by The anime movie “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” “Mugenjo Arc Chapter 1: Akaza Returns” has been released. My son (4th grade), who has recently become a big fan of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” said he wanted to see the sequel, so we made our movie debut. Will he be able to endure the long screening time of about two and a half hours and understand the story? And what is the evaluation of “Mugenjo Arc” from a child’s perspective?
Late show starting at 8 pm. Families with elementary school children are also welcome.
The anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is based on a manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) from 2016 to 2020.
The story follows a young boy named Tanjiro Kamado, who becomes a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, a group that slays man-eating demons, as he attempts to turn his sister, who has become a demon, back into a human. The anime film “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” (released in 2020) became a social phenomenon, grossing over 40 billion yen.
The anime “Infinite Castle Arc” is a trilogy that depicts the battles at the enemy’s base, Infinite Castle. As the title suggests, this “Chapter 1” represents the confrontation with Akaza, the Upper Rank Three.
My son first became interested in Demon Slayer when he happened to see the Entertainment District arc, which was broadcast just before the movie was released. From there, he watched the Swordsmith Village arc, the Pillar Training arc, and the Mugen Train arc on the internet.
In the Swordsmith Village arc, when Nezuko was bathed in sunlight, he jumped to the conclusion that she would die, and cried. While waiting for the movie to start at the cinema, he asked for a strap of Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Pillar, and I ended up buying it for him. This is precisely what the creators intended.
“Mugenjo Chapter 1” is a PG-12 film that requires parental guidance and supervision for elementary school children. The screening time is about two and a half hours, and the start time is late at 8:00 pm due to my family’s schedule, so I was worried, but my child was excited. At the movie theater, there were many families with elementary school children, probably because it was summer vacation.
“I want to see the rest again.”
My biggest worry was whether my talkative son would be able to stay quiet for the entire two and a half hour screening, which is much longer than a school class. Even his favorite game can only last an hour, so I chose a seat near the entrance in case he wanted to leave.
However, my son only spoke once, during Akaza’s entrance scene. He said “Ah!”, but then must have remembered that “it’s good manners not to speak out loud in movie theaters.” He immediately covered his mouth with his hand and looked awkward.
The movie was full of spectacular battle scenes, so he was glued to the screen. However, after about two hours, he started to feel sleepy and tired, and his head began to feel dizzy. The flashback scenes in particular were a little stressful for a child, and I could see him trying his best to fight off sleepiness. But he persevered, shedding tears during the scene where he asked for “that” forgiveness, and watched until the end. He was also crying in the bathroom right after the movie finished, probably because he was sad.
However, it wasn’t just the content that made him cry. He said, “The length of the screening was difficult,” and it seems he had mixed emotions about it. Still, he said, “I want to see the rest again. And I want to see it again as a ‘revenge’, during the day, not at night.”
The scenes that left the biggest impression on him were those involving Akaza, but at the same time, Douma, the Upper Rank Two, left a massive impact because of how bad his impression was. He continued to complain about Douma not only after watching the movie, but also the next day. Incidentally, Akaza is his favorite, despite being his enemy.
I wanted my son to develop a reading habit because of his enthusiasm for “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” so I asked him, “You can find out what happens next in the movie in the manga. Do you want to read it?” However, my son refused, saying, “Hmm. No.” As expected of a modern child accustomed to watching videos, he said that the anime is much easier to understand.
Although the plan, which was based on the parents’ ego, failed, my wife and grandparents were surprised that my son, who gets bored easily, watched it to the end. However, an acquaintance pointed out to me, “There are many violent scenes, so is it a good movie to show to the first child?” … That may be true, but nothing beats the child’s motivation, and the most important thing is that he enjoyed it.
The power and importance of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
My son usually watches videos on YouTube and other sites, but he doesn’t watch anime even when I recommend it to him. The only exception is “Dragon Ball Daima,” but he never watched the other “Dragon Ball” series.
My son (a fourth-grader) suddenly watched a movie that was over two and a half hours long, rubbing his eyes until just before 11 pm, and understood the content until he cried. Once again, I feel the tremendous power of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.”
After the screening, I saw parents patting their children on the heads and saying, “You did well watching it,” to their children who, like us, were making their film debut with this movie. It’s reaching not only anime fans, but also families.
By creating an environment where viewers can easily access the work, it has gained new fans, delighted children with the film, and encouraged them to return to the cinema, which is a significant achievement. That is the “responsibility” of a work that has become a social phenomenon, and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” has fulfilled that responsibility brilliantly.
There are criticisms that the number of screens where “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is shown is highly biased, and that the overall box office is unbalanced. There may be some truth to that. However, thanks to that, it has become easier for casual viewers to access, and it has contributed to creating a buzz, which is beneficial in business. Instead, it achieves something that other movies cannot.
That alone makes the existence of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” essential, both now and in the future. In the first place, if you think about it objectively, it is impressive in a way that the whole family can enjoy watching a dark fantasy with so much blood flying. And it was a huge hit. “Superstars” are not born on purpose. That is what I feel.
