Demon Slayer: What Miyazaki Thinks of Film’s Smash Success

Demon Slayer: What Miyazaki Thinks of Film’s Smash Success

Want more UJ? Get our FREE newsletter 

Need a preview? See our archives

Picture: Shutterstock
It raked in huge money in Japan. But what does Japan's most famous anime director think of KIMETSU NO YAIBA?

Demon Slayer: Can a COVID era Box Office Smash Dethrone Miyazaki?

Raking in huge money in Japan, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train is already the 5th biggest box office hit in Japanese history. But what …

Watch our video essay version of this article.

The past half-year hasn’t exactly been the best time for movie theaters the world over; rather, in most countries, the COVID-19 crisis has wreaked havoc on national box offices. Onetime-moviegoers are understandably wary of packing themselves into sealed rooms with strangers for two hours, and for the first months of the pandemic, many theaters were shut down altogether. Projected 2020 blockbusters like Marvel’s Black Widow or DC’s Wonder Woman 1984 have been indefinitely delayed. Famed director Christopher Nolan insisted on releasing his film Tenet to theaters, claiming it would revitalize the industry. Instead, it’s made a meek $55 million total domestically. (Comparatively, the director’s previous film, Dunkirk [2017], made $188 in the US and Canada.)

There’s one country, however, where things are currently looking very different: Japan. Proof positive of the still-active potential of the Japanese box office is the meteoric rise of Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (鬼滅の刃 無限列車編). (The series is known in English as Demon Slayer, which is how we’ll refer to it from here on out.) This mouthful of a movie title represents the first film for the mega-popular Demon Slayer series, based on the best-selling manga by Gotoge Koyohara and originally published in manga king-maker weekly publication Shonen Jump.

As of this writing, the anime film, released on October 16th, has seen record-breaking success in Japanese theaters. As of November 9th, Demon Slayer has amassed a stunning ¥20.4 billion (approximately US$197.9 million). In the era of COVID, this places the movie as the world’s 9th highest-grossing film of the year – and it looks to soon overtake DC’s equally laboriously-named Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.

Ranking Globally

As of November 9th, Demon Slayer has amassed a stunning ¥20.4 billion (approximately US$197.9 million). Click To Tweet

On the international front, this is a bit of a shock. Despite having one of the largest movie industries in the world (as of 2010, ranked fourth for the number of films produced), the Japanese movie-going audience isn’t quite as robust as one might imagine. The country has more-or-less half the population of the USA, and in 2019 the Japanese box office recorded a total of ¥261.2 billion (around 2.5 billion USD). A massive sum, to be sure, but a far cry from the domestic US box office total of $11.4 billion for the same year. People in Japan simply don’t go to the movies as much; additionally, movies just aren’t as much of a topic of everyday conversation, save for the occasional true cultural breakout. (Back in 2017, One Cut of the Dead represented one such film.)

Given all this, it’s exceedingly rare to see a Japanese film end up on a worldwide top-ten grossing list. Last year, Shinkai Makoto’s Weathering with You (天気の子), his follow-up to his massive hit Your Name., managed to rake in a regionally-impressive $193 million worldwide – but came in a distant 46th in global ticket sales for the year. Indeed, in 2019 terms, Demon Slayer itself, despite its massive haul, would currently only sit at 43rd, barely outpacing the theatrical Downton Abbey outing. Demon Slayer, however, has yet to be released outside of Japan, and likely still has some gas in the tank both domestically and internationally.

So, clearly, the incredible rank Demon Slayer currently holds on the world stage for 2020 is thanks, of course, to it being very specifically a 2020 release. The rest of the world is (rightfully) eschewing movie theaters. Most major releases have been delayed or consigned, like Mulan, Bill and Ted 3, or Borat 2, directly to streaming.

Compared to the vast majority of countries, however, Japan remains nominally on the low side when it comes to COVID danger. These past few days have seen rises in case numbers which rightfully worry those in Japan. But even these numbers are the envy of most countries in the Americas or Europe. So, movie theaters remain open and even fairly safe in Japan. Not only that, but foreign film releases – which, subbed and dubbed in Japanese, usually take up a significant portion of theater screens – have slowed to a crawl.

Advertisements

So, movie theaters are open for business, and Japanese films own the screens. The scene was set for a hot new property – or maybe one following up on a massive cultural hit – to come in and go, financially speaking, to town.

Speed Demon Slayer

Kimetsu no Yaiba began life in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in late 2016, with a well-regarded anime adaptation following in 2019. The anime series, produced by studio Ufotable, was particularly praised for its high-quality animation. Its story, set in the Taisho era (1912-1926), centers around protagonist Kamado Tanjiro, who becomes a titular Demon Slayer after his family is massacred by a demon and his younger sister is transformed, vampiric-like, into a demon herself. The manga and anime alike have become a huge phenomenon, and the anime sequel film was expected to do well accordingly. Unlike most anime films belonging to popular TV franchises, the film is not a new story created solely for the theaters, but is in fact the continued adaptation of the manga, covering content from volume 7 and 8.

The film’s rise, however, has gone far beyond even optimistic estimates. Following its October 16th release, it took a mere ten days in theaters to rake in 10 billion yen in proceeds. This represented a new record – the current 1st and 2nd most-profitable theatrical Japanese films in local history, Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, and the aforementioned Your Name., both took over three weeks to do the same. Having spent less than a month in theaters, Demon Slayer is already the 5th most successful film in JP box office history – rocketing past the likes of Miyazaki Hayao’s Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle (now ranked 7th and 8th for historical sales), the hugely profitable but still somewhat forgotten live-action Bayside Shakedown 2 (itself the highest-grossing domestic live-action film of all time), and the foreign mega-hits of the Harry Potter film franchise.

Only four films remain beyond Demon Slayer: Shinkai’s Your Name; the international monster-hit Frozen; Titanic (which itself spent many years as the biggest international box office hit of all time); and Miyazaki Hayao‘s Spirited Away, still the uncontested king of the Japanese box office since its release in 2001. Demon Slayer still has a chance to overcome some of these – Your Name, Frozen, and Titanic all sit around ¥6 billion (around $57 million) ahead, although Spirited Away still has over ¥10 billion on the movie.

Demon Slayer: A Unique Success for a Singular Time

Demon Slayer ad outside of Family Mart
A Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) tie-in at the major Japanese convenience store Lawson. (Picture: Shutterstock)

Either way, Demon Slayer is now the 3rd biggest Japanese film of all time in terms of domestic film box office receipts, and could easily take #2 in the next week. This is especially impressive for an anime franchise film. These often do quite well, with Detective Conan, Doraemon, Crayon Shin-Chan, and One Piece films often settling into annual top-ten spots. Despite the popularity of these franchise anime films, however, Demon Slayer is the only such film currently in Japan’s top-40 all-time box office rankings. Truly, quite a feat.

Having spent less than a month in theaters, Demon Slayer is already the 5th most successful film in Japanese box office history. Click To Tweet

Speaking to The Mainichi, film journalist Otaka Hiro had the following to say regarding why Demon Slayer has been able to gain such unprecedented success:

Everything about this film’s run is out of the ordinary. The multiplex system involves concentrating on showings of popular movies, and with that in mind the industry initially had high expectations that the Demon Slayer film would make 10 billion yen. But with that said, in the past there would be considerations about its balance with other movies. This time, there are no other films like it out, and consequently there’s a focus on its showings.

Otaka Hiro, quoted in The Mainichi. (October 29, 2020.) What’s behind Demon Slayer anime’s monster success at Japan box office?

Ghibli Comparisons Abound

"I'm just an old retired fart taking out the trash." – Miyazaki Hayao Click To Tweet

Despite the incredible success seen here by Demon Slayer, and in the past few years by the films of Shinkai Makoto, it is the films of the world-renowned Studio Ghibli, and director Miyazaki Hayao in particular, which still remain synonymous with box office success. The vast majority of Ghibli’s 22 films have ranked as the top domestically-produced film of whatever year they’re released, and both Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke have held the title of most successful Japanese film of all time.

Additionally, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo are or have recently all been in the all-time top ten, and The Wind Rises is currently the 24th of all time. Six of the top-ten anime films of all time in Japan come from Ghibli. As such, any time another anime film sees similar success, reporters begin attempting to reach out to Miyazaki – they want to know how he feels about any potentiality of being financially overthrown.

Earlier this week, said reporters laid in wait outside of Miyazaki’s Tokyo home, waiting to pounce when the 79-year-old man stepped outside to take out his trash. In the early morning, as the elderly-yet-spry Miyazaki, mask-affixed, walked to the communal trash cans, the reporters stepped out from the shadows.

Miyazaki and the Oscars: An Ambivalent Relationship

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ first exhibit is all about Miyazaki Hayao. But the master director and the Oscars have a complex history. Video by Noa…

Watch: Miyazaki’s ambivalent relationship with the Academy Awards.

Miyazaki (Begrudgingly) Weighs In

Reporter: Demon Slayer‘s earnings are approaching those of Spirited Away. How do you view this?

Miyazaki: Well, I think it has nothing to do with me. It’s more peaceful for those of us who make these films if we don’t have much to do with box office returns. All we have to do is put our all into making the films themselves.

Reporter: Have you seen Demon Slayer?

Miyazaki: I have not. I haven’t seen most things. I don’t watch TV or movies. I’m just an old retired fart taking out the trash.

(Miyazaki may claim to be “retired,” but he’s still currently working fastidiously towards the completion of his newest film, How Do You Live?.)

Reporter: There are some fans of Spirited Away who think it’s unfortunate that it’ll lose its historic #1 spot.

Miyazaki: Who really cares about that? After all, inflation continues to go up around the world. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to take out the trash…”

(The joys of being Japan’s most famous creative.)

The Best is Yet to Come?

For those who have followed Miyazaki’s career closely, this response should come as no surprise. The director tends to pay little attention to such mundanities as, for example, being able to claim to be the most successful Japanese director of all time. His responses to similar questions over the years have usually contained a comparable combination of zen and curmudgeonliness.

Despite this, commentators continue to assume ulterior motives; for example, many have claimed that it was the success of Shinkai’s Your Name. which spurred Miyazaki out of retirement and towards making his new film. (Although Your Name. has become the most successful Japanese film of all time in terms of worldwide gross, it still trails behind Spirited Away in its own domestic box office.) However, Miyazaki rarely seems quite this petty – there is no recording of him equivalent to that of, say, George Lucas’ self-piteous lamentations that his new Star Wars film would “never catch Titanic” at the box office.

The question may be a moot one, in any case – whether or not Demon Slayer will catch up to Spirited Away is yet to be seen. Many “Ghibli-killer” films have risen over the past two decades, but none have even really come that close in the end, inflation or no. Still, this is a particularly unique moment for the Japanese and international box offices. Demon Slayer may just be the right film at the right time. And, even if not, its success has certainly been remarkable.

Sources

Kyodo. (Oct 26, 2020.) ‘Demon Slayer’ fastest movie to rake in ¥10 billion in Japan. The Japan Times.

Smart FLASH. 2020年11月10日. 宮崎駿氏「僕には関係ないこと」 鬼滅の刃について胸中を明かす. Livedoor NEWS.

フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア』. (n.d.).「日本歴代興行成績上位の映画一覧」

Want more UJ? Get our FREE newsletter 

Need a preview? See our archives

Noah Oskow

Serving as current UJ Editor-in-Chief, Noah Oskow is a professional Japanese translator and interpreter who holds a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures. He has lived, studied, and worked in Japan for nearly seven years, including two years studying at Sophia University in Tokyo and four years teaching English on the JET Program in rural Fukushima Prefecture. His experiences with language learning and historical and cultural studies as well as his extensive experience in world travel have led to appearances at speaking events, popular podcasts, and in the mass media. Noah most recently completed his Master's Degree in Global Studies at the University of Vienna in Austria.

Japan in Translation

Subscribe to our free newsletter for a weekly digest of our best work across platforms (Web, Twitter, YouTube). Your support helps us spread the word about the Japan you don’t learn about in anime.

Want a preview? Read our archives

You’ll get one to two emails from us weekly. For more details, see our privacy policy