Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba celebrated its 5th anniversary with over 2,000 fans at Anime Expo 2024. Three special guests graced the stage: Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro Kamado), Takahiro Sakurai (Giyu Tomioka), and Yuma Takahashi (Producer at Aniplex). Taking place on Day 3, Demon Slayer took over the Main Hall to discuss characters, reminisce about the production, and share special messages from other cast members.
Discussions About "Demon Slayer"
When asked to recall the first day of recording for Demon Slayer, Hanae remembered being very nervous, but the good kind of nervous – anticipation. There weren’t many cast members early on, so Sakurai was one of the first he acted with.
Sakurai remembered watching Hanae’s performance and being nervous about his own. However, he put his all into matching Hanae’s intensity and honoring Giyu’s introductory scene with Tanjiro and Nezuko.
On the production end, Takahashi remembered wanting to emphasize Tanjiro’s kindness and Giyu’s strength.
Next, the guests were asked to discuss the series’ journey. The anime has covered five arcs: Unwavering Resolve, Magen Train, Entertainment District, Swordsmith Village, and Hashira Training. Before jumping to the most recent arc, we reversed all the way back to Episode 1, “Cruelty.” The hall watched Tanjiro beg Giyu to spare Nezuko.
Takahashi revealed that a lot of that sequence was original to the anime and not in the manga at all. The decision came down to showing Tanjiro’s strength before his training.
Spotlight on the Hashira Training Arc
When faced with the Hashira Training arc, Sakurai took care in portraying Giyu’s past and how it affected his grief towards Rengoku’s death. Takashi added that with the Hashira arc, the team made sure to preserve and respect the manga.
The actors then performed a live dub of Episode 2 of Hashira Training Arc, “Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka’s Pain.” This time, Tanjiro confronts Giyu in a scene meant to juxtapose the previous scene in “Cruelty.” Hanae remarked that while Tanjiro shows purity in this scene, he also guilt-trips Giyu. Sakurai had no hard feelings as he saw that Tanjiro’s intentions came from kindness and a desire for camaraderie.
When reflecting on the live performance, Sakurai noted that thanks to that scene, it became easier to act as Giyu.
In lighter news, the cast fondly remembered their characters participating in a paper airplane competition and Tanjiro eating pancakes.
Cast Videos
The first cast video came from Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu Agatsuma). Practically bursting with energy, he requested that his castmates bring back fried chicken as a souvenir. Hanae simply informed fans that Shimono has so much energy for Hashira Arc recordings since Zenitsu was absent during the Swordsmith Village arc.
Making a surprise appearance was Toshihiko Seki (Muzan Kibutsuji), where he talked about his experience voicing the big bad of the series. His portion was followed by the announcement of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle movie trilogy.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Sweep the Board!
The Demon Slayer anniversary panel closed out with an overview of the video game, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Sweep the Board! Available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC, the game basically takes Mario Party and asks, “What if…Demon Slayer?”
Earlier in the day, Aleks Le (English voice of Zenitsu) joined the Demon Slayer team for a game of Sweep the Board!, where they got to try out the day/night cycle mechanics. Adding to the Mario Party nature of the board game, characters need to use the daytime to gather resources so they can take on the demons who prowl the night.
Finally, reaching the end of the time, Hanae decided to throw the Tanjiro plushie on the stage into the audience. Sakurai followed, gently throwing Giyu to the fans. Takahashi took that as a challenge and launched Nezuko farther than either of her companions could ever hope to fly.
Currently, the first movie of the Infinity Castle trilogy does not have a set release date. However, Sweep the Board! became available on July 16, 2024.
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