“Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba”: The manga phenomenon lands in the cinema



After the manga and the series, the “Demon Slayer” phenomenon continues in the cinema with the film “The Infinity Train” – © Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

  • After breaking all Japanese box office records, the animated film Demon slayer arrives in France in more than 400 rooms of the CGR Events network.
  • It is an adaptation of a manga that has become a phenomenon thanks to word of mouth and its animated series.
  • Fans have already made an appointment and even skipped the reservations box office.

Already mentioned during the historic record of the film in Japan or the comeback of its French publisher, the manga Demon slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba in original version) had not had the right to an article just for him, to take the measure of a phenomenon first Japanese and now global. And therefore French. The release of the film The Infinity Train Wednesday, just right for the reopening of cinemas, is the perfect opportunity, and even a major event, with more than 400 copies on the CGR Events theaters network.

Created by manga artist Koyoharu Gotōge in 2016 and prepublished in the Weekly Shônen Jump of the Shueisha, Demon slayer ended four years and 23 volumes later (volume 17 has just been released in France), the time for the title to break sales records and tickle the indecisive One piece. However, the title looks like a classic manga shônen. Really ?

The story of Tanjirô and his demon sister

Japan in the Taisho era, at the start of the 20th century. Young Tanjirô is an ordinary son of coal merchants living in the mountains. His life is turned upside down the day his village and his family are slaughtered by a demon. The only survivor, his young sister Nezuko has transformed herself into a demon in contact with the monster but still shows signs of humanity. Tanjirô will then undergo training to become a demon slayer, with the aim of taking revenge and finding an antidote to his sister’s condition.

The manga with 150 million copies sold

Yes Demon slayer sells well in its early days, it’s not a box either. “In February 2019, while the series has ten volumes, the circulation is 3.5 million copies, explained the specialist journalist Rémi Inghilterra. A year later, we are at 60 million, or 20 times more. Never seen. “It even sells for ten times more than One piece in 2020. What happened? Quite simply, an animated adaptation. “The rise in power has been done little by little, and exploded with the anime, its high quality animation and its already cult scenes. “

The manga benefited from strong word of mouth, multiplied by the fan community, social networks and the support of influencers and YouTubers. According to Iftékarul Talukdar, editor at Coyote Mag, Demon slayer also owes its success to its return to the good old shônen, with “eccentric heroes, Japanese folklore, the famous nekketsu “, in opposition to more “American” titles like My Hero Academia or One-Punch Man. It has sold 150 million copies worldwide, directly in the top 10 of the best-selling food of all time. In France, after a failure at its launch, the series rose to 1.5 million copies sold, and volume 1 ranked third in the top 10 sales in 2020.

The animated series beyond expectations

Broadcast in simulcast and exclusively on Wakanim, the animated series of Demon slayer convinced everyone, beyond expectations. “I have the humility to say that I had not seen it coming, not at this point, admits Matthias Jambon-Puillet, marketing manager of the platform specializing in Japanese animation. However, the Japanese had warned us – “It’s going to be very big!” -, and have put exceptional means for a series. »A preview at the Grand Rex, showcased at Japan Expo… Wakanim goes all out, and the effect is felt, but here again, little by little, by word of mouth, and well beyond the broadcast of season 1, ended in the fall of 2019.

For Matthias Jambon-Puillet, if the animation is of rare quality for a TV production, there is something else: “Demon Slayer is not reinventing the wheel, but there is a mastery and a sensitivity that make all the difference. . If some fans cried in front of the beauty of episode 19, it is not just thanks to the realization, but also and above all thanks to a work of empathy, of attachment to the characters. ” Demon slayer has a heart, and it is all the more interesting and powerful as it is not demonstrative.

The film “Le Train de l’Infini” in 400 cinemas in France

The feature film in theaters Wednesday is a direct sequel to the animated series, and tells how, after completing his training, Tanjirô embarks on the infinity train, accompanied by Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke, to meet the Pillar of Flame. , Kyôjurô Rengoku, and help him in his fight against a formidable demon. If the film remains accessible to all, it is therefore aimed primarily at fans. And they are already mobilized, since the Grand Rex ticket office jumped in the face of the influx of reservations, and the CGR network has never seen so many presales in its history. A good sign, although the film is unlikely to break all the records like in Japan.

And after ? If the manga is finished in Japan, but continues in France at Panini, a season 2 of the anime is expected by the end of the year and could create the event again. Although other titles have started to take over, such as Jujutsu kaisen or Tokyo Revengers, whose animated adaptations boost manga sales. “It will surely happen what we saw with the last season of The attack of the Titans, or with WandaVision, namely that everyone is looking at the same thing at the same time, ”assures Matthias Jambon-Puillet. Ah the “good old days” of Game Of Thrones. “People lack these common and cathartic experiences. »Like seeing a movie together at the cinema?



Source link