---
title: 'The Biggest Problem with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ELWilZV7LEg'
video_id: 'ELWilZV7LEg'
date: 2026-06-15
duration_sec: 0
---

# The Biggest Problem with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle

> Source: [The Biggest Problem with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ELWilZV7LEg)

## Summary

The video discusses the pacing issues in 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle', the first of a trilogy of films concluding the anime series. While praising the animation and emotional depth, the reviewer argues that the film's structure, which faithfully adapts the manga's serialized format, leads to jarring mid-battle flashbacks that disrupt momentum.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Infinity Castle** [0:00] — The film follows the Demon Slayer Corps entering the Infinity Castle to fight the 12 Kizuki and their pasts.
- **Enjoyment but pacing issues** [0:45] — The reviewer enjoyed the movie but highlights two problems: sitting in the second row (personal failure) and pacing.
- **Pacing as a major issue** [1:08] — The 2.5-hour movie feels its length due to pacing problems, a common criticism in reviews.
- **Critical consensus on pacing** [1:55] — Reviews from IGN, But Why Tho, and Polygon all cite poor pacing, with flashbacks and incomplete story.
- **Twofold pacing issue** [3:16] — The film is three battles back-to-back, and heavy mid-battle flashbacks halt momentum.
- **Flashbacks undercut impact** [4:20] — Though meaningful, flashbacks like Akaza's backstory occur during climactic fights, causing audience laughter.
- **Root cause: structure** [5:58] — The film faithfully adapts 18 manga chapters without restructuring for a movie format, unlike the successful Mugen Train.
- **Need for creative adaptation** [7:20] — The reviewer suggests remixing the story, e.g., weaving Akaza's backstory throughout the film, to improve pacing.
- **Broader trend in anime movies** [9:35] — Examples like Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and Chainsaw Man show self-contained stories work better theatrically.

### Conclusion

Despite its box office success, 'Infinity Castle' suffers from pacing issues due to a faithful but ill-suited adaptation of the manga's serialized structure. Future anime films should consider restructuring for the medium.

## Transcript

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