Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (2025) – Why This Anime Film Works Despite Its Flaws
The Demon Slayer series comes back strong with the first movie in the Infinity Castle trilogy, starting the last leg of Tanjiro Kamado’s story. Directors Haruo Sotozaki and Hikaru Kondo team up with Ufotable studio to deliver this 2025 film that mixes breathtaking visuals with emotional depth. Voice actors Natsuki Hanae, Hiro Shimono, and Takahiro Sakurai bring the main characters to life with skill and passion.
This animated feature continues the dark fantasy world that has won fans globally since 2019. Drawing from Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga, it sets up the ultimate showdown between the Demon Slayer Corps and Muzan Kibutsuji inside his strange fortress.
Story That Grabs You
The movie starts exactly where season four stopped, throwing you straight into madness. Tanjiro and the Hashira fighters find themselves stuck in Muzan’s Infinity Castle, a weird dimension where walls move and space makes no sense. The setting feels genuinely unsettling, imagine being trapped in a constantly changing labyrinth where up could suddenly become down.
Each Hashira warrior battles one of Muzan’s powerful Upper Rank demons. The film switches between different fights, which builds tension but sometimes makes you wish you could stick with one battle longer. What stood out to me was how backstories unfold during combat, revealing the pain and choices that turned humans into monsters.
Performances That Connect
Natsuki Hanae gives Tanjiro real depth, capturing both his determination and his doubts. Hiro Shimono makes Zenitsu funny without losing the character’s serious moments, and Takahiro Sakurai brings that calm intensity to Giyu. The other voice actors playing the Hashira give each warrior their own feel, making every character memorable beyond just their fighting style.
The actors voicing demons deserve recognition too. They manage to sound dangerous while letting you glimpse the broken people underneath. Whether you watch the Japanese original or the English version with Zach Aguilar and Johnny Yong Bosch, the emotional core stays strong.
Visuals That Astound
Ufotable pushes animation to new heights here. They blend hand-drawn art with computer-generated backgrounds in ways that make fight scenes flow like live-action cinema. The Infinity Castle becomes more than scenery, it’s alive, constantly reshaping itself with wooden corridors that twist into impossible patterns.
Fight choreography showcases why this series became famous for action. Each sword technique, each special move, each block and counter looks unique and powerful. I was impressed by how the quality never dips, even when multiple things happen on screen at once. The visual contrast between horrifying demons and beautiful fighting styles creates stunning frame after frame.
Sound That Enhances
Composers Go Shiina and Yuki Kajiura deliver a score that knows exactly when to go big and when to pull back. Fight music pumps energy while character moments get softer, sadder melodies. The sound design, metal on metal, supernatural effects, the strange echoes of the Castle, makes you feel present in every scene.
Voice acting hits all the right notes emotionally. Battle shouts feel urgent, quiet conversations feel intimate, and final moments carry real weight. The audio complements the visuals perfectly, creating complete immersion.
Strengths Worth Noting
The action makes this worth seeing in theaters. Every fight gets careful attention to both technical execution and emotional stakes. I really valued how the film treats villains as more than just obstacles, giving them tragic histories that make you understand their choices without excusing their actions.
Pacing keeps you hooked, moving from one intense moment to the next. Long-time followers of the series will feel rewarded seeing these crucial battles animated with such care. The movie manages to deliver huge spectacle while keeping the human elements that made Demon Slayer special in the first place.
Areas for Growth
People new to the series will feel lost. The movie assumes you’ve watched four full seasons, which is hours of content. Character connections and plot details won’t make much sense if this is your starting point, though the action still impresses.
Flashback sequences sometimes break up the momentum. These backstories matter for understanding the demons, but they interrupt intense battles at awkward times. The way the film jumps between multiple fights also means you never settle into one confrontation fully before moving to another.
How Others Received It
Critics and viewers have responded positively. Roger Ebert’s website gave it 3 stars out of 4, praising its energy and visual achievements. IMDb users scored it 8.6 out of 10, showing broad appreciation.
Variety highlighted the impressive demon battles, while FILMINK mentioned that occasional pacing stumbles can’t diminish the powerful emotional experience. Rotten Tomatoes reviews consistently point to exceptional animation quality. Both professional critics and regular viewers praise the voice work in Japanese and English, plus how well action balances with character development.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
