(Image courtesy of IMDB. “‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ features a climactic final battle.”)
Rosalie Pineda
Connector Contributor
One of the most popular anime franchises is still making headlines six years later. “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” released in theaters in the United States and Canada on Sept. 12, 2025. The film has been highly anticipated in the anime community since its announcement back in June 2024, and it is, in fact, the first of a trilogy of movies to end off the series.
The R-rated film earned 70 million dollars on opening weekend, making it the highest to date for an international film. In Japan, it broke the record for highest-grossing opening day, and it has already sold more tickets than Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning “Spirited Away.”
This ranks “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” just below the last major movie of the franchise to come out, “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train.” However, this also pushes “Infinity Castle” well on track to surpassing “Mugen Train’s” earnings, potentially flying to first place in coming weeks.
The movie starts right where the “Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc” left off. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps have fallen into the Infinity Castle, where Kibutsuji Muzan and his deadly Upper Moon demons lie in wait. Epic battles ensue, with plenty of action and gore. The movie also features the Hashira facing off against these Upper Moons, all of whom must showcase their full potential to come out of their fights alive.
UMass Lowell students can currently watch the new film at several theaters. Showcase Cinema de Lux Lowell has plenty of upcoming showtimes, both subbed and dubbed in English. The same goes for AMC Tyngsboro 12 and AMC Methuen 20. Cinemark Rockingham Park and XD in Salem, New Hampshire also offers DBOX seats for extra immersion.
Since this movie introduces the conclusion of the series, it’s not recommended to watch it without having any prior knowledge of the characters and world. However, first-time viewers can absolutely sit back and enjoy the movie theater experience anyway.
The anime adaptation of “Demon Slayer” aired its first episode in Japan way back in April 2019. Since then, it has garnered enough fans to be considered one of the most popular shows in the modern anime sphere. It would be difficult to go into a pop culture store and not find any merchandise for the series.
While many have praised the series for its action sequences and memorable characters, “Demon Slayer” is especially well-known for its animation quality. Since it first debuted, Ufotable has been the studio responsible for bringing the story to life on the big screen, to impressive results. The studio is also known for anime such as “Fate/Zero” and “Fate/stay night.”
The second and third parts of the “Infinity Castle” arc are expected to come out in 2027 and 2029, respectively. While they’re waiting, fans can kick back with a bucket of popcorn and enjoy the new release, knowing it’ll be several years more until “Demon Slayer” can pull back from the spotlight.
