Kimetsu no Yaiba Movie: Mugen Ressha-hen

I was super lucky to be able to see this in theaters the day this came out!

Story: 6/10 The story is a continuation of the Demon Slayer Anime that ended last year in 2019, being an adaptation of the Mugen Train Arc. You may recognize the main villain or demon of this arc from the first season, well you did see him. He was the the demon who Muzan had given his blood to, the one who wanted to be tortured. It closely follows the Manga's events, showing off Rengoku using his Sun Breathing Techniques, and all the fights. It feels bloated with fights and not much else, but that's mostly the manga's fault. The movie does play out the emotional scenes quite well. Kimetsu no Yaiba was never big on the story aspect so it will be expected for the movie and any adaptations if they want to stick to the source material.


Art: 10/10: Once again, Studio Ufotable has knocked it out of the park with the breathtaking animation they have. But this time around it's even better with a movie budget. Its so smooth and satisfying that it just draws you in like that. The breathing techniques were the highlight of the First Season, and its the same for here. I have no idea how Studio Ufotable does it. With Tanjirou's breathing, the almost 3d looking camera angles, the fast paced movements, Nezuko's Exploding blood, Zenitsu's lighting, Inouske in all of his glory, its absolutely fantastic.

Sound 7/10: Another amazingly great aspect. At times like that, I love being in a Japanese theater, because everybody is very silent, doesn't laugh at jokes or gasps, its a great expierence. The sound effects are pretty good, with the Voice acting being taken to the next level. But the real highlight in terms of the sound, is the amazing Musical Score. I said it once and I will say it again, Demon Slayer has one of the best orchestrated soundtracks in an Anime that I have ever seen. The low and melancholy piano keys, the tense and sharp violin, the soft and relaxing flute, the haunting chorus, it all comes together to make a amazing score.

Characters: 6/10: Nothing really changed from the first season, with most characters sticking with their personalities. But at times it just feels like the second season of the anime and not a feature length film. I mean, its an exact adaptation so you expect it to be similar to the manga but its very similar to the source material and the previous Season. The constant yelling between the trio is very annoying, like the first season. Even when writing this review, I feel like I'm just reviewing the anime. The only thing that changed was the art but everything stays the same in terms of my thoughts on the anime.

Enjoyment: 8/10: I enjoyed the Demon Slayer Anime, but this, raised the bar even higher, I highly highly highly suggest watching this when it comes out on streaming services. Demon Slayer is shaping up to be another gigantic manga and anime series even if it might not deserve it fully. But if your a big fan of Shonen Jump or the second season, OR even the manga I would suggest watching it. But its not perfect, I think too many people have hyped up Demon Slayer, which can be bad when the ending eventually gets animated, because it will all come crashing down. But still good for the time being.

Overall: 8/10

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I am extremely lucky to have crazy ass friends that were able to get me ticket for this movie on the opening day. It was sold out in advance with huge waiting list and it was clearly visible by the TOHO Cinemas Roppogi Hills where I was pleased to see this movie. Every available seat was taken and queue was HUGE.

Now, let's have a deeper look at the movie itself, there'll be some minor spoilers but if u haven't read the manga I strongly suggest to avoid them, they'll be marked.

STORY: 7
I was never a big fan of KnY, it's pretty generic and predictable shounen, but it was fun and enjoyable, up to some point, overall manga was really disappointed at the end and final arcs were to say least, weak. But it does't change anything, we're talking about the movie which adapted Mugen Train Arc and did it really, really good, giving justice to the manga and leaving audiences with an quality product.
Tanjirou and his friends accompany Rengoku, the Flame Hashira on the mission to investigate unexplainable disappearances onboard the train. They don't yet know, that Enmu, one of the elite Twelve Kizuki demons is awaiting them with a trap. It's fast paced, darker and suprisingly close to the manga events, would say that the sligh changes made it even better.

[SPOILER] The sad and bitter ending was really powerful, leaving us speechless and very emotional. Done right, without forced sadness and fake emotions. And for that it ufotable has my thanks. [END SPOILER]

ART: 10
It's ufotable after all. And with huge movie pudget it's basically one big show off of magical skills of animators. We got to see Rengoku in action, with such a detail and precision, beautifully animated and blood pumping. Tanjirou showed even more of his techiques and is was pleasable, what's most important, the framerate and overall animation quality is superb, flawless. And yeah, we got to see more of Nezuko in action. The fights choreography is another ufo usual, amazing and smooth, with beautiful colors and movements. Designs were even sharper and planning and backgrounds were bloody well done. Mixture of ultramodern animation with static drawings and CGI is top notch. Orgy for the eyes.

SOUND: 10
And the sound is an orgy for the ears. Voicing is powerful and reliable, full of emotions and feels. Music on the other hand is once again an beautifully written mixture of classic japanese sounds and modern orchestration and arangations. Plus of course beautiful ending by LiSA hits straight into the heart.

CHARACTER: 6
Well, character development in KnY is just fine, nothing unexpected, pretty straightforward and predictable. But it is done right and without cringe, just your regular shounen show off. From the checkpoint to another checkpoint on the road to achieve goals and plans. But what stands out is a nice Rengoku introduction, his backstory and good explanation of his motives. Job well done.

ENJOYMENT: 9
Ufotable never disappoints when it comes to enjoyment, it's epic, fast and looks godly. And it looks godly af. Great combination of action, music and simple, but fair story makes very good impression and leaves with heart pumping faster. Like proper action flick, enjoy the show and leave no place for deeper thinking. Pure fun and action, strongly recommend to watch it at the biggest possible screen when it'll be released for streaming and bluray next year.

OVERALL: 8
An very good movie, better than expected, satysfying and an visual diamond. Ain't the best action movie, but it's very much what action movie is supposed to be. Yeah, it has it's critics, I'm one of em, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying an great entertainment. Especially when it's done with highest possible quality. Great as an cure for the current situation, makes u forget for nearly 2 hours about reality. I recommend it of course for every fan of KnY as well as fans of good action flicks. It stands on entertaining the audiences and with bit darker notes it delivers as well bit deeper view and can make u emotional. An satysfying and ectremely well done movie. Even with it's typical shounen flaws and shorts. An job well done ufotable, thanx again.

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Story isn't everything.

This movie didn't have any major flaws, they were only little tidbits that could be found in any other anime regardless of how popular they were.

The reason KnY stands out to me than other shounen is because the series doesn't feel stretched out unlike other popular shounen. The story actually flows and progresses each arc we get closer and closer to our end goal. The MC is actually really cool he may be pure and sympathetic, but he can get the job done without any sort of hesitation. Inosuke is pretty good, Zenitsu can be cool from time to time. Nezuko is a really great little sister, she isn't like your typical little sister in anime. Everyone else has their own quirk. So really the animation and music used in this anime only acts as a bonus that puts the show at a greater level.

So overall this movie was really great and highly recommendable.

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If you didn't like the anime series, won't like this either.

Usually, I tend to be as objective as I can 'cause I can rate with a 5 or a 4 an anime and that doesn't always mean that I didn't enjoy that, it means that it's full of flaws that I can't just ignore. Nevertheless, this time my subjectivity is going to take a lot of place here, because even though its's not perfect, I love Kimetsu no Yaiba.

I want to say that even if it does sound like spoilers, the things I mention throughout the review are already presented in both trailers! So it is not spoiler.

The premise is pretty simple and retakes, of course, the last part of the anime. Since the whole adaptation is entirely loyal to the manga, I personally regard this, more than a movie, as an arc of the anime. There is no difference with everything that has been shown before in the series, and kind of it isn't a great closure, I mean, it ends even opener than the series. The only novelty is the first apparition of an upper moon (3th kizuki), who is actually my favourite kizuki, Akaza. Going back to the adaptation thing, that is something that turns KnY down, 'cause the mistakes are the mangaka's, Gotouge. All the debilities it has are originally from the manga, that's why I can't adjudicate this errors to the anime or the movie. They are doing the best they can with the material they have, and that's it, and that's something I respect. It's not like other animes where the problem is the director's adaptation and pacing choices.

The story then, it's fine, not complex nor big deal, yet still attractive. Of course, there are plot armors that I'm not delving into right now. Pretty convenients, but I wasn't expecting another thing. It is not characterized by its master tier plots. Just a nice entertaining movie with flashy fights and some well-handled emotional moments that are very predictable; those were touching to me anyways. As I said, nothing new nor distinctive from the anime. I even dare to say that it's not as great as the anime since, by nature, KnY has many development errors (both story and characters) that in the 26 episodes can manage to slip by unseen, but in a movie, that it's a lot shorter, that's imposssible. However, it's pretty enjoyable.

In terms of characters, both in manga and in movie, it still has its lacks. The first part of the fim is about a demon's blood technique that makes them fall asleep and introduces them in an infinite dream where they live in their own paradise; Tanjiro dreams of his family, Inosuke dreams of himself as a big leader, Zenitsu, of course, dreams of a girl. And Nezuko, logically, did her part as the cute relief of the movie. The purpose is to kill them in their dreamworld. As always, in flashbacks (or dreams lmao) is kind of the only way they find to construct a background or a development for a character. It works for me, but is a poor resource if it is used all the time. This is somewhat sad, because, even though a movie is not long enough to create a big depth (specially in a shounen), there could have been more character's exploration. Or at least, please, ZENITSU, STOP CRYING AND FIGHT WHILE BEING AWAKE. In resume, won't witness any character changes, at least not noticeable.

Later, we have the beloved Rengoku, a character that acts as the trigger that every shounen protagonist needs. Is, in my opinion, a wasted personage that could have taken this as an opportunity to be developed, since in the series the viewer barely knows his name and his breathing technique as a hashira. His only background is, again, through flashbacks. By the very end you get to see a little bit more things about him that can tell what kind of person he is. But, to me, it wasn't enough. I appreciate him tho.

I want to stop for a moment just to say how amazing Akaza is and how regrettable it is the way he is presented and disappear. His seiyuu, the dear Akira Ishida, made me explode. I couldn't expect less from him; when I knew he was voicing this demon, I screamed as the cringey fangirl I am. The other demon present in the movie, the main one, Enmu, is completely plain with no minimum exploration, and even is weak and ridiculous. It's the typical sadistic crazy character whose unique objective is to spread blood al over the place. That's a pointless villain that could have been replaced for another a lot better, given it is a film.

In animation, of course, no complaints at all since it is this franchise's strongest point. This is an Ufotable top tier animation, amazing in every possible way. Character designs are a lot better than the manga's, so that's another point. Fights are excellent, exciting without a doubt, and the sound is even better. LiSa is the best thing that ever happened to KnY. From a technical point of view, this is a masterpiece. Shamefully, that's a great part of KnY's success, and that's not enough to cover its debilities. Thank god this was made by Ufotable, otherwise this would have been another unnoticed anime.

In conclusion, as a shounen movie that covers just one arc of a fairly long story, is very decent and enjoyable, and for the anime fans or manga readers, this is orgasmic. I myself enjoyed this a big time, because despite all the holes and lacks it has, this story won my heart and the characters did as well. I'm aware of the loosen details, but that didn't detract me at all from my feelings. A story doesn't need to be a 10 for it to take root in me. That's what Kimetsu no Yaiba is.

Again, if you didn't like the main story or you couldn't stand the errors and weakness in the series, do not watch this, because if you have expectations for this to change anything, it won't. It can be just as amazing as the first part, or just as lame as the first part. It depends totally on your previous experience.

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