Forum - View topicDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (TV + movies) (w/ index).
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3443 |
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As an anime-only original scene, it's clear the animators' intent falls flat for viewers not of its home region. Having rewatched it and referenced back to the era this franchise is based on (Taisho), there's a definite symbolism in depicting Muzan's entrance in this specific manner. The Taisho era is the short time frame just after the Meiji, where Japan opens up to the outside world after isolationism and embraces modernity. Modernity in some cases being the different style of clothing worn by the people who not long ago the Japanese were referring to the "Southern Barbarians". At this point, the wave of modernization brought on with no considerable impetus from the Bakumatsu civil war has more or less swept through the country, with traditionalism embodied by the Ubuyashiki (his clothing, the almost ritualistic manner of his meetings with the Pillars etc.) on its last legs by the early 20th century. Considering Muzan is not averse to using contemporary European medical equipment in his studies towards finding the cure to his weakness to sunlight, having extensively rummaged through the knowledge of Japan's traditional medical texts for so long that he's concluded it is no longer of use to him, one could see Muzan's entrance into the Ubuyashiki mansion unopposed as just another metaphor for the country changing irreversibly when faced with the unstoppable tide of modernity. Muzan only has to step on the living corpse that is the current Master for the metamorphosis to be complete. The above could be the intent of the animators, considering how much time was spent into it that it did indeed extend the episode beyond its usual run-time. Or it could be just another rant from a virtual nobody seeing too much into what is effectively a filler scene? Perception is everything in this day and age, as is interpretation. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Well, that dramatic entrance certainly got me pumped for the next episode. The two leaders of the opposing forces are meeting and it is entirely appropriate that said meeting be introduced with the appropriate gravitas and dread. Well done. Poop is about to get real, folks, and I cannot wait!
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4997 |
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That sure was an explosive finale (in many ways). It perfectly set up the final arc and succeeded in showing that taking out Muzan will be anything but easy, plus there is the whole castle filled with demons thing before that to worry about. All that said, the final arc being cut into three movies makes me a lot less hyped since that will make it a pretty damn long time until I will be able to see it all being based in Europe. They might do mini-seasons out of every movie but that is a big if.
The season as a whole I liked, a large part of that is me being a big slice of life guy so I enjoyed learning a bit more about the characters and them having a fun time being tortured/training. If you are not into the slower pace and less battle focus I can see the season being a drag. |
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Gina Szanboti
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It was pretty funny that all the while everyone is being transported to the labyrinth castle and slayers are falling like rain, poor demon doctor is stuck with her hand still in Muzan's chest.
They're going to milk this for a couple more years, huh. |
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ACｘS
 Posts: 1226 |
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Final:
What's that? You want an encore of his slo-mo walk? You got it! Man, I have to admit: Demon Slayer has one of the best cinematography in modern anime. ufotable is sparing no effort (or budget) to blow you away with the production. We got some clarification on Ubuyashiki, at least: he is distantly related to Muzan, and the Demon Slayer Corps was his family line's response to the latter's threat. His disease was a hereditary curse because of Muzan. I guess that's about it. I do like how Tamayo appeared at the end; it was a clue that Ubuyashiki wanted to have her on his suicidal mission right from episode one. I don't like how his Foresight ability was revealed, however; it's a deus ex machina to explain the buildup in a blatantly convenient manner. "How did Ubuyashiki know exactly at what time Muzan will arrive?" "How did Ubuyashiki know exactly when to detonate his bombs?" "How did Ubuyashiki know exactly at what time should Himejima be on standby?" "How did Ubuyashiki know exactly at what time should Tamayo be on standby?" "How did Ubuyashiki—" "LOOK, HE HAD FORESIGHT, HE JUST KNEW, OKAY!" But other than that, this episode was excellent. The final exchange between Muzan and Ubuyashiki, though a little drawn out (a habit Demon Slayer tends to have), was impactful. The sequence to defeat Muzan the moment the bombs went off was immaculate. The chain reaction that put Ubuyashiki's plan into motion was impeccable. This was the perfect setup for the climactic Infinity Castle Arc which will be 3 movies in total. Of course, I'm hyped up. We're expecting a Wrestlemania of a Demon Slayer fiesta next! As for this season, I will give it a 7.5/10. As tempted as I honestly am, I won't call this a "cooling-off season". All the previous seasons have been high-key, with Tanjiro meeting one demon after another that is stronger than before. This is a "preparatory" season that is warranted, especially when the next one would be particularly climactic, and since the Hashira will be central in the Infinity Castle arc, some background story of selected Hashira would be appropriate. Sans the explosive final episode, the season had been smooth sailing, and it was enjoyable nonetheless. Now, there's no turning back and we're off to the grand stage. Let's go! |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Well, that was some pretty impressive table setting. That might have been the most beautiful explosion scene I've ever seen animated. I hope Muzan's assumption is wrong and the Master's wife and two small children weren't part of it but I guess we'll see. It's going to be torture waiting for the three movies but I'll certainly enjoy watching them on the big screen. As for this Arc, I rate it Good. By far the least engrossing of the Arcs to date but as I say it was designed to set the table for the climax and here we are.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3443 |
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#8 End
And with that extra-long finale, the naysayers get their wish. There will be no more adaptations which are filler-filled and last part of or for an entire season. The final arc will be told in three movies, which if desired can be split into individual episodes the same way the train movie was. No more masochistic watching for the resident reviewer who has wanted time to stand still since several seasons go; he can finally move on with his life since the movies will be reviewed by someone else more receptive to the franchise. A lot of the animation is repeated this episode, what with Muzan again making his entrance with a slight variation from the week before. For me, it was less the entrance and more of what Ubuyashiki had to say before he set off the trap (what a way to sound the gong for the final showdown). Muzan is the distant ancestor of the Ubuyashikis (most likely a cadet branch of a clan) and they have been cursed to die prematurely yet gifted with the tools to ensure their foremost wish can be achieved with enough time and preparation. That time is now: for the first time in over a thousand years Muzan's whereabouts are known and he is forced into committing everything he has to annihilate the Slayer Corps once and for all to survive. As the literal lord of the Infinite Castle, he has every demon in existence in reserve and the Corps can make no headway towards killing him until the Castle is neutralised. At least the Corps don't start from scratch, Tamayo is going to die but it doesn't sound like she's bluffing with what she told Muzan. With Shinobu's help they came up with something to weaken him slowly in the ongoing battle of attrition. Casual viewers will have to wait until the movies are ready to find out what that is. Although his time in the spotlight is brief, Ubuyashiki has proven just how determined his clan's millennia-old wish is. Even Muzan was rendered speechless by the depths to which he would sink to gain even the slightest advantage in the quagmire to come. It's not stated whether his wife and two daughters in the mansion were in the know about what was to come, but it wouldn't surprise me if they went gladly to their deaths regardless. The clan seems conditioned to their ultimate goal to the point where common sense and self-preservation no longer apply (especially the latter if males are doomed to perish before the age of 30). As far-fetched as it is, explaining how the Ubuyashiki clan is so wealthy makes their numerous logistical challenges less impossible to surmount. They've planned for so long to get to this point, it's up to the remaining Slayers to prove Ubuyashiki's earlier assertion that his crop of Slayers is the best since the Warring States and that it's enough to finish the job. I already knew this arc would be panned in many quarters after reading the noise from the blacksmith arc and wasn't surprised to be proven correct. With this out of the way and almost all unanswered questions from previous arcs resolved, it's less exposition and more action moving forward. There will still be picky viewers who will eventually get sick of the orgy of violence to come, but franchises can't please everyone all the time. Fans will get their fill of the final adaptations regardless, Ufotable have the proven track record and I have every confidence all three movies will do the material justice. The naysayers won't remember anything anyway since it'll be some time before the first movie airs and quite a while until the finale is ready. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3443 |
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Mugen-Jo movie #1 (aka S5 #1-5)
Once again, Ufotable have taken the movie approach to adapting a Demon Slayer arc. The differences with Mugen Ressha are length (this is 2 1/2 hours long) and the significance of the material (we're in the finale at long last). As before, viewers looking out for it can easily see how the movie can be easily spliced into 5 distinct episodes to fill out a quarter's airtime should Ufotable think it's financially worthwhile to do so like Mugen Ressha was. Where to begin? There's A LOT of action in this movie, far more than Mugen Ressha had with its two showcases of Lower Moon #1 and Upper Moon #3. Similar to the movie which preceded it, there's also time for the film to delve into the pasts of certain characters currently holding the spotlight, usually just before they meet their final demise with one notable exception. Critics not enamoured with the franchise will not be pleased with some of the airtime being devoted into the analysis into how to defeat this movie's central villain Akaza, and they'll be bored stiff waiting for the movie to finish after he's finally defeated because the last "episode" looks into his past. As for me, I'd been warned beforehand that the movie does differ from the source material in some ways. Having watched it, I honestly couldn't tell the differences without reading up prior to the watch as everything comes together very seamlessly. Shinobu vs. Douma starts off badly for the Corps, since the latter proves too strong despite the former putting up one hell of a fight. It's personal for Shinobu as well, since her older sister Kanae was also Douma's victim (and she stayed alive long enough for Douma to give up on consuming her due to the encroaching dawn). For all of Shinobu's unorthodox tactics and fighting style as a Pillar, it turns out biological differences from birth prove to be decisive in this duel. Viewers will also appreciate just how different Shinobu is in this movie compared to how she was portrayed in previous seasons, with her VA doing a stellar job despite the brief airtime given. Douma is in the same vein as the Swordsmith arc villains; he doesn't endear himself to the audience and is a narcissistic to the core despite having his past explored for a short time. Kanae gets her turn to avenge both of her adopted older sisters, but she's going to need help since Douma has done a number on her despite not really going all-out. At the very least, Kanae has one advantage which Shinobu dearly wished she had during her duel: the ability to kill demons properly without resorting to poison. Zenitsu vs. Kaigaku is the former's redemption arc. Of all the characters in the ensemble who are part of the Demon Slayer Corps, he's by far the most unpopular because of his personality. Even when he does show he's not in the Corps because of nepotism or association with Tanjirou, his combat ability is questionable because he's not even awake when he's killing demons (like the Yoshiwara arc). So it's definitely a pleasant change to see him actually play a starring role for once, with the stakes much higher because like Shinobu he has a very personal stake in the duel he finds himself in. His change of behaviour was actually flagged back in the training arc, as casual viewers finally discover what was written in the letter he received which changed him (for the better) in the run-up to this duel. One of the shorter battles in length compared to the rest of the movie's offerings (and this is unsurprising given both combatants are practitioners of the Lightning Breathing techniques), it feels better seeing Zenitsu pull through, especially when Kaigaku is frankly obnoxious and elicits disgust more than anything else for his actions and motivations. The centrepiece (and the movie's catchphrase) is of course Giyuu + Tanjirou against Akaza. The latter has not forgotten Tanjirou, and he would have struck him down had it just been a 1-2-1 duel the same way Rengoku took him on in the Mugen Ressha arc. Fortunately for the audience, it's essentially 2 vs. 1 as Giyuu makes a mockery of his lack of self confidence and self-esteem in his contribution to this film. Unlike Rengoku's overwhelming offence, Giyuu is the polar opposite in having the best defences and staying power of all of the Pillars shown to date. And defence is what wins battles over the long term, despite Akaza's absolutely ridiculous combat ability (he has to go further here than he did against Rengoku) and later refusal to admit defeat. And Giyuu does it all with a handicap which Rengoku didn't have for his duel. No wonder Sanemi and the others hated Giyuu thinking he was arrogant; had he worked with the others during the training arc they would have been in a much better position for Muzan's assault given the lessons he could have taught the others during their stint. Tanjirou plays a starring role in getting the obligatory power-up he needs after finally discovering the secret behind Akaza's inhuman accuracy and reflexes, but without Giyuu's ability to stall Akaza long enough for Tanjirou to use the lessons long buried in his childhood past to bring about his new skills it would have been an easy win for Akaza rather than the close (almost pyrrhic) victory the pair won at the end. Akaza is also a surprising villain, since unlike the Upper Moons in the Swordsmith arc he's more tragic in the vein of Gyuutarou and Daki from the Yoshiwara arc. Like Ryuu in the first season spider mountain arc, Akaza has a suitably tragic backstory which changes how viewers see him when he was first introduced during the Mugen Ressha arc and even their impression of him when he first engaged in combat against Giyuu and Tanjirou. It doesn't excuse all of his deeds performed under Muzan's control after he transformed, but I don't grudge Akaza going out the way he did. Unlike many of Muzan's favoured thralls, Akaza never volunteered to serve him and his unexpected survival after he transformed together with Muzan's imposed amnesia made his situation far less deplorable than other Moons such as Douma or Kokushibou. Outside of the set-piece battles and the recollections, the movie fills in details like the new Ubuyashiki head of family's struggle to locate Muzan's blood cocoon in the infinitely expanding domain under Nakime's control. For a boy not yet of age to take command after having lost his parents and older sisters to effectively a suicide bombing, he and his younger sisters are certainly doing a stellar job at keeping up the family tradition given their unusual circumstances. Despite his father's preparations, there's only so much they can do even with Yuushirou's assistance and they'll need a lucky break to track down the cocoon before Muzan neutralizes the poison Tamayo injected him with at the end of the training arc. Through it all, they also have to command what resources they still have in Nakime's domain even as it changes form and size at her whim. So is the movie worth watching if you're not a fan? I doubt anyone is going to see animation of this quality for the battles portrayed for years to come, and that's worth the asking price for admission alone. For franchise fans, there's two more movies to come and this is one hell of a curtain raiser for the final chapter of this franchise. It's debatable if this will surpass the Japanese record for a movie run currently held by Mugen Ressha, but as of this post this movie is already at number 5 on the top ten list and will almost certainly make the top 3 at least on its current momentum. Not only that, it's airing overseas much earlier than Mugen Ressha did and overseas takings will almost certainly surpass Mugen Ressha's take given the hype and anticipation. I expect Ufotable have had a few days off celebrating the commercial success of this movie, and that work on the second is continuing apace. Given the gap between the training arc and this movie, I expect the next instalment in 2H 2026, no later than 1Q 2027. Expectations will be even higher for the second instalment, and if Ufotable pull it off for the trilogy it will be legacy defining for the company and the franchise. |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Anybody in North America get to see the movie this past weekend? I actually took Friday afternoon off from work and saw it in IMAX. There were probably about 50-60 people there, which is actually a lot more than I expected for a 3PM showing.
I'm not gonna' give a deep dive review until the entire thing is done and I can also show screen caps, which unfortunately won't be for another few years. But I will say it definitely stayed true to the rest of the series, in terms of compelling drama/tragedy, dazzling battle-shounen action, and sensational production values. The whole "backstories in the middle of a fight" thing did not bother me and, in my opinion, actually gave a good deal of context to some of the characters. Backstories mid-fight are a staple of shounen storytelling, so I'm totally okay with it. Sure, it'll work better once these movies get a TV cut, but ufotable's gotta' make that money ($70 million opening weekend from Friday to Sunday in the U.S., plus another $11 from Thursday night showings). Given the massive financial success this series is ultimately going to make. I'm actually very curious what franchise they'll do after this. But yes, go see this in theaters. It's quite the experience. My screening even had a preview for Chainsaw Man -Reze Arc- (which I also plan on seeing). |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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If anybody is interested in taking part in a collaboration inquiry related to Demon Slayer, there's a thread in Polls that just got created. Since it's in that particular forum, it probably won't get a lot of happenstance looks. But I figure if anybody might find it amusing to possibly influence the making of a product, here's your chance.
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