“Perfect Storm” pushes Demon Slayer to record books for Art and Culture News

Tokyo, Japan – The unprecedented success of the film Demon Slayer has helped highlight the potential of its anime industry and its focus on mass entertainment, and has boosted Japanese morale as the country struggles with the new rise in coronavirus cases.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train is now the owner of Japanese record books.

After giving a dozen at the end of last year in a row The most won film in Japan – still going strong – in December Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away surpassed the 1st place that won the most Japanese films of all time.

It is now taking the place of the box office in the United States, where it was released just two weeks ago.

Japanese government spokesman Katsunobu Kato, the cabinet’s secretary general, said this week that Demon Slayer is “delightful to hear that Japanese manga culture is highly regarded around the world.”

In the 29 weeks since its release, the film has sold nearly 29 million tickets and brought in sales of about $ 365 million in the Japanese market alone.

Roland Kelts, Japamerica: The author of the book How Japanese Pop Culture Invaded the U.S., attributed the huge success of Demon Slayer to gathering a “perfect storm”.

He said one key element was “strategic deployment”.

In February 2015, in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, it began as a manga series (Japanese comics or graphic novels), before becoming a 26-episode TV anime series, was released gradually in April 2019 and later played on various platforms. it then became a feature film released in October last year.

The long process allowed the buzz to build up gradually.

Another element was the timing of the film premiere. It occurred during the lull of the Japanese COVID-19 pandemic, between its second and third waves, when cinemas were open but few films were available.

Kelts says he went to the main district cinema in Tokyo at the October 2020 premiere of “there was almost no choice … he was a full-day Demon Slayer.”

Of course, even then the film could not have achieved a record of success without a wider appeal.

“He has an attractive young hero who is very sympathetic,” said Carol Hayes, a professor of Japanese studies at the Australian National University. “The dilemmas he worries about are very humane.”

Good vs. evil

The main character of the series, Tanjiro Kamado, embarks on an adventure that seems familiar and timeless.

He is a brave young man from the country who aims to confront the evil menace and avenge and save his family. In that sense, it could be the story of any culture from any time in human history.

We hear the inner monologue of the hero, who is struggling with the “moral dilemma of the good and the bad”.

Hayes suggests that it comes from the fame of contemporary zombie and vampire movies and that the anime is so beautifully drawn that it can be quite appealing to a wider audience.

At the same time, Demon Slayer isn’t entirely dark, as many of the characters and situations are designed to make the audience laugh and keep their mood lighter and more whimsical.

“They’ve made an effort to make it fun, and that’s a good way to deal with violence,” Hayes saw.

Moreover, by taking the “devil” as an antagonist, the murder that occurs in almost every episode becomes less of a moral problem.

Emerald King, a Japanese professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, beyond Tanjiro, said, “There’s a great supporting character and supporting characters, and there’s someone for everyone … Not a single character is wasted. Everyone has a goal. they meet “.

Pointing to the point also cited by other analysts, King warns that despite the typical manga structure of young men, female characters also have depth.

“There are great female characters … boys can have as many flaws and strengths as they do,” she said.

Kamado Tajiro will leave his village to take revenge and save his family [File: Sam Yeh/AFP]

On the other hand, those who learn Japanese manga and anime also tend to agree that, despite its success, the Demon Slayer section is not the only element that can be said to be truly pioneering.

“There’s nothing new,” King admitted, “that has taken the best parts of everything and put them together.” Series “developed in other genres and [is] using them for their own benefit “.

In this context, the Celts suggest that their popularity may disappear over time.

“I don’t think it’s worshiped as a classic anime five years from now,” he said.

Demon Slayer’s genius may not be in its innovation or artistic depth, but rather in its ability to deliver precisely the purpose.

Kelts warns that investment money has been flowing from the U.S. into the Japanese anime world for the past five years or so in the last five years, which means that studios are being forced to “sharpen action” from a commercial perspective.

“The industry is realizing that their job now is to provide a product that has a global audience,” Kelts said. The adult craft of Demon Slayer reflects this well-written and well-executed style.

The film’s international and international success almost ensures that other studios and industry players will explore Demon Slayer in order to ride the wave it has created. It will certainly serve as a model for many to come, including some uninspired regattas aimed at making money.

Demon Slayer began as a comic before the TV series and eventually became a feature film. According to experts, the strategy helped ensure success [File: Kyodo/via Reuters]

But many of the best anime products of the future are also likely to feel the impact of the commercial success achieved by Demon Slayer, and some of the effects may be deplored by some groups of animators.

A perfect storm can leave a changed landscape.

As one studio insider told Keltsei, “Our generation has realized that anime is entertainment; it is not art “.