[0:00] We need to talk about Demon Slayer,
[0:02] specifically about Demon Slayer:
[0:04] Infinity Castle, the brand new feature
[0:06] film that marks the beginning of the end
[0:07] for this mega popular anime series. The
[0:10] 2 and 1/ half-hour anime adaptation
[0:12] follows the elite members of the Demon
[0:14] Slayer Corps, as they fall head first
[0:16] into the Mantiverse of Madness, aka the
[0:19] Infinity Castle, which is kind of like
[0:21] if Mc Cher designed the Winchester
[0:23] Mystery House, then filled it with
[0:24] nightmarish murder monsters. The first
[0:27] in a planned trilogy to conclude the
[0:29] series, Demon Slayer Infinity Castle
[0:31] finds our heroes squaring off against
[0:33] the brutal demons of the 12 Kizuki and
[0:35] their own tortured pasts as they hunt
[0:37] down the demon king man presumably for
[0:39] copyright infringement on the king of
[0:41] pop. Now, let me be crystal clear. I
[0:45] really enjoyed this movie. But while the
[0:47] film is shattering box office records
[0:49] and heart with its many, many, many
[0:52] flashbacks, there are two big problems
[0:54] with the movie. Number one, I sat in the
[0:57] second row from the front of my iMac
[0:59] screening, which was just an insane
[1:01] experience. I can't recommend that at
[1:04] all, but that was really more of a
[1:05] personal failure. Number two is the
[1:08] pacing. Good lord, we need to talk about
[1:10] the pacing. This was a 2 and 1/ half
[1:12] hour movie that felt like a 2 and 1/2
[1:14] hour movie. And I say this as someone
[1:16] who enjoys 2 and 1/2 hour movies. So,
[1:19] let's talk about it. Join us as we dive
[1:21] back into the pocket dimension of the
[1:23] Infinity Castle to break down our
[1:25] thoughts on this latest chapter in the
[1:27] Demon Slayer saga and talk about how
[1:29] anime needs to evolve if its future does
[1:31] in fact lie on the big screen. Now,
[1:33] whether you're a demon slayer, demon
[1:35] hunter of the K-pop variety, or whatever
[1:38] was happening in weapons, this year's
[1:39] box office has been dominated by all
[1:41] manner of supernatural monsters and the
[1:43] people that dispose of them. And we
[1:45] can't get enough. But while Infinity
[1:47] Castle's been mastering the art of money
[1:49] breathing at the box office, there seems
[1:51] to be one common caveat among all of the
[1:53] reviews, many of which center on the
[1:55] film's pacing. IGN's Raphael Motoayor
[1:58] wrote, "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is
[2:00] a movie that feels like an unedited
[2:02] compilation film, a poorly stitched
[2:04] together series of episodes with
[2:06] horrendous pacing and a never-ending
[2:08] series of flashbacks and what is
[2:10] obviously a very incomplete story.
[2:13] Harsh, but fair, I guess. But why those?
[2:16] Kenneth Seer Jr. wrote, "The film
[2:18] features gorgeous animation, a strong
[2:20] cast, and some of the best action scenes
[2:22] the series has ever produced.
[2:24] Unfortunately, some of these highlights
[2:25] are marred by their condensed plot and
[2:28] poor pacing." And Polygon's Franchesco
[2:30] Kachtorii wrote, "If I have to judge
[2:32] Infinity Castle as a movie, it has one
[2:34] big issue: pacing." And I I love this
[2:37] one because the word pacing is literally
[2:39] in the URL of the review. So, yeah, it's
[2:42] apparently a common refrain. Everyone
[2:44] seems to agree EUO Table went absolutely
[2:47] sicko mode on the animation, but for
[2:49] many people, myself included, the
[2:51] narrative's pacing brings both battles
[2:53] and momentum to a screeching halt. Now,
[2:56] before we get too deep on the subject,
[2:57] we do want to issue a quick spoiler
[2:59] warning for those who haven't yet seen
[3:00] the movie. We're going to be talking
[3:02] about specific spoilers for key details
[3:04] in Infinity Castle. So, if you haven't
[3:07] seen it yet, go flashback to a time
[3:09] where you didn't willingly click on this
[3:11] video of your own free will. Jeremy
[3:16] When it comes to pacing in Infinity
[3:18] Castle, the issue is twofold. Firstly,
[3:20] the film is basically three battles that
[3:22] happen back to back to back. It's
[3:24] literally one battle after another. Not
[3:27] that one. The revolution.
[3:31] It's kind of like when you split the
[3:32] party in Dn D. These events are
[3:34] happening relatively simultaneously or
[3:37] so the audience can assume. But rather
[3:39] than being interwoven, they happen one
[3:41] after another for the viewer. But we
[3:44] aren't treated to a non-stop Fury Road
[3:46] style clash between these powerful
[3:48] breathing styles of the Demon Slayer
[3:49] core and the terrifying blood demon arts
[3:52] of man's minions. Rather, Demon Slayer,
[3:54] like so much shown in anime, relies
[3:56] heavily on mid- battle flashbacks that
[3:59] give us insight into the rich inner
[4:01] lives of these characters and provide
[4:02] the tragic, beautiful context to give
[4:04] these bloody battles major emotional
[4:06] weight. And before you rush to the
[4:08] comment section, I have been watching
[4:10] anime my entire life. I know over mid-
[4:13] battle monologues are a hallmark of the
[4:15] genre. I love them, especially in shown
[4:17] in anime. But here, they wound up
[4:20] undercutting their impact. All of the
[4:22] flashbacks in Infinity Castle feel
[4:24] meaningful. Shobu Kocho's doomed attempt
[4:27] to avenge her sister's murder at the
[4:28] hands of the demon Doma. That was a
[4:30] heartbreaking way to open this film,
[4:32] especially how it ends. Zenitu showed us
[4:34] that time- tested anime lesson that hard
[4:36] work can overcome innate talent when he
[4:38] triumphed over his former brother and
[4:40] thunder breathing arms, Kaaku. And it
[4:42] hit that much harder because we had a
[4:44] sense of the deep emotional scars that
[4:46] each of these young men bear. And then
[4:49] we have the final extended flashback of
[4:51] Aaza's backstory. It's a crushing,
[4:54] depressing glimpse into how an angry,
[4:56] alienated young man finally found peace
[4:59] only to have it ripped away in the
[5:01] crulest fashion possible. It gave rich
[5:03] new layers to a character best known for
[5:05] turning Reng Goku into a human bracelet
[5:07] in the Mugan Train film.
[5:10] Ah. Now, unfortunately, it's also the
[5:13] most egregious example of how Infinity
[5:14] Castle's flashbacks work poorly in the
[5:17] context of a feature film. This final
[5:19] extended glimpse into AAZA's backstory
[5:22] takes place right in the middle of a
[5:23] climactic fight nearly 2 hours into the
[5:26] movie. While the flashback itself is
[5:28] incredible and emotionally impactful and
[5:31] filled with more Channing Tatum than you
[5:32] know what to do with if you watch the
[5:34] dub, its place in the structure of the
[5:36] movie grinds the film's momentum to a
[5:39] complete and utter halt. It got to the
[5:41] point where I heard audible laughter in
[5:42] my theater with each successive
[5:44] flashback. And that that sucks,
[5:46] especially when it's setting up
[5:47] something so earnest and devastating.
[5:49] And this was also an audience that
[5:51] literally cheered when the Crunchyroll
[5:53] logo came up at the start of the movie.
[5:54] So they were the right people in the
[5:57] right place. But that brings us to the
[5:58] whole root of this issue, which is
[6:00] structure. Because to be clear, the
[6:02] story itself perfectly fine. The actual
[6:04] substance of material being adapted is
[6:06] not at fault. Rather, the fault lies in
[6:08] how faithfully this film sticks to the
[6:10] manga. Rather than adapting the manga to
[6:12] a more traditional film-like structure,
[6:14] Infinity Castle instead opts to
[6:16] translate a huge chunk of the manga as
[6:18] it was written, approximately 18
[6:20] chapters or so. And sure, that makes
[6:22] sense if you're looking at it from a
[6:24] traditional anime perspective of
[6:26] adapting for television. Both manga and
[6:28] televised anime function as serialized
[6:30] long- form storytelling spread out for
[6:33] weekly consumption. You can afford to
[6:35] tell more compartmentalized stories
[6:36] because that is how your audience is
[6:38] intended to experience it. Lengthy
[6:40] mid-fight flashbacks don't feel out of
[6:42] place in this context because you can
[6:44] luxuriate and take the time that you
[6:46] need to bring each of these moments to
[6:48] life. Movies, on the other hand, follow
[6:50] a very different language and style of
[6:52] storytelling. In some cases, this can
[6:54] work out perfectly. I mean, case in
[6:56] point, Demon Slayer's previous
[6:57] theatrical release, Demon Slayer Kim
[6:59] Noya Muggan Train, that worked extremely
[7:02] well as a movie, and it felt like a
[7:04] movie because in that instance, the film
[7:07] is comprised of an entire arc of the
[7:08] manga that also functions as a
[7:10] satisfying self-contained narrative. And
[7:13] remember, Infinity Castle is the first
[7:15] of three movies intended to replace a
[7:17] final season or seasons of the show to
[7:20] close out the Demon Slayer series. The
[7:22] scope of the story is so much larger
[7:24] because it's not self-contained. Each
[7:26] entry needs to build momentum as our
[7:28] heroes race against time in this
[7:30] labyrinthian pocket dimension. And while
[7:32] it might make sense from a purist
[7:34] standpoint to just split the remaining
[7:35] chapters of the manga into three roughly
[7:37] equal chunks to adapt into movies,
[7:39] there's a strong argument to be made for
[7:41] taking more creative liberties when it
[7:42] comes to adapting the story. Now, one
[7:45] aspect that makes the Demon Slayer anime
[7:47] arguably superior to the manga is the
[7:49] way in which it's always enhanced the
[7:50] source material's artwork. The anime
[7:52] takes rather broad and minimalist panels
[7:54] and transforms them into breathtaking
[7:56] sequences of animation. They fill in the
[7:59] blanks with artistry and beauty in a way
[8:01] that elevates the story. So why not take
[8:03] the same creative interpretation when it
[8:05] comes to the narrative itself. That's
[8:07] not to suggest drastically changing the
[8:09] core of the material. I mean, God knows
[8:11] there's enough bad anime filler out
[8:13] there. Rather, Demon Slayer: Infinity
[8:15] Castle story could have been remixed in
[8:17] a way that better complemented the
[8:18] medium into which it was adapted. So,
[8:20] what if instead of saving Akaza's
[8:22] backstory until the end of the film,
[8:24] Infinity Castle opened with it and wo it
[8:27] throughout the entire movie? That way,
[8:29] we slowly learn the tragic tale of how a
[8:31] misguided young man looking for peace
[8:34] transformed into one of the
[8:35] bloodthirstiest demons known to man.
[8:37] That would allow Infinity Castle to
[8:39] establish more of a thematic throughine
[8:41] before culminating in that epic final
[8:43] fight. Likewise, the film might have
[8:45] also benefited from intercutting these
[8:47] individual stories in a more cohesive
[8:49] way that made the overall structure of
[8:51] the movie build on itself rather than
[8:53] feeling like a series of separate peaks
[8:55] and valleys. Now, none of this is to say
[8:58] that the manga's original structure is
[9:00] bad. It worked well for that medium, but
[9:02] in the context of a feature film, it
[9:04] feels like there are ways the story
[9:06] could have been modified to make for a
[9:08] better theatrical experience, much in
[9:10] the way that a pros novel is really a
[9:12] onetoone adaptation. Now, to site a more
[9:14] recent example, the Dondadon Evil Eye
[9:16] theatrical release, it was excellent
[9:19] until the very end. It just kind of
[9:20] abruptly rolls credits, and that was a
[9:22] stark reminder. It's literally just
[9:24] three episodes of the new season
[9:25] stitched together on the big screen.
[9:27] Maybe they would have been better served
[9:28] by adapting the entire Cursed House arc
[9:30] into a movie instead of leaving
[9:32] audiences on tent hooks. And this idea
[9:35] of being more loosey goosey with
[9:37] adaptation feels increasingly important
[9:39] because more and more anime movies are
[9:41] getting large-scale theatrical releases.
[9:43] Jiujutsu Kaisen Zero made over 160
[9:46] million worldwide, giving fans a
[9:48] self-contained prequel that expanded on
[9:50] the source material in ways that suited
[9:52] the medium. This October, Chainsaw Man
[9:55] returns after nearly 3 years with a
[9:57] movie adaptation of the Resa arc, and it
[10:00] sounds like it's going to offer a
[10:01] self-contained story that propels the
[10:03] larger narrative forward for an eventual
[10:05] season 2 rather than feeling like it
[10:07] trails off mid-sentence. Now, it won't
[10:09] make Demon Slayer dollars, but its
[10:11] success at the Japanese box office
[10:13] already bodess well for anime fans
[10:15] abroad. But then again, what do I know?
[10:17] Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has made
[10:19] more than half a billion dollars
[10:21] worldwide. Clearly, they're doing
[10:23] something right. We just want them to do
[10:25] it a little bit better. And next time,
[10:28] I'll make sure to move back a few rows
[10:29] because that was deeply unpleasant. When
[10:32] the subtitles jumped to the top of the
[10:33] screen, it was like reading skyriting.
[10:36] Anyway, folks, there you have it. That's
[10:38] the biggest problem I had with Demon
[10:40] Slayer: Infinity Castle, apart from not
[10:42] giving us enough Inoske.
[10:47] [Music]
[10:50] But at the end of the day, we love
[10:52] anime. We love seeing it on the big
[10:54] screen. And most of all, we really hope
[10:56] we don't have to wait till 2027 to see
[10:58] Demon Slayer 2: Infinity or Castle. But
[11:01] tell us, what do you folks think? Did
[11:03] you enjoy Infinity Castle? Do you agree
[11:05] with our assessment? Can you think of
[11:06] any other anime adaptations that were
[11:08] better than the manga? Let us know in
[11:10] the comments below. And for the latest
[11:11] and greatest in the world of pop
[11:13] culture, make sure you stay tuned to
[11:14] nerdis.com.
[11:16] [Music]
[11:26] [Music]