Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train

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] On April 26, 2021, two months before its official release, the film was accidentally made available for purchase on the PlayStation Store for a few hours before being removed, resulting in leaked copies being distributed across the Internet.[20][21] Upon its video-on-demand (VOD) release in North America, the film debuted at number one on the Vudu, Google Play and YouTube charts.[22] A novel adaptation was released on October 16, 2020.[23]

The first part of the second season of the anime television series, subtitled Mugen Train Arc, is an extended and recompiled version of the film that ran for a total of 7 episodes. The first episode of the part is an entirely new episode that focuses on what Kyojuro did immediately before the events of the film, while the remaining 6 episodes are recompiled cuts of the film with several slight edits performed on them to account for its episodic format. It was broadcast in Japan from October 10 to November 28, 2021.[24]

The worldwide box office total for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train is over $507 million from more than 41 million tickets sold,[1][25] making it the highest-grossing film of 2020 as well as the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film of all time.[26][27] It was the first time in the history of cinema that a non-Hollywood production topped the annual worldwide box office.[28][29] It also became the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all time, surpassing Sausage Party.[30]

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.[31] Upon release, it set several box office records including highest opening weekend gross (¥4.6 billion, $44 million)[32][33] and fastest to gross ¥10 billion (ten days),[34] ¥20 billion (24 days),[35] and ¥30 billion (59 days).[36] 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.[37][38] The film became the first film to top the Japanese box office charts for ten consecutive weekends since the charts began publication in 2004,[39] and ultimately remained in the top 10 for 32 weeks,[40] the second-highest number of consecutive weeks in the Japanese charts behind Titanic's 40 weeks in the late 1990s.[41][42] 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.[43] After 220 days of release, it became the first film in the history of Japanese cinema to gross ¥40 billion.[44]

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.[45][46][47] 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.[48] 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.[49][50] 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),[51][52] 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,[53][54][55] Thailand where it surpassed the previous record held by Your Name during the first weekend and went on to gross ฿124 million,[56][57] and Russia where it grossed $1.7 million.[58] In Hong Kong, the film topped the box office for four consecutive weekends following its opening on November 12, 2020,[59] 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;[60] cinemas did not reopen again until February 18, 2021.[61]

The box-office success of the film was attributed to a confluence of different factors. Among these were being released during a period of relative calm in the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, which meant that theaters 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.[62]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 49 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."[63] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 10 critics, the film received "generally favorable reviews".[64] American audiences surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 92% positive score, with 78% saying they would definitely recommend it.[65] 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.[66]

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.[67] 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.[68] By contrast, Anime News Network reviewer Kim Morrissy and Variety reviewer Peter Debruge compared the animation quality unfavourably to that of the TV series.[69][70] Harding, Ehrlich, Morrissy and Debruge all noted that fully understanding and appreciating the film requires having watched the first season of the anime beforehand.