Set Your Heart Ablaze!
Overwhelming emotions and grand-scale production of the Demon Slayer movie
“This fun, lively film acts as a heartfelt extended episode of the Demon Slayer series.”-Amanda Dyer, Common Sense Media
“Demon Slayer’s visually stunning animation and masterful action set pieces serve a heartfelt plot that is sure to satisfy fans.”- Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews
The Demon Slayer movie, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, may have become the most popular animation movie of all time. In the middle of a pandemic, this movie achieved the highest grossing film of all time in Japan and a box office record for being the most popular anime movie ever made. Aside from being praised for featuring stunning animations and spectacular battle scenes, the movie also comprises an emotional storyline and moral message. The main argument of the movie was to show humans are stronger beings than demons. In other words, the overall message was to show a human will and determination cannot be broken down by a mere demon. In fact, the Demon Slayer franchise actively showed that the characters in the story have unbreakable human will and determination. Emotional connection or empathy is a huge part of the movie as well as the Demon Slayer franchise, therefore, the director in this particular movie mainly utilized emotional scenes, camera movement, and heart touching quotes to further appeal the overall message of the movie to the hearts of Demon Slayer fans and other audience members.
Tanjiro Kamado (the main character in the Demon Slayer franchise), Rengoku Kyojuro (strongest and most skilled Flame Warrior in the Demon Slayer Corps or referred to as the Flame Hashira) along with Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Nezuko (she is a demon and younger sister of Tanjiro) were sent to investigate a mysterious train because there were rumors that demons wander around at night to kill the passengers. It’s interesting how although Tanjiro is the main character of the Demon Slayer franchise, the true main character of this movie is Rengoku Kyojuro, the Flame Hashira.
In the midst of the film, Akaza, the upper moon 3 (in the story, the 6 strongest demons are referred to as the upper moon), suddenly appeared in front of Rengoku and wounded Tanjiro to kill them along with 200 passengers on the train. In the story, demons are immortal and they can regenerate any part of their body from wounds or injuries. They can live as long as they want unless they are exposed to sunlight or beheaded. The more humans they kill and consume, the stronger a demon can become. For nearly 300 years, Akaza killed many warriors and even hashiras which allowed himself to become insanely strong.
From the first glance of Rengoku, Akaza acknowledged the strength and extraordinary power of Rengoku and offered him a proposal: become a demon. Akaza criticized the disadvantage of being human by saying humans are weak. He says how humans will grow old and die and those who are dead have nothing left in the world. He repeatedly convinced Rengoku that he is special and if he becomes a demon, he can reach the realm of the highest. But Rengoku retained his humanity and declined the offer with one of the most famous quotes in the movie:
“Growing old and dying is what gives meaning and beauty to the fleeting span of a human life. It’s precisely because we age and die that our lives have value and nobility.”-Rengoku Kyojuro
As an audience, I was truly touched on what Rengoku said to Akaza. His will as a human was truly expressed in one quote. The director managed to reinforce the belief Rengoku has and deeply connected the emotional feelings to the hearts of Demon Slayer fans. Although Rengoku himself acknowledged the inevitable path of human lives, he thinks that is precisely what makes them precious. With his offer declined, Akaza decided to fight Rengoku and kill him if he has to.
Even though Rengoku is a hashira (one of the strongest and most skilled warriors in the Demon Slayer Corps), he barely matched the power level against Akaza. He suffered a tremendous injury from Akaza and was trembling from fear and pain. Akaza even at the end, however, still wanted Rengoku to become a demon:
“Even if you fight to death, you can’t win Kyojuro. Those impressive slashes you inflicted on me have already healed completely. But what about you? A smashed left eye, shattered ribs and damaged internal organs are all irreparable. If you were a demon, you’d heal in a blink of an eye.”-Akaza
However, Rengoku decided to give his full power and attack Akaza in order to protect the innocent 200 passengers along with Tanjiro and his team. Even though he knew that he may die from this attack, he did not hesitate for even a second on considering Akaza’s offer. His determination and will on humanity truly showed how humans were stronger beings than demons in this movie.
With an arm penetrated in his abdomen, Rengoku at his last breath held Akaza until the sun came up. However, Akaza managed to cut off his arms and ran away from the sun. While Akaza was running away, Tanjiro in tears, followed him and shouted at him for running away:
“Rengoku is way more amazing than you! He’s stronger! Rengoku didn’t lose, he didn’t let anybody die! He fought to the end and he protected them to the end! You are the one who lost!”- Tanjiro Kamado
Tanjiro’s speech was really moving to me as an audience. Although it was just plain shouting praising Rengoku for fighting to the end, it was yet an emotional scene that showed the victory of Rengoku’s determination as well as tragedy. The director added a sad background music while Tanjiro was shouting at Akaza to further reinforce the sorrow in the hearts of the Demon Slayer fans and other audience members.
The camera movement and perspective from other characters presented in this movie was yet another powerful strategy used by the director to further reinforce the argument of this movie with more emotional scenes. The appearance of Rengoku’s last scene on Tanjiro’s eyes made audience members in tears.
This was a brilliant move by the director, in my opinion, because the director utilized a different camera movement of Rengoku through the perspective of the main character. In the eyes of Tanjiro, the audience members can still see the strong determination and will of a character from a different perspective. The tears, background animation, and Rengoku’s smile from Tanjiro’s eyes, was yet another emotional reinforcement for the strong will and determination of humans represented by a single character in this movie.
At his last breath, Rengoku gave faith and courage to Tanjiro and his team to continue on with their path in the Demon Slayer series:
“Set your heart ablaze. Grit your teeth and look straight ahead. Even if you stop and crouch down, time won’t wait for you or snuggle you and grieve along with you…Keep learning and grow. And then, become the next Hashira supporting the Demon Slayer Corps. I believe in you…”- Rengoku Kyojuro
Even at his last moment, Rengoku gave hope and courage to Tanjiro (the main character) and his fellow team to never give up to accomplish their goals. His encouragement and faith in Tanjiro allowed the audience members to expect Tanjiro would absorb Rengoku’s will and become stronger than ever in season 2 of Demon Slayer.
With 200 passengers saved along with Tanjiro and his team, Rengoku died with a smile on his face because he knew that he made the right decision as a human being and as a hashira to protect the innocent.
This scene not only touched the hearts of many Demon Slayer fans but also other audience members because Rengoku was a character that connected to many audience members within just 2 hours of a film. As an audience member, I couldn’t bear to hold my tears when Rengoku smiled at the end because it showed Rengoku’s determination even at the moment of his death. Even though this was an animation movie, the emotional connection between Rengoku and the audience was truly overwhelming, in my opinion. This scene in particular was a sorrowful yet powerful scene because it showed how not even death nor a greedy proposal from a demon could break the determination and will of a single human being. It’s almost indicative that Rengoku’s last smile could be foreshadowing the victory of humans against demons and a peaceful world where demons no longer exist.
Overall, the grand scale emotions expressed to the audience along with entertainment, animation, and soundtrack was truly spectacular. It truly deserves the title of being the best animation movie ever made. The movie itself clearly reinforced the message of the movie by touching the hearts of the audience through heartfelt storyline, perspective from other characters, and musical melodies. The success and popularity of this movie made millions of people world-wide to wait on the season 2 of Demon Slayer with extremely high expectations and excitement.