The Demon Slayer franchise is building up ever more momentum, thanks to the tantalizing news of Season 2 on the horizon and, of course, the mega-popular Mugen Train tie-in animated movie. This movie was a box office smash-hit in Japan and abroad, and it included many elements of what makes Demon Slayer so popular.
While live-action anime movies tend to fall flat, animated tie-in movies tend to get a more mixed-to-positive response, such as those for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise and My Hero Academia's two movies. In most regards, Mugen Train was the perfect cinematic experience for Demon Slayer fans, though it did hold back in a few minor ways.
10 HOW IT WAS PERFECT: The Animation Quality Was Incredible
The original Demon Slayer anime was lauded for studio UFOtable's outstanding animation in terms of color palette, 3-D effects, smooth framerates, exciting choreography, and more. The same is true of Mugen Train. If there ever was the time to pull out all the stops, this would have been it. Thankfully, studio UFOtable did not disappoint.
Anime studio employees work incredibly hard to make visuals like these possible, and it paid off immensely. Few, if any 2-D animated movies in theaters can boast visuals of this caliber, and that made the fight sequences all the more exciting. Not a single detail was left out.
9 HOW IT WAS DISAPPOINTING: Inosuke Was Not Deepened Much As A Character
As a demon slayer, Inosuke Hashibira was quite impressive in Mugen Train, and it was amusing how he kept mistaking the train for a massive living thing that he wanted to race on foot. However, aside from his fighting techniques, Inosuke contributed surprisingly little to Mugen Train.
Inosuke is often the comic relief in his own way, and that makes him a strong candidate for Best Boy. In this movie, though, that was practically all Inosuke did when he wasn't fighting, and audiences didn't see any aspect of Inosuke that they haven't seen before.
8 HOW IT WAS PERFECT: Tanjiro Got New Scenes With His Family
The main villain of Mugen Train, Enmu, used his powers to force the demon slayers to sleep, and Tanjiro Kamado was treated to wonderful visions of his family before Muzan Kibutsuji massacred them. Tanjiro's heart nearly exploded with joy.
Of course, Tanjiro won't fall for the temptation to remain in happy dreamland forever, but it was nice to see Tanjiro with his siblings and mother a bit more. He even had a scene with his father, Tanjuro. Enmu made the mistake of making Tanjuro speak cruelly to his son, something the real Tanjuro would never do.
7 HOW IT WAS DISAPPOINTING: Zenitsu Was Still Annoying
Meanwhile, the electric demon slayer Zenitsu Agatsuma is also a source of comic relief like Inosuke is, but he manages to be even more irritating to Tanjiro than Inosuke. Zenitsu is well-known for panicking and erupting with rage any time things don't go his way, and it gets old fast.
Zenitsu did his part to help fight Enmu, but otherwise, he kept screeching in protest at just about everything around him, and his personality is not improving anytime soon. This was a wasted chance to see Zenitsu grow up a little.
6 HOW IT WAS PERFECT: Teamwork Was Vital Against The Demons
There are some anime heroes who try to do everything themselves, such as when Eren Yeager charged into Liberio to wreak havoc as a one-man army. In contrast, Tanjiro Kamado is willing to fight his enemies alone, but he is also cooperative and friendly to his allies in battle.
In the anime, he fought alongside Inosuke, Zenitsu, and even his sister, Nezuko. In Mugen Train, Tanjiro was the perfect teammate as he and Inosuke pooled their talents and firepower to take on Enmu. Otherwise, victory would have been impossible.
5 HOW IT WAS DISAPPOINTING: It Was A Bit Formulaic For An Anime Movie
Fortunately, the Demon Slayer movie has the benefit of tying into the original manga storyline and starting where the first season ended, so this issue was minimal, but not gone. Action anime movies often play out in a similar way, acting like a tangent, featuring a villain and stakes that, while exciting, have no impact on the main plot.
This allows fans of a given anime show to finish the series even if they don't watch the movies, but it results in movies that often play out the same way, with similar plot beats and themes. Mugen Train feels that way too, but with the benefit of actually fitting neatly between Seasons 1 and 2.
4 HOW IT WAS PERFECT: Mugan Train Had The Guts To Kill Off A Major Character
Anime movies are reluctant to kill off any major characters aside from the villains who are unique to those movies, likely to avoid upsetting fans and to avoid continuity issues between the movies and the main series. In contrast, Mugen Train bares its teeth and offs a major character anyway.
This character fought hard in Mugen Train and helped turn the tide of battle, but when another surprise villain arrived, one of the Upper Moons, not even this character could triumph, and the rest of the cast was heartbroken when the character died at the hands of a Moon. There's no doubt audiences felt the impact, too.
3 HOW IT WAS DISAPPOINTING: Enmu's Child Minions Didn't Feel Very Threatening
Enmu, Mugen Train's main villain, has a few minions of his own. He can fight in person with his remarkable abilities. But at first, Enmu aimed to be more subtle. Once he put everyone to sleep, he sent a squad of frightened human children to finish the job and assassinate the demon slayers in their dreams.
This is a cool idea and sounds like something a demon would do. In practice, though, the child-assassins didn't feel terribly threatening, since there is no way Tanjiro and co. would die so easily before any cool action scenes can take place. The children hardly even knew what they were doing either, making them feel like even less of a threat. Those poor children were actually victims.
2 HOW IT WAS PERFECT: The Train Is Symbolic
The train itself is highly symbolic in this movie, such as how it represents the mundane, modern world that is unaware of demon slayers and thus has no gratitude for all that they do. It also represents Tanjiro's frightening but brave personal journey, and the many risks he will take along the way.
The train charges off into the darkness, and sure enough, demons arrive to interfere with Tanjiro's quest aboard that train. At one point, the train itself is destroyed, showing how Tanjiro has hit a roadblock in the face of such overwhelming odds, but he picks himself up and keeps advancing anyway. His journey won't be halted so easily.
1 HOW IT WAS DISAPPOINTING: Nezuko Never Dreamed Anything
Nezuko came along for the ride, and Enmu could hardly believe that a demon was traveling in the company of four demon slayers. In fact, it was Nezuko who helped Tanjiro and his friends break free of Enmu's sleep spell, and she helped them fight when Enmu got serious.
The other characters' dreams were clearly shown, from Kyojuro and his family to Inosuke's cave adventures, but it's a shame that there was no chance to see what Nezuko would have dreamed about. It's easy to guess, but then again, there may have been a few surprises in store.