'Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) Infinity Castle': Ufotable raises the bar and creates an anime saga

The trick to converting a manga series into anime is to bring alive the graphics through motion. However, when reading manga this motion is created by the reader’s imagination. And since that process is the product of one’s mind and linked to the brain, the result is both intimate and unique. Therefore, to expect the anime to uniformly replicate this motion of the mind is near impossible. But Kimetsu no Yaiba (aka Demon Slayer) – Infinity Castle movie almost reaches that elusive pinnacle. The first feature-length movie of a planned three-part trilogy of the hugely popular manga and anime is cinematic masterpiece. This one surmises with due consideration to the amazing animated fantasy films that have come out of Japan over the decades. Classics from Studio Ghibli’s stable like Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle have long set the benchmark in this genre. But Ufotable with this Infinity Castle movie has a good shot at making it to that high echelon. Let’s start with the animation quality. It’s no surprise that Ufotable outdid itself yet again. It has literally taken the incredible animation in the anime series to a whole new level on the giant screen. The opening snowfall scene with the Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima is a visual knockout. Viewers will be forgiven if they think real snowflakes have been used in that shot. The same visual treat awaits us later in the movie as we segway into Tanjiro’s backstory with his father where the two of them confront a giant bear in the blizzard. But the really mindblowing visuals are that of the Infinity Castle itself. This is where Ufotable really flexes its animation muscle to bring alive the mind-boggling intricacies and vastness of Muzan’s den. As Tanjiro and the Hashiras race through the shifting and morphing castle, one finds himself immersed in the depths and crevices of the demon lord’s lair.Which brings us to the depiction of the storyline itself. The final arc which the trilogy is supposed to encapsulate brings together several sub-arcs. And this first movie does a great job presenting the three sub-arcs involving Insect Hashira Shinobu, Zenitsu and Upper Moon 3 Akaza. The treatment of each is fantastic. True, some viewers and fans have pointed out pacing issues between the three sub-arcs. But this writer feels this was deliberate, creating an emotional roller-coaster for viewers and leaving you wanting more. The Shinobu-Doma (Upper Moon 2) sub-arc stops at a point that creates a sense of incompleteness. That’s only because this sub-arc will go through the roof in the next movie. But it is the Akaza-Tanjiro-Giyu sub-arc in the latter half of the movie that is truly poetry in motion, and has the makings of a standalone feature. Akaza’s backstory truly shines and the Upper Moon’s fight against Tanjiro and Giyu is epic. In all anime depictions of the story, this writer would rate this fight as the joint second with the one between Akaza and the Kyojuro-Tanjiro pair in the Mugen Train arc, after of course the Tanjiro-Tengen-Gyutaro fight in the Entertainment district arc, which still sits at the top of the pile. All in all, the trilogy of movies has begun with a bang. Which brings us to why this first installment deserves to be rated among the top Japanese anime movies of all time. After watching Infinity Castle, one comes away feeling that Ufotable has laid the foundation of a saga. Think Lord of Rings – that’s the exact feeling one comes away with after watching this big-screen masterpiece. And just being able to create that aura in a Japanese anime feature is in itself a huge achievement. Ufotable has just raised the bar for Japanese anime. And for that it deserves to be in the elite category.