Is Infinity Castle headed towards the Oscars?
The first Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movie, titled Akaza’s Return has broken all box office records previously set by any other anime film. It came out in Japan on 18 July, and released theatrically worldwide at later dates.
Within just a few weeks of its premiere, the movie broke all records at a breakneck pace to take its place as the highest earning Japanese film of all time. Crunchyroll, which has been a massive support behind this global success, is planning to take Akaza’s Return even further. CEO Rahul Purini’s interview with The Hollywood Reporter definitely suggests the same.
Akaza’s Return and its massive success
After the release of the Demon Slayer anime’s Hashira Training arc, it was announced that the final arc of the manga will be adapted into three movies instead of a season. Fans were skeptical at first, and being one of the world’s most popular anime, Demon Slayer had a lot to prove. When Akaza’s Return, the first film of the Infinity Castle trilogy, was released, every expectation was shattered completely as the movie reached the top spot in Japan in no time at all. It broke the records of its popular predecessor, the Mugen Train movie.
The meteoric rise of the movie came from its massive fanbase that resides all over the world. After its success in Japan, the movie also overtook overseas markets. It’s been only two weeks since the film was released in the USA, and it already surpassed a global box-office of US$555 million. Akaza’s Return is now the highest-earning Japanese movie of all time in history, which is an astronomical feat by itself. However, Crunchyroll plans to take the success even further.
Rahul Purini and his team has big plans for Demon Slayer
The current CEO of Crunchyroll, which is SONY Entertainment’s anime venture, is Rahul Purini. He has been part of the company for a decade and was a part of Funimation in 2015.
During his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Purini said that he believes the movie will grow even bigger worldwide as anime fans love going for a rewatch. Moreover, he also assured the fans that the next two movies in the trilogy will be just as good, if not better than the first one. The animation studio, ufotable, as well as Aniplex and Crunchyroll are all working tirelessly to bring the rest of Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga to life.
The interviewer asked Purini that since Akaza’s Return is the biggest animated movie of 2025 in the USA, if they’re planning to take the film all the way to the Oscars. Previously, Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001) and The Boy and the Heron (2023) won the Academy Award in the Best Animated Feature Film Category. With its global success, the first Infinity Castle might also make it all the way to the ceremony.
Purini answered that thanks to the film’s incredible animation and storytelling, both the production team and the audience deserves to see it be considered for awards. Although he didn’t specify if the film will be in the running for the Oscars, the CEO said, “We’ll do our part to make sure it gets the right level of support to be considered in all of the categories it could be eligible for.”
It seems that the Demon Slayer craze is far from over, and Crunchyroll already has massive plans to lead the movie into award ceremonies, including the Oscars. With the way Demon Slayer was able to bring anime into the forefront of the world’s pop-culture, it definitely deserves its time in the limelight.
Haruo Sotozaki directs the Demon Slayer anime at studio Ufotable. Akira Matsushima is the character designer and chief animation director. The music is composed by Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Crunchyroll screened the first Infinity Castle movie globally, and will do the same for the other two films in the trilogy. The anime is based on Koyoharu Gotouge’s popular shonen manga. Crunchyroll will stream the film on its platform in 2026. It currently streams the series globally, and describes the story as:
It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself.
Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.
