Demon Slayer’s story will be getting wrapped up in a trilogy of movies, but if these movies want to deliver a satisfying ending, they may need to make some big changes to the final arc. Enhancing the story with additional content is the only viable move to help the Infinity Castle arc fill three whole movies.
The Infinity Castle arc ofDemon Slayeris long, covering the final 65 chapters of the manga (including the epilogue). However, split across three movies, that’s really not that much content at all, especially when considering how much of it is fighting. Each movie would have to cover about 22 chapters, which admittedly is almost twiceas much content asMugen Train. Still, there are several points in here where the story would greatly benefit from being expanded, particularly with regard to its most underused characters. The films offer the perfect opportunity to do just this, turningDemon Slayer’s ending from good to great.
Demon Slayer Could Expand the Role of Several Hashira
Underutilized Characters Could Get A Second Chance to Shine in the Movie
While most Hashira do get an awesome fight in the final arc ofDemon Slayer, there are a few Hashira who aren’t quite so lucky. Shinobu, for example, gets a battle against Douma, the Upper Moon rank 2, but doesn’t really get to show off her abilities in the battle. The fight focuses heavily on Douma’s past, and is filled with flashbacks to his life as a human, which are very important to understanding Douma as a character.However, these flashbacks come at the cost of actually witnessing the fight between Douma and Shinobu in the manga.Douma comments thatShinobu poisoned him five times offscreen–so why not show it?
The other two most underused Hashira are definitely Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji. They end up fighting Nakime, the demon responsible for controlling the Infinity Castle. While most characters are fighting demons with whom they have a history, such as Shinobu and Douma or Tanjiro and Akaza, neither Mitsuri nor Obanai have met Nakime before. Mitsuri’s performance in the battle in the manga is particularly disappointing, as she is often shown to be distracted by her feelings for Obanai. The fight is also extremely short, covered in just two chapters.
Giving these two a better fight with Nakime would be a pretty minor change in the grand scheme of things, but it would at least allow the two Hashira to show off their abilities before the series ends. It’s noted that Nakime isn’t as deadly as some of the other Upper Moons, but that her ability to control the castle makes her difficult to fight against, so showing that difficulty and then Obanai and Mitsuri slowly overcoming it should make it into a more enjoyable fight.
Where Each Movie Ends Will Have a Huge Impact
The Movies Need to End With a Sense of Victory
One problem that this arc faces in being adapted to a trilogy of movies is that these movies will come out a year or more apart, so the films will need some kind of note of finality to them, rather than just ending on raw cliffhangers. There are, effectively, 8 fights to distribute across the movies; two of these constitute the final battle, meaning they’ll likely make up the final film. That leaves 6 fights, or 3 each, for the first two movies. In order to end the movie, the producers will need to find a scene that can serve as a jumping off point for the next movie, but also act as a finale for the first movie.
There really aren’t any great story beats where this can happen, which may necessitate a little rewriting. If the writers stick with the order of fights in the manga, then the first movie will likely end with Tanjiro vs. Akaza, which will definitely be exciting. SinceAkaza is the one who killed the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, this fight will have plenty of emotion packed into it.A moment of contemplation honoring Rengoku’s sacrifice and the fact that he has been avenged at long last might make for a good note to end the first film on.
The second film would then cover the battle against Douma, Kokushibo, and Nakime. Kokushibo will likely be the most exciting fight, so that would be ideal to save for the climax of the second movie. The battle against Nakime may be the most impactful, however, as Nakime’s defeat triggers the characters to exit the Infinity Castle, bringing their battle against Muzan into the early morning light outside. Everyone getting sent outside the castle, facing off against Muzan, would make for a good cliffhanger to end the second film on, if they wanted to use a cliffhanger.
Demon Slayer’s Movie Trilogy Should Enhance the Story Further
The Movies Don’t Need a Complete Rewrite to Succeed
TheDemon SlayerInfinity Castle trilogy will definitely have to take its new format as a movie into account, and that will necessitate some changes to the story. However,Demon Slayerhas been so successful, in part, because of how faithful it is to the manga.The movies should focus on expanding what’s already there and showing what’s happening offscreen, rather than trying to rewrite the story as it stands in the manga.Demon Slayer’s final arc is pretty goodas-is, after all, so it’s not as if it needs a major rewrite.
It will certainly be interesting to see what the studio, Ufotable, decides to do about breaking this final arc into three parts. Featuring the underused Hashira a little more would certainly help to carry the first film, and that’s important for the success of the trilogy as a whole. Finding moments of resolution to end each movie on will be key, allowing viewers to get at least a little conclusion.Demon Slayer’s new movies will likely succeed no matter what, but these points should be considered to make them the best they can be.
