By: Cameron Tyo
September, 20th, 2025
Note: This review will contain spoilers for Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
Just today, I was finally able to go to a theater near my house to watch Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, the first of three movies that will be ending the immensely popular Demon Slayer series and, therefore, acts as a continuation of the last arc, the Hashira Training arc, which concluded at the end of June 2024. I was super excited to see this movie right when it released, but I was too busy to catch it on release week, so the second week it was. Now, before we get to the review, I just want to note that I only got into the series this very year. I binge-watched the whole series in about a week, so I didn’t have to wait nearly as long for the movie as many others might have. I applaud those who did, though, because waiting only seven months felt long enough to get me stoked to see this movie in theaters. With that being said, what were my opinions? Well, let me tell you.
The movie begins with the Hashira and many members of the Demon Slayer Corps being dropped into Muzan’s place of hiding, the Infinity Castle, a realm of shifting corridors and rooms inhabited by numerous demons, which serves as protection from the sunlight. As this is happening, “A World Where the Sun Never Rises” plays as the Hashira and corp members get separated into their own tiny groups, and they all go their own ways to find Muzan while fighting various demons that get in their way. These fight scenes showcase the Hashira’s various breathing and fighting techniques, and from the start, you’re treated to the beautiful animations that are characteristic of Ufotable studios. Seeing my two favorite Hashira, Gyomei, and Muichiro, fight together was an amazing treat, and seeing the interactions of the other Hashira was also super fun and cute to see.
After the movie makes its introduction, it shows many things going on behind the scenes outside the infinity castle, establishing that Ubuyashiki’s son has taken control of the head of the slayer corps, in which he draws and marks up paths for the crows to take to be the eyes looking for upper rank demons and relay messages to the people in the castle. We see what a bunch of other familiar faces are doing outside the castle as well, and while it might be for just a few seconds, it’s nice to see that they’re still able to help stop Muzan in an indirect way.
The movie itself has what I like to consider as three mini arcs. All of these arcs contain a battle against an upper rank and either one or two corp members. You have the fight against Shinobu and Doma, Zenitsu and Kaigaku, and Akaza and Giyu and Tanjiro. The first two battles are more quick-paced than the last one and have Shinobu and Zenitsu grappling with their past as they face their respective demons, who are both causes of immense pain in their lives. Doma, being Shinobu’s sister killer, and Kaigaku becoming a demon in spite of Zenitsu, which ends up being the reason for Zenitsu’s mentor and father figure to commit suicide. This causes there to be a desperation in both Shinobu and Zenitsu’s words and actions, and the fights that occur are a spectacle to watch. These fights sometimes stop abruptly to show a quick flashback that shows the relationships between the two who are fighting.
Shinobu has constant flashbacks of her sister’s death and explanation of who murdered her, as well as how she is seen as weaker than the others due to her height, and how she beats herself up for that mentally. Zenitsu keeps looking back on his time with Kaigaku at their mentor’s dojo, where we see the reason Kaigaku hates Zenitsu so much. The hatred arises because Jigoro believes that both Zenitsu and Kaigaku should be his successors, despite Kaigaku feeling far superior and jealous of Zenitsu. The fights are animated pretty well, and there are some epic moments that happen. Seeing Shinobu poisoning Doma after slicing him with her Nichirin sword and her final desperation breathing attack, and seeing Zenitsu use a form of thunder breathing he made up, was pretty hype. The villains were played up as cocky and arrogant. It makes you really want to root for the people fighting them. Every time I saw Doma’s smirk and heard his taunts, I was rooting for Shinbou all the way. The battles eventually end with various outcomes. Won’t say what happens. You might cry, you might laugh. Who knows.
The bulk of the movie is the fight between Akaza and Giyu and Tanjiro. This battle was longer than the last, and Giyu and Tanjiro teamed up to fight Akaza alone. There were many moments in the battle where all hope would have been lost if either Giyu or Tanjiro hadn’t come to each other’s rescue. Seeing Tanjiro understand how Akaza is able to move and react so quickly to attacks with just his bare fist and using that strategy to get the upper hand was fun to see. The whole battle before that is also exhilarating and action-packed, might I add. But everything after this is great too. Seeing all of Akaza’s backstory and the reason why he became a demon was truly heartbreaking, and seeing Akaza’s sacrifice made me tear up a little. And the music playing while all of this happens greatly emphasizes the emotions the movie wants you to feel. The final moments of the film, as the credits are rolling, show the Hashira again fighting demons as they still make their way to Muzan, hint at fights that are to come, like the fight with Kokushibo, and end with Muzan taunting that he will never be caught, let alone defeated, teasing the second installment of the movie trilogy that will not release untill 2027 at the earliest. I watched the dub, and the voice acting was pretty good. You could hear the urgency and fear in everyone’s voice. Loved Doma’s voice actor, Stephen Fu. His speech pattern was super demonic, yet it sounded like a lullaby as he taunted Shinobu. You could also hear the readiness of the Hashira in their battle cries, etc. I can’t wait to watch the next movie in the series.
All in all, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was a really, really great movie. The animation and visuals were great, and while some of the flashbacks seemed too sudden, I don’t think the pacing was as bad as some people make it out to be. I love that everyone included in the movie got their time to shine, even if they were only in one scene or so. Everyone who is a fan of Demon Slayer should definitely give this a watch in theaters. If not, then eventually, when it is put on streaming services. You will have a good, if not amazing, experience.
With that, I give Demon Slayer Infinity Castle an 8.3/10, Great.