Nerdly » ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

19th Sep2025

‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle’ Review

by James Rodrigues

Written by Haruo Sotozaki, Hikaru Kondô | Directed by Koyoharu Gotouge, Hikaru Kondô

First airing in 2019, the anime adaptation of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has broken out as one of the past decade’s most popular and highly regarded anime shows. The successful first series was followed by 2020’s feature, Demon Slayer: The Movie – Mugen Train, which was a thrilling and emotionally devastating work that became Japan’s highest-grossing film of all time. As the series draws to a close, the final arc is confirmed to be adapted into a feature-film trilogy beginning with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle.

For those not familiar with the story, the series follows Tanjiro Kamado, a boy whose life changed forever after his family was slaughtered by a demon, with the only survivor being his younger sister, Nezuko, who was transformed into a demon. To find a way to turn his sister back into a human, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, an organisation dedicated to destroying demons, including the demonic mastermind known as Muzan Kibutsuji.

The fourth-series finale saw the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps sacrificing himself to try stopping Muzan, but the wounded villain ended up retreating. This act also turned the tables on the heroes by trapping them within Muzan’s dimensional stronghold, the Infinity Castle. With the corps separated across the never-ending structure, the fight of their lives begins as they battle through swarms of demons, including the Upper Rank demons – the strongest soldiers in Muzan’s army.

As this is the conclusion to such a popular story, the move to the silver screen promises something big, worthy of being seen in theatres, and this first part absolutely delivers in that regard. The scale is exceptional to behold, with the puzzling architecture containing seemingly unending hordes of demons, which leaves little respite for the characters. Even as the more difficult battles reach their conclusion, there is little opportunity of feeling triumphant when danger still lurks around the heroes. But what truly justifies the theatrical experience is the gorgeous animation, with ufotable providing utterly stunning work that leaves the clashing swords and fast movements to look utterly stunning. Aided by a startling sound design, these pulse-pounding battles are easily among 2025’s best action scenes.

Admittedly, there are pacing issues which hamper things. While the flashbacks and monologues feel necessary to both the story and its characters, their placement can hinder the momentum that was previously built up, particularly due to the battles. At times, it feels as though the pacing is from a stitched-together series of the show instead of a feature film. One hopes that the follow-ups can rectify this distracting issue.

Yet, that does not hamper the extraordinary character work which is central to this story. It is wonderful to see the growth of the figures that fans have long followed, whether it is the comically cowardly Zenitsu becoming serious about his role or Tanjiro honing his battle skills after learning from prior experiences. There are even opportunities to flesh out some other figures, with the feature allowing someone to transform from a character we are glad to see defeated, to a heartbreaking figure who deserved better than life ever allowed them. It is moments like these which add weight to the deaths, as the rising death count of named characters highlights how real the peril is. It all makes for a strong start with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, as the story promises to be a big send-off to the series. If this is just the first part, then we are in for quite the ride.