And… breathe. The Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle ending lived up to the expectations of both manga readers and anime-onlys alike with a high-octane sprint to the finish, one that mapped out the direction of the series' endgame while also leaving the fate of Tanjiro up in the air.
Seeing as how we're only one movie down in a planned trilogy, there are probably plenty of questions surrounding the finale of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle that you want answered. While we're going to resist the urge to dip into the source material here, there is plenty to explain from the movie itself.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle ending recap
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is largely split into three fights: Tanjiro versus the Rengoku-slaying Upper Moon 3, Akaza; Zenitsu against former mentor and current Upper Moon 6 Kaigaku; Insect Hashira Shinobu facing off against the formidable Upper Moon 2, Doma.
The latter of those sees Shinobu ultimately succumb to Doma's absorption abilities, but not before weakening him with poison.
Next, Zenitsu takes on Kaigaku, a fellow Thunder Breathing successor. After some rumination about their shared pasts, which reveals that Zenitsu hated but respected his superior, Zenitsu invents his own "exclusive" Seventh Form technique called God of Fire Thunder, which beheads a falling Kaigaku. Zenitsu is then saved by Yushiro.
While all this is going on, Okayata's surviving children Kiriya, Kuina, and Kanata are using the crows to map out the ever-shifting Infinity Castle in the search for the demon's leader Muzan, knowing that killing him would make every demon perish. Tamayo also continues her plan from the Hashira Training arc, which sees her attempt to suppress Muzan's powers and turn him back into a human.
Finally, Tanjiro (accompanied by Giyu) comes up against Akaza. In the first of several distractions, Akaza's old master Keizo appears before him in a vision. It is then revealed that
Akaza can sense attacks through observing his opponent's fighting spirit. Tanjiro, though, gets the upper hand after recalling a conversation with his father and unlocking his latent ability to utilize the Transparent World.
Tanjiro uses this new ability to avoid a killing blow and make himself invisible to Akaza's Compass Needle by completely dampening his fighting spirit.
Tanjiro manages to save Giyu from certain death and beheads Akaza, though – shockingly – his body remains intact.
It's here where Infinity Castle teases out Akaza's tragic childhood, which involves the youth fighting and stealing to become stronger and cure his ill father. In a cruel twist of fate, Akaza is captured by the authorities after one theft too many and his father hangs himself out of shame.
After a period of training at the dojo, Akaza was due to get married to Keizo's daughter, Koyuki, but a nearby rival poisoned the well. As an act of revenge, Akaza killed 67 people at the dojo responsible. The demonic-like attack draws the attention of Muzan, who turns him into a demon.
Back in the present, Tanjiro's sword slips out of his hand, so he instead punches a regenerating Akaza, which seems to snap him out of his vitriolic haze. Akaza uses his Annihilation move that killed Rengoku – and kills himself, then refuses to regenerate because he lost. Akaza also gives up partly because Koyuki appears before him and he goes on into the afterlife.
Elsewhere, the Upper One laments Akaza's death as the scene is set for a sequel: Kanao gets ready to face Doma; the Stone and Mist Hashiras running together; Love and Serpent Hashiras are also in a pair. We also get an update on the series protagonists: Zenitsu is protected by the Corps, and Inosuke asks a crow to find the strongest demon there is.
As the hunt for Muzan continues, we catch a glimpse of the Upper Moon Four continually changing the structure of the castle to hide Muzan, all while Giyu and Tanjiro are left badly wounded after the showdown with Akaza.
Who died in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle?
As to be expected from the adaptation of one of the final arcs in Koyoharu Gotouge's acclaimed manga, there was a serious sense of peril in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. That manifested itself in a slight body count: Doma killed Shinobu and an unnamed woman, though there were some victories for the good guys as demons Akaza and Kaigaku both perished.
In flashbacks, the deaths of Keizo, Koyuki, Akaza's father, and Shinobu's elder sister Kanae are shown.
Where is Muzan?
Right from the beginning of Infinity Castle, the location of Muzan is the going concern on the minds of all Hashira. After all, slaying the demon leader would put an end to all demons. The trouble is, while Tamayo's injection is quelling his powers and slowly – if not quite completely – turning him back into a human, the shifting of the Infinity Castle means Muzan is unable to be found. All we know, as of the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle ending, is that he has cocooned himself away at the heart of the structure, but its exact location is unknown.
What is happening to the Infinity Castle?
As hinted at in both the prior seasons and the Infinity Castle movie itself, the demonic home base for Muzan and his Upper Rank allies is a constantly changing structure that stretches out both horizontally and vertically in MC Escher-style fashion.
Why? That's all down to the machinations of Nakime. With every strum of her baku (a traditional Japanese instrument), she is able to move the Infinity Castle to her whim – and confusing all those within. It's even obscuring the location of Muzan from the Demon Slayer Corps (for the time being, at least).
What are Tanjiro and Zenitsu's new powers?
There's power creep and whatever is going on with these two. Both Tanjiro and Zenitsu debuted formidable new abilities in the final act of Infinity Castle, each one dealing a killing blow (either directly or indirectly) to their demonic opposite number.
Thanks to heeding the lessons of his father, Tanjiro is able to negate his fighting spirit 'aura' in his duel with Akaza, allowing him to avoid a killing blow by being part of the Transparent World. In turn, that eventually causes Akaza to spiral out of control, dealing an Annihilation move onto himself out of pure loathing for being, in his eyes, a 'weakling.'
In effect, the Transparent World allows Tanjiro to avoid any attack, instead being passed through by any incoming motion. As mentioned earlier in the movie by Giyu, Tanjiro is now inching closer to being on the Hashira's power level.
Another scaling that mountain is Zenitsu, who showcased his mastery of Thunder Breathing with a seventh form called God of Fire Thunder. Ironically, this is the only other form he has been able to use other than the fundamental basics of the first form – in complete opposition to Keigaku, who could learn everything but the first form.
Are Tanjiro and Giyu still alive?
If you want to know the answer to that, we suggest you press on with the manga from chapter 158. However, there is a big clue as to what happened to the pair: namely, they have collapsed from exhaustion and aren't dead. How do we know that? Well, the crows who have been keeping everyone updated on the status of the Hashira didn't announce their deaths as they did with Shinobu.
Where are the remaining Hashira and Upper Ranks?
Now, this one takes some sorting out. Of the Twelve Kizuki that make up Muzan's uber-powerful demon army, all of the Lower Six were killed in the past seasons.
That leaves the Upper Six Daki and Gyutaro (killed in the Entertainment District Arc), the Upper Six replacement Kaigaku (killed by Zenitsu), Upper Five Gyokko (killed in the Swordsmith Village arc), Upper Four Nakime (who currently resides within the Infinity Castle), Upper Three Akaza (dead), Upper Two Doma (alive and facing Kanao), and the suspiciously red-haired Upper One, whose location is unknown but is seen cursing Akaza's death.
As for the Hashira, the Water Hashira Giyu has been knocked unconscious after his fight with Akaza, Insect Hashira Shinobu was killed and absorbed by Doma. The Sound Hashira is sitting out of the Infinity Castle after losing an eye in the Entertainment District and, lest we forget, the Flame Hashira perished at the end of Mugen Train.
Those still alive and kicking in Infinity Castle include the Love and Serpent Hashiras, plus the Stone and Mist Hashiras. The Wind Hashira, Shinazugawa, is also seen battling demons.
What happened to Akaza?
After his acts in Mugen Train, we never expected to feel sorry for Akaza. But his hidden, tear-inducing backstory wouldn't feel out of place as one of Shakespeare's tragedies.
As revealed in flashbacks, Akaza once scratched and clawed his way for survival, stealing to earn money and medicine to keep his ailing father alive. Bubbling away under the surface, however, was a desire to be seen as strong in the face of adversity. After undergoing plenty of hardship (including the deaths of his father, his betrothed, and his teacher), he goes on a killing spree at a rival dojo and is later turned into one of the Twelve Kizuki by Muzan.
All it took, though, was Tanjiro avoiding a killing blow from Akaza, followed by a swift right hook, for Akaza's facade to crack. He ends up killing himself and refusing to regenerate, chiding himself for being inherently weak. A deeply damaged man to the bitter end, he did find some semblance of happiness via a dying vision of Koyuki.
Who is the Upper One demon?
Thanks to his appearance in the third season of Demon Slayer, we know the Upper One demon is Kokushibo.
What hasn't been made abundantly clear is just why he looks like Tanjiro – though his history is due to be laid out in future Infinity Castle movies.
Will there be a Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle sequel?
If you've been keeping track of how to watch Demon Slayer in order, you will be acutely aware that there are two more Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movies, with a trilogy being announced well in advance of this year's feature. However, release dates for Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle 2 and 3 haven't yet been revealed. There's been plenty of speculation, though, that they could arrive in 2027 and 2029, respectively.
For more, check out our picks for the best anime you should watch right now. Then dive into all the latest on Frieren: Beyond Journey's End season 2 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2.
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