The Biggest Problem with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle

[00:00] We need to talk about Demon Slayer,

[00:02] specifically about Demon Slayer:

[00:04] Infinity Castle, the brand new feature

[00:06] film that marks the beginning of the end

[00:07] for this mega popular anime series. The

[00:10] 2 and 1/ half-hour anime adaptation

[00:12] follows the elite members of the Demon

[00:14] Slayer Corps, as they fall head first

[00:16] into the Mantiverse of Madness, aka the

[00:19] Infinity Castle, which is kind of like

[00:21] if Mc Cher designed the Winchester

[00:23] Mystery House, then filled it with

[00:24] nightmarish murder monsters. The first

[00:27] in a planned trilogy to conclude the

[00:29] series, Demon Slayer Infinity Castle

[00:31] finds our heroes squaring off against

[00:33] the brutal demons of the 12 Kizuki and

[00:35] their own tortured pasts as they hunt

[00:37] down the demon king man presumably for

[00:39] copyright infringement on the king of

[00:41] pop. Now, let me be crystal clear. I

[00:45] really enjoyed this movie. But while the

[00:47] film is shattering box office records

[00:49] and heart with its many, many, many

[00:52] flashbacks, there are two big problems

[00:54] with the movie. Number one, I sat in the

[00:57] second row from the front of my iMac

[00:59] screening, which was just an insane

[01:01] experience. I can't recommend that at

[01:04] all, but that was really more of a

[01:05] personal failure. Number two is the

[01:08] pacing. Good lord, we need to talk about

[01:10] the pacing. This was a 2 and 1/ half

[01:12] hour movie that felt like a 2 and 1/2

[01:14] hour movie. And I say this as someone

[01:16] who enjoys 2 and 1/2 hour movies. So,

[01:19] let's talk about it. Join us as we dive

[01:21] back into the pocket dimension of the

[01:23] Infinity Castle to break down our

[01:25] thoughts on this latest chapter in the

[01:27] Demon Slayer saga and talk about how

[01:29] anime needs to evolve if its future does

[01:31] in fact lie on the big screen. Now,

[01:33] whether you're a demon slayer, demon

[01:35] hunter of the K-pop variety, or whatever

[01:38] was happening in weapons, this year's

[01:39] box office has been dominated by all

[01:41] manner of supernatural monsters and the

[01:43] people that dispose of them. And we

[01:45] can't get enough. But while Infinity

[01:47] Castle's been mastering the art of money

[01:49] breathing at the box office, there seems

[01:51] to be one common caveat among all of the

[01:53] reviews, many of which center on the

[01:55] film's pacing. IGN's Raphael Motoayor

[01:58] wrote, "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is

[02:00] a movie that feels like an unedited

[02:02] compilation film, a poorly stitched

[02:04] together series of episodes with

[02:06] horrendous pacing and a never-ending

[02:08] series of flashbacks and what is

[02:10] obviously a very incomplete story.

[02:13] Harsh, but fair, I guess. But why those?

[02:16] Kenneth Seer Jr. wrote, "The film

[02:18] features gorgeous animation, a strong

[02:20] cast, and some of the best action scenes

[02:22] the series has ever produced.

[02:24] Unfortunately, some of these highlights

[02:25] are marred by their condensed plot and

[02:28] poor pacing." And Polygon's Franchesco

[02:30] Kachtorii wrote, "If I have to judge

[02:32] Infinity Castle as a movie, it has one

[02:34] big issue: pacing." And I I love this

[02:37] one because the word pacing is literally

[02:39] in the URL of the review. So, yeah, it's

[02:42] apparently a common refrain. Everyone

[02:44] seems to agree EUO Table went absolutely

[02:47] sicko mode on the animation, but for

[02:49] many people, myself included, the

[02:51] narrative's pacing brings both battles

[02:53] and momentum to a screeching halt. Now,

[02:56] before we get too deep on the subject,

[02:57] we do want to issue a quick spoiler

[02:59] warning for those who haven't yet seen

[03:00] the movie. We're going to be talking

[03:02] about specific spoilers for key details

[03:04] in Infinity Castle. So, if you haven't

[03:07] seen it yet, go flashback to a time

[03:09] where you didn't willingly click on this

[03:11] video of your own free will. Jeremy

[03:16] When it comes to pacing in Infinity

[03:18] Castle, the issue is twofold. Firstly,

[03:20] the film is basically three battles that

[03:22] happen back to back to back. It's

[03:24] literally one battle after another. Not

[03:27] that one. The revolution.

[03:31] It's kind of like when you split the

[03:32] party in Dn D. These events are

[03:34] happening relatively simultaneously or

[03:37] so the audience can assume. But rather

[03:39] than being interwoven, they happen one

[03:41] after another for the viewer. But we

[03:44] aren't treated to a non-stop Fury Road

[03:46] style clash between these powerful

[03:48] breathing styles of the Demon Slayer

[03:49] core and the terrifying blood demon arts

[03:52] of man's minions. Rather, Demon Slayer,

[03:54] like so much shown in anime, relies

[03:56] heavily on mid- battle flashbacks that

[03:59] give us insight into the rich inner

[04:01] lives of these characters and provide

[04:02] the tragic, beautiful context to give

[04:04] these bloody battles major emotional

[04:06] weight. And before you rush to the

[04:08] comment section, I have been watching

[04:10] anime my entire life. I know over mid-

[04:13] battle monologues are a hallmark of the

[04:15] genre. I love them, especially in shown

[04:17] in anime. But here, they wound up

[04:20] undercutting their impact. All of the

[04:22] flashbacks in Infinity Castle feel

[04:24] meaningful. Shobu Kocho's doomed attempt

[04:27] to avenge her sister's murder at the

[04:28] hands of the demon Doma. That was a

[04:30] heartbreaking way to open this film,

[04:32] especially how it ends. Zenitu showed us

[04:34] that time- tested anime lesson that hard

[04:36] work can overcome innate talent when he

[04:38] triumphed over his former brother and

[04:40] thunder breathing arms, Kaaku. And it

[04:42] hit that much harder because we had a

[04:44] sense of the deep emotional scars that

[04:46] each of these young men bear. And then

[04:49] we have the final extended flashback of

[04:51] Aaza's backstory. It's a crushing,

[04:54] depressing glimpse into how an angry,

[04:56] alienated young man finally found peace

[04:59] only to have it ripped away in the

[05:01] crulest fashion possible. It gave rich

[05:03] new layers to a character best known for

[05:05] turning Reng Goku into a human bracelet

[05:07] in the Mugan Train film.

[05:10] Ah. Now, unfortunately, it's also the

[05:13] most egregious example of how Infinity

[05:14] Castle's flashbacks work poorly in the

[05:17] context of a feature film. This final

[05:19] extended glimpse into AAZA's backstory

[05:22] takes place right in the middle of a

[05:23] climactic fight nearly 2 hours into the

[05:26] movie. While the flashback itself is

[05:28] incredible and emotionally impactful and

[05:31] filled with more Channing Tatum than you

[05:32] know what to do with if you watch the

[05:34] dub, its place in the structure of the

[05:36] movie grinds the film's momentum to a

[05:39] complete and utter halt. It got to the

[05:41] point where I heard audible laughter in

[05:42] my theater with each successive

[05:44] flashback. And that that sucks,

[05:46] especially when it's setting up

[05:47] something so earnest and devastating.

[05:49] And this was also an audience that

[05:51] literally cheered when the Crunchyroll

[05:53] logo came up at the start of the movie.

[05:54] So they were the right people in the

[05:57] right place. But that brings us to the

[05:58] whole root of this issue, which is

[06:00] structure. Because to be clear, the

[06:02] story itself perfectly fine. The actual

[06:04] substance of material being adapted is

[06:06] not at fault. Rather, the fault lies in

[06:08] how faithfully this film sticks to the

[06:10] manga. Rather than adapting the manga to

[06:12] a more traditional film-like structure,

[06:14] Infinity Castle instead opts to

[06:16] translate a huge chunk of the manga as

[06:18] it was written, approximately 18

[06:20] chapters or so. And sure, that makes

[06:22] sense if you're looking at it from a

[06:24] traditional anime perspective of

[06:26] adapting for television. Both manga and

[06:28] televised anime function as serialized

[06:30] long- form storytelling spread out for

[06:33] weekly consumption. You can afford to

[06:35] tell more compartmentalized stories

[06:36] because that is how your audience is

[06:38] intended to experience it. Lengthy

[06:40] mid-fight flashbacks don't feel out of

[06:42] place in this context because you can

[06:44] luxuriate and take the time that you

[06:46] need to bring each of these moments to

[06:48] life. Movies, on the other hand, follow

[06:50] a very different language and style of

[06:52] storytelling. In some cases, this can

[06:54] work out perfectly. I mean, case in

[06:56] point, Demon Slayer's previous

[06:57] theatrical release, Demon Slayer Kim

[06:59] Noya Muggan Train, that worked extremely

[07:02] well as a movie, and it felt like a

[07:04] movie because in that instance, the film

[07:07] is comprised of an entire arc of the

[07:08] manga that also functions as a

[07:10] satisfying self-contained narrative. And

[07:13] remember, Infinity Castle is the first

[07:15] of three movies intended to replace a

[07:17] final season or seasons of the show to

[07:20] close out the Demon Slayer series. The

[07:22] scope of the story is so much larger

[07:24] because it's not self-contained. Each

[07:26] entry needs to build momentum as our

[07:28] heroes race against time in this

[07:30] labyrinthian pocket dimension. And while

[07:32] it might make sense from a purist

[07:34] standpoint to just split the remaining

[07:35] chapters of the manga into three roughly

[07:37] equal chunks to adapt into movies,

[07:39] there's a strong argument to be made for

[07:41] taking more creative liberties when it

[07:42] comes to adapting the story. Now, one

[07:45] aspect that makes the Demon Slayer anime

[07:47] arguably superior to the manga is the

[07:49] way in which it's always enhanced the

[07:50] source material's artwork. The anime

[07:52] takes rather broad and minimalist panels

[07:54] and transforms them into breathtaking

[07:56] sequences of animation. They fill in the

[07:59] blanks with artistry and beauty in a way

[08:01] that elevates the story. So why not take

[08:03] the same creative interpretation when it

[08:05] comes to the narrative itself. That's

[08:07] not to suggest drastically changing the

[08:09] core of the material. I mean, God knows

[08:11] there's enough bad anime filler out

[08:13] there. Rather, Demon Slayer: Infinity

[08:15] Castle story could have been remixed in

[08:17] a way that better complemented the

[08:18] medium into which it was adapted. So,

[08:20] what if instead of saving Akaza's

[08:22] backstory until the end of the film,

[08:24] Infinity Castle opened with it and wo it

[08:27] throughout the entire movie? That way,

[08:29] we slowly learn the tragic tale of how a

[08:31] misguided young man looking for peace

[08:34] transformed into one of the

[08:35] bloodthirstiest demons known to man.

[08:37] That would allow Infinity Castle to

[08:39] establish more of a thematic throughine

[08:41] before culminating in that epic final

[08:43] fight. Likewise, the film might have

[08:45] also benefited from intercutting these

[08:47] individual stories in a more cohesive

[08:49] way that made the overall structure of

[08:51] the movie build on itself rather than

[08:53] feeling like a series of separate peaks

[08:55] and valleys. Now, none of this is to say

[08:58] that the manga's original structure is

[09:00] bad. It worked well for that medium, but

[09:02] in the context of a feature film, it

[09:04] feels like there are ways the story

[09:06] could have been modified to make for a

[09:08] better theatrical experience, much in

[09:10] the way that a pros novel is really a

[09:12] onetoone adaptation. Now, to site a more

[09:14] recent example, the Dondadon Evil Eye

[09:16] theatrical release, it was excellent

[09:19] until the very end. It just kind of

[09:20] abruptly rolls credits, and that was a

[09:22] stark reminder. It's literally just

[09:24] three episodes of the new season

[09:25] stitched together on the big screen.

[09:27] Maybe they would have been better served

[09:28] by adapting the entire Cursed House arc

[09:30] into a movie instead of leaving

[09:32] audiences on tent hooks. And this idea

[09:35] of being more loosey goosey with

[09:37] adaptation feels increasingly important

[09:39] because more and more anime movies are

[09:41] getting large-scale theatrical releases.

[09:43] Jiujutsu Kaisen Zero made over 160

[09:46] million worldwide, giving fans a

[09:48] self-contained prequel that expanded on

[09:50] the source material in ways that suited

[09:52] the medium. This October, Chainsaw Man

[09:55] returns after nearly 3 years with a

[09:57] 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]