Demon Slayer’s Box Office Success Proves Anime Is Bigger Than Ever in the U.S.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle has been doing very well at the box office ever since it opened in the United States this past weekend, and it proves that anime is bigger than it ever has been before. Demon Slayer has been a wild franchise to see grow in the last few years. Although Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga series ended some time ago, the franchise has been firing on all cylinders thanks to the monumental success of the TV anime adaptation. A success that has actually directly translated to the big screen with some huge returns as a result.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle broke the all-time historic record for an anime film opening weekend at the box office in the United States, which was once held by Pokemon the First Movie in the 1990s. Anime films have been released at a much quicker rate in theaters in the United States in the last few years, and now a massive box office opening like this one is surely going to take that to a whole new level as anime becomes a major driver for success. Anime is bigger than ever, and the numbers really do prove it.

Anime Is Taking Over the Box Office

Anime fans might have noticed how much bigger the medium has gotten within the last few years specifically. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic really boosted streaming on a whole, and the biggest wave of it seemed to focus especially on anime itself. This was further emphasized thanks to the viral success of shows like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba‘s debut season as well. But while the first season was relatively quiet for much of its run, it seemed to explode overnight thanks to the viral response it got from Episode 19 of that season.

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That viral success put a ton of attention on Demon Slayer itself, and that was quickly followed up with the theatrical debut of the Mugen Train film. This film broke all sorts of records at the time and still is the highest-grossing film to ever release in Japan’s history (a record that Infinity Castle is quickly catching up to), and that seemed to spark even more of anime’s spread domestically. Films started to be licensed and released in the United States with shorter windows, going from at least a year after their Japanese release to now months or weeks in between.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle released in the United States less than two months after it first launched in Japan, and that has seemed to take its box office success to even higher points. The demand for the film is still very much hot, and those most anxious to see it have thankfully been able to avoid spoilers or seeing the film through less than legal means. Yet, they are still able to be a part of the current conversations around the world. And for a film where big things happen like Infinity Castle, those conversations are more important than ever before.

What Does This Mean for Anime’s Future?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle’s success at the box office is anything but lightning in a bottle. The film franchise is likely going to hit these heights with the follow up films in the trilogy, and this franchise on a whole has been especially huge with the current Gen Alpha viewers that studios are trying so hard to appeal to. In fact, multiple studies over the years have revealed how big anime is with Gen Z on a whole, and even more so is how much these fans watch English dub releases as well.

Studios have gone on record about their desires to appeal to these highly sought after demographics, and anime has already been running circles around these bigger studios with these younger audiences for a long time. Demon Slayer might be the hottest property right now (and will likely result in the wrong lesson being learned with live-action adaptations probably being inked through deals), but there’s always something else on the horizon that will catch these same eyes. It’s just a matter of giving them the chance to do so.

We’re already starting to see much shorter release windows for these anime films through Sony Pictures Entertainment and Crunchyroll with Chainsaw Man – The Movie Reze Arc coming next month (just a few weeks after its release in Japan), and that’s a good sign of things to come. Anime is going to carve out an even bigger place in the United States box office soon much like it’s done for the streaming market. So it’s time to sit up and take notice as anime is not going anywhere. It’s all up from here on out.

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