“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train” managed to squeeze more than 17 chapters of source material into a compact two-hour film that left viewers wanting more.
The movie is an adaptation of the popular anime show with the same name and debuted in theaters on Friday.
It became the highest grossing animated movie in Japan’s history when it was released last year and its U.S. premiere has already made 19.5 million in ticket sales, according to a April 25 Rotten Tomatoes article.
It explores the motivation and feelings of fan-favorite character, Tanjiro, while also pulling at viewers’ heart strings with a fairly new character, Rengoku.
The film’s plot adapts the Japanese style of the comic book, creating some questions meant to be answered in later seasons of the TV show. However, the film leaves one question too huge to be left unanswered: Who is Akaza, the demon that appears in the movie’s final 20 minutes?
The movie’s plot resumes where season one of the show ends and gives the audience a brief and delightful reminder of where the heroes left off for their missions.
After weeks of recovering from fighting demons in the previous season and training, protagonist Tanjiro and his group arrive at the Mugen Train to assist one of the heads of the Demon Slayer Corps and investigate the disappearances of humans on the train.
Tanjiro and his friends then become acquainted with Rengoku, a Demon Slayer Corps leader, who plays a major role in the movie’s story arc.
While the protagonists investigate missing passengers on the Mugen Train, the film’s entire setting is the villain, a demon named Enmu, who’s preparing a ploy to devour all humans on the train, including Tanjiro and his crew.
Enmu’s ability involves putting people in an isolated dream state, so the movie’s middle portion takes place in each main character’s dreams.
Luckily, some are shorter and more comical than others, such as Inosuke’s dream where he fights the entire train, foreshadowing a later scene.
Other characters such as Tanjiro and Rengoku get the opportunity to explore their motivation to become stronger and this is really the only chance we get to explore Rengoku’s backstory.
It’s in this middle section where the run-time shows a flaw.
Side characters who perform important tasks such as the children and train conductor who assist the villain Enmu in eliminating Tanjiro, only get quick comments as to why they’re doing these things. After some time, they randomly disappear with no consequence to their actions.
My biggest complaint with this film is the use of Enmu.
Enmu has a genuinely interesting design and ability, but his motives become unclear toward the middle.
We see Enmu at the end of the TV show’s first season and fans become invested in his goals and the reason he’s so passionate about becoming a top member of the antagonist group of demons, the Demon Moons. However, the movie doesn’t explore much of that.
There are no flashbacks and no significant explanatory dialogue. The fight between him, Tanjiro and Inosuke is one of the most exciting parts of the movie but when Enmu is defeated, there’s not
much resolution.
When it comes to themes and core messages, Mugen Train explores what it means to be human and the potential of human perseverance, as well as what separates a human from a demon and how powerful genuine kindness can be.
It also demonstrates how anybody can be a great hero as long as they carry a burning passion in their heart.
This is the only anime movie that can end with every person in the theater bawling their eyes out while still laughing at what’s on screen.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train” doesn’t lose steam and manages to keep the audience entertained with consistently beautiful art and likeable characters.
