Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編 Gekijō-ban "Kimetsu no Yaiba" Mugen Ressha-hen) is a 2020 Japanese anime film based on the manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotōge. The film, which is a direct sequel to the 2019 anime series, is directed by Haruo Sotozaki, produced by Ufotable and was released on October 16, 2020 in Japan. The main Japanese and English casts of the television series also return to reprise their roles.
Plot[]
Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke board a train to assist the Flame Hashira Kyōjurō Rengoku in his mission to hunt for a demon that has killed many demon slayers. Soon after boarding, all of them are enchanted and fall into a deep sleep. Enmu, Lower Rank One of the Twelve Kizuki, instructs four passengers, all suffering from severe insomnia, to enter the demon slayers' dreams and destroy their spiritual cores so that they can't wake up again. In exchange, Enmu will allow them a peaceful sleep.
During their sleep, Tanjiro and his companions have happy dreams. Tanjiro realizes that he is dreaming and tries to wake up, succeeding after a vision of his father instructs him to kill himself in the dream. At the same time, Nezuko uses her power to sever the intruders' connection, and awaken the passengers. In fear of Enmu, they attack Tanjiro, who knocks them out.
While Nezuko awakens the others, Tanjiro confronts Enmu, and in the ensuing battle, beheads him. However, Enmu does not die, and reveals that he fused his head with the train. Kyōjurō instructs Inosuke and Tanjiro to look for Enmu's neck while he, Nezuko, and Zenitsu stay behind to protect the other passengers. Tanjiro and Inosuke find Enmu's neckbone in the engine room and Tanjiro severs it, killing Enmu and stopping the train.
However, Akaza, the Upper Moon Three, appears soon after and attacks the demon slayers. Kyōjurō fights him alone, and is fatally wounded, although Akaza is forced to flee when the sun begins rising. Tanjiro angrily calls him a coward for running away and declares Kyōjurō the winner of the fight. Kyōjurō encourages Tanjiro and his friends, and dies. The Hashira and Demon Slayer Corps are informed of his death, while Tanjiro and the others mourn him.
Production[]
On September 28, 2019, immediately following the airing of episode 26, an anime film titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (鬼滅の刃 無限列車編, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-hen) was announced, with the staff and cast reprising their roles.On April 10, 2020, it was announced that the film will be released theatrically in Japan on October 16, 2020. The film will be distributed in Japan by Aniplex and Toho. LiSA performed the film's theme song, titled "Homura" (炎, Flame).
On September 18, 2020, it was announced that Japanese theatergoers will receive a copy of "Rengoku Volume 0", a special manga from the series author Koyoharu Gotouge featuring the first mission of character Kyōjurō Rengoku. It will be limited to 4.5 million copies.
Aniplex of America has licensed the film, and will release the film theatrically in North America in cooperation with Funimation Films in 2021.
Box Office[]
The worldwide box office total for Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is over $500 million from more than 41 million tickets sold, making it the highest-grossing film of 2020 as well as the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film of all time. It was the first time in the history of cinema that a non-Hollywood production topped the annual worldwide box office. It also became the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all time.
Prior to its release in Japan, the film set monthly sales records for advance tickets sold for two consecutive months in September and October 2020. Upon release, it set several box office records including highest opening weekend gross (¥4.6 billion, $44 million) and fastest to gross ¥10 billion (ten days), ¥20 billion (24 days), and ¥30 billion (59 days). It also set the record for the highest-grossing IMAX release in Japan with $25 million, surpassing the $13 million record previously set by Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018. The film became the first film to top the Japanese box office charts for ten consecutive weekends since the charts began publication in 2004, and ultimately remained in the top 10 for 32 weeks, the second-highest number of consecutive weeks in the Japanese charts behind Titanic's 40 weeks in the late 1990s. It became the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan in 73 days at a gross of ¥32.48 billion, surpassing Spirited Away which had held the record for 19 years. After 220 days of release, it became the first film in the history of Japanese cinema to gross ¥40 billion.
Outside of Japan, its highest gross in a single market was in the United States and Canada, where it was released on April 23, 2021 and grossed US$47.7 million to become the second-highest-grossing anime film of all time in the market, after Pokémon: The First Movie which grossed US$85.7 million. Its North American opening weekend gross of $19.5 million set the record as the biggest opening for any foreign-language film released in North America. It became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in Taiwan by grossing NT$360 million (US$12.6 million) in 17 days after its release and went on to gross NT$634 million in total. It also became the highest-grossing anime film in several other markets, including Singapore where it was released on November 12, 2020 and went on to gross S$2.42 million ($1.83 million), Malaysia where it was released on March 5, 2021 and went on to gross more than RM4.3 million to surpass One Piece: Stampede's RM3.3 million, Thailand where it surpassed the previous record held by Your Name during the first weekend and went on to gross ฿124 million, and Russia where it grossed $1.7 million. In Hong Kong, the film topped the box office for four consecutive weekends following its opening on November 12, 2020, but its box office run came to a halt as all the cinemas in Hong Kong were shut down on December 2, 2020 amidst the outbreak of the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong; cinemas did not reopen again until February 18, 2021.
The box-office success of the film was attributed to a confluence of different factors by Roland Kelts. Among these were being released during a period of relative calm in the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, which meant that theatres were open but competition from other films was low, and the protracted sequential release of the manga, anime and film which allowed anticipation to build up over time.