Well, I guess I can finally see the Mugen Train movie. Who knew it was going to be coming up this early! Oh. Wait. Literally everyone but me. I do have one gripe with that whole thing…why didn’t they just translate it to Infinity Train?! Sure it SOUNDS cool, and I’m gonna keep calling the arc Mugen Train, but it’s like titling the first “My Hero Academia” movie My Hero Academia: THE MOVIE: Futari Heroes. Or, you know, this.
Cover by Koyoharu GotougeWritten and Illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge
Translated by John Werry
English Adaptation by Stan!
Lettered by John HuntWhile under the care of the Demon Slayer Corps leaders, Shinobu, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Nezuko have recovered. They have even learned a new and powerful technique — Total Concentration! They’ll need this new power and all their skill on their next demon-hunting mission aboard the mysterious Infinity Train as it takes them into the dreams of demons!
That’s right everyone, by the end of Volume 8, we’ve officially surpassed all the anime stuff, movie included, so be warned for heavy movie and possibly beyond spoilers. It feels weird to be ahead of it all after being behind on both fronts for so long. Like, I’ve been seeing commercials for this arc for months and it just kinda snuck up on me. Seriously! I had no idea I was close, despite having gone through, like, 6 arcs already, which would’ve carried an entire season. I only realized what was happening when at the end of chapter 53, the first chapter of volume 7, this happened.
What an excellent moment that is, not just because the panel composition is hilarious in a fairly understated way, but also because it, and the subsequent chapter’s events, reminds us that this is the start of the Taisho era i.e. the modern age. In this case, the train is standing in for modernity and Inosuke & Tanjiro’s reactions to the train are both hilarious AND appropriate for their characters. There is a mix of fascination, trepidation, and wonder while Zenitsu gets to look like the smartest of the bunch because he knows it’s just a bunch of big boxes chained together that goes fast. Neither of them have seen this before, nor have they had to navigate anything in a modern context before this! They can’t openly carry swords, they are surrounded by probably the largest group of people we’ve seen thus far, and are encountering a machine that they can only comprehend in the context they’re familiar with i.e. supernatural entities. And Gotouge absolutely plays with this in the best ways.
It’s telling that, of the encounters and massacres we’ve had so far, the vast majority have been in places that are traditionally associated with ill-happenings: remote villages (Tanjiro’s house,) a town at night (the ball demons,) remote mountaintops (the exam mountain,) abandoned houses (Kyogai’s house,) or the deep, dark forest (Rui’s spider demons.) This is the first time that an encounter happens in a modern context, where everything is well lit, mobile, and motivated by modern anxieties. The people stuck on the train want to be sedated and given dreams of things they’ve lost and so they become accomplices for the demon preying on their insecurities while the threat of the demon is magnified because he is literally fused with the train. This in turn means that he is far more dangerous than any of the previous demons Tanjiro & crew have encountered, as he can affect and kill greater numbers of people faster than ever and move on from an area without a trace. Those were all impossible, or at the very least very difficult, in a pre-Taisho setting.
It’s also telling that Enmu, the train demon, doesn’t get the same sympathetic treatment as the other demons Tanjiro has faced. We still get a glimpse into the twisted motivations behind his actions, built in part by the worship of Kibutsuji, but nothing in the way of an explanation like we got with Rui or Kyogai. Enmu, as I suspect will be the case with many of the upper-level demons, are meant to be twisted reflections of the Hashira: strong for strength’s sake and powerful for power’s sake. It is a selfish ideology and Gotouge seems to have no patience for the powerful who abuse said power, as the Kashira do.
Continued belowThe regular demons are deserving of sympathy and empathy because they are regular people whose situations twisted them into being dangerous. Even some of the lower ranking Kizuki earn this (Rui, mostly) but Enmu, who is pursuing power in a modern, impersonal, and wide-spread way, is condemned to be destroyed without such insight. We see his final thoughts and they are pitiable, blaming everyone else for his own failings. It’s also telling that Gotouge makes a point to remind us that the upper ranks haven’t changed at least a hundred years while there has been a great churn in lower ranks. Power supports power and it is an illusion that anyone and everyone can reach that level, an illusion that is used to manipulate people like Kyogai & Enmu.
I think this is the arc, and I’m counting Tanjiro’s visit to Kyojuro’s family in the arc, where I finally get “Demon Slayer.” I’ve been having a jolly romp through it thus far but the way Gotouge tells the story, conducts the action, delivers the comedy, develops the characters, and establishes & resolves the stakes are the best they’ve ever been. It’s economical without being slight, as some of the previous arcs have felt, and by the end, I feel like we’ve moved forward in a major way in almost every aspect. It also reinforces the notion that this is a team book. As Enmu laments in his final moments, he would have won had Tanjrio not broken free from the spell, had Zenitsu not been able to fight even while under the spell, if Nezuko hadn’t been there at all fighting alongside them all, if Inosuke wasn’t Inosuke and wearing that pig mask, and if Kyojuro wasn’t a Hashira and therefore just that fucking good at fighting. Everyone played to their strengths and that was why they were able to win, though it was by the skin of their teeth, showing just how far they still have to grow.
Well, everyone except Kyojuro, because we can’t have an arc without at least one scene that tears your heart out through your chest and one scene that establishes just how fucked the “Demon Slayer” crew would be going up against Kibutsuji at this point in time. Can’t you give them a win, Gotouge, please? Please?! Why did you have to kill him after making me care!?!
And then to follow that up with Tanjiro having emotional conversation after emotional conversation with his brother & his drunk, garbage father WHO ALSO gets empathy and sympathy from Gotouge, and thus me, once Tanjiro breaks through to him? AND THEN to also reveal that the Kagura dance is related to the original breathing technique, SUN, which means HAMON IS CANON EVERYBODY!!!!!!! AND AND AND to sprinkle in, before and after, some backstory and growth for Kanao?? You’re killing me here. I can only cover so much and my heart can only handle so many tears.
Needless to say, I loved these volumes and, while it only took me six volumes, I’m getting to understand why it has taken the world by storm. Sometimes it just takes a little while for something to hit its stride, even when it starts out pretty strong. As a Babylon 5, that’s something I get on a deep level and I’m glad that the series lives up to the hype. Who’s ready to do this rollercoaster all over again?
Next time, Volumes 9 & 10, wherein the boys join a former ninja to the pleasure districts to kill some demons. Exactly the kind of breather we need after Kyojuro’s death…right?
