Written by: Jei Beltrano | Published on: June 10, 2021 at 6:37 PM PHT (GMT+8)
Movie and video streaming platform iQiyi Philippines has revealed on Thursday that Japan's highest-grossing film of all time and the block-buster animated film sequel of Koyoharu Gotouge's "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" series titled "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie - Mugen Train" will be streaming on IQiyi starting June 16, 2021 at 11:00 AM Philippine Time. The film will be available for streaming for FREE through the iQiyi app and website accessible in over 10 Southeast Asian territories including the Philippines.
The main cast and staff of the TV anime adaptation are reprising their roles for the film. It is animated by animation studio ufotable with Haruo Sotozaki serving as the director. Akira Matsushima serves as the character designer, and Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina compose the anime's music composition. LiSA also returns to perform the film's theme song ”Homura" (Flame). The film is distributed in Japan by Aniplex and Toho and premiered in Japan on October 16, 2020.
The cast includes:
Natsuki Hanae as Tanjiro Kamado
Akari Kitō as Nezuko Kamado
Hiro Shimono as Zenitsu Agatsuma
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Inosuke Hashibira
Takahiro Sakurai as Giyū Tomioka
Saori Hayami as Shinobu Kochō
Satoshi Hino as Kyōjurō Rengoku
Kana Hanazawa as Mitsuri Kanroji
Reina Ueda as Kanao Tsuyuri
Nobuhiko Okamoto as Genya Shinazugawa
and many more.
The film is a direct sequel to the anime series and covers the events of the "Mugen Train" story arc.
Film's Timeline in Box-Office:
On May 27, 2021, the film surpassed over 40 billion yen in box office revenue with a total of 28.96 million admissions locally in a span of 7 months since the film's premiere in Japanese theaters last October 16. Worldwide, the film exceeded the 50 billion yen mark with a total figure of 51.7 billion yen from over 41.35 million admissions.
On December 28, 2020, the film was officially considered as the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan after dethroning Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 animated film 'Spirited Away' with 30.8 billion yen of all-time sales.
On November 30, 2020, the film was considered as the 2nd highest-grossing film of all time in Japan after surpassing James Cameron's 1997 film "Titanic" earning a box office revenue of approx. 27.5 billion yen in a span of 45 days.
On November 24, 2020, the film ranked as the 3rd highest-grossing film of all time in Japan after surpassing 'Your Name.' and 'Frozen' earning a box office revenue of approx. 25.9 billion yen in a span of 39 days.
On November 16, 2020, the film has sold 17.5 million tickets with a box office revenue of over 23 billion yen in a span of 31 days surpassing Warner Bros.' 2001 film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
On November 9, 2020, the film surpasses the 20 billion yen sales mark with 15,373,943 tickets sold in its 24 days in cinemas.
On November 2, 2020, the official website of Japan's MANTANWEB has reported that the film is now the 10th highest-grossing film of all time in Japan surpassing the 15.6 billion yen sales of James Cameron's 2009 film "Avatar" which falls to 11th rank. As of Sunday (Nov. 1), the Demon Slayer film generated a sales of 15.7 billion yen (about US$149 million) with 11 million tickets sold in Japanese theaters.
On October 31, 2020, its official Twitter had reported that the film sold a total of over 10 million tickets in a span of 16 days.
On October 25, the film sold a whopping 7,983,442 tickets in its first 10 days in cinemas earning the film a box office sales amounting to more than 10 billion yen (about US$102 million) and is considered as the fastest film to reach the 10 billion yen revenue mark in Japanese history on record even beating Hayao Miyazaki's 2011 animated film "Spirited Away" which earned the same revenue in a span of 25 days.
On October 19, the film was also considered as the highest grossing weekday opening for any film in Japan with over 3,424,930 tickets sold earning over 4.6 billion yen (about US$43.85 million) in its first 3 days since opening. It already surpassed the first 3-day box office revenue of the previous hit-animated films including Makoto Shinkai's "Your name." anime film which earned 1,277,960,000 yen (about US$12.51 million) in its first 3 days of screening last July 2016, and his next movie "Weathering With You" with 1,643,809,400 yen (about US$15.22 million) first 3-day revenue last July 2019. It also reported that its has surpassed the first 3-day revenue of Disney's Frozen 2 in Japan which earned around US$18.2 million in its first 3 days of screening last November 2019.
The first season of the anime television series adaptation by Ufotable consisting of 26 episodes was aired in Japan from April to September 2019. Following the airing of the final episode, a sequel film entitled "Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train" was announced and premiered in Japanese theaters on October 16, 2020. The film is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time dethroning Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 anime film "Spirited Away".
A second season of the TV anime series titled "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc (Kimetsu no Yaiba – Yūkaku-hen) has been announced to premiere in 2021.
The series is based on the "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" manga written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2016 to May 2020, and its chapters collected in 21 tankōbon volumes as of July 2020. It is published in English by Viz Media and simulpublished by Shueisha in English on their Manga Plus app.
The anime series has received critical acclaim, with critics praising the animation and fight sequences. It has been considered one of the best anime of the 2010s, and has received numerous awards.
Aniplex of America describes the television anime's story:
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.
The anime film sequel of Demon Slayer "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie - Mugen Train" is available for viewing on one of AniRadio+'s official video-on-demand streaming partner, iQiyi Philippines. Watch it here: LINK or Download the app: LINK.
Source: iQiyi Philippines' Facebook Page
