Japanese animation feature film “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle”, which is still being shown in South Korean theaters despite being released in two months ago, keeps things rolling during its rather long running time (155 minutes), and I enjoyed that even though I often struggled to understand the story and characters during its first half. Just like another recent Japanese animation film “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Rese Arc” (2025), it simply tries to entertain its main target audiences, but you may be entertained by its vivid style and striking action even if you have no background knowledge in advance like me.

The film is a direct sequel to the fourth season of the anime TV series “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba”, which is based on the manga series of the same name by Koyoharu Gotouge. Thanks to the huge popularity of the anime TV series, there also came several feature films such as “Mugen Train (2020)”, “To the Swordsmith Village” (2023), and “To the Hashira Training” (2024) during last several years, and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle” is actually the first chapter of the ambitious trilogy project to be completed.

The opening part of the film hurriedly establishes what happens not long after the end of the fourth season of the anime TV series. Thanks to a very, very, very powerful demonic figure who is the leader of many different demons against which they have been battling, a bunch of demon slayers are thrown into a dangerous area called the Infinity Castle, which is a seemingly infinite and constantly dynamic third-dimension labyrinth of castles and halls.

As these demon slayers, who happen to be divided into several groups as they are separately hurled into the Infinity Castle, try to find a way out in addition to slaying one demon after another, the film busily juggles several narrative lines before eventually focusing on the three different conflicts. The first one is associated with a smiling but fearsome demon, and his opposing female demon slayer certainly comes to test her limit to the end, while not only fighting against this demon but also dealing with some personal issues inside her mind. As their dynamic fight is continued, the film often tells and shows us whatever is going on in their respective minds within a few seconds, and that may allow you to catch some breath amid a series of busy actions rapidly unfolded between these two opposing figures.

The second conflict is set between two dudes who were brothers but now come to fight with each other as a demon slayer and a demon, and the mood surely becomes melodramatic as these two brothers come to confront their complicated past of love and hate. Although one seems more disadvantaged compared to the other, their fighting skills turn out to be more equal than expected, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that this part eventually culminates to when one of them discovers a way to overpower the other at the last minute.

In case of the third conflict, two certain demon slayers confront one of the most powerful demonic figures in the Infinity Castle, who seems to be quite invincible for a good reason. No matter how much these two demon slayers try to defeat him, this mighty dude can always evade or suppress their attacks in advance, and it does not take much time for one of the demon slayers to realize more of how mighty their opponent really is.

Around the point where their desperate fight against their seemingly unbeatable opponent expectedly reaches to a dramatic point, the story becomes surprisingly melodramatic with some genuine poignancy via a series of flashback scenes. I will not go into details for not spoiling any of your entertainment, but I can tell you instead that you may feel a bit sorry for that powerful demonic figure as observing how he let himself fallen into evil and darkness as understandably driven by anger and hate many decades ago.

Because I am a relatively less knowledgeable audience, it was often difficult for me to process and understand its every part, but the film kept holding my attention with a considerable amount of visual power and action nonetheless. Your eyes will be marveled whenever the film looks over the endlessly vast scale of the Infinity Castle, and it also adds some extra intrigue to the story as a trio of young little but very special girls are busily working on drawing the intricate maps of the Infinity Castle for helping those demon slayers trapped inside it. The action scenes in the film are presented with a lot of style and spirit to dazzle you from the beginning, and they are certainly more than enough for exciting you and then leaving you some expectation around the time when it arrives at its predictable cliffhanger ending.

In conclusion, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle”, directed by Haruo Sotozaki (He previously directed the anime TV series version as well as “Mugen Train”, by the way), feels inherently incomplete as the opening chapter for its trilogy, but it is fairly entertaining enough to compensate for its several weak aspects including the overlong running time. Thanks to not only this film but also “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Rese Arc”, Netflix animation film “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), and South Korean animation film “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning” (2024), I and many other South Korean audiences got served with a lot of demon slaying during this year, and I can only hope that we will be entertained again by whatever will come after “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle”.