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 Based on a popular manga and TV
anime series, the film has spun off an industry
of related merchandise and has won over fans
with its nod to Japanese traditions people fear
are missing today.
"People in high positions act according to that
- 'Noblesse oblige', samurai and so on. Those at
the top become a shield for weaker ones, using
their strength to protect them," said movie
commentator Yuichi Maeda.
"That's absolutely missing in modern Japan."
"Demon Slayer" is set to overtake the Academy
Award-winning "Spirited Away," Japan's
top-grossing film for nearly two decades.
According to data on Monday, the film - whose
full title is "Kimetsu no Yaiba - Mugen no
Resshahen" and was released on Oct 16 - has
taken in a total of 30.28 billion yen ($291
million), within a whisker of the 30.8 billion
yen for "Spirited Away," by Studio Ghibli's
Hayao Miyazaki.
It has already opened in a few Asian nations and
will head to the U.S. and Canada early next
year.
The Demon Slayer manga series, running from 2016
to 2020 in a magazine and published in a series
of books, has sold over 100 million copies of
the first 22 books. Fans lined up for the 23rd
volume when it went on sale earlier this month.
But the impact hasn't stopped there, said
Toshihiro Nagahama, senior economist at the
Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, who estimated
an economic impact of at least 270 billion yen
as of Dec 3.
Of that, some 130 billion yen was in related
goods such as toys, with a sword released by
Bandai Namco Holdings - which has also produced
a "Demon Slayer" series of its long-running
Tamagotchi hit - flying off store shelves.
A less obvious winner is Dydo Group Holdings,
whose "Demon Slayer" themed canned coffee has
proved so popular it revised up its profit
forecast this fiscal year to 2.5 billion yen
from from 500 million yen.
Sony Corp, whose music unit is co-distributor,
has also gained a boost.
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 Although the movie's opening
was pushed back due to the pandemic, the delay
worked to its benefit as parents, stuck at home
during Japan's soft lockdown in spring, heard
about the franchise from their children. With
time on their hands, they read and binge-watched
the series on streaming services.
"This got the whole family interested, it was
something they could talk about at home," said
Yuka Ijima, an assistant professor at Daito
Bunka University.
Ijima noted that demons first appeared in
Japanese folklore as a symbol of disease, and
said the story's message was resonating with
audiences.
"Overall, it's about resilience, about
overcoming terrible things and the strength to
do that," she said.
That message is similar to "Spirited Away," when
a girl finds herself on her own after her
parents are transformed into pigs, said Kaoru
Endo, a sociologist at Gakushuin University -
but with a crucial difference.
"I think the meaning is less that we have to
fight to overcome things than it is that just
living is fine," she said. "Just living through
tough situations is enough - and this is helping
everybody right now."
Fans gathered at a downtown Tokyo cinema agreed.
"There are many people suffering in the current
situation," said Yohei Suzuki, 38 and an office
worker. "I don’t think the story was
intentionally made for these people but it ...
could cheer people up."
 ($1 = 104.0200 yen)
(This story was refiled to fix typo in Japanese
movie title in paragraph 6)
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; additional reporting
by Akira Tomoshige; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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