chapters a movie (or a likely better balance between the three of them).

It’s a massive undertaking for sure, so a trilogy makes a ton of sense to take on such a massive half of the series. But as fans watch each film, the cliffhangers and wait between them are going to feel pretty painful until it all comes to a proper end. Then again, that’s only if Demon Slayer stops with these new movies. This might be the end of the anime, but might be far from the end of its releases as there is still one big opportunity to keep this going for a little longer.

Demon Slayer fans were surprised to see that the TV anime would not be returning for a Season 5, but one isn’t off the table entirely. There is a precedent that we’ll see the TV series continue with a new edit or adaptation of the new films. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was such a hit when it first debuted in theaters that the TV series continued with a second season that adapted the movie into multiple episodes. Things kicked off for this season with a brand new episode setting the stage for Mugen Train’s events, and that very well could be the case here.

Will There Be a Demon Slayer Season 5?

Following the likely success of this new trilogy, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle would be prime to return in a new TV format. This would also alleviate any issues about potentially skipped over material for a film’s runtime, and could be used to flesh out any elements that didn’t get enough time before. It’s what was eventually seen with the Hashira Training Arc as it added weeks of brand new material not seen in the manga release, and fans would get the opportunity to enjoy the arc all over again.

The main issue from this potential path, however, is the fact that a Demon Slayer TV anime re-release won’t hit the high mark with fans that they could expect. So the other option is to end the anime run with that secret 22 chapter final arc instead. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle‘s trilogy could bring us to this ultimate climax, and then fans could see it play out in a final season potentially the next year. It’s just going to be a tough balance for the anime team to figure out. This is also where fans are going to need to brace themselves for the anime’s future.

Demon Slayer’s TV anime could be officially over, but it’s such a juggernaut of a franchise that it’s hard to imagine that these films will truly be the end of it. That’s even more true as the Infinity Castle isn’t really the end of the series either. That’s the big question going into this new trilogy that won’t seem clear until we get to see the first film. Once we get to see where this first film cuts off in the arc, we’ll then be able to gauge just how far the films will go with their adaptation. So while we know a lot about the trilogy for now, that’s unfortunately going to be the one element that’s still a mystery until the films’ releases.

What are you hoping to see go down in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle trilogy? Do you think this will really be the end of the Demon Slayer anime? Let us know all of your thoughts about it and everything anime in the comments!

The post Everything to Know About Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle Movie Trilogy appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is gearing up to return to theaters with a brand new movie, but does it have a chance at topping Mugen Train at the worldwide box office? Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba‘s anime is now preparing for its grand finale as after the end of the Hashira Training arc in Season 4, it was announced that the anime would be continuing not with a Season 5, but with a new trilogy of feature films instead. This new trilogy is setting out to adapt the massive Infinity Castle arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga, and will bringing Tanjiro Kamado’s fight to its potential end.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will begin with its first part hitting theaters in Japan later this July, and North America later this September, and it’s the first unique movie in the anime’s run since the release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie – Mugen Train hit back in 2020. Is there a chance that this next movie can reach that same level of success? Not really, but it just might reach that box office level when the third and final film of the trilogy ends its run and you can add all three films together.

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Was Built Different

We are quite literally in a much different world than we were in during the release of Mugen Train in theaters. Not only was that year in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was also released when Demon Slayer was at its hottest. When Demon Slayer‘s TV anime first began, there was a lot of support behind it but it really wasn’t dominating conversations like how it does now. It was a slow burn getting to where it is today, and the fandom for it outright exploded after Episode 19 of its run. So by the time that first season ended, Demon Slayer was on the cusp of a tidal wave.

Mugen Train just hit at the perfect time. Rather than continue the TV anime with a second season, fans needed to go to theaters to see the next step of the story. This was notable back then because this feature film that was part of the story’s official canon rather than offer a new, unrelated story not tied to anything in particular (which started to become a trend in the late 2010s). Capitalizing on just how big Demon Slayer had become, fans were able to see the film in theaters and really connect with other fans for the first real time in this pandemic era.

Mugen Train‘s success was simply unheard of at the time, and the anime industry is still changing in the wake of that box office takeover. It was such a hit during the pandemic that it’s changed the course for other anime releases. Not more anime are likely to hit theaters with new films than ever before, and there is a much quicker turnaround and distribution for international territories as more fans are interested in watching anime films than ever. Mugen Train was such a hit (breaking all sorts of records despite being an R-Rated animated film) that it literally changed how anime movies are made and released from then on.

RELATED: Demon Slayer’s Abby Trott Talks Saying Goodbye To Nezuko (Exclusive)

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Won’t Hit That Height

This is all to say that Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was such a massive success that the anime literally can never hit those same heights again. It was a lightning in a bottle type of success that can’t be replicated in the same way. The anime is just not as popular as it was after that first season, and Demon Slayer itself has diluted its feature film branding in the years since with attempts to bring fans to theaters for early premieres of its second, third, and fourth seasons. A “Demon Slayer movie” just doesn’t have the same appeal it used to any more.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle has the chance to bring fans back into theaters thanks to being a brand new part of the story, but the fact it’s spread over a trilogy of features also further separates that appeal. It means that some of these releases will be more successful than the others, and fans might look at each film differently. It’s a shotgun blast of a strategy in the hopes of hitting that same mark Mugen Train did, and that’s a hard sell these days.

Demon Slayer isn’t the hot commodity it was all those years ago. While it still has the juice with fans who can’t wait to see many of these final fights in action, and will undoubtedly make a ton of money in theaters, it just won’t be as successful as Mugen Train. The closest this trilogy will get to matching that feat is when all three films have ended their run and we can add all three global totals together to see how big this really all was. That doesn’t mean that these films won’t be successful, they just won’t be as prominent as what hit before.

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is coming back with the first part in a new trilogy of feature films later this year, and the synopsis for the first movie is teasing the start to the final battles. Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc came to an explosive end last year as Muzan Kibutsuji finally made his move on the Demon Slayers following Nezuko Kamado getting the ability to survive in the sunlight. Now it’s all hands on deck as Tanjiro and the surviving members of the Hashira have launched each of their efforts against the demons heading into this new movie trilogy taking it all on.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will be kicking off its run later this year as the first film adapting the massive Infinity Castle arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga release, and the first synopsis for the film has been revealed. Much like seen with the final moments of Season 4 of the TV anime, the film’s story teases that Tanjiro and the others have been thrown into the titular Infinity Castle and ready themselves to put their lives on the line one last time.

What Is Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle About?

First the synopsis for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle gets fans up to speed with everything that’s happened so far, “Tanjiro Kamado – a boy who joined an organization dedicated to hunting down demons called the Demon Slayer Corps after his younger sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. While growing stronger and deepening his friendships and bonds with fellow corps members, Tanjiro has battled many demons with his comrades – Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira.”

As the synopsis continues, it brings everything to present day, “Along the way, his journey has led him to fight alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira, including Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku aboard the Mugen Train, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui within the Entertainment District, as well as Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji at the Swordsmith Village. As the Demon Slayer Corps members and Hashira engaged in a group strength training program, the Hashira Training, in preparation for the forthcoming battle against the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji appears at the Ubuyashiki Mansion.”

Finally, the synopsis drops the real tease of, “With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji. The destination of where Tanjiro and Demon Slayer Corps have fallen is the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle. And so, the battleground is set as the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons ignites.”

RELATED: Demon Slayer’s Abby Trott Talks Saying Goodbye To Nezuko (Exclusive)

When Does Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Movie Come Out?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will first be hitting theaters across Japan on July 18th, and will be coming to theaters in the United States and Canada beginning on September 12th. The film will be distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment outside of Japan, and will be the first in a planned trilogy of new films adapting this massive slate of final battles. The release windows or dates for the final two films of the trilogy have yet to be announced as of the time of this publication.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will also be releasing in IMAX and other large premium formats with both Japanese and English dubbed audio versions available upon its premiere. As the film gets ready for the end, we’ll be seeing much more of the film in action through promotional materials soon enough.

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Demon Slayer wasted little time in becoming one of the biggest shonen series, even managing to dethrone One Piece from time to time despite the Straw Hats having a decades-long headstart. With the upcoming Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle set to be the first of three movies that are aiming to bring the series to a close, we had the opportunity to chat with none other than Abby Trott, the voice of Nezuko in the anime’s English Dub. Needless to say, Trott had plenty to say when it came to Nezuko as well as saying goodbye to the Ufotable anime adaptation that has become one of the biggest series in the world.

At the start of our interview, we asked Trott about setting the stage for Nezuko’s final adventure, as the Swordsmith Village Arc ended with Tanjiro’s sister regarding the ability to speak for the first time in some time, “Nezuko is an interesting character, she’s the character I see the least for but am the most recognized for. She’s a very special character to me and it’s been such a journey. I was able to talk as her in the first episode of the anime but then had to rely on more guttural noises. Most of the emotes are just growling but the flashbacks sometimes let me say something very important. Nezuko now being able to speak really let me have a lot of fun with some hilarious bits in the Hashira Training Arc. Calling Zenitsu ‘Inosuke’ is one of my favorite moments.”

Returning For Infinity Castle

Trott stated that while she knew the series would be popular, she had no idea that Demon Slayer would take off like it has, “From the start of Demon Slayer, I knew this would be popular but I had no idea how huge it would come. The opportunity to go to red carpets and meet the Japanese cast, it was amazing. I was able to go to Japan and do panels which was incredible. I’m super excited for the trilogy because I KNOW how good the animation is, I’ve heard the animation is amazing.”

The English voice of Nezuko also discussed how she compares her work to the original Japanese take on Demon Slayer, as voice actor Akiro Kito voices the demonic hero in the East, “It’s hard to avoid, when we’re auditioning, we’ll get a clip of the Japanese voice actors normally. Once you get into the booth, you hear the Japanese before you record your lines, looking at how the mouth moves before you do your performance. The animation is usually done before you add your voice but a lot of it is set. I often taken inspiration from Kito if I can sample her voice beforehand as they are cast for a reason. I think, ‘Why were they cast originally?'”

Demon Slayer Details

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is set to hit theaters in Japan on July 18th this summer, with the movie hitting North America on September 12th this fall. It has yet to be revealed why the West is waiting months to check out the first of this final film trilogy but it will give Abby and her fellow English voice actors the chance to put their heart and soul into the final battle. As of now, details regarding the last two movies remain few and far between but we’ll be happy to report on them once they make landfall.

Abby Trott’s Anime Career

Alongside Nezuko, Trott has had quite the career in the anime world. Last year, she took on the role of Momo in the runaway hit, Dandadan, voicing the psychic character who found herself fighting back supernatural and extraterrestrial threats alike. Trott has also had major roles in anime favorites including The Elusive Samurai, Mission: Yozakura Family, Suzume, Hunter x Hunter, The Seven Deadly Sins, Shaman King, and more.

When it comes to Western animated series, Trott has made a name for herself recently thanks to taking on the role of Spiral in X-Men ’97. This isn’t the only Marvel mutant that she has portrayed as she also plays Colossus’ sister, Magik, in the runaway smash video game, Marvel Rivals. Later this year, she is set to take on a role in a video game like none other, Date Everything!, which will allow players to participate in a dating simulator where you can do just that.

Want to stay afloat on Abby Trott and Demon Slayer? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Demon Slayer Corps and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has had a lot to celebrate lately as not only has it confirmed when fans can see the first part of the new Infinity Castle movie trilogy now in the works, but have launched a special new anime short in collaboration with Major League Baseball. Demon Slayer surprised fans earlier this month when it was announced that they were going to be launching a special new collaboration with Major League Baseball. But for as mysterious as that initial announcement was, fans likely never thought it would bring out a full anime short showing off some of the MLB’s best players.

As part of the celebration for the upcoming MLB Tokyo Series and the upcoming release of the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movie across theaters later this year, a special team up between the two brands has launched. While there are more details and goods from this collaboraiton to be announced at a later date, this team up has kicked off with a special anime short showing off Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani debuting his own kind of Breathing Style. Animated by studio ufotable, check out the new short in the video above.

When Does Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Come Out?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will be making its debut in Japan on July 18th, and will be coming to the United States and Canada on September 12th. The film will be screening in IMAX format as well, and will be releasing with both Japanese and English dubbed audio. Distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, this is going to be the first feature film of a planned trilogy tackling the massive Infinity Castle arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series following the events of the Hashira Training arc from Season 4 of the TV anime.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle will kick off the final fights in the series between the surviving members of the Hashira and the final Upper Rank demons under Muzan Kibutsuji’s command. There is a question of where each film will be cutting off in terms of leading into each new release, but the schedule for the final two films in the trilogy has yet to be revealed as of the time of this publication. But either way, fans should get ready for some massive events that could only be seen on screens in an appropriately big way.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Meets Demon Slayer For an Epic Crossover Fight in New Fanmade Video

What Will the New Demon Slayer Movie Be About?

Directed by Haruo Sotozaki, Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment begin to tease Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle as such, “Tanjiro Kamado – a boy who joined an organization dedicated to hunting down demons called the Demon Slayer Corps after his younger sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. While growing stronger and deepening his friendships and bonds with fellow corps members, Tanjiro has battled many demons with his comrades – Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira.”

The synopsis continues with, “Along the way, his journey has led him to fight alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira, including Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku aboard the Mugen Train, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui within the Entertainment District, as well as Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji at the Swordsmith Village. As the Demon Slayer Corps members and Hashira engaged in a group strength training program, the Hashira Training, in preparation for the forthcoming battle against the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji appears at the Ubuyashiki Mansion.”

The synopsis ends with, “With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji. The destination of where Tanjiro and Demon Slayer Corps have fallen is the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle. And so, the battleground is set as the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons ignites.”

The post Demon Slayer Takes on the MLB’s Best Players in Wild New Short: Watch appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Infinity Castle trilogy isn’t just bringing Demon Slayer to theaters once again, but it is planning to bring the beloved shonen franchise to an end. With the original manga series ending in 2020, Ufotable is planning to follow suit as Tanjiro and the other members of the Demon Slayer Corps are looking to take down the Demon Lord Muzan once and for all. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Japan would be bringing the film to theaters on July 18th, and while a North American release date has been confirmed, anime fans will be waiting a little longer to witness the start of the grand finale.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle will arrive in North America on September 12th, meaning that anime fans will be waiting around two months to see the Demon Slayer Corps return to the West. At present, it has yet to be revealed if the U.S. release will consist of both the subbed and dubbed versions though considering Demon Slayer’s track record in this regard, it’s a safe bet that both iterations will be screened. You can check out the latest trailer below.

Demon Slayer Worldwide

Alongside the North American release date, Crunchyroll has revealed other release dates for the film worldwide:

• August 14: Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan
• August 15: Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam
• August 20: Philippines
• September 11: Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean (Jamaica, Aruba, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Curacao), Central America, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland (Italian-speaking), Syria, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates
• September 12: India, Mongolia, Spain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Kenya, Latvia, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Romania, Southern Africa, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom
• September 17: Belgium, France, French-speaking Africa, Luxembourg, Switzerland (French-speaking)
• September 18: Moldova
• September 25: Austria, Germany, Switzerland (German-speaking)

If you need a refresher on the premise of this film, Crunchyroll has you covered as the streaming service has released an official description for the film, “Tanjiro Kamado – a boy who joined an organization dedicated to hunting down demons called the Demon Slayer Corps after his younger sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. While growing stronger and deepening his friendships and bonds with fellow corps members, Tanjiro has battled many demons with his comrades – Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira. Along the way, his journey has led him to fight alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira, including Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku aboard the Mugen Train, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui within the Entertainment District, as well as Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji at the Swordsmith Village.”

The description continues by focusing on the current plight of the Demon Slayer Corps, “
As the Demon Slayer Corps members and Hashira engaged in a group strength training program, the Hashira Training, in preparation for the forthcoming battle against the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji appears at the Ubuyashiki Mansion. With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji. The destination of where Tanjiro and Demon Slayer Corps have fallen is the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle. And so, the battleground is set as the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons ignites.”

Via Press Release

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Demon Slayer has just unveiled the first promo of its highly anticipated film covering the Infinity Castle Arc. The final battle of the series is divided into two arcs: Infinity Castle and Sunrise Countdown. Ufotable will release the Infinity Castle Arc in the form of a movie trilogy, with the first one releasing on July 18th in Japanese theatres. While the global release date remains unknown, it should be announced when the film is released in Japan. The finale of the Hashira Training Arc already sets up the upcoming fight where the Demon Slayers will face off against the Upper Moons.

As fans are aware, those monsters are powerful enough to defeat the Hashira, the strongest in the Corps. Hence, the final fight will be insanely challenging and quite tragic. The promo not only unveils the release date but also features a bunch of key visuals, spotlighting the important characters in the arc. One of them includes Zenitsu standing with a stern look on his face while Nezuko and Inosuke are drawn on their opposite sides. Anime fans may not be aware, but the Infinity Castle is Zenitsu’s best arc, and for obvious reasons.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Demon Slayer manga!

[RELATED: Demon Slayer’s Live-Action Adaptation Unleashes Its Demons With a First Look]

Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle Arc Features Zenitsu vs. Kaigaku

For most of Demon Slayer’s Hashira Training Arc, Zenitsu remained his usual goofy self who kept crying about the vigorous training. However, his demeanor changed completely when his sparrow, Chuntaro, handed him a letter that carried news of his master’s sudden death. Jigoro Kuwajima, a former Thunder Hashira and Zenitsu’s trainer, committed Seppuku in hopes of atoning for the sins of his student, Kaigaku.

Jogoro felt responsible for not teaching Kaigaku properly and blamed himself for his student’s decision to turn into a demon. After reading the letter, Zenitsu knew what he had to do. In the Infinity Castle Arc, he encounters Kaigaku, a newly turned Upper Moon Six, and fights him alone. Kaigaku was already strong before, but his power multiplied tremendously after becoming a demon.

As students training under the same master, Zenitsu and Kaigaku were completely opposite from one another in terms of everything. While Zenitsu was an expert in the First Form of the Thunder Breathing Style, the most difficult form, he couldn’t perform the other forms at all. On the other hand, Kaigaku could use every other form except for the first one.

Zenitsu admired Kaigaku’s strength, while the latter was jealous of his junior. During the fight, Zenitsu reached new heights by creating his own form, a seventh Thunder Breathing form. This form manifests thunder in the form of a dragon, effectively severing the head of any demon it faces. Zenitsu killed his opponent with a single strike, leaving the demon frustrated even in his final moments.

The Fight Highlights Zenitsu’s Character Development

Ever since receiving news of Jogoro’s death, Zenitsu has never been the same. Even after the fight, he never cried or whined about anything. He steeled his resolve before entering the Infinity Castle that he must put down his enemy at any cost. As someone with no relatives or home, Jogoro was the closest thing to a family for the kid. Zenistu would always call him Gramps as a form of endearment. Hence, it makes sense why he completely changed after the tragedy.

The fight wasn’t just for revenge, but it was also a way to honor his master’s legacy. This was also the first fight where Zenitsu wasn’t unconscious. As someone who gets scared easily, Zenitsu would always faint in a moment of crisis. All his accomplishments before the Infinity Castle were thanks to his subconscious mind. The downside is that he doesn’t have any recollection of the demons he slayed. This time, however, we witness his first real fight, and it is incredible.

After the fight is over, Zenitsu even mourns the death of a former comrade. They were meant to fight against demons side-by-side, which would’ve made Jogoro proud. However, reality is often cruel. Kaigaku was a degenerate even before he met Jogoro. Zenitsu probably never found out, but his former comrade was the reason Gyomei’s house was attacked by a demon. Kaigaku was one of the children he took care of, but the former repaid the debt by leading a demon to their home, which ended up killing all the kids in the house.

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The official Major League Baseball (MLB) X account tweeted yesterday with a new image promoting an upcoming collaboration with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. The image only features the MLB and Demon Slayer logos, it’s unknown what kind of collaboration it will become. This new tease comes not long after the One Piece collaboration with the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. The One Piece and Lakers’ collaboration featured new artwork with the Strawhats wearing Lakers jerseys and a brand-new animation. Crunchyroll also reported that Demon Slayer previously partnered with the Yomiuri Giants baseball team from Japan in 2021.

The Demon Slayer and Yomiuri Giants collab included exclusive baseball merchandise designed to match the anime, including character-themed mittens and baseball bats. One Piece also collaborated with the MLB and the Boston Red Sox in 2024; the partnership included a new special-theme night at the Las Vegas “Sphere.” The Red Sox will collaborate with One Piece again for a special “One Piece Theme Day” on May 3rd. The upcoming Red Sox collaboration will include a new special Red Sox and One Piece jersey that fans can gain on the May 3rd game between the Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins. The event will also include unique One Piece-themed “entertainment and activation.”

[RELATED – Demon Slayer: Who Is the Strongest Hashira?]

What Will the Demon Slayer and MLB Collaboration Include?

The tweet doesn’t specify when fans can expect the Demon Slayer and MLB collaboration other than a vague “Coming soon.” These kinds of cross promotions typically include exclusive merchandise like sports gear themed around the anime series. The MLB may release exclusive images and animation similar to what the NBA did for the Lakers and One Piece partnership.

The MLB didn’t identify which baseball team Demon Slayer will partner with. The Major League Baseball organization is made up of around 30 teams. With the Red Sox already laying claim to One Piece, it’s unlikely that the Boston team will collaborate with Demon Slayer. It’s also possible the Demon Slayer cross-promotion may be an organization-wide promotion involving all the major league baseball teams in the United States.

What’s Up With All The Anime and Sports Collaborations?

Anime has become an absurdly popular medium and is set to become even bigger in 2025. All these different companies and organizations want to take advantage of the growing mainstream acceptance of anime, especially among the younger generations. We now live in a time where anime icons like Goku and Luffy can have balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. McDonald’s has even made cross-promotions with Yu-Gi-Oh! and Evangelion. People’s growing acceptance of anime led to more collaborations with American brands, including the MLB and NBA.

It should be noted that these US companies only collaborate with the most popular animes. Demon Slayer and One Piece are some of the most popular series currently airing. These collaborations help promote upcoming animation projects for these big anime brands. A trilogy of Demon Slayer films is scheduled to premiere in July 2025 whereas One Piece has an ongoing anime that’s been airing since 1999. Fans shouldn’t expect cross-promotions of this magnitude with more niche anime like Zoids. These anime collaborations also help sell exclusive merchandise that both sides of the partnership can profit from.

H/T: The MLB on X (formerly Twitter)

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is making its comeback with a brand new movie trilogy starting its run in theaters across Japan later this Summer, and the newest update for the coming Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Arc trilogy has revealed the first look at the final Upper Ranks that have yet to be revealed in the anime. Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc came to an end last year, and the anime quickly confirmed it was going to continue. But the big surprise with this announcement was that rather than continue with a new season of the TV series, we’re getting feature film releases instead.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Arc is going to be a new trilogy of feature films taking on these massive final battles between Tanjiro Kamado and the surviving Hashira against Muzan Kibutsuji and his final Upper Rank demons. The final of these demons had yet to be revealed in the TV anime series, and the newest poster for the first of the Infinity Castle movies has revealed the missing piece of the puzzle, the new Upper Rank Six, Kaigaku.

Who Is Kaigaku in Demon Slayer?

As for Kaigaku, he’s a very integral part of the Infinity Castle Arc. Although he might be a replacement for Gyutaro following the Entertainment District Arc, he’s very important to Zenitsu Agatsuma. The last time Demon Slayer fans had seen Zenitsu during the Hashira Training Arc, he had a major attitude change after receiving a mysterious letter. It was yet to be revealed exactly what the contents of that letter were, but it was clear that it set him out on a very deliberate mission even within the Infinity Castle.

Kaigaku is tied to that letter, so we’ll soon be seeing why Zenitsu made such a sudden shift during his training. It’s the most intense we’ll be seeing him through the series as a whole, but it’s only one of the fights that will be going down with this new trilogy. It’s just a matter of seeing how these movies will be spreading its fights across them, and how they will be released in theaters over the next few years. But there will be plenty of big fights to enjoy as the series comes to an end.

RELATED: It’s Time Demon Slayer Invested in More Filler Arcs

What to Know for New Demon Slayer Movies

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Arc is a new trilogy of films now in the works adapting the Infinity Castle arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga release. This arc is the biggest in the franchise overall, and is stacked with one intense battle after another. Following the end of the Hashira Training Arc, Tanjiro and the others were then brought into Muzan’s Infinity Castle for these final battles. Not everyone will be making it out alive as we’ll soon see what the Upper Ranks at the top of the food chain are truly capable of after getting teases of their power all this time.

The first of the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Arc trilogy will be releasing in theaters across Japan beginning on July 18th, but it has yet to be revealed when the other two films in the trilogy will hit. It has also yet to be announced what international release plans there will be for the new film, but fans have seen quicker turnarounds lately so there’s a good chance fans in North America will get to see the trilogy kick off later this year as well. But as for the final two films, the wait is really only just getting started from here.

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While Demon Slayer fans wait on the new Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle movie to come to theaters this year, there’s another new release that’s coming much sooner to fill that gap. CyberConnect 2 and Sega finally announced this week the release date for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2, the next game in the Demon Slayer series that’ll be out this year as well. It’ll release on August 5th for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC platforms, the creator announced this week, but you’ll be able to preorder your copy as soon as next week.

The Demon Slayer game will technically be out a bit sooner than that release date, but only in Japan. It’s getting a staggered release and will be out on August 1st in Japan, so it’s thankfully at least not a very long wait between the launches. The preorders will open on March 3rd with the base game and the Digital Deluxe Edition both going on sale at the same time with the exception being the Nintendo Switch versions.

Sega and CyberConnect2 — the latter being the developer responsible for the first Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles game — put out a trailer for the sequel this week to announce the release date. Like the first one, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will be a fighting game with a story to follow, too, instead of just players beating each other up online over and over again. You’ll be able to do that as well, of course, but if you stick to the story, you’ll get to play through the Entertainment District arc.

The first game in this series released back in October 2021, so Demon Slayer enjoyers have been waiting awhile for their next release. This new Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2 game was just announced late last year, however, so it’s been a relatively quick turnaround from reveal to release as is the norm with many of these anime fighters.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles released to decidedly mixed reviews and scored a 69 on Metacritic with the User Score only slightly higher at 72, but again, that’s typically the norm when it comes to these kinds of games that have to grapple with fighting mechanics, balance, story, and appeasing the source material all at the same time. The first Demon Slayer game did enjoy quite the run of post-launch DLC, however, so regardless of how the sequel lands, you can expect more from it in the future.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will release for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC platforms on August 5th.

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Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle will split its gigantic arc over three separate feature-length films, placing Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps against Muzan and his strongest, demonic lieutenants. As fans prepare to say goodbye to Ufotable’s biggest anime hit, the first entry of the three movies has finally shared when anime fans can expect it to arrive on the silver screen. Unfortunately, this long-awaited release date comes with a catch as it might not reveal all of the information that fans are hoping to see when it comes to the worldwide release of the Demon Slayer grand finale.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle will hit theaters in Japan on July 18th this summer but the movie has yet to confirm when it will be doing the same in the West and other countries. While it’s a foregone conclusion that the first of the three films will eventually make its way to North America, anime fans must now wonder if it will be a simultaneous release or if Western audiences will have to wait that much longer for one of the biggest showdowns in anime history. As readers of the manga know, the Infinity Castle arc is one that will give each surviving member of the Demon Slayer Corps something to do and then some.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Hypes 2025 Movie With Special Valentine’s Day Promo]

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’s New Trailer and Poster

Alongside the big news, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle released both a new trailer of previous footage and a new poster to get fans hyped for the Demon Slayer Corps’ big comeback. As viewers know, the last time we saw Tanjiro and company, things had taken a serious turn. While they briefly had the upper hand against Muzan, following the demon lord killing the Corps’ leader, the pack of swordsmen have been dragged into the Infinity Castle itself and will now need to fight all of the remaining demons on their home turf.

Demon Slayer quickly grew to become one of the biggest shonen series in the world, as Tanjiro and Nezuko’s story is one that was even able to overtake One Piece from time to time. Despite its runaway popularity, the manga has already come to an end and the anime adaptation is simply playing catch-up. At present, creator Koyoharu Gotouge has yet to confirm if they will be working on a sequel series and/or spin-off but we know plenty of shonen fans would love nothing more than to return to this universe.

Want to stay in the loop when it comes to everything related to the Demon Slayer Corps? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Tanjiro and friends and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

The post Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Reveals Its Release Date (But With A Catch) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Alongside Chainsaw Man‘s “Reze Arc” movie, Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle is arguably the most hyped anime movie of the year. The film will be part of a new film trilogy adapting the “Infinity Castle” arc, which will bring the immensely popular Demon Slayer anime adaptation to a close after four seasons and the Mugen Train Arc movie (or five seasons if you watched that arc episodically). As excited as we all are for the Infinity Castle movie, no one actually knows when it’s coming out, but Ufotable just dropped a massive clue.

Demon Slayer‘s Infinity Castle movie has only been given the general release window of “2025,” which was unveiled at last year’s CCXP along with a new teaser trailer for the film. But, that leaves a massive 10-month window for when the film could hit theaters. Thankfully, studio Ufotable has finally stepped in, giving fans a much-needed reassurance of when they can find out the release date in less than two weeks.

Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Movie Will Reveal It’s Release Date Very Soon

Unfortunately, we don’t yet have the actual release date for the Infinity Castle arc movie. Instead, in the spirit of the complex and twisting Infinity Castle, we have the release date for the release date. Per AnimeTV Japan, the Infinity Castle arc movie’s release date will officially be unveiled on March 1st at 7:00 PM JST (5:00 AM ET).

Of course, it’s not the major update we were all hoping for — where Ufotable would say ‘Hey, the Infinity Castle movie is releasing tomorrow, and by the way, everyone gets free tickets!’ — but it is still a major step forward for the film and a major step towards the end of the insanely popular franchise, which is the second most-rated series on Crunchyroll behind One Piece.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for the Demon Slayer Anime!

[RELATED – AnimeJapan 2025 Reveals Schedule With Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, And More]

What To Expect From the Infinity Castle Movie

Demon Slayer‘s latest seasons, namely the “Swordsmith Village Arc” and the “Hashira Training Arc,” have been incredibly divisive among the fan base. Many criticized the lack of overall substance in the series as well as the drawn-out battles. But, no one can argue about the end of the “Hashira Training Arc” being epic. The eighth and final episode of the season saw Ubuyashiki sacrifice himself and the two creepy children in an attempt to kill Muzan once and for all. But, the plan backfired as Muzan survived the blast and, in an act of desperation, pulled all of the surrounding Demon Slayer Corps members into the Infinity Castle.

We won’t dive into any “Infinity Castle” arc spoilers here for those who have yet to read the manga. But, expect the Infinity Castle arc movie to be a feature-length epic, with studio Ufotable returning to top form with even more breathtaking fight scenes.

H/T: AnimeTV Japan

The post Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Movie Just Got a Major Release Date Update appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Though their respective manga may have long concluded, My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer are still, without a doubt, two of the most popular and successful shonen franchises, with fans spread across the globe. However, despite their popularity, My Hero Academia remains set in an alternate contemporary reality, and Demon Slayer is set in a fantastical re-imagining of the Taisho Era. It is hard to imagine the two series ever overlapping, that is until a recent fanmade video reimagined two of the most iconic characters from these franchises in an epic crossover fight.

A fan-made animation recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) by @danimate_2d stunning brought to life a hypothetical clash between Bakugo and Inosuke, illustrating how a fight between My Hero Academia‘s quirks and Demon Slayer‘s breathing techniques might go down. The breathtaking video, though only a minute long, perfectly captures the dynamic, almost playful fighting styles of both characters as Inosuke’s Beast Breathing meets Bakugo’s Explosion quirk. Besides the exceptional fight choreography, the video also uses color sparingly though effectively to highlight Inosuke’s slashes and Bakugo’s explosions and the chilling fighting spirit in each of their eyes, while the high-energy music and gorgeous sound effects create an almost cinematic viewing experience.

[Related: My Hero Academia Creator Returns With New Art For Hilariously Special Award]

How Would a Fight Between Bakugo and Inosuke Actually Play Out?

Despite being a part of the same genre, Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia could not be more different in terms of their power systems, making it difficult to envision a cross-franchise battle, which is precisely what makes the above fan video so intriguing. At first, it seems as though Bakugo, with his firepower-packed quirk, would easily edge out Inosuke, whose skillset and breathing style are centered entirely around his physicality. That said, as fans see in the fan animation, Inosuke’s agility and brute strength work pretty well in his favor, allowing him to evade Bakugo’s explosions. Inosuke’s chipped Nichirin blades manage to stand up against Bakugo’s Grenadier Bracers, even managing to crack one of them eventually, as seen in a shot near the end of the video.

Considering the powerful demons Inosuke has gone up against, and the powerful abilities many of them have wielded, it makes sense that Inosuke would at the least be able to handle Bakugo’s quirk. The same likely cannot be said if his opponent were Deku, though Bakugo seems to be an even match. The matchup also makes quite a bit of sense given Inosuke and Bakugo’s similar personalities, with both being well known for never turning down a fight and giving every battle their all without forgetting to fully enjoy the thrill of it throughout.

As for who would ultimately be the victor of the battle, we’ll leave that up to you to decide in the comments below. At the end of the day, it is brilliant fan art such as this that allows fans to see such fun scenarios play out and indulge fans’ wildest, crossover fantasies. Nonetheless, be sure to follow along with Team Anime for all things My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer.

Fan-made video created and hosted by danimate_2d on X (formerly Twitter).

The post My Hero Academia Meets Demon Slayer For an Epic Crossover Fight in New Fanmade Video appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps are preparing to storm the Infinity Castle in Demon Slayer‘s upcoming feature film: Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle — which releases in theaters this year. But, before their all-out war with Muzan’s demonic forces, the characters from Koyoharu Gotouge’s immensely popular series are taking a bit of respite to celebrate Valentine’s Day. This year, studio Ufotable has created a special illustration of the women of Demon Slayer in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.

The latest illustration from Ufotable follows their long-running trend of creating original drawings celebrating various holidays throughout the year. Past illustrations have depicted New Year’s Eve, Christmas, and the characters’ birthdays. Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga and Ufotable’s anime adaptation blend intense action scenes with cute and comedic moments, and the new illustration certainly takes inspiration from the latter.

The Women of Demon Slayer Celebrate Valentine’s Day

Studio Ufotable shared this year’s Demon Slayer Valentine’s Day illustration on the anime’s official X (formerly Twitter) account. In the new drawing, Nezuko Kamado, Shinobu Kocho, Mitsuri Kanroji, Kanao Tsuyuri, and Aoi Kanzaki have all dressed up in chefs’ outfits to cook up some Valentine’s Day treats. Along with the treats, each woman is accompanied by a tiny cat-like interpretation of their character using their signature colors.

As well as the new illustration, Ufotable also unveiled some new Valentine’s Day merch. The new coasters, keyrings, stickers, art prints, bags, and acrylic stands depict various characters from the franchise, including Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Hashira, baking Valentine’s Day treats. They are all accompanied by their feline versions.

[RELATED – Demon Slayer Unveils Thirst Trap Stage Play Update & Fans Are Not Okay]

Demon Slayer‘s Infinity Castle Movie Releases This Year

Demon Slayer‘s anime adaptation is entering its final arc. Ufotable’s anime adaptation debuted in 2019 and quickly became an international phenomenon. The show is the second most-rated series on Crunchyroll — sitting just behind One Piece — and the first movie in the franchise, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie, is largely responsible for popularizing the trend of anime tie-in movies.

Fittingly, Demon Slayer‘s anime adaptation will come to an end after a trilogy of new movies covering the Infinity Castle Arc. The first film in the trilogy is expected to be released this year, although an exact release date has not yet been revealed. Fans have already seen the trippy Infinity Castle in the past two seasons, but we cannot wait for the Hashira to go to war with Muzan’s forces inside the castle.

This latest update comes courtesy of the Demon Slayer Official X Account.

The post Demon Slayer Hypes 2025 Movie With Special Valentine’s Day Promo appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Us anime fans have a reputation for sometimes being a bit over-the-top when it comes to finding characters cute and/or attractive, but the reactions to the upcoming live-action Demon Slayer stage play have taken that to a whole new level. This year sees the release of the “Swordsmith Village Arc” stage adaptation, and the designs for the live-action Upper Rank demons have been revealed. Needless to say, some fans may have gone a bit over the top with their appreciation.

The designs for the live-action Doma and Akaza have been revealed, and some fans are thirsting… hard. The reactions have been so intense, that the Japanese media company, Oricon Group, compiled two separate articles of the “passionate” fan responses. “His hands are too sexy,” wrote one fan about Upper Rank Two demon, Doma’s live-action interpretation (played by Kenji Urai). Thankfully, others managed to regain some composure before sharing their thoughts online, with the report also quoting comments like “The reproduction of Doma is extremely high quality” and “His visuals are too strong, it’s amazing!”

Meanwhile, Upper Rank Three demon, Akaza’s (played by Aoki Jin) portrayal also got its fair share of love and support. Again, many fans were able to contain some of their over-excitement, writing stuff like “Akaza’s visual is too good,” and “The level of perfection is amazing.” However, two fans let the thirst consume them, commenting on the revealing costume of the almost topless demon, Akaza. “His abs are amazing!” wrote one fan, with another taking it a step further, saying, “Jin’s muscles are like a sculpture.”

[RELATED – Demon Slayer AAA Anime Exclusive Zohakuten Funko Pop Is Finally Here]

Demon Slayer‘s Fifth Stage Play Adaptation Releases This April

The Demon Slayer live-action stage play first debuted in 2020, covering the first half of the “Unwavering Resolve Arc,” and introducing audiences to Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the world of demons. The second half of the “Unwavering Resolve Arc” was brought to the stage a year later. Since then, the “Mugen Train Arc,” and the “Entertainment District Arc” have both been turned into stage productions. The productions have been a resounding success in Japan, and they are likely to continue right the way through to the final arc in Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga, appropriately titled the “Final Battle Arc.”

Next up on the roster is the “Swordsmith Village Arc,” which premieres in Tokyo this April. If you were unable to make the trip to Tokyo to see any of the past stage plays, then fear not, because they’re about to stream for free ahead of the fifth play and the upcoming Infinity Castle anime movie. Aniplex will release recordings of the past four plays throughout the month of February for free on their YouTube channel. The first play streams for free on February 1st.

As for Demon Slayer‘s anime adaptation, that is drawing to the end of its impressive run. The franchise will finish with the upcoming “Final Battle Arc” trilogy of movies. The first, Infinity Castle, releases in theaters this year. An exact release date is yet to be announced.

Are you impressed by the Demon Slayer stage play designs? How excited are you for the Infinity Castle movie? Let us know on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), and you can reach out to me @fenn_archie to let me know your thoughts!

H/T: Oricon, Oricon

The post Demon Slayer Unveils Thirst Trap Stage Play Update & Fans Are Not Okay appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer – Kinmetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (that’s a long title!) is scheduled to release in theaters this year, although an exact release date hasn’t been revealed. The film will be the first in a new trilogy, which is set to bring the Demon Slayer anime franchise to an end. While many will be completing re-watches of the past seasons to prepare for the film, why not make your 2025 re-watch a little different? Ahead of the upcoming “Swordsmith Village” live-action stage play adaptation, the four past Demon Slayer stage productions will soon be available to watch for free!

The first live-action Demon Slayer stage play took place in 2020. Since then, the production has covered two more arcs from Koyoharu Gotouge’s beloved manga, split across three plays. With the fifth production scheduled for this year, the past four plays are all set to release on Aniplex’s official YouTube channel in February, for a limited time. The first play will stream from February 1st until February 3rd, Part 2 from February 8th until the 10th, Part 3 from February 15th until the 17th, and Part 4 from February 22nd until the 24th.

Over the past five years, the live-action Demon Slayer stage play has covered the “Unwavering Resolve Arc” (which was split into the first two plays), the “Mugen Train Arc,” and the “Entertainment District Arc,” with the “Swordsmith Village Arc’s” production debuting this April in Tokyo. If you’ve never watched, or even heard of, the live-action Demon Slayer plays, they are absolutely worth your time.

[RELATED – AnimeJapan 2025 Reveals Schedule With Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, And More]

The Demon Slayer Anime Is Coming to An End

It’s always an emotional moment when a beloved anime is heading towards its final arc. Demon Slayer fans are preparing themselves for the five stages of grief, as the hit anime from Studio Ufotable is set to end with a trilogy of films. The first trailer for the Infinity Castle movie was unveiled at last year’s CCXP, and it looks phenomenal.

An exact release date for the Infinity Castle movie hasn’t been revealed. However, a recent leak suggests that we can expect the film to drop this Fall. As for the other two movies in the trilogy, news is incredibly scarce. Expect more details to be revealed closer to, and after the release of the Infinity Castle movie.

Are you going to dig into the live-action Demon Slayer stage play? How excited are you for the Infinity Castle movie? Let us know on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), and you can reach out to me @fenn_archie to let me know your thoughts!

H/T: Natalie, Aniplex

The post Demon Slayer Hypes Infinity Castle Movie With Free Release appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Of the many anime events that populate the medium, AnimeJapan has grown to be one of the biggest. First starting in 2014, the show routinely collaborates with major production houses including the likes of Bandai Namco, Pierrot, Production I.G., Toei Animation, TMS Entertainment, and many more. With these studios assembling for the annual event, some major anime series will make appearances to hint at their respective futures. With this year’s AnimeJapan taking place on March 22nd and 23rd, the show has released the long list of anime behemoths that plan to tease their futures for anime fans worldwide.

To give you an example of just how big the news can be for a typical AnimeJapan, last year’s event had quite a few bombshells delivered to anime enthusiasts. When it came to new trailers, the previous event had them in spades as it revealed new looks at Mobile Suit: Gundam, My Hero Academia, Beastars, Mushoku Tensei, Code Geass, Re:Zero, and many more. It also revealed big announces for anime arrivals such as Baki Hanma Vs. Kengan Ashura, The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of The Apocalypse season 2, and the latest remake of Blue Exorcist. With over a decade of big anime announcements under its belt, this year’s AnimeJapan is teasing some big titles that will be in attendance.

[RELATED: Manga Readers Can Vote for the Next Anime Hit in AnimeJapan’s New Poll]

AnimeJapan 2025’s Line-Up

This year’s AnimeJapan is split into four stages (Red Stage, Green Stage, Blue Stage, and White Stage), with each platform housing several anime franchises. Here are the following anime titles arriving as part of this year’s three stages:

Red Stage – Saturday March 22nd

• Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus
• Demon Slayer
• Kaiju No. 8
• Oshi No Ko
• My Hero Academia Final Season
• HypnosisMic -Division Rap Battle-
• Rurouni Kenshin
• One Piece

Red Stage – Sunday March 23rd

• Prince of Tennis Stage Musical
• Jujutsu Kaisen
• Fate-strange Fake
• The Apothecary Diaries Season 2
• Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World Season 3
• Gundam

Green Stage – Saturday March 22nd

• Blue Lock Vs. U-20 Japan
• The Summer Hikaru Died
• My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
• Blue Box
• Disney – Twisted Wonderland
• Sakamoto Days

Green Stage – Sunday March 23rd

• Detective Conan Films + Yaiba: Samurai Legend
• Black Butler
• Dr. Stone
• Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube
• Love Live!

Blue Stage – Saturday March 22nd

• Netflix
• Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt
• BS11 Anime+
• Me & Roboco
• Gachiakuta
• Kowloon Generic Romance
• Summer Pockets

Blue Stage – Sunday March 23rd

• The Shiunji Family Children
• New Pia Anime
• From Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman
• Animelo Summer Live 2025
• Let’s Go Karaoke! + Capitvated, By You
• Digimon
• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

White Stage – Saturday March 22nd

• Tokyo Revengers
• Maebashi Witches
• I Was Reincarnated as The 7th Prince So I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability
• Love Live! Sunshine!!
• Kamitsubaki City Under Construction
• Space Battleship Yamato

White Stage – Sunday March 23rd

• Aharen-san wa Hakarenai
• Summer Pockets Staff Talk
• Araiguma Calcal-dan
• Rock is A Lady’s Modesty
• Tying the Knot With An Amagami Sister
• Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

Want to stay in the know when it comes to everything related to this year’s AnimeJapan? Follow Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest updates for this year’s big event and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

The post AnimeJapan 2025 Reveals Schedule With Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, And More appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Take on Demons with Tanjiro and the Hashiras by checking out the latest drop from Funko. Back in December, they released an all-new drop from the popular anime series, Demon Slayer that included Mitsuri (Attack) , Muichiro (with a Chase!), Tanjiro, Gyokko, Genya (Demon Form), Hantengo, and Rengoku 9th Form (Premium). However, the AAA Anime exclusive Zohakuten (pictured below), has been a holdout. That changed today as it finally went up for pre-order here at Entertainment Earth. Additional details about the wave can be found below.

The remaining Funko Pops in the wave can also be pre-ordered at Entertainment Earth here or Amazon here. If that’s not enough, the entire collection of new Funko Pop drops for this week are listed here for your convenience. We also have some of the latest Demon Slayer news to share with you below.

Fans of Tanjiro and his demon-slaying journey are probably aware that a new Demon Slayer movie is in the works, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle. The new film is meant to be an adaptation of the final saga of Demon Slayer, a final cinematic goodbye to the characters and series. At CCXP 2024, an international comic and entertainment convention, the first trailer for the movie dropped, but no other information has really been released, other than that it’s slated for a vague 2025 release. 

Demon Slayer fans can also look forward to a new videogame next year. SEGA has officially announced that Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will be hitting shelves in 2025 for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, and Nintendo Switch in North America and Europe. While not many details have been released about the game and its playstyle, SEGA has outlined some of the key differences coming in the sequel, the first being the new Story Mode. Apparently players will be picking up right where the first Hinokami Chronicles game left off, as it tackles the Entertainment District, Swordsmith Village, and Hashira Training Arcs seen in the anime since that first season.

There will also be over 40 playable characters on the roster for the VS Mode, including some of the Hashira that we all know and love, like the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, and the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito. Original game content and players will also be playable, as well as later DLC additions. The nine Hashira will also be fully playable.

As the anime comes to a close soon, it’s nice that we won’t have to immediately move on. Fans will get to enjoy the final chapter of the anime, and again when the movie releases. 2025 will be a big year!

Want to stay up to date with all the latest anime news and collectibles? Then keep an eye on our Gear Page!

The post Demon Slayer AAA Anime Exclusive Zohakuten Funko Pop Is Finally Here appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer is preparing to unleash the first film of a trilogy that will bring the anime adaptation to an end in the Infinity Castle. With the first offering set to arrive this year, the Demon Slayer Corps still has some major projects outside of the anime series, even with the manga having already come to a close. A live-action stage play covering the Swordsmith Village Arc is in the works, continuing the tradition of bringing Tanjiro and Nezuko’s story to the stage. Alongside a new poster, the adaptation has revealed what the demons of the Swordsmith Village Arc will look like when they enter the “real world.”

For those who need a refresher, the Swordsmith Village Arc made up the third season of Demon Slayer’s anime adaptation. Following the fight against Gyutaro in the Entertainment District, Tanjiro needed to get his demon-slaying sword fixed at the locale that the Demon Slayer Corps relied on to make all their weapons. Unfortunately for Tanjiro, this village wasn’t free from the villainous eye of Muzan as the demon lord unleashed two of his strongest lieutenants upon it. Considering that Gyokko and Hantengu are two of the least human looking demons under Muzan’s employ, seeing them in live-action might throw many anime fans for a loop.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Inspired New X-Men Series (And Here’s How)]

The Swordsmith Village Demons Assemble

The live-action Demon Slayer production, “Demon Slayer: Part Five – Attack on The Swordsmith Village,” will run in Tokyo at the Galaxy Theater from April 11th to April 20th. Following this initial performance, the stage play will continue from April 25th to April 27th at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Kobe in Hyogo. For the live-action adaptation, actor Shogo Sakamoto will return to the role of Tanjiro following the earlier adaptations of previous anime storylines.

For the demons involved, actor Kazama Yujiro will take on the role of Hantengu, while actor Hashimoto Shohei will take on his younger/stronger self, Sohakuten. The inhuman demon known as Gyokko will be played by Kawasaki Yusaku. You can check out the poster and the first looks at the three demons in the posters below.

The Infinity Castle’s Demons

Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle trilogy is planning to unleash the strongest demons that the shonen franchise has introduced. While we haven’t seen many of these demons in action, anime fans should prepare to see some major battles erupt from the silver screen later this year. Even if Muzan’s underlings are defeated by Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps, it’s going to take some serious thinking to devise a way to defeat Muzan himself. As was seen in the fourth season finale, Muzan seems nigh invincible as it appears that only the sun itself can bring about his undoing.

When it comes to the live-action world, Demon Slayer hasn’t confirmed that it will be creating a live-action movie and/or television series. However, since franchises like One Piece have garnered major success in the live-action world, seeing Tanjiro and Nezuko do the same would make sense considering the shonen franchise’s popularity.

Want to stay in the loop on all things Demon Slayer Corps? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest on Demon Slayer and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via Comic Natalie

The post Demon Slayer’s Live-Action Adaptation Unleashes Its Demons With a First Look appeared first on ComicBook.com.

For years, the worlds of North American comic books and Japanese manga have gone head-to-head in countless ways. While the latter continues to outsell comics from the likes of Marvel and DC, outlets like the Marvel Cinematic Universe rake in untold profits by adapting major comic book storylines. While there have been instances of universes colliding that see classic Marvel superheroes meeting major anime figures, a new X-Men series has been influenced by certain members of the Demon Slayer Corps. Considering the current Marvel series is one for a character who has never had their own comic before, this makes for quite the crossover.

The character known as Magik, aka Illyana Rasputin, has seen some big years in recent memory. Never before having her own solo series until recent days, Magik has made appearances in some big projects as of late. In the multiplayer video game, Marvel Rivals, she can be picked to teleport across the map and use her Soul Sword to strike at enemies. Prior to Marvels, the sister of Colossus was a major character in Marvel’s Midnight Sons. Magik even was a part of a live-action film as she was played by actress Anya Taylor-Joy in Fox’s New Mutants. Finally getting her own Marvel Comic, writer Ashley Allen confirmed that her new take on Illyana has some major influences from the anime world.

[RELATED: Magik Headlines Her First X-Men Solo Series]

Demon Slayer Magic

In a recent interview with outlet AIPT Comics, Ashley Allen explained that Demon Slayer was a major influence on Magik’s current series as the X-Man cuts her way through scores of demons. Here’s what Allen had to say when mentioning the Demon Slayer Corps along with other big anime series that influenced the latest Marvel comic,

“I would say our tone is more supernatural, with a few horror elements sprinkled throughout! In my writing, I always aim to have a sense of hope in every scene while not shying away from those darker elements of a supernatural story. To that end, my goal for this series was to have lots of action combined with softer moments for Illyana’s heart of gold to shine through. I grew up with manga so I wanted to channel my favorite series like Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Demon Slayer, among others.”

Magik’s Supernatural Side

Illyana might be a mutant but her story is set deep in the supernatural side of the Marvel Universe. The X-Man has long been linked to the underworld locale known as “Limbo,” harboring a demonic side of herself known as the Darkchylde. Her mutant powers allow her to create portals that help her to teleport from one spot to another but its in her Soul Sword that her mastery of the supernatural shines through. Rasputin has become such a powerful force in the supernatural side of the Marvel Universe that she has often been thought of as a potential heir to the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Needless to say, Magik’s popularity and new series will continue to take Illyana to new heights in the comics and beyond.

Want to see what the future holds for the Demon Slayer Corps and Marvel’s foray into all things anime? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Demon Slayer and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via AIPT

The post Demon Slayer Inspired New X-Men Series (And Here’s How) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer is no stranger to the silver screen. The story of Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps is one that became so popular that its first film, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, remains the most successful anime film of all time. Considering that Ufotable and the shonen series had serious competition with previous juggernauts from Studio Ghibli, this was no easy feat to achieve this title. Later this year, the anime adaptation is aiming to outdo Mugen Train with the release of the first film of a trilogy adapting the Infinity Castle Arc. Planned as the grand finale of the series, the shonen franchise might have accidentally spilled the beans as to when we can expect the Infinity Castle to hit the big screen.

To date, the Demon Slayer franchise has released three films into theaters, with the first hitting serious heights thanks to its original story and eye-popping animation. The Mugen Train movie was then followed by compilation films in Demon Slayer: To The Swordsmith Village and Demon Slayer: To The Hashira Training. The two latest feature-length films were compilation movies that took episodes from the anime and stitched them together to both celebrate previous season finales while giving anime fans a look at what’s to come. Infinity Castle will follow in the footsteps of Mugen Train in that it will present an entirely original story that has yet to arrive on the small screen.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Anime to End With Epic Movie Trilogy]

The Infinity Castle Swings Open Its Doors This Fall?

One box office website has revealed that an “Untitled Crunchyroll/Sony/Aniplex Event Film” will release on September 12th this fall. While the proposed film isn’t confirmed as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, it certainly checks all the boxes for what might be the first of the trilogy that will end Tanjiro and Nezuko’s popular story. Manga fans already know just how wild the fight against Muzan and his top lieutenants will be so it should be interesting if the upcoming film does the impossible and surpasses Mugen Train’s box office run.

When last we left Tanjiro and his demon-slaying allies, they were left on quite the cliffhanger. The Demon Slayer Corps’ leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, took his own life in an attempt to slow down Muzan, giving the Hashira the opportunity to strike back against the demon lord. While the heroes delivered some amazing blows, Muzan’s regenerative properties hint at the idea that only the sun will cause the villain’s death. Dragged into the Infinity Castle, we last witnessed Tanjiro swearing to take down Muzan as the stage for the final battle has been set.

Demon Slayer’s Curtain Call

The upcoming trilogy will give us the final fight against Muzan and his demonic army, though it was yet to be confirmed if this will end the Demon Slayer anime as a whole. The original manga had a final arc that witnessed the lives of the survivors of the battle following the climactic confrontation, leaving anime fans to wonder if this storyline will make the trilogy or receive its own television season. Much like Mugen Train, we have to imagine that Infinity Castle will be split up into anime episodes for its own television season to boot.

Want to see what the future holds for the Demon Slayer Corps? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Demon Slayer and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via The Numbers

The post Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Leak Might Have Revealed Film’s Release Date appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer is preparing to hit the silver screen once again with the final fight featuring Tanjiro and his fellow members of the Demon Slayer Corps. Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle will arrive as a direct result of the season four finale, which saw the demon-slaying heroes bringing the fight to the demon lord Muzan. As Ufotable’s anime adaptation inches closer to its series finale, playing catch-up with the events of the manga, the supernatural shonen franchise has some collectibles for fans that might be worthy of your time.

When it comes to Demon Slayer, each season has had its fair share of action and killer tracks that have made up their soundtrack. While the first season became popular in its own right, it was Demon Slayer: Mugen Train that proved that the anime adaptation was one of the biggest things happening in the shonen world. The first Demon Slayer movie remains the biggest anime movie of all time, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in profit. While films like Demon Slayer: To The Swordsmith Village and Demon Slayer: To The Hashira Training were compilation films, the same won’t be true of the Infinity Castle trilogy. Ufotable is planning to create all new stories based on the events of the manga for these upcoming films, returning to Mugen Train’s roots.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Anime to End With Epic Movie Trilogy]

Demon Slayer Soundtracks

If you are looking to own the original soundtracks for Demon Slayer’s Swordsmith Village Arc and the Entertainment District Arc, we have good news for you. Ufotable is offering physical copies of these tracks as compact discs, with the Entertainment District Arc also offering a vinyl set. The catch related to these physical editions is that you’ll need to purchase them through Ufotable directly in Japan but we have you covered. You can check out the details for these soundtracks below.

The Infinity Castle Details

While a specific release date hasn’t been revealed as to when we can expect the first of the three movies, Ufotable announced in December of last year. The first Infinity Castle will arrive in theaters in Japan at some point this year, and thanks to the success that the shonen series has seen, a North American release seems like a sure thing. Every movie in Demon Slayer’s history has made its way to the West and the grand finale for the anime adaptation is sure to do the same.

When it comes to Demon Slayer’s future, creator Koyaharo Gotouge has been tight-lipped regarding the idea of Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps making a comeback. The manga itself came to a close in 2020, meaning its been quite some time since we last saw new stories coming from the now legendary manga series. Even if Demon Slayer never creates a sequel series, its legacy will be a part of the anime world for years to come.

Want to keep tabs on the Demon Slayer Corps? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Demon Slayer and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

The post Demon Slayer Reveals a Big Surprise for Collectors (But There’s a Catch) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer’s fourth season, The Hashira Training Arc, didn’t have enough to work with to warrant a full-blown season of the wildly popular anime adaptation. While the term “filler” refers to original anime content not seen in the source material, this fact doesn’t always mean that it is a bad thing to add new scenes to the small screen. Franchises like Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, and more might not have the best track record when it comes to many examples of filler arcs but Demon Slayer might be the exception and if season four proved anything, it’s that the Infinity Castle films would benefit from new material.

To fill those in on the filler that worked so well in the Hashira Training Arc, it was the session that featured the now-retired Sound Hashira working with Tanjiro on his swordsmanship. In the original manga by creator Koyoharo Gotouge, the training session was a brief one, only taking place over the a series of brief panels. In the anime, in an effort to help pad out the runtime, we were able to not only learn more about the training itself, but Tengen as a character. Thanks to the debilitating injuries he took while fighting the demon Gyutaro in the second season, this was a much needed story in learning about the Sound Hashira.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Stage Play to Adapt “Swordsmith Village Arc”]

Infinity Castle Filler?

In hoping for more filler material for the upcoming Infinity Castle movies, its based on how Ufotable handled its original scenes and what the upcoming films need. Without diving too deeply into spoiler territory, there certainly is more than enough room to inject some new arcs into the proceedings. Infinity Castle’s origin debut worked well as the grand finale of the series in terms of the fight against Muzan and his Upper Moons but a giant series of fights could use some more character development in some aspects.

Creating original material is placed under a microscope amongst many anime fans and sometimes for good reason. In the case of Demon Slayer, Ufotable has found the right balance of injecting filler when needed and not going overboard to create new stories that wouldn’t feel right in the flow of the original manga. Here’s hoping that the production house is able to inject some new stories into the upcoming films that feel both fresh and necessary to help hammer home the series.

Future Filler

The Infinity Castle trilogy of films have been touted as the next major chapter of Demon Slayer’s anime but this might not be the end of the franchise. There could potentially be one final arc that would chronicle what takes place following the fight against Muzan, and adding to it might be a viable option for Ufotable. This isn’t to say that new arcs should be created to give the anime more arcs following the Infinity Castle but the filler has worked so far at adding depth to the shonen series and here’s top hoping it continues to do so before Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps take a bow.

Want to see what the future holds for the Demon Slayer Corps? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest on Tanjiro and company and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

The post It’s Time Demon Slayer Invested in More Filler Arcs appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Stage play adaptations of popular anime are becoming big business. Attack on Titan: The Musical ran for two days in New York in October, while the Spirited Away stage performance was a remarkable success and will continue touring the world in 2025. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has also gotten in on the action. Demon Slayer‘s stage performance has been running since 2020, and the play is about to head to the Swordsmith Village while fans await the latest updates for its final arc adaptation.

Based on the manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba follows Tanjiro Kamado after demons slaughter his family, and his sister, Nezuko, is turned into one. Desperate to save his sister, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps to cull the source of the demons and find a cure for his sister. The manga has already been adapted into an immensely popular anime by Studio Ufotable, and the stage play is the next feather in the franchise’s cap as it primes for its debut in Japan.

Demon Slayer‘s Stage Play Takes on the Swordsmith Village Arc

Anime fans will be no stranger to the “Swordsmith Village Arc,” as it was the center of the hit show’s third (and most divisive) season. It’s now time for Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Hashiras, Mitsuri Kanroji, and Muichiro Tokito to be brought to life on stage. The show will run in Tokyo and Hyogo in April 2025. The exact dates have not yet been unveiled.

Shogo Sakamoto will reprise his role as Tanjiro Kamado, with Karen Takahashi and Yoshihide Sasaki set to return as Nezuko and Muzan Kibutsuji, respectively. The debut play was a remarkable success, and subsequent Demon Slayer arcs were brought to the stage in the following years. Premiering in 2020, the show returned to the stage in 2021, 2022, and 2023, bringing the “Unwavering Resolve,” “Mugen Train,” and “Entertainment District” arcs to life.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Season 4 Lands Netflix Release]

Demon Slayer‘s First Stage Play Is Streaming on Crunchyroll

If this is the first you’re hearing about Demon Slayer‘s stage play, then fear not; it’s not too late for you to enjoy it. The first stage play, which adapted much of the Unwavering Resolve Arc, is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. Coming in at a 149-minute-long run time, the play condenses the arc into a neat, feature-length runtime. Fans are still waiting for the subsequent performances to be added to the streaming site.

As for the anime’s future, the franchise is heading back to the big screen for its final arcs. After Season 4 wrapped up the “Hashira Training Arc,” the Demon Slayer Corps are traveling into the Infinity Castle in an upcoming feature-length film. The first trailer was unveiled just last week and promises to be an action-packed movie. The Infinity Castle movie is part of a new film trilogy that will bring the anime to an end. Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga was first published in 2016 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and ended four years later in 2020.

H/T: Demon Slayer Stage Play

The post Demon Slayer Stage Play to Adapt “Swordsmith Village Arc” appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is currently in the works on hitting movie theaters with the first of its new Infinity Castle movie trilogy, and it’s also coming back in an even bigger way with a brand new game, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 next year. Demon Slayer has been exploding all over the world ever since the first season of the anime taking on Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga really took off, and the franchise has yet to slow down. Now it’s getting ready for a huge 2025 with a new game picking up right from where the last one left off.

SEGA has officially announced that Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will be hitting in 2025 for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, and Nintendo Switch on North America and Europe. To celebrate the announcement for the new sequel, SEGA has also released the first look at what to expect from this new entry and you can check it out in the special announcement trailer for Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 in the video above.

What’s New In Demon Slayer – Hinokami Chronicles 2?

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will be releasing some time in 2025 for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, and Nintendo Switch on North America and Europe. While there is no concrete release date for the new title as of this initial announcement, SEGA outlined some of the key differences coming in the sequel. The first of which is the new Story Mode, which is touted to be picking up right from where the first Hinokami Chronicles game left off as it tackles the Entertainment District, Swordsmith Village, and Hashira Training Arcs seen in the anime since that first season.

Demon Slayer has wrapped up its TV anime run for now after four seasons, and with it has seen Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado facing off against their toughest demon opponents. With the anime preparing to come back to theaters with three new movies taking on the longest arc from Gotoge’s original manga yet, Infinity Castle arc, there’s going to be plenty of ground to cover from this next major entry of the Hinokami Chronicles franchise with tons of new fighters potentially filling up the next game’s roster too.

RELATED: It’s Now Easier Than Ever to Watch Demon Slayer’s New Season

What Playable Characters Are In Hinokami Chronicles 2?

Along with the new arcs coming to the Story Mode in Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, VS Mode will be including over 40 playable characters including some of the Hashira that have taken the center spotlight in the last few years lik the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, and the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito. The base roster will not only include all of the playable characters in the original Hinokami Chronicles, but all of the later DLC additions too. The nine Hashira will also be fully playable as well.

SEGA’s team at CyberConnect2 will be behind Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 just like the first game, and they have quite a lot of experience with arena fighters. With physical and digital copies of the first title reaching over four million in total, it’s no surprise to see that Demon Slayer is coming back with a sequel to the popular fighter. Now it just remains to be seen what other surprises could be in store for the future of this title and beyond.

The post Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 Announced for 2025 With First Look appeared first on ComicBook.com.

CCXP 2024 has revealed tons of exciting new anime releases for 2025 – including a brand-new trailer for the upcoming Demon Slayer film adapting the final arc in the series. On December 8th, on the Thunder Stage at the event, Takahiro Sakurai (Giyu Tomioka) and Kengo Kawanishi (Muichiro Tokito), along with Brazilian voice actor Daniel Figueira (Tanjiro Kamado), revealed a sneak peek at the upcoming Infinity Castle film. There’s no official release date for the first entry teased by the trailer beyond a 2025 window; however, it has been announced that Crunchyroll and Sony Entertainment will distribute the film.

The trailer opens by showing Muzan in a monochromatic color palette, delivering his iconic monologue about eternity and immortality. The trailer then shows an absolutely epic sequence compiling major moments from the anime’s previous season,s discussing the impact and indomitable power of being a human. Finally, the trailer shows the descent into the Infinity Castle that was originally seen at the end of the Hashira Training Arc. Ufotable’s gorgeous animation style is on full display in the trailer, making the reveal Crunchyroll’s most exciting announcement at CCXP 2024 so far.

[REVEALED: It’s Now Easier Than Ever to Watch Demon Slayer’s New Season]

The Infinity Castle Arc Is the Demon Slayer Corps’ Last Stand Against Muzan

Based on the original manga by Koyoharu Gotoge, Demon Slayer is one of Weekly Shonen Jump‘s most successful manga ever published, netting over $8.75 billion by 2020, and by 2021, had surpassed 150 million copies in circulation. The series’ charming art style, lovable characters, and terrifyingly exciting action sequences have made the manga a generational success. The series’ straightforward premise is filled with overwhelming passion and dedication, making it far exceed a simple shonen action series.

Demon Slayer follows Tanjiro Kamado, a young boy living with his mother and siblings in the middle of nowhere, when they’re attacked and slaughtered by a demon. The only survivor aside from his sister, Nezuko, who is turned into a demon, Tanjiro sets out to avenge his family and find a cure to turn his beloved sibling back into a human. Along the way, Tanjiro meets other young demon slayers with their reasons for taking on the deadly job, including the Hashira – elite demon slayers meant to help in defeating Muzan. Demon Slayer is available to stream in both sub and dub on Crunchyroll, with Season 4, the Hashira Training Arc, being the latest entry in the series. The manga is available in English through Viz Media.

The post Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Movies Debut Epic New Trailer (& We Can’t Wait) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

One of the best parts about Demon Slayer, outside of its beautiful and expressive animation, is its cast. Filled with colorful and unique character designs with equally eccentric personalities, Demon Slayer’s cast is among the series’ strongest selling points. For members of the Demon Slayer fandom, character birthdays are some of the best times of the year between anime seasons now that the manga is over. Fans often celebrate by sharing fan art or posting official artwork, and 2024 was no different.

One of the most popular – albeit prickly – members of the Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, celebrated his birthday on November 29. Ufotable, the studio that produces the absolutely stunning anime adaptation of Demon Slayer, released a special promotional image of Sanemi on the official Demon Slayer X (formerly Twitter) account to commemorate the Wind Hashira’s big day.

The chibi-fied Sanemi illustration makes the Wind Hashira far less menacing and throws in some adorable details about his favorite things outside battling demons. The illustration includes some of Sanemi’s favorite foods, including a beetle-shaped manju (a sweet bun with bean paste filling) and ohagi (sweet rice cakes). There’s also a matcha whisk pictured beside him in the illustration. Seeing Sanemi surrounded by his favorite sweet treats proves that the toughened demon slayer has a soft spot and an unexpected sweet tooth, making him even more endearing to fans.

[RELATED: Demon Slayer Season 4 Lands Netflix Release]

Sanemi Might Seem Scary, but He’s One of Tanjiro’s Greatest Allies in Demon Slayer

Sanemi doesn’t have a great first impression of Tanjiro and the rest of the gang when he’s first introduced in Demon Slayer. When he first appears in Episode 22 (Chapter 45 of the manga), Sanemi immediately decides to act violently toward Nezuko and presents himself as aggressive and abrasive. Sanemi doesn’t get much time to develop before the final battle in the Infinity Castle, but it does become clear that there are things he’s passionate about outside of his duties as a Hashira.

Without giving away too many spoilers regarding his character arc, this ultimately makes him more sympathetic. When things are all said and done, he reaches out to and shows a modicum of genuine affection toward Nezuko. His ability to change proves that Sanemi is deeply complex as a character and, like other members of the Hashira, is deeply devoted to finding a solution to Muzan’s reign of terror. Because of that, it’s not at all a surprise that fans of the series would take time to celebrate Sanemi and share their love for his contributions in the final arc of Demon Slayer.

H/T Demon Slayer Official X (Formerly Twitter)

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba wrapped up its fourth anime season earlier this year, and now it’s easier than ever to check out these new episodes as the Hashira Training Arc is now available to stream with Netflix and Hulu. Demon Slayer Season 4 was one of the more divisive arcs in the anime’s run thus far. It was not only the shortest season in the anime to date, it was also one that featured a lot of material that was original to the anime’s take on the arc. With the season wrapping up its run earlier this year, now even more fans can check it out.

Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc ended its original Japanese broadcast earlier this Summer, and left Tanjiro Kamado and all of the other Demon Slayers on a massive cliffhanger. As the anime readies to return for a feature film trilogy for the Infinity Castle arc, now fans can stream the English dubbed and English subbed versions of the Hashira Training Arc’s episodes with both Hulu and Netflix. Consisting of eight episodes overall (with both the first and final episodes featuring an extended runtime), you’ll need to catch up in order to be ready for what’s next.

Was Demon Slayer Season 4 Any Good?

Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc was divisive among fans for a pretty good reason. The anime series was adapting the shortest arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga, and expanded that with new material exclusive to the anime. This arc was originally less than ten chapters of material, and was adapted fairly quickly when looking into the overall runtime for the season as a whole. It’s a necessary training period for Tanjiro and the others as they need to be ready for the final fights against Muzan Kibutsuji, but it was not always an exciting one to watch.

Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc focused a bit more of the Hashira fans have yet to spend any real time with during the anime’s previous seasons, but spent a lot more of its time focusing on the daily training for the fights to come. It wasn’t really a big deal for Tanjiro as he was able to make his way through each phase of the training fairly quickly, so it’s not like fans got to see much of the other Hashira outside of this either. But as we get ready for what’s next, the franchise is going in a different direction.

What’s Next for Demon Slayer?

Demon Slayer is now in the works on returning to theaters for the next major phase of the anime. The final moments of the Hashira Training Arc saw Tanjiro and the others lured into Muzan’s Infinity Castle, and are spread throughout for their respective fights to come. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Arc will be spread across a feature film trilogy, but has yet to announced its release window or dates for any of the films as of the time of this publication.

The Infinity Castle arc takes place within Chapters 140 through 183 of Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series, but Demon Slayer’s new films have yet to reveal their scope. This could be where the anime all comes to an end, but there’s actually a final extended arc that takes place after Infinity Castle that truly ends the series. But as Demon Slayer readies for its big comeback, it’s the perfect time to go back and check out all of the seasons thus far and catch up with everything now available for streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.

The post It’s Now Easier Than Ever to Watch Demon Slayer’s New Season appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer’s fourth season didn’t focus on Tanjiro and his young allies striking down demons, rather, it saw the swordsmen training with the strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps, the Hashira. While the original manga storyline might have only been a scant few chapters, Ufotable added plenty of new material and moments to help make the fourth season have a lot to work with. The anime adaptation might be available to stream on Crunchyroll, but for those who have subscriptions to Netflix, it might come as good news that the Hashira Training Arc is arriving on the streaming service sooner than you might expect.

If you need a refresher on the Hashira Training Arc, Demon Slayer’s fourth season consisted of four episodes. Following the brutal battles of the Swordsmith Village Arc, Tanjiro worked on healing his wounds and dove straight into training with the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps. While Inosuke and Zenitsu took a step back from the spotlight in season three, they returned in season four to join Tanjiro in his training. The trio ultimately gained new strength during their training, which will be put to good use in the upcoming Infinity Castle movies that will act as the final fight of the shonen series.

The Hashira Training Arc Arrives on Halloween

On October 31st, Demon Slayer’s fourth season will arrive on Netflix as the streaming service continues to expand its anime roster. Demon Slayer is in good company when it comes to shonen anime on the streaming service, as the platform houses series like Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, Dr. Stone, The Seven Deadly Sins, My Hero Academia, Naruto, and almost too many others to list. On top of arriving in the United States, Demon Slayer’s fourth season will also arrive in Latin America and Canada. 

The Infinity Castle Trilogy

Once the fourth season ended earlier this year, Demon Slayer wasted little time in confirming that a trilogy of movies was on the way. Thanks to the Demon Slayer Corps coming face-to-face with the demon lord Muzan, the Hashira, Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Nezuko have been dragged into the Infinity Castle’s ever-changing environment. Ufotable has yet to confirm when we can expect the trilogy to begin but there are sure to be plenty of anime fans who rush to theaters to check out the fight against Muzan and his strongest lieutenants.

Demon Slayer has had quite the track record with its cinematic offerings. To this day, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train remains the biggest anime movie of all time, scoring hundreds of millions of dollars in profit during its run on the silver screen. Following this initial offering, the Demon Slayer Corps has returned to theaters thanks to compilation films including To The Swordsmith Village Arc and To The Hashira Training Arc. While these two films weren’t able to hold a candle to Mugen Train, the upcoming trilogy might just be able to hit the same heights as Demon Slayer’s first movie.

Demon Slayer’s Finale

While the anime still has some major stories to adapt in the future, the manga ended several years ago. As of the writing of this article, Demon Slayer creator Koyoharu Gotouge hasn’t shared any plans of creating a sequel story and/or spin-off tales that will bring fans back to the Demon Slayer Corps’ universe. With so many Shonen Jump franchises ending recently, including My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen, a Demon Slayer sequel would be quite welcome.

Want to see what the future holds for Tanjiro and his fellow Demon Slayer Corps members? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Demon Slayer. 

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McFarlane Toys is taking a break from Batman with the next wave of figures in their Demon Slayer anime series. Wave 5 includes 7-inch scale figures of Tanjiro Kamado (Daki Battle), Muichiro Tokito, and an unmasked Inosuke Hashibira. Pre-orders are available via the links below with a release date set for November 25th. 

• McFarlane Toys Demon Slayer Tanjiro Kamado (Daki Battle) / $24.99 / See at Entertainment Earth / See on Amazon: Accessories include 2 extra hands, sword, Hinokami Kagura flame effects and display base
• McFarlane Toys Demon Slayer Muichiro Tokito / $24.99 / See at Entertainment Earth / See on Amazon: Accessories include sword, 2 extra hands and display base
• McFarlane Toys Demon Slayer Inosuke Hashibira (Unmasked) / $24.99 / See at Entertainment Earth /  See on Amazon: Accessories include 2 extra hands, 3 interchangeable face plates, 2 swords, and figure display base
• Note that U.S. shipping is free at Entertainment Earth on orders over $99, and there’s a flat $7.95 shipping fee on all orders below that threshold. All orders include a mint condition guarantee. Previous Demon Slayer McFarlane Toys waves are also available here at Entertainment Earth. This includes case sets for collectors. 

What Is Next for Demon Slayer?

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc is the third season of the TV anime, and it adapts the titular Swordsmith Village Arc from Koyoharu Gotoge‘s original manga series. This season reintroduces the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, and the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, to the anime series for a new series of battles against two more members of Muzan Kibutsuji’s Upper Ranks as the demons are getting more intense than ever before. It also serves as a turning point for what’s to come in the anime’s future. 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba wrapped up the fourth season of the TV anime earlier this year, and with the anime’s end announced even huger plans for the anime’s future. The Infinity Castle arc will be adapted into three feature films forming a trilogy adapting the final battles of the original manga series. There have yet to be any release windows or dates set for this new trilogy yet, but you can catch up with it all now airing with Toonami, and streaming with platforms such as Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix. 

If you want to catch up on Demon Slayer, you can find the anime’s first four seasons on Crunchyroll as well as Hulu. Viz Media oversees the manga’s release in English, and Gotouge capped their hit manga several years ago. Following its debut in February 2016, Demon Slayer posted its final chapter in 2020, and Gotouge has yet to announce any sort of manga comeback.

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is about to work through its biggest arc yet. The anime brought the Hashira Training arc to an end this year, and soon, Tanjiro will hit up theaters with a huge comeback. Demon Slayer will span the Infinity Castle arc across three movies, giving the Hashira plenty of time to shine in battle. As the films come together behind the scenes, fans are curious how the Hashira showdowns with go, so we’re here to break down its strongest fighters.

After all, the Hashira are not an organization to mess with lightly. The Demon Slayer Corps is massive, and its long history has made the Hashira legends. Only the strongest slayers are given the title, and these days, its ranks are flush with talent. From the Stone Hashira to the Love Hashira, even the most unsuspecting fighter in the group is a powerhouse, but who is the strongest?

So, Who Is the Strongest Hashira?

When it comes to crowning the strongest Hashira, well – Demon Slayer beat fans to the punch by crowning them outright. During the Infinity Castle arc, it is the Upper Moon One who passes the title to Gyomei, the Stone Hashira. As the oldest living Hashira, Gyomei not only has the battle experience to take the top spot but the raw power. It was made clear during the Hashira Training arc that even the other Hashira fear Gyomei’s power. That enough should tell you just how fearsome the fighter is.

As for the organization’s other fighters, they are nothing to laugh at. Gyomei lived long enough to take his strength to the top, but his younger comrades have also proven themselves in battle. In the manga, Demon Slayer has stressed the discipline a Hashira must have to take the title. Sanemi excels in brute strength while Giyu and Muichiro pair their prodigal talent with their strategic prowess. As for characters like Tengen and Rengoku, their fiery spirits fueled their passionate fights. And even for Shinobu, a character often regarded as the weakest Hashira, is nothing short of a beast. Her intelligent planning and stealthy techniques make her a threat to the Upper Moons with ease. So while Gyomei may sit atop as the strongest Hashira, his allies are in no way far behind.

Of course, the Hashira are not gods on the battlefield. Over the decades, the Demon Slayer Corps has lost countless Hashira in battle, and we’ve seen several pass in this era. Fans of Demon Slayer will never forget Rengoku’s final stand against Akaza, and Tengen nearly lost his life against Gyutaro. The Upper Moons who answer to Mugen are similarly matched in strength, but they lack one thing Gyomei (and the others) lean on. Humanity and the hope it carries cannot be discounted. So even if Upper Moon One has killed thousands, he is missing a key pillar the Hashira hold on to. 

What Is Next for Demon Slayer?

Thanks to creator Koyoharu Gotouge, the story of Demon Slayer has played out on the page, and the anime is now nearing its climax. The team at ufotable has three films in production that will spell out the Infinity Castle arc. No word has been given on when the movies will go live, but fans are hoping Demon Slayer kicks off the comeback in 2025. After all, Demon Slayer finished its season four run this spring.

If you want to catch up on Demon Slayer, you can find the anime’s first four seasons on Crunchyroll as well as Hulu. Viz Media oversees the manga’s release in English, and Gotouge capped their hit manga several years ago. Following its debut in February 2016, Demon Slayer posted its final chapter in 2020, and Gotouge has yet to announce any sort of manga comeback.

What do you make of Demon Slayer‘s roster of Hashira? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on X (Twitter) and Instagram.

The post Demon Slayer: Who Is the Strongest Hashira? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

It’s an easy argument to make that manga is growing in popularity worldwide. Thanks to advances in technology that have amplified accessibility to the medium, North American manga readers are given more options than ever to check out new and old stories alike. In a recent report, one outlet took the opportunity to break down which franchises are sitting at the top of the charts when it comes to overall sales in the West. While there are some tried and true series that might not come as a surprise to those following the manga world, there are some surprising candidates that are sitting at the top of the anime ladder.

Recently, we here at ComicBook.com shared a “report to Shonen Jump advertisers” that saw Weekly Shonen Jump breaking down its biggest series at the moment. In the breakdown, Shueisha noted that series such as One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Sakomoto Days, Blue Box, and Kagurabachi are the top stories worldwide, that are still releasing new chapters, that manga readers are gravitating toward. On the flip side, there are still several manga series that, despite reaching their natural conclusions, that readers are still diving into including Haikyuu, The Promised Neverland, Demon Slayer, and My Hero Academia. While the latest report of most beloved US Manga in 2024 has its fair share of Shonen, there are some examples of stories that exist outside of Weekly Shonen Jump.

North America’s Top Manga in 2024

According to a new report via Circana Entertainment, six manga are sitting at the top of the anime ladder in North America for the first half of 2024. As explained in the new report from Circana’s Senior Executive Director, Kristen McLean, the pandemic helped to boost overall manga sales around the world, and said sales aren’t looking to decline. In discussing manga sales concerning physical bookstores, McLean stated the following, “I urge you to keep with it because I do think that the fans that we accrued during the pandemic are not going away.” The six titles include:

• Jujutsu Kaisen
• The Apothecary Diaries
• Delicious In Dungeon
• One Piece: Ace’s Story – The Manga
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu Academy

Manga Spin-Offs Are Big Business

While it should come as no surprise that the likes of The Apothecary Diaries, Delicious in Dungeon, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End found their way to this list, the spin-off series featured might throw anime fans for a loop. Both Demon Slayer: Kimetsu Academy and One Piece: Ace’s Story are series that are supplementary material to their main franchises. In the case of Kimetsu Academy, it’s an entirely new story focusing on the Demon Slayer Corps in a far lighter environment. The manga itself did give birth to an anime series which is available to stream on Crunchyroll, though each episode is only around one minute in length.

One Piece: Ace’s Story is a trip to the past, focusing on the earlier adventures of Monkey D. Luffy’s older, fire-wielding brother. At present, the series has not been confirmed for an anime adaptation though it’s clearly become popular in its own right. While One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda forged the initial concept, the manga was drawn by Dr. Stone veteran, Boichi. As of the writing of this article, Ace’s prequel tale has yet to be confirmed to receive its own anime adaptation.

Want to see what the future holds for manga in North America? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the medium and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via ICV2

The post New Manga Report Breaks Down the Top-Growing Series of 2024 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Piracy is a crime that never stops. For centuries now, the world has seen piracy take different forms. From thieves on the high seas to digital pirates, the practice always finds a way to survive. A good bit of piracy is now dedicated to entertainment including industries like anime and manga. And with a recent rise in online leaks, the anime industry is doubling down on its anti-piracy stance with a massive U.S. case.

The case was brought to light in Japan by Anime Anime, a popular site dedicated to all things otaku. It was there legal paperwork surfaced that anime licensors and/or distributors were making legal moves against leakers in the United States. A court stateside has issued an order to X (Twitter) to share the personal information of several users who allegedly leaked information about Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen.

What Is This New Piracy Case About?

Now, you might be wondering why this latest pushback on piracy is making headlines. This case marks the first time the U.S. court system has involved X (Twitter) in the ordeal, and the site is a massive breeding ground for leakers. From My Hero Academia to Kagurabachi, tons of manga titles have been leaked on the site. The same goes for anime, and now, two Japanese production companies have managed to rope X (Twitter) into the debacle. After all, the two brands that petitioned the courts are Toho Co. and Aniplex Inc. These two companies are giants in the industry, and they are impacted by leaks quite often.

As for how the leakers were caught, Toho and Aniplex says there are three ways they tracked the 12 accounts subpoenaed. The first method was tracking X (Twitter) users who shared unreleased images of an anime episode before it was launched. The second method was by tracking users who posted episode credits; Several of the pages mentioned would list the staff tied to an episode, but the credits were incorrect. The information was shared intentionally to catch leakers, and for the third method, the companies relied on watermarks to hunt down pirates.

Piracy Has Been a Problem in Anime for Ages

Of course, this latest piracy crackdown proves the industry is set on culling the crime. For decades now, piracy has been commonplace when it comes to anime and manga. There was a time that these mediums weren’t accessible to fans outside of Japan, and the global market responded with piracy; However, much of that accessibility problem has been solved. While it still exists in select regions or with specific projects, streaming has made anime easy to find. The same goes for manga, and yet, piracy is still a major issue for the industries.

When it comes to anime, there are countless sites across the world loaded with unlicensed anime, and many of those piracy services are making bank through ad revenue. Companies like Toho and Aniplex are eager to shrink the piracy ring haunting anime, but such a fight takes time. To start, the companies need to raise awareness about its crackdown, and this latest legal case has done just that. From personal leakers to piracy websites, the anime industry is coming down on everyone tied to the illicit crime. The only question now is whether this strike will pan out. After all, the longer an industry is alive the harder it is to kill. It seems three piracy services pop up in anime for every one that gets struck down. So please, give your support to official anime licensors like GKIDS and HIDIVE and Crunchyroll whenever you can. 

What do you think about this latest piracy crackdown? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on X (Twitter) and Instagram.

The post Anime’s Piracy Hunt Expands with U.S. Case Against Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer Leakers appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer’s fourth season, The Hashira Training Arc, saw Tanjiro and his fellow young swordsmen attempting to both survive and excel while learning as much as they could from the strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps. While the vast majority of the episodes focused on battles that didn’t involve demons, the demon lord Muzan made an impressionable appearance in the season finale. Setting the stage for the final major arc of the anime adaptation, The Infinity Castle Arc, Demon Slayer announced that three full-length movies would cover this storyline. Now, voice actor Natsuki Hanae has shared his thoughts on the Infinity Castle and finally fighting Muzan.

In the fourth season finale, Muzan came face-to-face with the head of the Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki. While Kagaya’s fate was sealed the second that the demon lord came to his home, the Demon Slayer Corps leader was more than prepared for the arrival of the big bad of the series. Sacrificing both himself and his family, he unleashed a bomb that did some major damage to Muzan and allowed for the Hashira to arrive in an effort to kill the head demon once and for all. Unfortunately for our heroes, they were all dragged into the Infinity Castle where the movies will give them the fight of their lives.

Tanjiro Is Ready For the Infinity Castle

In a recent interview, Natsuki Hanae shared the following regarding his excitement for the upcoming trilogy of films, “We are finally entering the Infinity Castle and as Tanjiro, I’m really pumped to finally be able to fight against Muzan. Everyone, please cheer for him and join forces with Tanjiro to defeat Kibutsuji Muzan together! I will do my best and put my heart into playing the role of Tanjiro in Japan. So please everyone, send your power to Japan. Thank you very much.” You can check out the full interview by clicking the video below.

As of the writing of this article, Ufotable has been tight-lipped regarding when we can expect the Demon Slayer trilogy of films to hit theaters. Considering how popular the past Demon Slayer films were, the Infinity Castle trilogy is sure to make an impression both on anime films and on the worldwide box office. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train remains the number-one anime film of all time, so it should be interesting to see if these upcoming movies can overtake the previous movie. 

Want to stay up to date on the Infinity Castle trilogy? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest on the Demon Slayer Corps. 

The post Demon Slayer’s Tanjiro is Hyped For The Infinity Castle Trilogy appeared first on ComicBook.com.

To The Hashira Training Arc saw Tanjiro and his friends training alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ strongest swordsmen in an effort to prepare themselves for the upcoming Demon Slayer finale. On top of familiar faces such as the Love Hashira, Mist Hashira, and Water Hashira, the Rock Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, not only was given more screen time but viewers were able to learn more about the strongest member of the Corps. Set to play a significant role in the upcoming trilogy of films that will document the Infinity Castle Arc, one Demon Slayer fan has put a new spin on the Rock Hashira via cosplay.

For those who want a refresher on the Rock Hashira, Gyomei originally ran an orphanage where he cared about nothing other than taking care of those who took residence inside his humble abode. Unfortunately, thanks to one orphan striking a deal with a demon to save his own skin, Himejima was taught a horrifying lesson that in this demonic world, no one is safe. Losing all of his orphans save for one, Gyomei discovered just how strong he could truly be but still was wrongly convicted for his orphans’ deaths. Saved by the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, Gyomei would go on to become a being that demons feared.

The Rock Hashira Returns

When last we left Gyomei, he was attempting to make sure that the demon lord Muzan was no longer a blight on the land. Unfortunately for the Rock Hashira and his comrades-in-arms, the big bad of the series had a trick up his sleeve as he pulled all the Hashira, along with Tanjiro and his young friends, into the Infinity Castle. Whenever the anime does return, it will do so on the big screen and kick off a series of battles that will end Demon Slayer with a bang. 

As of the writing of this article, Demon Slayer’s trilogy of films have yet to reveal their release dates. Based on the schedule of previous anime seasons, we might be seeing the anime adaptation continue for several years in the future. Since Demon Slayer’s manga ended several years prior, readers know just how big the grand finale will be in the anime if it follows the source material. 

Want to stay up to date on the future of Demon Slayer? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on the Demon Slayer Corps. 

The post Demon Slayer Cosplay Revisits The Rock Hashira appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is currently in the works on returning with a new feature film trilogy, and one awesome cosplay is helping to already terrify foes with Kokushibo! Demon Slayer’s anime will be returning for a new feature film trilogy adapting the Infinity Castle Arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series. This arc showcases the final battles between the Hashira and the final members of Muzan Kibutsuji’s Upper Ranks, and that means we’ll soon be seeing Kokushibo and some more powerful demons in full action after they were first introduced back in the third season of the anime. 

Kokushibo was teased as the strongest member of the Upper Ranks that the others answered to, but it’s unclear as to what kind of power he has at his disposal. Outside of his frightening look reminiscent of someone Tanjiro Kamado has seen in his visions of the past, it’s clear that fans will definitely need to keep an eye on this demon when Demon Slayer’s anime returns. Until then, artist artistjodysteel on Instagram is hyping up the villain with some truly striking cosplay. 

How to Catch Up With Demon Slayer

If you wanted to catch up with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, you can find all four seasons of the TV anime and Mugen Train arc film now streaming with Crunchyroll. They tease the events of Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc as such, “To the Hashira Training… The members of the Demon Slayer Corps and their highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira. In preparation for the forthcoming final battle against Muzan Kibutsuji, the Hashira Training commences. While each carry faith and determination within their hearts, Tanjiro and the Hashira enter a new story.”

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has also announced following the end of Season 4 that will be continuing with a full feature film trilogy. Adapting the Infinity Castle arc, this new film trilogy will be taking on some of the final battles that fans got to see in the original manga. A release window, staff, or cast information has yet to be announced for any of the three films as of the time of this publication, however.

If you actually wanted to read ahead and see what’s coming in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, you can find the complete release of the manga series with Viz Media’s digital Shonen Jump library or Shueisha’s MangaPlus service. 

The post Demon Slayer Cosplay Gets Scary With Kokushibo appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba recently brought its fourth season to a close, but the Funko Pops aren’t taking any breaks. Another big wave of Demon Slayer Funko Pops is set to be released today, August 9th at 12pm ET, and it will include a Tengen Vs Gyutaro Pop Moment, Demon Form Nezuko, Sun Breathing Tanjiro, Flash Back Tengen, and more.  

A full breakdown of the new Demon Slayer Pop figure wave can be found below. Pre-orders will be available after the launch time here at Entertainment Earth (free U.S. shipping on orders $59+) and here on Amazon. Note that a big wave of new Bleach and Godzilla Funko Pops were part of this week’s drops, so you might want to check those out as well. 

• Demon Slayer Funko Pop Moment – Tengen Vs Gyutaro
• Demon Slayer Funko Pops – Tanjiro (Sun Breathing)
• Demon Slayer Funko Pops – Nezuko (Demon Form)
• Demon Slayer Funko Pop Keychain  – Nezuko (Demon Form)
• Demon Slayer Funko Pops  Tengen (Flash Back)
• Demon Slayer Funko Pops – Gyutaro
• You can see more of this week’s biggest Funko Pop drops right here. 

What Is Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc?

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc is the third season of the TV anime, and it adapts the titular Swordsmith Village Arc from Koyoharu Gotoge‘s original manga series. This season reintroduces the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, and the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, to the anime series for a new series of battles against two more members of Muzan Kibutsuji’s Upper Ranks as the demons are getting more intense than ever before. It also serves as a turning point for what’s to come in the anime’s future. 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba wrapped up the fourth season of the TV anime earlier this year, and with the anime’s end announced even huger plans for the anime’s future. The Infinity Castle arc will be adapted into three feature films forming a trilogy adapting the final battles of the original manga series. There have yet to be any release windows or dates set for this new trilogy yet, but you can catch up with it all now airing with Toonami, and streaming with platforms such as Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix. 

If you actually wanted to read ahead and see what’s coming in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, you can find the complete release of the manga series with Viz Media’s digital Shonen Jump library or Shueisha’s MangaPlus service. 

The post Demon Slayer Funko Pops Add Tengen vs Gyutaro Moment and More appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The anime industry is ramping up in popularity in both North America and Japan. The medium has seen a major uptick thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic and the easy accessibility of anime episodes and movies that arrive regularly on streaming services. While the medium has seen major leaps in the West, North American anime fans still have a long way to go before they hit the same levels as Japanese fans. In a new report, a consulting firm has broken down some of the biggest aspects of anime’s popularity and which series see the most popularity in Japan and North America.

The study was performed by White Box Entertainment, a consulting company that works with anime distributor REMOW. In breaking down the estimates of the popularity of the anime industry in North America and Japan, the company notes that they do not have access to streaming numbers from the likes of Crunchyroll and Netflix. Instead, the company monitors “bootleg” and “pirate” websites that do have metrics readily available. In monitoring the viewing numbers, White Box was able to determine that Demon Slayer is so popular, that the Ufotable anime adaptation is able to skew the numbers on its own. 

America Vs Japan: The Anime Industry

The consulting firm did release a worthwhile chart that breaks down which anime series are more popular in North America versus Japan, which you can see below. For example, Wind Breaker and Kaiju No. 8 have been far more accepted in North America than Japan, while on the flip side, series such as Konosuba, The Irregular Magic High School, Laid-Back Camp, and more are preferred in Japan versus the West. In studying these figures, it appears that North America tends to focus on the “bigger”, “higher stakes” anime franchises while Japan will lean far more into “slice of life” and smaller stakes series.

On top of these facts, White Box notes that “character drama” series are finding more success in Japan than in the United States of America. Such series including Bartender: Glass of God, Train To The End of The World, and Whisper Me a Love Song are gaining far more attention in the East than in the West. Ironically enough, the baseball sports anime Oblivion Battery has gained far more popularity in Japan than in North America, despite baseball originating in the West.

Want to stay up to date on the “anime wars” between North America and Japan? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest on the anime industry.

Via ANN

The post New Anime Report Compares U.S. Ratings to Japan’s Top Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t called one of the biggest anime series for no reason. From its historic box-office hauls to its TV ratings, the IP is at the top of its game. For some years now, Demon Slayer has even worked with Universal Studios to bring the Taisho era to its theme parks, and a new report has confirmed that deal is expanding.

So if you have any plans to hit up Osaka, you will want to hit up Universal Studios Japan. Demon Slayer is bringing new attractions to the park including two rides and some special menu items.

According to Universal Studios Japan, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba XR Ride Dash Through Swordsmith Village is in the works. The attraction is a VR roller coaster that features the events from Demon Slayer‘s Swordsmith Village arc. This new ride will replace the Mugen Train ride that has been at Universal Studios Japan for some time now. So as you can imagine, this update has been much anticipated.

Beyond this VR coaster, the theme park is giving a Demon Slayer makeover to Hollywood Dream: The Ride. The flagship roller coaster will sub out its music with narration from the Hashira Training arc. So if you want to tackle a roller coaster with Sanemi on hand, you will get the chance to soon enough.

From new park decor to gift shop goodies, Demon Slayer is overhauling its place at Universal Studios Japan. This also includes food at the Swordsmith Village Hyottoko-tei will open. Park guests will be able to sample favorite foods from the Swordsmith Village, so fans won’t want to miss out on the menu.

Universal Studios Japan just opened this new Demon Slayer expansion, and it will run through January 5. If you want to check out more about the series, you can find the anime streaming on Netflix as well as Crunchyroll. So for more info on the series, you can read the official synopsis of Demon Slayer below:

“In Taisho-era Japan, kindhearted Tanjiro Kamado makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life.”

What do you think about this Demon Slayer x Universal Studios deal? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

The post Demon Slayer Expands Universal Studios Deal With New Rides, Snacks appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc is finally coming to Adult Swim’s Toonami block later this Summer. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba recently wrapped up Season 4 of the anime earlier this Spring, and fans are currently waiting on the franchise to return to kick off the anime’s grand finale at a later date. But while the original Japanese broadcast of the TV series has ended for now, the English dub broadcast of the series is really only getting started. Toonami will soon be wrapping up its recent rerun of the Entertainment District arc season, and now the next season is on deck. 

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc serves as the third season of the TV anime series, and during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 weekend it was officially announced that this season would finally be hitting Toonami’s schedule beginning on August 10th. With the TV series airing its third season with Toonami this Summer, it means the English dub broadcast is also one major step closer to its grand finale in the near future as well. Check out the new Toonami announcement below: 

What Is Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc?

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc is the third season of the TV anime, and it adapts the titular Swordsmith Village Arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series. This season reintroduces the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, and the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, to the anime series for a new series of battles against two more members of Muzan Kibutsuji’s Upper Ranks as the demons are getting more intense than ever before. It also serves as a turning point for what’s to come in the anime’s future. 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba wrapped up the fourth season of the TV anime earlier this Spring, and with the anime’s end announced even huger plans for the anime’s future. The Infinity Castle arc will be adapted into three feature films forming a trilogy adapting the final battles of the original manga series. There have yet to be any release windows or dates set for this new trilogy yet, but you can catch up with it all now airing with Toonami, and streaming with platforms such as Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix. 

You can also find the complete original Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga release with Viz Media’s digital Shonen Jump library if you wanted to read ahead in the story instead. 

The post Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc Toonami Premiere Date Announced appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba needs no introduction. From its first chapter to its latest season, the series has become a global hit. Thanks to characters like Tanjiro, the heroes of Demon Slayer are legends now, and the series’ villains are nothing to laugh at. Muzan proved his fierce power at the end of Demon Slayer season four this year, and now, his Infinity Castle is going viral after a fan recreated it in… Minecraft.

Yes, that is right. The Infinity Castle has found its way into Minecraft, so you have never seen the stronghold quite like this.

Demon Slayer‘s new stronghold was brought to life in Minecraft by 9 Element Fox on TikTok as you can see below. The video begins easily enough as you watch an avatar sink below the Earth’s crust, but things get wild from there. It doesn’t take long for the Infinity Castle to appear, and honestly? The Minecraft recreation is nothing short of brilliant.

Obviously, fans of Demon Slayer are eager to see more of the Infinity Castle. The show’s fourth season teased the stronghold in its premiere, but we had to wait until the finale for a full look. After infiltrating the Demon Slayer headquarters, Muzan has brought the group into his castle to fight hordes of demons as well as his Upper Moons. The Hashira will be tested like never before now that they’re in the castle. So if you want to see more of the Infinity Castle, Demon Slayer has a movie trilogy in the works that will explore its secrets.

Want to catch up on Demon Slayer? You can find the hit anime streaming on Hulu as well as Crunchyroll. So for more info on the series, you can read its official synopsis below:

“It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself.”

What do you think about this Demon Slayer tribute? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

The post Demon Slayer Brings the Infinity Castle to Minecraft in Viral Video: Watch appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Demon Slayer’s fourth season has ended with a bang. Quickly following the conclusion of the Hashira Training Arc, Ufotable confirmed that the series would continue via three theatrical films that will cover the battles taking place in the Infinity Castle Arc. It’s no secret that a great anime takes time to create as it takes a lot of moving pieces to forge a story, especially one as dynamic as Tanjiro’s. In the upcoming Blu-Ray for the fourth season, Demon Slayer revealed that the Hashira Training Arc’s anime adaptation has been in the works for longer than you might expect.

Demon Slayer’s fourth season didn’t see Tanjiro taking on demons, for the most part, but rather, had the anime protagonist focusing on his skills by learning from the Hashira. Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu went through hell and back to make sure that their skills were at their highest level, which makes sense considering the challenges that are lying in wait. The Demon Lord Muzan is vying to take Nezuko to help him in his quest to survive in the sun, as the Swordsmith Village Arc changed the game. When the latest season ends, Tanjiro and the Hashira find themselves trapped in the Infinity Castle and will have some of their biggest battles taking place in the movie.

Demon Slayer’s Hashira Beginnings

In the upcoming Demon Slayer Season Four Blu-Ray Set, it is revealed that the anime season first began production in 2022. This means that it was being worked on while the second season was still airing. The first episode storyboard draft was updated on April 16, 2022 and dubbing began later that year on June 2. While the Infinity Castle films have yet to reveal their release dates, this previous schedule hints to the idea that anime fans might not be waiting as long as they might think.

Demon Slayer’s original story that took place in the manga ended in 2020, meaning that the anime has taken some time in playing catch-up with Tanjiro’s story. Unfortunately, creator Koyoharu Gotouge hasn’t confirmed that a season and/or spin-off is on the way so you might want to prepare to say goodbye to Tanjiro and his friends forever when it comes to the anime and the upcoming film trilogy.

Want to see what the future holds for the Demon Slayer Corps? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on Tanjiro and company. 

Via X 

The post Demon Slayer Began Work on Hashira Training Arc Way Before We Knew appeared first on ComicBook.com.

It’s no secret that anime is growing by leaps and bounds. While Anime Expo recently took place in California, Crunchyroll is set to return to the West Coast to take San Diego Comic-Con by storm. Along with some big announcements, the streaming service has revealed some major concerts that will be available for ticket holders to attend. The first will feature LiSA, the singer responsible for legendary anime tracks from Demon Slayer, Sword Art Online, and My Hero Academia. The second will focus on the Straw Hat Pirates and bring One Piece’s Symphonic Voyage to the States.

LiSA Concert

Here’s how Crunchyroll describes the concert featuring LiSA later this month, “Crunchyroll is announcing a once-in-a-lifetime anime and music experience from July 25 – 28 at San Diego Comic-Con. On Friday, July 26, the Crunchyroll Concert Series will take over The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park with global J-pop sensation LiSA. The concert is free to all San Diego Comic-Con badge holders.* 

The description continues, “On Friday night, ahead of the North American theatrical debut of global J-pop sensation LiSA’s concert film LiVE is SMiLE ALWAYS -LANDER- on August 17, the iconic voice behind countless hit anime themes will perform in the U.S. for the first time in nearly 10 years. LiSA returns to the U.S. as Spotify’s 2020 Most Played Japanese Artist Overseas and currently has 4.1 million monthly listeners on the platform—accolades driven by her global appeal. Experimental musician and performance artist Alice Longyu Gao will open the evening with a set inspired by her deep connection to NANA, a classic anime about romance and music.”

One Piece Concert

On the flip side, here’s how Crunchyroll describes the One Piece 25th Anniversary: Symphonic Voyage hitting California, “Toei Animation and Crunchyroll are teaming up at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con to bring fans a mix of immersive One Piece activations that features the showcase event, the One Piece 25th Anniversary: Symphonic Voyage. Produced for San Diego Comic Con 2024, the One Piece 25th Anniversary: Symphonic Voyage is a live outdoor concert experience celebrating Toei Animation’s worldwide hit series One Piece as part of the franchise’s global 25th anniversary celebration. This once-in-a-lifetime One Piece experience will be performed by the San Diego Symphony at the iconic The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and is free with open limited seating, on a first-come, first-served basis, to all San Diego Comic-Con badge holders.”

The concert description continues, “Setting sail at on Saturday, July 27 at 7:00 pm, the One Piece 25th Anniversary: Symphonic Voyage with the 40+ piece San Diego Symphony will transport concertgoers on a 90-minute long immersive voyage combining emotional soundscapes and aerial pyrotechnics based on some of the most memorable moments from One Piece, the epic series created by Eiichiro Oda and produced by Toei Animation – now anime’s longest running global phenomenon.”

Via Press Release

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba might have ended its fourth season earlier this week, but one awesome cosplay is showing off the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji’s athletic prowess! Demon Slayer Season 4 tackled the events of the Hashira Training arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series. While this new season was mostly new material for the anime release, fans got to see a new side of each of the Hashira while they prepared for the final fight against Muzan Kibutsuji. But one Hashira that didn’t get as much screen time as the others was Mitsuri, as Tanjiro finished her training fairly quickly. 

Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc didn’t feature much of Mitsuri outside of a few short scenes because fans got to see so much of her in action during the previous season. But even then, she along with the rest of the Hashira got some key moments in the final episode of the season as they all took on Muzan for the first real time. Mitsuri’s fighting style is iconic in its own right, and artist @y25_m25 on X has gone viral with fans for tapping into that style perfectly through cosplay. Check it out: 

How to Catch Up With Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has announced following the end of Season 4 that will be continuing with a full feature film trilogy. Adapting the Infinity Castle arc, this new film trilogy will be taking on some of the final battles that fans got to see in the original manga. A release window, staff, or cast information has yet to be announced for any of the three films as of the time of this publication, however. But that also means there’s plenty of time to catch up with the Demon Slayer anime. 

You can find all four seasons of the TV anime and Mugen Train arc film now streaming with Crunchyroll. They tease the events of Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc as such, “To the Hashira Training… The members of the Demon Slayer Corps and their highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira. In preparation for the forthcoming final battle against Muzan Kibutsuji, the Hashira Training commences. While each carry faith and determination within their hearts, Tanjiro and the Hashira enter a new story.”

If you actually wanted to read ahead and see what’s coming in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, you can find the complete release of the manga series with Viz Media’s digital Shonen Jump library or Shueisha’s MangaPlus service. 

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