Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train

Haruo Sotozaki’s Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train is a good animated action fantasy that occasionally works too hard to keep us excited. We recommend it for its detailed images and the care it takes over Kyojuro Rengoku, with a caveat about its persistent emotional pressure. Haruo Sotozaki wants the fighting to matter, and is prepared to be emphatic about the people involved. That sincerity is welcome, even when we wish he would lower the volume.

Kyojuro Rengoku, voiced by Satoshi Hino, supplies the strongest reason to stay involved. His backstory receives enough attention to give the film’s appeals to our feelings some substance. We were moved by the care given to Kyojuro Rengoku’s history. The time devoted to understanding him makes the emotional emphasis easier to accept, and Satoshi Hino’s directness suits the film’s earnestness.

Natsuki Hanae voices Tanjiro Kamado, with Akari Kitō as Nezuko Kamado, Hiro Shimono as Zenitsu Agatsuma and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Inosuke Hashibira. Natsuki Hanae’s earnestness gives the film a useful human focus amid all that force. The performances ask us to take the characters’ feelings seriously, and we think that is the right choice. For this kind of fantasy to work, we need permission to care without waiting for a joke to dismiss the whole business.

Yuichi Terao’s cinematography supplies a separate pleasure. The visual detail rewards looking more closely than the immediate action requires, and helps the fantasy hold our attention even when the story is pressing hard for a response. We appreciate animation that gives the eye something to enjoy beyond the next impact. Here, the care in the images makes the action worth watching closely, rather than merely keeping track of who is doing what.

Go Shiina and Yuki Kajiura’s music contributes substantially to the excitement, though it sometimes continues insisting after the feeling has already arrived. We wanted it to ease off and allow the voices a little more space. A timid score would be wrong for this film, but there are passages where its determination becomes distracting. The music could keep its character and still leave more room around the performances.

Manabu Kamino’s editing is efficient at sustaining momentum, but the 117-minute running time makes the film’s insistence noticeable. The pace could use more variation, particularly when the music and cutting keep asking for a response the characterisation has already earned. A little less repetition would help without requiring a different sort of film. Haruo Sotozaki could afford to trust his characters through a few quieter stretches.

Against the usual demands of action fantasy, the attention paid to Kyojuro Rengoku is a sound choice. The film gives its excitement a person worth caring about, rather than expecting animation alone to do the job. Its excesses did not cancel that achievement for us. Choose it when there is an appetite for emphatic fantasy; save it for another night if quiet is part of the requirement.