This article contains spoilers for the Demon Slayer series.
2025 has proven to be quite a successful year for anime, and much of that is owed to the release of this year’s biggest anime movie, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 — Akaza’s Return. This movie was such a financial success that it has broken many records already, and it's brought in millions in profit. The success of Demon Slayer was absolutely massive and its franchise, along with all the staff that worked on it certainly deserve praise for what they achieved with it. However, one factor that's often overlooked, is what effect it will go on to have on the anime industry in general.
December 21 Will Be a Big Day for Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 was huge, and fans might learn the release date of the next movie on December 21.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle might just change the anime industry, but for the worse. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle showcased just how profitable a good movie can be, and many studios and series will try to follow suit and make canon anime movies that adapt whole arcs more common. This might sound good in theory, but fans should brace themselves as one anime arc could now take years to be properly adapted if movies get favored over seasonal anime.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’s Success Could Damage The Anime Industry
- The Movie’s Success Will Make Many Others Follow The Same Formula
- Anime Arcs Could Take Years to Adapt
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 — Akaza’s Return has become the biggest movie in the franchise, surpassing even the Mugen Train’s record. It has also become the biggest anime movie of all time, and that certainly says a lot. Infinity Castle Part 1 is only the beginning, as it'll be followed by two more movies to conclude the story of Demon Slayer.
Demon Slayer: Every Demon in the Infinity Castle
The demons are ruthless in the Infinity Castle and ready to take on the Demon Slayers.
It would be disingenuous to say that Demon Slayer Infinity Castle wasn't amazing. The movie was absolutely incredible from start to finish and fans are obsessed with it, eagerly waiting for the remaining two movies, but a huge issue comes with the success of Demon Slayer. The huge success of Infinity Castle will definitely make it more appealing for studios to choose to adapt arcs into movies instead of the usual seasonal anime, and that's a huge problem. Instead of waiting a year or so for an anime season to cover all the events of an arc, fans could now have to wait multiple years for a collection of movies to break up the story. If it ends up happening, it'd be quite a drag, and the wait will be unbearable for many fans. Demon Slayer, for example, will cover Infinity Castle over 6 years, which is diabolical. Waiting over 5 years for one arc to be fully adapted, like Demon Slayer, will definitely change the anime industry, but for the worse.
Demon Slayer Season 1 to 4 Took 5 Years To Adapt Arcs
Demon Slayer’s Movie Trilogy Will Take The Same Amount of Time For One Arc
Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle movies will drag the story for quite a few years. With Part 1 having been released in 2025, fans shouldn’t expect the second movie before 2027, and the third before 2029. All things considered, the conclusion of the last stretch of Demon Slayer will take, at minimum, 5-6 years, all for a single arc.
In comparison, Demon Slayer season 1 came out in 2019, and in 5 years up to 2024, the series pushed out 4 high-quality anime seasons, one brand new movie, and one recompilation movie. The studio proved that it could cover many arcs in the same amount of time it would take the studio to finish one arc in a movie format. If other anime choose to follow this model, anime arcs would take years to conclude and the whole industry will change forever.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is out now. Fans who don’t want to wait for the movies to drop can check the manga out on Manga Plus. Meanwhile, for the anime, the series currently has 4 anime seasons. These anime seasons can all be found on Crunchyroll. The remaining episodes of the series will however be animated into movies, which fans will have to wait for their theatrical release to watch, when that is depending on their country.
- Release Date
- April 6, 2019
- Network
- Adult Swim
Based on Koyoharu Gotouge's shonen manga, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is an action anime set in Japan during the early 20th century. Seeking revenge for the murder of his family while also looking to save his sister, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps as they try to eradicate Demons led by Muzan.
- Creator
- Koyoharu Gotoge
- Number of Episodes
- 63
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix
