We Might Never Get Another Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle has been such a runaway hit in theaters that it’s really looking like anime fans will never see anything like it for a long time. Koyoharu Gotoge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga was already a hit with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine during its run, but it arguably reached a whole new level of worldwide recognition and success thanks to the debut of its official TV anime adaptation. Thanks to the work from the same studio behind the Fate/stay night anime releases, Demon Slayer has gone on to find a whole new generation of fans.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is quickly closing in on being the fifth highest grossing film of the year worldwide, and that’s an even more impressive feat considering this year also saw the releases of massive studio franchise entries like Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and much more. It’s a huge win for anime in theaters, but it’s an even bigger win for Demon Slayer itself. It’s now become the headliner for this generation of anime fans, and we won’t see anything else take that place anytime soon.

Demon Slayer Has Taken Over This Generation of Anime Fans

2020 sparked a huge shift with anime fans as not only were they watching more than ever before with the silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic giving fans more time to do so, but it also brought in a whole new generation of watchers. Polling Gen Z and Alpha viewers revealed that they are more likely to watch anime over any other form of entertainment really highlighted this greater shift that was taking place. But that was also due to the wider viral success of shows like Demon Slayer helping to spark even more interest.

It can be seen all over the Internet, too. When an anime goes viral, there’s likely some kind of fight clip or character edit that makes its way through multiple social media channels and platforms. This gives those younger viewers more incentive to see the source of cede fights, and there was no bigger example than with Demon Slayer Episode 19. Because while that first season did alright when it debuted, it wasn’t until Tanjiro tapped into the Hinokami Kagura for the very first time that fans everywhere took notice. That episode went viral to such a degree (that clip of Tanjiro cutting off Rui’s head was everywhere) that the rest of the franchise rose in popularity around it.

It really did seem like it was all good timing for Demon Slayer. The climax of the anime’s first season drew new eyes to the anime itself. Gotoge’s manga was also wrapping up the massive Infinity Castle arc at the same time, and that drew fans to shelves, and it was all followed with the release of the Mugen Train feature film. Fully capitalizing on the peaking popularity of that first season, Mugen Train hit at such a perfect time that it’s still the biggest box office performer in Japan’s entire history of film. It was all just a perfect timing that couldn’t be replicated…which was the case until Infinity Castle.

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Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Has Changed Anime Forever

Only Demon Slayer Can Beat Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle seemed to do the impossible as the first film in a trilogy of planned films is not only one of the most successful films of the year worldwide, but has since become the second highest grossing film in Japan’s history…right after Demon Slayer’s Mugen Train outing. It makes a lot of sense in retrospect as Demon Slayer has just been building onto its previous peaks over the years, but there’s something else that has contributing to its staying power. It’s been identified as the anime of this current generation.

Anime fandom in the United States at least can be marked by standout shows of respective eras. Shows like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Mobile Suit Gundam have broken through to the mainstream in the past to the point where even non-anime fans are aware of what those projects are. This is what Demon Slayer has become for today’s youth. It’s become such a massive franchise that you can go to department stores to buy shirts with Tanjiro on them, and overhear kids in schools talking about new clips that have made their way online. It’s become a part of the culture in the 2020s.

Demon Slayer’s success in the box office this year is certainly a rising tide that will lift all ships in terms of anime’s overall proliferation in theaters in the coming years, but there’s really going to be no franchise that hits its same heights. There might be juggernauts like Dragon Ball and One Piece that will try and come for its crown, but Demon Slayer has been identified by the current youth to such an extent that only this anime is going to be standing on its own pillar above all others.

We might never see another anime like Demon Slayer ever again. This franchise has been the one to capitalize on virality in a way that only other anime can dream of (to the point where some other film stars are cursing over the film’s success). It’s the franchise of the early 2020s, and it’s going to take a whole new generation of anime fans to choose whatever the next big thing is to dethrone Demon Slayer from its top spot.

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