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REVIEW: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train




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Abraham Omosun



Joined: 05 Mar 2020
Posts: 158
PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 5:02 pm Reply with quote
Reading your tweet about making "weebs cry", I was prepared to read a scathing review, This was...pretty okay. I guess I should be happy that something I like wasn't given a bad review though that tweet was gearing me up for something more negative or it being ripped apart lol. Seems like if expectations are kept in check (regarding the movie), it will be alright.

Also, the film has a lot of animation directors at least compared to the heavens feel 1 and 2.
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Neko-sensei



Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:09 pm Reply with quote
It's not a perfect metric, but a larger number of animation directors is usually a symptom of a more chaotic production process.

I live in Japan and I keep asking people why this movie is the one to blow up the box office. Not a single person has been able to come up with a satisfactory response. The most common attempt has been some variant on, "it's a good excuse to get out of the house during Coronavirus," but theaters have been open since late May and showing many better movies, so that doesn't explain it. People who rarely watch movies in theaters will tell me it's because of the story's sibling bond themes and beautiful visuals, but I know that's bunk and there's nothing special there—I can name a dozen recent anime films of similar pedigrees off the top of my head. When asked why they watched it, almost every response is a variant on "my family/friends/coworkers took me out to see it," and as for why they accepted the invitation, "everyone is watching it, and I should be informed about the cultural things people know."

So ultimately, the film's popularity is a result of its popularity. Since the Japanese instinct is to want to have the same experience as everyone else, certain cultural artifacts can break the system and exhibit infinite snowballing (thus Japan's reputation as a place of weird fads). I'm just frustrated that I can't quite find the kernel of the snowball that the Kimetsu no Yaiba film became.
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 14 Dec 2012
Posts: 1380
PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:25 pm Reply with quote
Neko-sensei wrote:

So ultimately, the film's popularity is a result of its popularity. Since the Japanese instinct is to want to have the same experience as everyone else, certain cultural artifacts can break the system and exhibit infinite snowballing (thus Japan's reputation as a place of weird fads). I'm just frustrated that I can't quite find the kernel of the snowball that the Kimetsu no Yaiba film became.


I mean, the manga itself exploded in popularity over the last 18 months to the point it basically became a cultural phenomenon. In almost no time it's broken the 100 Million circulation threshold - with a relatively low volume count at that. So a highly anticipated movie by the same team that handled the TV anime that sparked that explosion becoming an equally huge juggernaut doesn't seem at all surprising.
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Neko-sensei



Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:12 pm Reply with quote
lossthief wrote:
The manga itself exploded in popularity over the last 18 months to the point it basically became a cultural phenomenon.


That is entirely true, and in fact a few older people I've talked to have cited the rash of shopliftings of new KnY installments as a symptom of the decline of Japanese civilization.

However, despite what the media may insinuate, most people in Japan don't really keep up with manga. One Piece movies always do well, but not this well. In my (admittedly highly unscientific and always to be taken with a grain of salt) research, I failed to find a single person who had read the manga before going to see the movie. I did find two people who read the manga after seeing the movie (or after they had decided to go see the movie), both of whom said that they didn't see anything particularly special about it. The manga is definitely a factor, but it's not driving the ticket sales explosion.
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Dab1za9



Joined: 27 Mar 2016
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:55 am Reply with quote
The anime had a broadcast on Fuji TV on golden time a week before the movie and it gained 16.7 rating which is the highest Fuji TV got this year, this alone account for like 9-10 million people watching it and that is with the series available is every streaming site in japan so the number of people who watched the series and want to check the movie are high.
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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 881
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 3:07 am Reply with quote
As a non spoiler complaint, I've felt that the final 20-30 minutes should've been cut for the first episode of Season 2.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:41 am Reply with quote
Even as someone who enjoys Demon Slayer, I have to agree that I did feel like I'd paid to for the dubious privilege of getting to watch the anime in theaters rather than see an anime movie (pretty much the same feeling I had watching Ancient Magus' Bride's theatrical premiere)--right up until the last 20-30 min. That portion did actually feel more like a film, though Demon Slayer always feels like it's being made by ufotable's B-Team rather than by anyone who's working on ufotable's prized Fate stuff. That just kind of irks me on a personal level because I know ufotable can and has done better, but hearing that Demon Slayer was just prone to production troubles makes me want to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

That said, I'm a grand ol softie, and I cried, so make of that what you will. Laughing I enjoy any excuse to see more of Tanjiro being an absolute sweetheart, and Rengoku managed to leave a strong impression on me despite the brevity of his screentime, so I'd say the story managed to do what it set out to.
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Stelman257



Joined: 26 Jul 2013
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:10 am Reply with quote
Hahaha I feel like the reviewer here is talking up the animation in the Heaven's Feel movies far too much. They have some great animation for sure! But in tiny, tiny spurts for the most part. It's pretty clear there's an obvious bias toward Fate there ahaha.
This movie doesn't stop unlike the Fate movies constant lulls. Though to give the reviewer the benefit of the doubt, I will say admittedly, people really talked up the animation of the TV series of Demon Slayer. And while it was also nice and pretty at times, I really didn't think it wasn't anything special for ufotable.
Tales of Zestiria The X had better looking fights. Unlimited Blade Works definitely had better fights. Hell I'd even be so daring as to say going as far back as Fate/Zero had better animation!

EDIT: Oh shit this is an older review wow. Didn't even see it had been reposted/bumped up. I Wonder if back here, the review had expected Heaven's Feel 3 to be as divisive as it was, especially in regards to animation. Or that this Demon Slayer movie would go on to SMASH every anime movie record ever.
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Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 863
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:33 am Reply with quote
The film was good.I actual liked comedy bits more than the dramatic stuff. Shocked by how much I was laughing
I honestly found the first half to basically be a less interesting version of the Alan Moore story,For the Man Who Has Everything. The last 20 mins felt extremely tacked on. You had a climactic battle,and then for no reason you have another one. The spoiler[ death of Rengoku] did absolutely nothing for me. You barely established him as a character,so you honestly couldn't expect me to care at that point. That's something you build towards!
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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:31 am Reply with quote
Neko-sensei wrote:
That is entirely true, and in fact a few older people I've talked to have cited the rash of shopliftings of new KnY installments as a symptom of the decline of Japanese civilization.

Ha, I've read about older people saying similar things during the Bikkuriman craze of the 80's, where kids would steal the character stickers from Lotte chocolate wafer packs. It's always something.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 3:01 am Reply with quote
This has gotten so much hype that I imagine a lot of people might be swept into the theater who've never seen any of the series, expecting to be filled in by the movie. I think they're gonna be disappointed, or confused at best. As for me, I was a little disappointed that Inosuke's dream was so stupid. He's the only one of the main trio (it's hard to count Nezuko when she spends most of her time asleep) who we don't really have much backstory on (unless I've forgotten more than a couple of flashback scenes), so this would've been a good opportunity to maybe look at his life on the mountain before he got the demon slayer's swords. Even if some of that probably wasn't so happy. I mean, it's not like he's ever going to tell anybody about it, except in the most abbreviated terms possible.

Irony of ironies, spoiler[Nezuko was the only one not sleeping this time.] Smile

I had to laugh seeing that Takahiro Sakurai got 6th billing in the Japanese credits for "Sou ka." I wonder how much he got paid for that. Laughing
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 3:35 am Reply with quote
Apparently the film removes a part from the manga with spoiler[Tanjiro meeting Rengoku's family at their residence. Given how little time we have to learn about Rengoku outside of the train battle, that's unfortunate.]
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blahmoomoo



Joined: 27 Jan 2020
Posts: 457
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:35 am Reply with quote
gedata wrote:
Apparently the film removes a part from the manga with spoiler[Tanjiro meeting Rengoku's family at their residence. Given how little time we have to learn about Rengoku outside of the train battle, that's unfortunate.]


spoiler[Considering that happens over 2-3 chapters between the Mugen Train and Entertainment District arcs, I think it's likely that season 2 will start with that as a way to show Tanjiro's renewed convictions and that the events of the movie had an impact on him. Otherwise, Mugen Train could seem pretty optional to the story going forward.]
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:18 am Reply with quote
I feel about the same as this review. I enjoyed the movie and that last fight was great, but it doesn't stand out from the show. It would have been just fine to have it be part of the second season or a few OVAs if that works better for the pacing.

Obviously they made the right choice financially though in making it a movie Laughing
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yuzumei



Joined: 03 Dec 2016
Posts: 53
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:27 pm Reply with quote
The movie was just ok. I really don't see was is all the hype about it. The middle part drag. I get bored fast with fighting scenes involving swords and chopping tentacles. The last fight was flashy but there was a lot of slashing and not much strategy. Also there was no build up for that final fight. The high leveled Akaza just showed up out of nowhere to fight.
The tv show has better episodes than this movie.
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