Mini Film Review – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train

Yesterday I watched Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train; and it was pretty good! Directed by Haruo Sotozaki, and starring Natsuki Hanae, Satoshi Hino, and Daisuke Hirakawa; Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train is a dark fantasy action anime based on the manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotouge. Acting as a direct sequel to the first season of the anime TV series; the film sees the core cast boarding a train to discover why 40 people have mysteriously disappeared. Honesty; I did not know that this was both based on a Manga, nor the sequel to a TV series. I had heard about the film only, and thought I would give the film a watch. It’s this lack of knowledge in the preceding material that made it a difficult watch. I did not know the character backstories, or who or what they were. The film does make mention of two key characters backstories, which do enlighten your viewing, in a very grim way; but by not feeding enough knowledge on everyone else; it’s easy to get lost. So you do spend time wondering what the ranking system is, why there are different forms of magic based attacks,, why some people are obsessed with dreaming, and why someone has a boar’s head stuck on their head! However, this lack of background knowledge doesn’t stop you from appreciating the film’s other standout bits. The artwork starts off looking scratchy or crispy, but by the end of the film, you are absorbed in it’s incredible style and effects; which look like you are watching a film, and reading the manga at the same time. Also, it has a terrific soundtrack, one that you don’t want to turn your ears away from. OK; plot wise the ending fight, whilst looking amazing, seems rather pointless; as the film’s main villain had been defeated half-an-hour ago. But from the viewpoint of someone who has not read the Manga or watched the series before; its an interesting film, with some sad dramatic points, along with some incredible sights and sounds in it’s fight sequences. And it does make me want to discover more about the source material too!