I am very excited. I have been waiting for American release dates for the anime film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train for quite a while now. It’s finally set to hit theaters starting April 23rd. I’m kind of hoping that it will get a regular release, although anime films tend to play two to four discrete dates, split between dubbed and subbed versions.
The fact that both language versions have been confirmed makes we think that it will be a limited release. Frankly, though, given the insane success of the Demon Slayer manga (over 82,000,000–yes, million–copies sold last year alone), anime series and now the movie, now officially the biggest box office draw in Japanese history, and given how kids cotton to the manga and anime these days, I think it would highly behoove everyone involved to release it as a regular film here.
It will also be available for “electronic sell-through” in June, through venues like Amazon.
We were discussing the horrible lack of originality in American entertainment just yesterday, as Disney announced that Alien/Aliens would be their next attempt at a “mega-franchise.” Of course, the real problem is that these studios are just ruining one franchise after another; Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Terminator, People in Black, etc. Disney now seems to have locked in the MCU as the next target of destruction. These people are morons.
Even so, Japan is showing that you can in fact (gasp) create immensely popular new franchises. The secret, make ’em really, really good. I haven’t read the manga yet, but the anime for Demon Slayer is fantastic. If anyone is interested in seeing the film, catch up on the show first. It’s 24 episodes but that really just comes down to about 8 hours of content, meaning it’s easily bingable in a single weekend. Or take your time and savor the thing. Anyway, it’s available on both YouTube Netflix (NOT YouTube) and Hulu.
I honestly feel that the American media giants are in danger of losing the younger generations. Maybe are gravitating to games more than movies and TV anyway. However, anime and manga continue to make inroads. Their secret: They actually provide terrific, inspiring characters and exciting, smart and entertaining stories that people like.
What a concept.
