Is Mugen Train arc and movie the same?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (Japanese: 劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編, Hepburn: Gekijō-ban "Kimetsu no Yaiba" Mugen Ressha-hen), also known as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train or Demon Slayer: Infinity Train, is a 2020 Japanese animated dark fantasy action film[3][4] based on the "Mugen Train" arc of the shōnen manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotouge. The film, which is a direct sequel to the first season of the anime television series, was directed by Haruo Sotozaki and written by Ufotable staff members. The film was produced by Ufotable in association with Aniplex and Shueisha.

The film was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, premiering on October 16, 2020, in Japan, by Toho (in partnership with Aniplex); and late 2020 to mid-2021 internationally. It grossed over $506.5 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing film of 2020, the first time a non-Hollywood production topped the annual box office. It set a number of box office records, including becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time.

The film has received numerous awards, including Animation of the Year at the 44th Japan Academy Film Prize as well as the Best Animation Film at the 45th Hochi Film Award.

Tanjiro Kamado, his younger sister Nezuko, and his friends Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira board the Mugen Train[N 1] to assist the Flame Hashira Kyōjurō Rengoku in his mission to hunt for a demon that has caused forty people to go missing. Soon after boarding, all of them except for Nezuko are enchanted and fall into a deep sleep. Enmu, Lower One of the Twelve Kizuki, instructs four passengers, all suffering from severe insomnia, to enter the Demon Slayers' dreams and destroy their spiritual cores so that they can't wake up again. In exchange, Enmu will grant them a peaceful sleep. During their sleep, Tanjiro and his companions have happy dreams; Tanjiro reunites with his deceased family, Rengoku reminisces on his past with his younger brother and disapproving father, Zenitsu envisions a quiet life with Nezuko, and Inosuke imagines himself as an adventuring leader. The girl who invades Rengoku's dream locates his core, but his immensely strong spirit manages to halt her even while still unconscious.

Tanjiro realizes that he is dreaming, tearfully abandoning his family and tries to wake up, succeeding after a vision of his father instructs him to kill himself in the dream. At the same time, Nezuko uses her Blood Demon Art to sever the intruders' connection to the slayers, and awaken the passengers. In fear of Enmu, they attack Tanjiro, who knocks them all out, except for his intruder, who had grown incredibly guilty after uncovering his subconscious and discovering he possesses a pure heart. While Nezuko awakens the others, Tanjiro confronts Enmu on top of the train, who becomes overjoyed to discover Tanjiro is the "man with the Hanafuda earrings" that his master, Muzan Kibutsuji, desires killed. In the ensuing battle, Tanjiro beheads him, however, Enmu reveals that he fused himself with the train, preparing to devour all the attendants within. An awakened Rengoku instructs Inosuke and Tanjiro to look for Enmu's neck while he, Nezuko, and Zenitsu stay behind to protect the other passengers. Tanjiro and Inosuke find Enmu's neckbone in the engine room, but are caught off guard by its defenses, including its Blood Demon Art that constantly puts him to sleep. The conductor ends up stabbing Tanjiro in the chaos, but together with Inosuke, they are able to expose and destroy Enmu's neckbone, killing him and derailing the train. In the aftermath, Enmu laments his failure over being defeated by the Demon Slayers, disintegrating away.

As Tanjiro attempts to recover from his wounds, Rengoku arrives to help teach him how to stabilize it with his breathing techniques. However, they are suddenly attacked by Upper Three of the Twelve Kizuki, Akaza, who tries to persuade Rengoku to turn into a demon to become immortal, after sensing his already immense power. Rengoku easily refuses, thinking about how his mother taught him to always use his strength and gifts to protect others. Rengoku orders Tanjiro and Inosuke to stand back, while he and Akaza commence in a fight to the death which the others can barely keep up with. Despite his perseverance, Rengoku is unable to match Akaza's regeneration skills, as the demon manages to fatally injure him by piercing his solar plexus. Rengoku attempts to keep him at bay for long enough for the sun to kill him, but Akaza manages to break free and escape into the adjacent forest. In a last ditch effort to stop him, an enraged Tanjiro throws his sword at Akaza, impaling the demon's chest, but he still manages to get away, as Tanjiro breaks down, calling him a coward. Rengoku succumbs to his injuries and encourages Tanjiro and his friends to continue on his path and never give up, before dying. The three are devastated over the death, with Tanjiro especially drawn into despair due to the nearly impossible power gap between humans and demons which Akaza has revealed, but Inosuke reminds him to heed Rengoku's last words and keep fighting to get stronger. The remaining Hashiras receive the news of Rengoku's death, while the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, appreciates him for not letting a single passenger or comrade die in his presence, stating that he will be glad to reunite with him when he finally passes.

Voice cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Yūma Takahashi, the producer of the anime series, indicated a desire to continue production of the series with the Ufotable Production Team. The sequel project was greenlit following the success of the television series. A film was determined to be the best format for the "Mugen Train" arc due to the arc's shorter content and dramatic pacing.[8] The main cast was made aware of the film project midway through the first season of the television series.[9] The main production staff from the anime television series, as well as the cast, were carried over into the film's production. Haruo Sotozaki served as director, with Akira Matsushima and Manabu Kamino serving as animator and editor of the film, respectively. The film was announced on September 28, 2019, immediately following the airing of the anime series' season finale.[10]

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

The film was released theatrically in Japan on October 16, 2020.[11] Because other major releases had been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of available screens was higher than usual.[12] The film opened in 403 cinemas total, including all 38 IMAX cinemas within the country.[13] The film had a very staggered international release, being released from as early as October 30, 2020, in Taiwan,[14] to as late as August 13, 2021, in India.[15] The theatrical release in China was delayed when a controversy surrounding the film Monster Hunter led the Chinese censors to review some foreign films a second time.[16]

The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on June 16, 2021;[17] it sold over 800,000 units in its first day and over 1 million units in three days.[18] In North America, the film was released digitally on June 22, 2021; pre-orders began on April 26, 2021;[19] and the film was accidentally available for purchase on the PlayStation Store for a few hours in April.[20] Upon its video-on-demand (VOD) release in North America, the film debuted at number one on the Vudu, Google Play and YouTube charts.[21] A novel adaptation was released on October 16, 2020.[22]

Extended version[edit]

In the second season of the anime television series which began its broadcast in Japan on October 10, 2021, the season's first part, Mugen Train Arc, is an extended and recompilated version of the film.[23]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

The worldwide box office total for Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is over $506.5 million from more than 41 million tickets sold,[2][24] making it the highest-grossing film of 2020 as well as the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film of all time.[25][26] It was the first time in the history of cinema that a non-Hollywood production topped the annual worldwide box office.[27] It also became the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all time.[28]

Prior to its release in Japan, the film set monthly sales records for advance tickets sold for two consecutive months in September and October 2020.[29] Upon release, it set several box office records including highest opening weekend gross (¥4.6 billion, $44 million)[30][31] and fastest to gross ¥10 billion (ten days),[32] ¥20 billion (24 days),[33] and ¥30 billion (59 days).[34] It also set the record for the highest-grossing IMAX release in Japan with $25 million, surpassing the $13 million record previously set by Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018.[35][36] The film became the first film to top the Japanese box office charts for ten consecutive weekends since the charts began publication in 2004,[37] and ultimately remained in the top 10 for 32 weeks,[38] the second-highest number of consecutive weeks in the Japanese charts behind Titanic's 40 weeks in the late 1990s.[39][40] It became the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan in 73 days at a gross of ¥32.48 billion, surpassing Spirited Away, which had held the record for 19 years.[41] After 220 days of release, it became the first film in the history of Japanese cinema to gross ¥40 billion.[42]

Outside of Japan, its highest gross in a single market was in the United States and Canada, where it was released on April 23, 2021, and grossed US$47.7 million to become the second-highest-grossing anime film of all time in the market, after Pokémon: The First Movie which grossed US$85.7 million.[43][44][45] Its North American opening weekend gross of $19.5 million set the record as the biggest opening for any foreign-language film released in North America.[46] It became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in Taiwan by grossing NT$360 million (US$12.6 million) in 17 days after its release and went on to gross NT$634 million in total.[47][48] It also became the highest-grossing anime film in several other markets, including Singapore where it was released on November 12, 2020 and went on to gross S$2.42 million ($1.83 million),[49][50] Malaysia where it was released on March 5, 2021 and went on to gross more than RM 4.3 million to surpass One Piece: Stampede's RM 3.3 million,[51][52][53] Thailand where it surpassed the previous record held by Your Name during the first weekend and went on to gross ฿124 million,[54][55] and Russia where it grossed $1.7 million.[56] In Hong Kong, the film topped the box office for four consecutive weekends following its opening on November 12, 2020,[57] but its box office run came to a halt as all the cinemas in Hong Kong were shut down on December 2, 2020 amidst the outbreak of the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong;[58] cinemas did not reopen again until February 18, 2021.[59]

The box-office success of the film was attributed to a confluence of different factors by Roland Kelts. Among these were being released during a period of relative calm in the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, which meant that theatres were open but competition from other films was low, and the protracted sequential release of the manga, anime and film which allowed anticipation to build up over time.[60]

Critical response[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 48 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Demon Slayer's visually stunning animation and masterful action set pieces serve a heartfelt plot that is sure to satisfy fans."[61] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 10 critics, the film received "generally favorable reviews".[62] Upon release in North American theaters, Mugen Train earned a 92% positive score from a PostTrak audience poll.[63] Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train was one of the Jury Recommended works at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2022.[64]

Crunchyroll reviewer Daryl Harding gave the film a positive review, praising the combination of 2D and 3D animation techniques, the music, and the character writing.[65] IndieWire reviewer David Ehrlich, who gave the film a "C" on an A to F scale, likewise praised the film for its striking visuals, and for the characters of Kyōjurō Rengoku and Enmu, but said its R rating was excessive.[66] By contrast, Anime News Network reviewer Kim Morrissy and Variety reviewer Peter Debruge compared the animation quality unfavourably to that of the TV series.[67][68] Harding, Ehrlich, Morrissy and Debruge all noted that fully understanding and appreciating the film requires having watched the first season of the anime beforehand.

Should I watch the Mugen Train arc before the movie?

Can I skip Mugen Train arc if I watched the movie?