Quick Links
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibais hardly a perfect anime. The story, as fun as it is, is very generic through the writing of its characters and overall narrative, and the pacing typically only emphasizes that point, especially with how often the anime needlessly drags things out for little reason beyond padding the runtime.
That being said,Demon Slayerhas become as big as it is for a reason. The sincerity in its writing, for one thing, makes any cliches feel ultimately fine due to their great execution, but beyond that, for all its faults,Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibais going to go down in history as a legendary anime for all the ways it effectively changed the industry. Many of those reasons are probably well-known at this point, but even so, it’s interesting to think about just how muchDemon Slayerhas changed the industry while not even being a decade old.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Made Anime Movies Required Viewing
How Demon Slayer Changed Anime Movies Forever
When an anime adaptation gets a movie, most of the time, it will just be a one-off story with no bearing on the plot, butDemon Slayer’s first movie,Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, was famously the anime’s next story arc, and it still sits as the highest-grossing anime film of all time. Ever since then, anime likeHaikyu!!,Jujutsu Kaisen,Gintama, andSailor Moon Crystalhave often used their movies as full-fledged continuations of their stories, sothe success ofDemon Slayer: Mugen Traincan be seen as one of the biggest reasons anime started making their movies canon.
Naturally, evenDemon Slayerhasn’t given up on that practice. Following the season 4 finale, it was announced thatDemon Slayer’s penultimate arc, the “Infinity Castle” arc, will be adapted into a film trilogy, withthe firstInfinity Castlefilm’s release dateset for July 05, 2025. Each film in the trilogy will surely be just as successful asMugen Traindue to being necessary viewing for fans, and because of that,the inevitable success of the upcomingDemon Slayer: Infinity Castletrilogy will only make canon anime movies a more frequent part of the industry.
It should be noted thatDemon Slayerdidn’t start this trend. Sequels to original properties likeThe End of Evangelionare one thing, but well beforeMugen Train, anime adaptations likeNaruto,Konosuba, andThe Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiyaall had canon films, and evenDragon Ball’s films have all been canon since 2013’sDragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. That being said, none of those examples were anywhere near as successful asMugen Train, soDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibastill stands out as the biggest example of how successful an anime film can be when it’s made canon.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Helped Make Seasonal Anime An Industry Mainstay
How Demon Slayer Helped Make Seasonal Anime Take Off
Another reason whyDemon Slayerhas been so impactful has been because of what it’s done for seasonal anime. As easy as it would have been forDemon Slayer’s anime to run continuously until its finale, Ufotable instead opted for seasonal releases, which allowed the anime to continually maintain its gorgeous art and animation quality without forcing too much work on the staff. Anime was already gradually normalizing seasonal releases, but it can be said thatDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’s unprecedented success can be seen as a major part of why seasonal anime have become an industry mainstay.
Demon Slayer’s release strategy also did wonders in changing how people view seasonal releases. Even with how long it often takes for each new season to come out, they’re always major events both because of how popularDemon Slayeris and the incredible quality put into their production, even if the story content often leaves much to be desired.The incredible success ofDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibaplayed a big part in making seasonal anime events to look forward to as opposed to just another way of watching anime, and that’s bound to continue for years to come.
Demon Slayer Showed That Anime Don’t Need Strict Schedules To Be Good
How Demon Slayer Changed Anime Release Schedules
Most of the time, an anime is expected to run for somewhere along the lines of as few as 12 episodes per season and as many as 26, and even when it’s the former, they’re often faced with inconsistent quality due to how much work has to be done to make everything come together. WithDemon Slayer, however,Demon Slayer: KImetsu no Yaibashowed that anime can still be good even when they don’t follow typical episode counts, whether it’s a smaller amount or a larger one, and in either case, it’s lead to far more consistent quality in productions.
Granted,Demon Slayerwasn’t the first anime to schedule out its seasons like that, and the gap in episodes is often justified by some episodes being hour-long specials. That being said, in recent years, there’s been a definite uptick in anime having seasons with more irregular episode counts, even if that’s occasionally a result of having longer episodes to make up the difference, soDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’s success with irregular episode counts likely played a part in many other anime adopting the same strategy, and it won’t be surprising if that becomes the norm for years to come.
Demon Slayer’s Endearing Quality Will Always Make It A Modern Classic
Demon Slayer Is As Popular As It Is For A Reason
A story can be as revolutionary as it wants to be with its production, but none of that will matter if no one pays attention to it, as anything it tries to do would just fall to the wayside along with the show. InDemon Slayer’s case, its fun writing and incredible animation and overall direction have long since made it one of the biggest anime of the past decade, soDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibabeing so popularcan easily be seen as the main reason why it’s impacted the industry as much as it has.
All of that, of course, shows whyDemon Slayeris such amodern classic among anime. Anime likeDragon Ball,Sailor Moon, andOne Pieceall revolutionized the industry in one way or another, and withDemon Slayerdoing the same with its incredible popularity,everythingDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibahas done to revolutionize the industry is proof positive of how it’s become one of the biggest names in modern anime. Whatever elseDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibadoes with its story will only reinforce that idea, and it will be great to watch it play out.
