Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba , The Movie: Mugen Train" became the highest-grossing film of 2020. That year, COVID-19 had shuttered or reduced theaters across much of the world. For the first time in cinema history, a non-American production topped the annual worldwide box office. Over $512.7 million came from more than 41 million tickets sold. Records held for nearly two decades crumbled. How did an animated Japanese film based on Koyoharu Gotouge's manga outpace every Hollywood release in the worst year cinemas had seen in generations? What kind of story inspired that loyalty? And what did it cost? The film was a direct sequel to the first season of the anime television series. Many viewers arrived already invested in the characters they were about to watch face mortal danger.

• 2. The Flame Hashira's Last Stand

  ›

  Aboard the Mugen Train, Kyojuro Rengoku dispatches two demons almost immediately, and Tanjiro Kamado and his companions watch in awe. The real threat arrives in silence. Enmu, Lower Rank One of the demon Muzan Kibutsuji's Twelve Kizuki, puts all four Demon Slayers into a deep sleep. He recruits four insomniac passengers to enter their dreams and destroy their spiritual cores.

  Tanjiro's dream reunites him with his deceased family; Kyojuro relives memories of his brother and father. The intruders fail to destroy the cores. Tanjiro, aided by an unaffected Nezuko, realizes he is dreaming. A vision of his father instructs him to take his own life within the dream to force himself awake.

  The four insomniac passengers, angered at being denied their own sleep, attack Tanjiro once he wakes. He knocks all but one unconscious. The one he spares is the passenger who had entered his own dream, a person suffering from tuberculosis.

  Nezuko uses her Blood Demon Art to sever the intruders' connections to the sleeping slayers. Tanjiro confronts and beheads Enmu, only to discover that the demon has fused his body with the locomotive. Kyojuro assigns Tanjiro and Inosuke to find and sever the fused neck while he and the others protect the passengers. With his mask making him immune to Enmu's attacks, Inosuke locates and exposes the neck. Tanjiro kills Enmu with his newfound Hinokami Kagura, derailing the train. During the chaos, the conductor, under Enmu's control, stabs Tanjiro in the stomach. Kyojuro helps him stabilize the wound using breathing techniques.

  Upper Rank Three Akaza arrives in the aftermath. He offers Kyojuro the chance to become a demon; Kyojuro refuses. Akaza's regeneration proves impossible to overcome. After Kyojuro attempts his most powerful move as a last resort, Akaza fatally impales him through the solar plexus. Kyojuro holds on, trying to restrain Akaza until sunrise, but Akaza breaks free and flees into a nearby forest. Tanjiro throws his sword at Akaza in desperation, impaling his chest, but the demon escapes.

  In his final moments, Kyojuro urges Tanjiro to visit his family's estate. He asks Tanjiro to seek out writings from past Flame Hashiras that may explain the Hinokami Kagura. He encourages Tanjiro and his friends to never give up in protecting others, then dies and reunites with his mother in the afterlife. Tanjiro breaks down, calling Akaza a coward and declaring Kyojuro victorious for keeping everyone alive. Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the Demon Slayer Corps leader, later honors Kyojuro for letting no one else die in his presence. He states that he will be glad to reunite with him when he too passes.

• 3. From Manga to Film

  ›

  Yuma Takahashi, the anime series' producer, indicated his desire to continue production with the Ufotable team even as the first television season was still airing. The success of that series greenlit the sequel project. Producers chose a film over additional television episodes because the "Mugen Train" arc was shorter in content and suited to a single, dramatically focused feature. The main cast learned about the project midway through production on the first season.

  The announcement came publicly on the 28th of September 2019, immediately after the season finale aired. Haruo Sotozaki, who had directed the television series, returned to direct the film. Akira Matsushima served as animator and Manabu Kamino as editor. The main production staff and voice cast from the television series were carried over in full.

  Before a single frame screened publicly, the film had already broken monthly sales records for advance tickets. The two record months came consecutively, in September and October 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic had pushed many competing releases back, meaning the number of available screens when the film opened was higher than usual.

• 4. A Record-Breaking Run

  ›

  On the 16th of October 2020, Mugen Train opened in Japan across 403 cinemas, including all 38 IMAX screens in the country. The film became the first to top the Japanese box office for ten consecutive weekends since the charts began publication in 2004. It remained in the top 10 for 32 consecutive weeks. Only Titanic, at 40 weeks in the late 1990s, had a longer run.

  Within 73 days, it surpassed Spirited Away as the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan. Spirited Away had held that record for 19 years. The film also set the record for the highest-grossing IMAX release in Japan, surpassing the mark previously held by Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018. After 220 days of release, Mugen Train reached a gross milestone that no domestic film in Japanese cinema history had previously achieved.

  The international release stretched from the 30th of October 2020, in Taiwan to the 13th of August 2021, in India. In China, the release was delayed when a controversy surrounding the film Monster Hunter led censors to review some foreign films a second time. The United States and Canada received the film on the 23rd of April 2021. It grossed $47.7 million there, placing it second among anime films in that market, behind Pokemon: The First Movie at $85.7 million. The North American opening weekend set the record as the biggest for any foreign-language film ever released in that market. In Taiwan, Mugen Train became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It reached the equivalent of 12.6 million within 17 days and finished with a total of 634 million over its run.

  In Malaysia, the film earned more than 4.3 million, surpassing One Piece: Stampede's previous record of 3.3 million. Singapore received the film on the 12th of November 2020, and it earned 2.42 million there. In Thailand, the film surpassed the national record previously held by Your Name. In Hong Kong, it topped the box office for four consecutive weekends after its the 12th of November 2020 opening. The run ended on the 2nd of December 2020, when all cinemas in the territory closed during a fourth wave of COVID-19. They did not reopen until the 18th of February 2021.

  The film's Blu-ray and DVD release in Japan came on the 16th of June 2021. It sold over 800,000 units on its first day and exceeded 1 million units within three days. In North America, pre-orders opened on the 26th of April 2021. That same day, the film accidentally appeared on the PlayStation Store for a few hours before being removed, causing leaked copies to circulate online. The VOD release launched on the 22nd of June 2021, debuting at number one on Vudu, Google Play, and YouTube.

  The anime series' second season adapted the film's story as a seven-episode arc titled Mugen Train Arc. The first episode was entirely new, depicting Kyojuro Rengoku in the hours before the film's events. The arc broadcast in Japan from October 10 to the 28th of November 2021. In the United States, it aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block from November 12 to the 17th of December 2023.

  When critical reviews arrived, one observation appeared consistently, regardless of whether the reviewer praised or criticized the film.

• 5. Critics and Awards

  ›

  98% of 49 critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.8 out of 10. Metacritic aggregated 10 critics' scores into a weighted average of 72 out of 100, which it categorized as "generally favorable." In a PostTrak survey of American audiences, 92% gave the film a positive score and 78% said they would definitely recommend it.

  Crunchyroll reviewer Daryl Harding praised the combination of 2D and 3D animation techniques, the film's music, and its character writing. IndieWire reviewer David Ehrlich gave the film a "C" on an A to F scale. He praised the striking visuals and the characters of Kyojuro Rengoku and Enmu, but argued the R rating was excessive. Anime News Network reviewer Kim Morrissy and Variety reviewer Peter Debruge both compared the animation quality unfavorably to that of the television series. Harding, Ehrlich, Morrissy, and Debruge all noted the same condition: the film required having watched the first season to be fully understood and appreciated.

  At the 44th Japan Academy Film Prize, the film won Animation of the Year. Composers Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina received the Outstanding Achievement in Music award at the same ceremony. The 45th Hochi Film Award named it Best Animation Film. At the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, it took Best Film. The Newtype Anime Awards recognized it with the Best Picture Award for theatrical works. The theme song "Homura" won the Theme Song Award at the same ceremony, and Haruo Sotozaki took the Director Award. Kyojuro Rengoku won the Male Character Award and Nezuko Kamado the Female Character Award. At the Tokyo Anime Award Festival, Sotozaki won Best Director and Akira Matsushima won Best Animator. At the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2022, the film was selected as a Jury Recommended work.

  Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba , To the Swordsmith Village followed on the 3rd of February 2023. A third film, To the Hashira Training, arrived on the 2nd of February 2024. On the 18th of July 2025, the Infinity Castle trilogy began with Part 1: Akaza Returns. That film would go on to surpass Mugen Train as the highest-grossing Japanese film worldwide.