Brief series recap for context: Tanjiro Kamado (Zach Aguilar), his demon sister Nezuko (Abby Trott), and their friends Zenitsu Agatsuma (Aleks Le) and Inosuke Hashibira (Bryce Papenbrook) have joined the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps – Mitsuri Kanroji (Kira Buckland), Shinobu Kocho (Erika Harlacher), Muichiro Tokito (Griffin Burns), Gyomei Himejima (Crispin Freeman), Obanai Iguro (Erik Scott Kimerer), Giyu Tomioka (Johnny Yong Bosch), and brothers Genya and Sanemi Shinazugawa (Zeno Robinson and Kaiji Tang) – in their battle against the demon king, Muzan Kitbutsuji (Greg Chun). After Tanjiro and his friends have trained hard for their big fight and killed several high-ranking demons, Muzan arrives at the Ubuyashiki Mansion to face against Master Kagaya (Matthew Mercer), as well as to try and absorb Nezuko since she has gained immunity from sunlight. Muzan killed Kagaya and his wife Amane, and just before the united Hashira could take him down together, Muzan teleported them all (except Nezuko) to the Infinity Castle, his hideout of multidimensional floors and doorways to keep himself hidden and to trap the Demon Slayers to their doom.
The film opens days before Muzan’s arrival. Gyomei is meeting with Kagaya, who is close to death. He warns Gyomei that Muzan may be so powerful that merely beheading him may not be enough to kill him. Kagaya tells Gyomei that the Hashira need to prepare to battle Muzan until the sun rises.
Within the Infinity Castle, the Demon Slayers are separated as Muzan’s forces manipulate the castle’s infrastructure. Obanai and Mitsuri find and defend each other. Gyomei and Muichiro team up and mourn the loss of Kagaya, fueling their desire to destroy Muzan. Inosuke drops in boastfully and helps Sanemi take on a few demons. Tanjiro and Gyu end up saving each other from certain death.
Shinobu enters a room where Upper Rank 2 Demon Doma (Stephen Fu) is feasting upon victims. She recognizes him as the demon that murdered her sister Kanae, as she described him to Shinobu as a pale demon that wields two sharp fans. Shinobu strikes a blow to Doma’s eye, infecting him with a poison of her own concoction, but he develops an immunity with each strike she takes on him. Doma praises how quick Shinobu is, but he deals her a massive slash across her body.
A glimpse into Doma’s pre-demon past shows him as a child whose parents saw him as a blessed child due to his pale hair and rainbow eyes, so they created a cult around him, the Eternal Paradise Faith. Seeing how people would worship him and treat him like a deity eventually caused Doma to become cynical at the knowledge that there is no “paradise” beyond death.
In her weakened state, Shinobu sees a vision of Kanae trying to encourage her to keep going. Shinobu uses her last breaths to unleash several strikes against Doma, but he traps her and squeezes her to death. Kanao Tsuyuri (Shinobu’s protege that was also teleported) enters and witnesses as Doma is absorbing Shinobu’s body into his own. The Kasugai crows fly around the castle to announce Shinobu’s death, which Tanjiro overhears and becomes emotional for.
Zenitsu is cornered by Upper Rank 6 Demon Kaigaku (Alejandro Saab), who was a former student alongside him and their sensei, “Gramps”. Flashbacks show how Kaigaku hated Zenitsu for being weaker, as well as knowing that Gramps favored him more. Zenitsu hates Kaigaku in return because, after Kaigaku became a demon under Upper Rank 1 Kokushibo, Gramps committed seppuku but had nobody around to behead him, which meant he died in slow agony. Kaigaku nearly kills Zenitsu as they plunge further down the depths of the castle, but he recalls a self-taught Thunder Breathing technique that he uses to behead Kaigaku. As they continue plummeting, Kaigaku taunts Zenitsu until demon ally Yushiro rescues Zenitsu, while Kaigaku fades into oblivion. Zenitsu briefly enters the afterlife and sees Gramps, becoming emotional as he tells Zenitsu that he is his pride and joy.
Zenitsu is passed out since Kaigaku infected him with one of his attacks. The other Demon Slayer Corps members desperately try to fight off the incoming demon hordes. Meanwhile, Kagaya and Amane’s son Kiriya and daughters Kuina & Kanata are trying to map out the inside of the domain with help from Yushiro, while former Hashira Tengen Uzui and Shinjuro Rengoku stand guard. Outside the castle, Nezuko is in a drugged state by Sakonji Urokodaki in an attempt to restore her humanity. Sakonji knows that Nezuko becoming human again would destroy Muzan’s plans, and the fact that this is the final battle is dawning on everyone. Muzan is shown hidden in a blood cocoon while absorbing demon ally Tamayo.
Tanjiro and Giyu come face to face with Akaza (Lucien Dodge), the demon that killed Kyojuro Rengoku. Tanjiro furiously gears up to fight him and avenge his friend. He and Giyu manage to get a few strikes into Akaza, severing some of his limbs, but he keeps regenerating and moving too quickly. Akaza taunts Tanjiro for being weak, but he is briefly haunted by the spirit of a kindly man, Keizo (Channing Tatum). As the battle wages on, Giyu achieves his demon mark like Tanjiro and gets powered up.
As Akaza continues to quickly dodge their attacks using his snowflake-shaped Compass Needle, Tanjiro tries to figure out a way to decapitate him. He recalls a memory with his father Tanjuro teaching him about the Hinokami Kagura (Fire Breathing), demonstrated when he brought Tanjiro into the woods and beheaded a massive bear. Tanjiro also recalls a memory of Inosuke talking about how he senses attacks. Before Akaza can deal a fatal blow to Giyu, Tanjiro slices his hand off as he enters the Transparent World and Selfless State, giving him the upper hand to take off Akaza’s head.
Akaza is left stunned at Tanjiro’s attack, while also mocking him for passing out from exhaustion. The demon continues to try and strike against Giyu despite missing his head. Akaza then starts to experience memories of his time as a human. He was a pickpocket named Hakuji who tried to collect money to help his sick father. Hakuji would get in trouble so often that eventually, his father hung himself. Hakuji was later taken in by Keizo as a student and surrogate son. The boy took care of Keizo’s sick daughter Koyuki (Rebecca Wang), and over the years, the two developed a romantic relationship that culminated in an engagement. Unfortunately, Keizo and Koyuki were poisoned by a rival dojo. In retaliation, Hakuji murdered dozens of the dojo’s students before becoming a demon thanks to Muzan.
Akaza starts to try and regenerate his head and continue the fight. But he is eventually overpowered by the memories of his father, plus Keizo and Koyuki, and he accepts that he is going to Hell where he cannot reunite with them. A memory of Koyuki touches Akaza, returning him to his form as Hakuji. He uses his annihilation attack to destroy his own body and accept his fate.
Tanjiro and Giyu pass out after the fight. Kokushibo and Doma sense Akaza’s death and how the Demon Slayers are advancing upon them. Kanao gets ready to take on Doma to avenge Shinobu. Genya continues trying to search for Sakemi. Nakime (the biwa demon lady) uses her powers to continue to expand the Infinity Castle to confuse the Ubuyashikis. Gyomei, Muichiro, Obanai, and Mitsuri continue to fight off Muzan’s forces. Muzan continues to remain hidden and taunt the Demon Slayers as his blood cocoon continues expanding, confident that they will never find him.[wide]
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