Even those outside the anime bubble know the name Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (or Demon Slayer for short). Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga series, first published in 2016, has steadily become one of the most popular mangas to date, selling over 200 million copies worldwide in 2025. The anime conveniently streams on both Crunchroll and Netflix, and has been met with praise by fans, critics, and newcomers alike. Its last big-screen adaptation, 2020’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Mugen Train, made a total of $365 million on its opening weekend in Japan. Now, its latest movie, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (or Infinity Castle), is out to break the franchise’s own records.
For the uninitiated, Demon Slayer follows Tanjiro Kamado, a bright-eyed teenager in the Taishō era of Japan whose life takes a sudden turn when his family is slaughtered by a bloodthirsty demon. Tanjiro escapes unscathed, but the rest of the Kamado clan is eaten except for his younger sister, Nezuko, who has been turned into a demon. Both the manga and anime center on Tanjiro’s quest to find a cure for his sister while also joining the Demon Slayer Corps.
The anime spans four seasons, but since its last season ended on a cliffhanger in 2024, the franchise shifted to adapting the Infinity Castle arc as a trilogy of animated feature films. While some fans were concerned about the shift to the big screen, especially since Infinity Castle is the longest and most battle-intensive arc of the series, the pivot seems to be paying off: the movie generated roughly $11.6 million in admissions on its opening day in Japan, a new single-day record for the country. It totaled $49.9 million in its opening weekend, and it’s projected to earn even more as the movie begins to be released in theaters worldwide.
Infinity Castle is set to release in Philippine cinemas starting August 20, with select IMAX theaters nationwide also screening the film. It picks up where the anime left off, with Tanjiro and his fellow demon slayers navigating the maze of the demon-filled Infinity Castle. Packed with beautifully animated battle sequences, high emotional stakes, and a soaring musical score, Infinity Castle marks the beginning of the franchise’s most ambitious arc of all time.
