As we already know, Kimetsu No Yaiba was adapted to a 26 episodes animated series in spring 2019 by Ufotable. After witnessing the massive success of the anime version, the popular studio announced the movie “Mugen Train” to be released which is the following of Demon Slayer’s first season and talks about the Infinity Train story arc.
After beating the overwhelmingly famous animated movie “Your Name” and even “Titanic” we’ve come to find on the Japanese website Oricon that this “Kimetsu No Yaiba” movie is now officially Japan’s biggest success, reaching higher numbers than “Spirited Away” in only 72 days when it had its first position on the ladders for more than 15 years.
Demon Slayer’s writer and illustrator Koyoharu Gotouge was congrulated on social networks with fans celebrating this historical prowess and on this occasion Yahoo Japan News announced production of Mugen Train’s follow up based on Japanese newspaper Nikkan Sports’s article “The successful Kimetsu No Yaiba franchise already has an animation project in progress ” although it was revealed in this article that there is a sequel to the first season coming, we don’t know if it is a season 2 or a second movie yet.
In an interview with the newspaper Nikkan Sports, the manager expressed himself: “I heard that since Infinity Train movie release there were already future projects being discussed at the time […] However, Mugen Train covers a story of two volumes while the next anime arc known as ’Red Light District’ is 4 volumes long.” This makes it hard to turn it into a movie due to it’s duration being twice as long.
At that point of the interview another person at Nikkan Sports intervened and said: “It would be impossible to optimally turn Red Light District into a movie. If we develop this arc in a film project, the more realistic way would be to make it in two parts.” Another person working in cinematographic projects and used to the industry concluded with: “Even considering this arc’s long duration, it is more realistic for it to be adapted in a second season of the anime series than for the next arc to be a movie.”
From other official sources, the production committee: Aniplex, Ufotable, Shueisha, Toho and Fuji TV are also discussing the next format of the animated series being either a movie or a season sequel.
To conclude, we have to remember two important things: first there WILL be an animated follow up to Mugen Train due to it’s massive success. Second is that the format is still not decided. What do you think? Would you prefer a season sequel or a movie? A season sequel would be better in my opinion.
– Article written and sponsored Maxime Lopez the founder of Demon Slayer Merch. A truly passionate anime fan who is very hyped by Mugen Train’s release!