Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train | Review
There is one big problem that occurs when movies come up as a sequel or summary of a previously successful series. This problem is expectations. Watching series, people get used to a certain Universe and the course of events in it. When they come to watch a full-length movie, they mostly just expect a very long episode of the same series they have been following for a while. That was mostly what happened to Demon Slayer, the Movie: Mugen Train’, and became a reason why so many viewers claim that it has missed its point.
Creators often feel differently about the whole idea of a movie release. They try to offer us an alternative view of habitual characters, their images, and the course of events. It seems like it was exactly the Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train case.
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The original plot was pretty thrilling and straightforward at the same time. A group of heroes boards a train where for some mysterious reason, both demon hunters and seemingly ordinary people have gone missing.
Technically, the idea of putting Tanjiro and his friends, those pretty vulgar characters, in the middle of the story is absurd. Therefore, they are assigned to work with Rengoku, one of the nine strongest hunters in their organization. However, as long as the story goes on, the heroes understand that raw power is simply not enough to solve the train’s mystery.
The biggest risk of the movie was to put a strong character like Rengoku in the middle of the storyline and make him solve the whole mystery. On the one hand, it would have been pretty logical and expectable, but on the other hand, it basically makes all the rest characters meaningless and kills the whole story.
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Instead, the creators decided to move from within, providing each character with his own storyline and an opportunity to make an impact on the overall scenario with a meaningful act—moreover, the explanation of why Inosuke, not the far more powerful Rengoku, makes the clincher.
Moreover, the character’s personal storylines don’t only reveal and justify the movie’s overall course of events but describe each character’s personality through their deepest desires and sacrifices they make on the way. And while some of them are used as comic movie classics for the series, others manage to reveal the grades of Tanjiro and Rengoku’s true personalities that we might not have witnessed before.
The movie also uses the whole potential of metaphors and symbolism in the story through the heroes’ visions and imagination moves. For example, Tanjiro’s peaceful summer landscape with a serene lake is the most vivid embodiment of the character’s nature that we might have seen before.
However, Demon Slayer, the Movie: Mugen Train’ has one significant pitfall: it almost misses any chance to reveal the villain’s story and identity. This tendency is pretty surprising if we consider how much screen time and story moves were used for each particular hero.
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Even if we remember the series, villains got a clear explanation and full revelation with a pretty limited screen time. We saw Kyogai, who had to be recognized either as a demon or a writer, a spider-demon Rui with his dramatic family issues.
When it comes to Enmu, the villain from Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train’, we just see pointless and unexplainable sadism. He just gets pleasure from seeing the horror in the victims` eyes and killing them. The creators deprive us entirely of any hint of self-analysis, remorse, or a background story that could have justified the villain’s actions even for himself. Eventually, critics and viewers come to a common opinion that Enmu might be one of the most forgettable villains in the history of the franchise. It is pretty pitiful as he had great potential, and social media is already full of pretty original and inventive fan-fic scenarios for these characters. We might never know the answer to why creators decided to neglect such a promising opportunity to create one of the most powerful villains in the whole culture.
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The main thing that might have failed the movie in the eyes of numerous viewers is the lack of emotional connection with the main heroes. Take Rengory – a central character, does not really mean anything to viewers because they simply don’t know him and cannot relate to the motivation depicted in the story. Moreover, other characters within the story technically don’t have a reason to relate as most of them don’t know anything about each other. In other words, each character got a full-length storyline and a chance to contribute to the overall concept, but the creators failed to simply introduce them to each other and create a common atmosphere that would have united them.
As a result, Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train’ appears to be a pretty stunning animation that will definitely win over the hearts of numerous viewers. However, those are fans of the original series who will most enjoy and comprehend the plot. In case the movie becomes your first acquaintance with the Dem Slayer’s Universe, big chances, you will find it erratic and unjustified in many ways. However, it may be a great motivation for you to check out the original series.
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