Anime fans have been impatiently waiting for either the Demon Slayer Season 2 TV anime series or a Demon Slayer movie 2 to be announced. While there definitely will be a new Demon Slayer anime project, it appears the decision-makers themselves are uncertain what form it should take.
And some believe that the future of the series involves both more movies and TV seasons.
Nikkan Sports reports that an anime industry official claims “that when the project for this [Demon Slayer: Mugen Train] movie was launched there were talks about future projects.”
The film was distributed in Japan by Aniplex and Toho. A managing producer for Toho, Ichikawa Minami, conveyed a strong motivation for wanting to do further Demon Slayer movies in the future.
“We are anxious to do a [Demon Slayer] sequel,” Minami said at a Tokyo press conference.
At the same time, the producer admitted that there are three other major companies involved in the anime production committee: Aniplex (which also distributes Demon Slayer music), animation studio ufotable, and publisher Shueisha, which released the manga series by creator Koyoharu Gotoge.
“Three companies are involved,” Minami said. “We [Toho] are distributing. Since I am in this position, I am anxious for [a Demon Slayer sequel], but I have not heard of any subsequent actions [toward greenlighting the production].”
The Demon Slayer movie box office numbers have surpassed even Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, making it the most successful anime movie in Japan. The total box office amounted to 31,721,231,550 yen (roughly $307 million USD), breaking the record of 31,680,000 yen set by Spirited Away.
Considering that astounding success, there are plenty of reasons to consider adapting the manga’s story with a Demon Slayer movie 2. But how would the anime producers go about doing it?
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -Yoshiwara Yukaku- would adapt the manga’s Red Light District/Entertainment District story arc
There is likely to be a deep debate about how the new Demon Slayer anime should be developed. Toho producer Minami would like a Demon Slayer: Yoshiwara Yukaku movie to be made rather than continuing the story with a Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 anime TV series.
While that’s not the official title for the proposed film project, the Yoshiwara Yukaku story arc could be translated into English as either Demon Slayer: Entertainment District or Demon Slayer: Red Light District.
While a second Demon Slayer movie makes sense from a financial perspective, the real question is whether such a project would work from a storytelling perspective.
Demon Slayer: Yoshiwara Yukaku movie would need to be two parts
From a storytelling perspective, the Mugen train story arc was a perfect fit for a normal-length film. It was 17 chapters in two manga volumes. The movie had a runtime duration of 117 minutes.
The anime industry insiders believe that a Demon Slayer: Yoshiwara Yukaku movie is more difficult since it’s adapting 30 chapters or “doubled in volume to 4 volumes”. Assuming the pacing remains the same, that’s almost a four-hour long movie.
Another unnamed anime industry insider claimed, “I can’t animate [the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -Yoshiwara Yukaku- story arc] in one movie. If I develop it into a movie, it would be realistic to make it in two parts; a first part and a second part.”
Major TV broadcasting companies in Japan are also eager for the continuation to be a TV series, not a movie. The re-edited version of the Demon Slayer anime has been re-broadcasted multiple times on Japanese TV stations to good ratings.
An industry insider familiar with movies and broadcasting said that if you consider the number of chapters in Yoshiwara Yukaku story arc it’s possible that the future of the franchise will involve both movies and Fuji TV broadcasting Demon Slayer Season 2. The insider suggested that part of the story could be “broadcast on TV and [then] make the episodes beyond that into a movie.”
From a storytelling perspective, it would certainly make sense to adapt the Entertainment District and Swordsmith Village arcs as Demon Slayer Season 2. Additionally, the next two story arcs would fit well as Demon Slayer Season 3 anime TV series, with the series being capped off with a Demon Slayer: Sunrise Countdown movie.
Whatever the case may be, at least it seems like anime fans will receive confirmation of the next project’s format sometime in the future. Stay tuned!