Anime is officially mainstream after Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, but where does it go from here?

Anime never used to be cool. Once the domain of dusty bargain bins, dubious tape traders, and late-night Adult Swim marathons, anime was something always spoken about in hushed tones, the sort of illicit interest that would generate raised eyebrows or dirty looks in normal company.

Not anymore. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is now the undisputed #1 movie in the world and marks a real sea change, even compared to its predecessor Mugen Train grossing half a billion dollars and becoming 2020's biggest movie in a cinematic landscape then-ravaged by COVID. So, is this it? Is anime now de rigueur in the same way superhero movies once were, and video game adaptations have become? It sure seems that way – but it's been a long road to get there.

After the twin '90s successes of Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon, anime spent years in the wilderness in the 2000s and early 2010s, until a surge of support for the medium arrived thanks to sensations such as Attack on Titan and Death Note, with their more mature themes and sensibilities, ensuring Japanese animation was able to grow alongside its audience.

Enter, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. Following the story of Tanjiro as he seeks revenge against Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji for the death of his family, Infinity Castle accelerates the anime into its final showdown between the uber-powerful Upper Rank demons and the noble Hashira.

Even though the series arrived as a fully-formed phenomenon back in 2019, largely thanks to its vocal fanbase of manga fans, it has slowly built up a considerable audience worldwide, including in territories that are otherwise largely jaded by (or outright ignore) big pop culture hits – such as Mexico, Germany, and France.

Better yet, animation studio Ufotable and the Demon Slayer production committee made a decision that could change the industry forever, wisely opting to swerve the interminable trend of anime 'movies' either being recaps or non-canon affairs in favor of positioning them as full-fat sequels to the previous seasons. From there, this shift in philosophy meant success was almost guaranteed.

A new age

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle isn't just overtaking Mugen Train to become the highest-grossing anime movie of all time. It's achieving something far more substantial and seismic than that: Infinity Castle is a lock to surpass Fantastic Four: First Steps and has a very good chance of entering the year's top 10 movies in terms of revenue – at the expense of Superman.

Even a few years ago, the very thought of Marvel and DC being eclipsed in theaters by an anime upstart – no matter how popular – seemed unfathomable. Now, it's confirmation of what a few with their ears to the ground had suspected for quite some time: anime is mainstream – and it's here to stay.

But where does it go from here? Infinity Castle will, admittedly, likely be an outlier – a perfect storm of simplicity, accessibility, and marketability. Tanjiro's heroic story of revenge, complete with some of the best action sequences ever animated on screen, is an easy sell and a straightforward one to follow.

The next big new anime movie release, Chainsaw Man's Reze Arc, won't make the same waves but operates along similar lines. Unless projects like Jujutsu Kaisen and Solo Leveling decide to chase the box office dollar by going movie-first with their future arc adaptations, Demon Slayer will likely be riding solo for the duration of its trilogy, if only because anime's unique quality is also its downfall in terms of even larger mainstream appeal. These projects are often esoteric, weird, and too singularly Japanese to translate to meaningful success with a wider audience.

Yet, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has proved that there is a large anime audience of younger generations just waiting to be tapped into; provide the goods and they will arrive in their droves. The likes of body-swapping, mind-bending hit Your Name and Studio Ghibli's conveyor belt of classics have already proven there's a market beyond action-heavy shonen, too. Now, it's just about picking and choosing the right projects to head to theaters and putting enough money and screens behind it to make it seem like A Big Deal instead of the niche interest it's been treated as for decades.

Until then, let's revel in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle's success. With Hollywood scrambling to attract Gen Z audiences, it marks the moment anime finally enters the big time, with plenty of staying power to boot. Is it cool? Does it matter? One thing is for certain: this is surely the beginning of a big, beautiful renaissance for all things anime.

Discover what's still to come in the sequel with our guide to Demon Slayer Infinity Castle 2. Then, dive into our list of the best anime around.