Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, is a 2020 Japanese animated dark fantasy action film based on the "Mugen Train" arc of the 2016–20 manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotouge. It is a direct sequel to the first season of the anime television series as well as its first film adaptation. The film was directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by Ufotable, and written by the studio's staff members.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, premiering in Japan on October 16, 2020, by Aniplex and Toho, and late 2020 to mid-2021 outside Japan by Crunchyroll through Sony Pictures Releasing. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $512.7 million worldwide and making it the highest-grossing film of 2020. It marked the first time ever that a non-American production topped the annual global box office, and it set a number of other box office records, including the highest-grossing Japanese film both in Japan and worldwide, two titles previously held by Spirited Away and Your Name, respectively, until it was surpassed in 2025 by the later installment, Infinity Castle – Part 1: Akaza Returns, as the highest grossing Japanese film worldwide. It was also being the first Japanese film to gross over the half-billion dollar mark. It also has received numerous awards, including Animation of the Year at the 44th Japan Academy Film Prize, Best Film at the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, and Best Animation Film at the 45th Hochi Film Award.
A sequel set after the events of the second season, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village, was released on February 3, 2023, with a third film set after the events of the third season, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, released on February 2, 2024. A film trilogy titled Infinity Castle, set after the events of the fourth season has been confirmed, with the first installment, Part 1: Akaza Returns, released on July 18, 2025.
Plot
Demon Slayer Corps leader Kagaya Ubuyashiki and his wife Amane visits a graveyard where fallen Demon Slayers are buried. Lamenting those who died in the war against Muzan Kibutsuji, he declares that the human spirit will always rise to the challenge.Tanjiro Kamado, his demon sister Nezuko, and his friends Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira board the Mugen Train to assist Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku in finding a demon onboard. When two demons appear, Kyojuro kills them and they are awed by his power and skill. Later, all of them fall into a deep sleep, the work of Enmu, Lower Rank One of Muzan's Twelve Kizuki.
Enmu instructs four insomniac passengers to enter their dreams and destroy their spiritual cores, in exchange for a peaceful sleep. The Demon Slayers have idealistic dreams; Tanjiro reunites with his deceased family, Kyojuro reminisces on his past with his brother and father, Zenitsu envisions a life with Nezuko, and Inosuke imagines himself as a leader. The intruders fail to destroy their cores, while Tanjiro, aided by the unaffected Nezuko, realizes that he is dreaming. He abandons his family and wakes up when a vision of his father instructs him to commit suicide.
Nezuko uses her pyrokinetic Blood Demon Art to sever the intruders' connection to the others. Angered at being denied their own dreams, they attack Tanjiro, who knocks them unconscious except his intruder, after he refused to harm him despite suffering from tuberculosis. While Nezuko wakes up the others, Tanjiro confronts and beheads Enmu, but he is revealed to have fused with the train and prepares to devour the passengers.
Kyojuro instructs Inosuke and Tanjiro to cut Enmu's neck as he, Nezuko, and Zenitsu protects the passengers. They find it in the locomotive but are attacked by its defenses, including a Blood Demon Art that puts them to sleep. The conductor, under Enmu's control, stabs Tanjiro in his stomach amidst the chaos. With his mask making him immune to Emnu's attacks, Inosuke exposes his vertebra. Tanjiro slashes it with his newfound Hinokami Kagura, killing Enmu and derailing the train. As Tanjiro attempts to recover from his wound, Kyojuro teaches him how to stabilize it with his breathing techniques.
They are then confronted by Upper Rank Three Akaza, who tries to persuade Kyojuro into becoming a demon. Kyojuro refuses and fights Akaza, but he cannot overcome his regeneration and is severely wounded as Tanjiro and Inosuke look on. After attempting his most powerful move as a last resort, Akaza fatally injures him by impaling his solar plexus. With his remaining strength, Kyojuro attempts to restrain Akaza until sunrise and sever his neck, but Akaza breaks free and flees into a nearby forest.
In desperation, Tanjiro throws his sword at Akaza and impales his chest, though he escapes. He breaks down, calling the demon a coward and declaring Kyojuro victorious for fulfilling his duty to keep everyone safe. In his last moments, Kyojuro tells Tanjiro to visit his family's estate to ascertain writings from the past Flame Hashiras, which may help him learn about his Hinokami Kagura. He encourages Tanjiro and his friends to continue on their paths to greater strength, telling them to never give up in protecting others, before succumbing to his injuries and reuniting with his mother in the afterlife.
While Tanjiro and his friends mourn Kyojuro's death, the Hashira receive the news. Kagaya honors him for not letting anyone else die in his presence, stating that he will be glad to reunite with him when he too passes.
Voice cast
| Character | Japanese | English |
| Tanjiro Kamado | Natsuki Hanae | Zach Aguilar |
| Nezuko Kamado | Akari Kitō | Abby Trott |
| Zenitsu Agatsuma | Hiro Shimono | Aleks Le |
| Inosuke Hashibira | Yoshitsugu Matsuoka | Bryce Papenbrook |
| Kyojuro Rengoku | Satoshi Hino | Mark Whitten |
| Enmu / Lower Rank 1 | Daisuke Hirakawa | Landon McDonald |
| Akaza / Upper Rank 3 | Akira Ishida | Lucien Dodge |
| Ruka Rengoku | Megumi Toyoguchi | Suzie Yeung |
| Shinjuro Rengoku | Rikiya Koyama | Imari Williams |
| Senjurō Rengoku | Junya Enoki | Cedric Williams |
| Tanjuro Kamado | Shin-ichiro Miki | Kirk Thornton |
| Kie Kamado | Houko Kuwashima | Dorothy Elias-Fahn |
| Takeo Kamado | Yō Taichi | Michelle Ruff |
| Hanako Kamado | Konomi Kohara | Ryan Bartley |
| Shigeru Kamado | Kaede Hondo | Jessica DiCicco |
| Rokuta Kamado | Aoi Koga | Philece Sampler |
| Shinobu Kocho | Saori Hayami | Erika Harlacher |
| Gyomei Himejima | Tomokazu Sugita | Crispin Freeman |
| Tengen Uzui | Katsuyuki Konishi | Ray Chase |
| Sanemi Shinazugawa | Tomokazu Seki | Kaiji Tang |
| Obanai Iguro | Kenichi Suzumura | Erik Scott Kimerer |
| Giyu Tomioka | Takahiro Sakurai | Johnny Yong Bosch |
| Kagaya Ubuyashiki | Toshiyuki Morikawa | Matthew Mercer |
| Amane Ubuyashiki | Rina Satō | Suzie Yeung |