映画体験の紹介
The characters are like literally constantly being thrown upside down and stuff. I feel like 40X is
a good fit for this particular one. It's just it's a really a theme park, right? You know,
it's like being on a roller coaster and I feel like it'll go well with this movie.
Welcome back to 2AM OTTACK! I'm your host Mayu, a born and raised Japanese non-otaku and
I'm Cisco, an American otaku.
In this podcast, we share our reviews of anime and manga through our distinct
perspectives with commentary on Japanese culture, history, and language.
Cisco.
Yes.
We were in Japan for a while.
Yeah.
And then this might be one of the best things you saw in the theater or the only thing you saw?
This was the only thing I saw in the theater. It's not like I go to the movies all the time
in Japan, although after this experience, I might want to go more often.
Okay. So what did you see in the theater?
I saw Infinity Castle, the Demon Slayer movie.
Woohoo!
So that movie is not out yet in United States.
Correct. It's coming out September 11th.
In Japan. And many people went and they keep coming back.
日本の劇場体験
Yeah, it was a huge hit.
Yeah. So we're going to talk about it, all about it. Are you going to spoil?
Yeah. I mean, like, I don't, I won't necessarily tell you what the outcomes of things are,
but like, I mean, one, it's kind of hard to like really spoil this type of movie to be,
I mean, like, I guess if you like, haven't read the manga of Demon Slayer at all,
then yes, there will be spoilers. There will be things that you don't necessarily know about.
I'm going to talk about the fights that happen in the movie and who fights who,
and there will be some amount, I don't think I'll spoil everything, but like,
if you don't want to know anything about what happens in the movie, then like,
don't listen to this episode until after it comes out and you see it.
I read the whole manga and I don't remember the whole thing.
Oh my God.
So I'm going to find out more.
Because you're not going to see you when it goes out of the States either. Are you?
Yeah. Well, I don't know.
Yeah. Okay. You're not going. Cool. Got it.
Before we start, we'd like to hear from you. Share your thoughts, ideas,
questions, or even suggestions that we should talk about. Send us a message to
the email in the description, or you can use Spotify and the YouTube comment section as well.
All right. So I have a lot of questions for you because I decided to not to go.
Yeah.
So that I can ask you questions.
Yeah. That was definitely why.
Also, I was not ready to sit for three hours in the movie theater.
It was, it was quite long. Yes.
日本の映画館の雰囲気
Yeah. So first question, what was the experience of going to a Japanese movie theater like?
So it's probably important to say that I went to a Toho cinema. So I went to a large cinema
chain in an enormous mall in the capital city of the prefecture we were staying in.
I think there are probably at least eight screens, maybe even more in this particular
theater. And like, like I said, it's like attached to a three story mall. So it's a big theater as
Japanese theaters go many, many, many years ago. I saw both the revolutionary girl Utena movie
in a Japanese theater in Tokyo and the first of the neon Genesis Evangelion remake movies
also in a theater in Tokyo. And neither of those were as big as this one. So this one feels like
the kind of suburban, you know, American movie going experience that you might get with stadium
seating and like, you know, comfortable big seats and some other things that felt pretty modern.
So there's some, some definite similarities there, some differences. So when you walk into the
theater, they have like a merch selling zone where you can buy all sorts of like Demon Slayer
related goods, like, Oh, very, you know, from sort of tchotchkes to like full on cosplay stuff.
So that was kind of different to be like, Oh, it's not just selling popcorn. Like they're selling
all sorts of stuff. And just like American theaters, the food section feels really up.
They're not just selling popcorn and soda and candy. They're selling like burgers. And like,
I guess I don't remember if they sold ramen, but like they're selling like regular food,
not just like movie going fair. And the line was enormous. I walked in and bought the tickets kind
of early. Then I like took a stroll around the mall. When I came back, the food line was like
really, really, really long. And so lots of people bought food at the theater, which that
might've been because like the mall was mostly closed down by that point, but also three hours.
Yeah. It's a long movie and stuff. And so people would maybe like eat in the late dinner and stuff,
but it was, uh, you know, and the seats are such that you can eat in the seat, just like the sort
of newer theaters in America too. So some real similarities there, some differences too, though.
Uh, the biggest difference I think from my perspective was this movie was so much cheaper
than I expected. And for me, this is partly a reversal of what I experienced earlier in my
life where growing up in America, I was able in the nineties to go see a movie for like
five or $6, right? Like 10 was like, Oh, it was like a really premium ticket or something.
So, you know, so I was used to paying under 10 bucks for a movie ticket. And now like,
you know, especially if you buy, like, I looked to see if I got, if I went to a matinee,
how much would it cost? It's $15 to see a matinee in Los Angeles, like before any additional fees.
And I saw demon slayer in Japan for the equivalent of like under nine us dollars. And that wasn't
even like the cheapest possible price. If I had been, if I had had like a point card from,
I don't know, some like convenience store chain or something, I could have gotten it for probably
like seven 50. So, you know, this is at the time when in America, movies were quite cheap, you
know, five or six bucks, you would go to Japan and have to pitch shell out like $20 to see a movie.
Like they were really like a high end experience. And now I feel like that, that pricing model has
just flipped where Japanese movies are now significantly cheaper to go see in a theater
than American movies. So that was kind of weird. And, um, a lot of the ads during both like the
pre previews and the previews were about how to see movies for even cheaper than I was already
映画館での体験
seeing them by belonging to like this point card or that point card or ladies day or yeah,
going on this day or that day. And I think I went to see it on a Wednesday. And so Wednesday is
discounted. That's, that's like a cheaper night to go see movies, but they advertised during the
previews ways to see it for even less. So that was kind of cool. I liked the price was, was definitely
right. You know, in American theaters, often you'll go in and the movie's scheduled start time
is actually when the previews are beginning and the previews will showcase other movies that are
coming to American theaters in the next couple months. And Japan also has previews. Um, whereas
it's sort of unusual to see a preview for a movie in the pre previews in the U S like you'll see
ads for TV shows, you'll see ads for cars, you know, for Coke, for whatever, you'll have like
Maria Menounos, like talking about whatever and interviewing somebody about Hollywood trivia,
but Japan had full on movie trailers in the pre previews. And then once like, you know, the,
the lights dimmed and it was like, okay guys, here we go. These are the actual previews.
They then continued to show commercials, like just regular TV commercials in that slot also. And so
that was also sort of disorienting to me as an American movie goer that just because it became
the legit previews, the, the regular commercials did not stop. And also there were fully theatrical
previews before that. So that was kind of different. There were many, many more regular
ads than I was expecting to see during the previews. Um, they also showed previews for
lots of different anime movies that are coming out in the next year. And so that was really
exciting. I am really excited for the chainsaw man movie. That's also coming out pretty soon.
I think that one did similar release schedule about a month earlier in Japan. And a month
later in America, there's a movie called Hyaku-emu or a hundred, a hundred meters. The author of this
manga is the same guy who did orb. Um, so that looked pretty interesting, although
probably not as deep as orb. It's about like two guys running, but nonetheless still looked good.
There was an ad for the crayon Shin-chan movie that was like coming out like the next week or
something. There was a movie about like a battle from the second world war. I think it's called
and uh, it's like done in like a almost super deformed, very cartoony style, but the subject
matter is like intensely heavy. It's about like, you know, Japanese army being forced to fight to
the last man and being like, just like outgunned and like murdered basically. So that looks depressing.
And there was a movie called Scarlet that there was an ad for, which kind of reminded me of like a
reverse Zenshu where like the girl is like the main fighter from the Isekai who's like a princess
trying to get revenge or something. And like the dude is like from the Isekai who's like, I don't
know, supporting her being like, why do you have to keep fighting? Like it just stopped the war.
So that looked interesting. And so I was, uh, I was excited for a lot of the anime movies.
If I lived in Japan, I would go see like all of them.
映画の観客動向
So was the movie well attended? What kind of people are watching the late show at 8 PM in Akita?
Yeah. So one of the weird things is eight o'clock is the late show in Japan. I guess that's because
like Japanese people don't like to stay up late or something. I don't know. But in America, like an
8 PM movie is like a prime time film. Like a lot of people are going to show up to that. You do not
give a special price to go see something at eight in the States. That's totally normal. The U S will
often have movies at 10 30 that start at 10 30 and go until, you know, 1 30 in the morning,
maybe if it's a long movie, but you don't get a special discount for that either.
In America, the special discounts come for people who are willing to show up at like
noon or earlier, right? 10 30 in the morning. Okay. You're going to get a special price for
that one. Japan's the opposite. No matinee price, but late show price. If you go to the last
showing of the day at like eight. So that was also cool from my perspective, because I was like,
great. I get a discount for going at the time I would normally go. This is awesome. And you know,
by the time I saw it, I think the movie had been out for like two and a half weeks.
Right. At least like it, it was not a new film at the time that I saw it. So I saw it in like,
I don't know, August 8th or something. Maybe not quite that late.
7th, August 7th, something like that. Okay. So like it'd been out for like
several weeks. I sort of expected attendance to drop off. The theater was, I think almost
sold out if not actually sold out. And granted when I picked my seat by buying, I don't know,
maybe two hours before, you know, showtime or something, there were lots of seats open,
but then it proceeded to sell out. There were little kids in the theater, probably, you know,
seven, eight years old. And there were also like old people in the theater. Now, again,
the time that I went to see it was during Obon, which is a holiday during the middle of...
Not exactly. Okay. But like right at the beginning of Obon. Yeah. So like,
you know, would people have had the next day off? I mean, kids don't have school.
Kids. Yeah. So it was during summer vacation for kids and right before this like actual holiday,
even for adults. So that might sort of explain it, but nonetheless, it was, it was very full
three weeks into the movie's run. I remember watching the news, like the first day of the
release of the movie and the people just line up in the middle of the night and they're watching,
finishing, come back on the same day. Right. Exactly. Just watch another show.
Yeah. That's crazy. So very popular and lots of people and really all ages, like old people were
there too. It didn't seem to have like a particular demographic, which I thought was pretty cool.
映画の感想
Interesting. What did you think of the movie? What are you hoping for,
expecting from the next two movies? So it was really good. I don't think I actually think it
was as good as Mugen Nessha, the Mugen Train, which is like, it should be like Unlimited,
right? Unlimited Train, but I don't think they translated it. I think they just called it Mugen
Train or something. Anyway, that I, and I think partly my expectations for Mugen Nessha were
very low. I was like, how are you going to take the middle of this show and transform it into a
movie and like, have it like work on any emotional level is going to be, this is gonna be terrible.
And then it was, it was fantastic. It was actually very effective and they like really hit the
pacing. This one, knowing it's going to be a trilogy of movies and that they're going to have
to like cover, you know, three times as much content. I think the pacing was harder. It was
still a, I mean, first of all, the movie's drop dead gorgeous. It's like all the best animation
from UFO table, like in a row and the fight sequences are so long and everything that takes
place in the infinity castle is like, knock your socks off. Beautiful. As with this show in general,
there are lots of really extended, like, you know, of like, you know, flashback sequences
or like, this is what happened earlier in this character's like life or experiences.
And those scenes are not as special. They look like regular TV animation. So in those scenes,
you're not getting the same quality really of animation, but it's, it sort of works because
it's a flashback and because the story is not about like a bunch of fighting when you're doing
a flashback anyway. So it kind of does not matter that those parts feel different. But in particular,
like the last flashback in the movie is really long. Like, I think it's probably, I don't know,
45 minutes of flashback. And that one, by the end, you start to be like, am I just watching
like a regular TV show here? Like, it doesn't really feel like we're in the movie anymore.
And then it cuts back to like the sort of present and then it's really, really good again. And all
the good parts are fantastic. The sound is also like worth seeing it in the theater. They definitely
used the inception sound like a lot in the, do you know what I'm talking about there?
I fell asleep during the inception. I don't remember.
Anyway, there was a sound that was used to call the inception. There that plays a lot in this
movie when it really fits the infinity castle and it's great. So the sound is great. The movie is
gorgeous. The pacing is a little hard. Like I think they have basically three main fights that
take place during this and here come the spoilers. So again, if you don't want to hear spoilers,
you can just like, tune me out or skip forward or whatever. But we get the Kocho versus Doma fight.
That's like a big part of it. We get Zenitsu versus like the other student of his teacher.
And we get the Giyu and Tanjiro versus Akasa fight. The Kocho versus Doma fight doesn't
totally wrap up. That one's left in like a wouldn't call it a cliffhanger. The fight's over.
But if there's another fight happening immediately on the heels of that fight. So it feels like
that one's kind of in process in a way. The Zenitsu fight is over over and you even get sort
of like a denouement to that fight where like the other people from the Demon Slayer core,
like protecting Zenitsu's like passed out body. And that's the only part that has any comedy in
映画の戦闘シーンとストーリー
this film. And like, thank God, because I kind of can't stand like comedies Zenitsu, like he drives
me nuts. And so I was really, really pleased with the lack of like screamings Zenitsu in this movie.
He's in like cool guy mode pretty much the entire time and then he's passed out. So that was great.
The fight itself is the least satisfying emotionally or otherwise of the fights, but
it's still got like a little bit of punch. And it's also pretty short. The Giyu Tanjiro versus
Akasa fight is really long and does end but has some twists and turns to it that make it like
really worth following and watching. And it's kind of the centerpiece of the movie. And I think like,
because part of what made Mugen Nessha so good is the Akasa versus, you know,
Dengoku fight. This was sort of a payoff from that movie, because it resolves some of that stuff.
It's sort of a weird stopping point to be like, and then this fight's over. And like,
now the movie's over, like, even though we're just still stuck in the Infinity Castle, but
there's gonna be like a whole nother movie of them just being in the Infinity Castle before
we get to the third movie where they're still in the Infinity Castle. So I don't know, I have like
real hope that I mean, I guess it's not even hope, I know that they're going to handle the
second movie, just like they did this one, the fight sequences will be jaw droppingly gorgeous.
There'll be some like emotional moments of like reveals about mostly the villains and sometimes
about like the protagonists and it will be really cool. The third movie I feel a little bit less
sure about like, I don't know how they're, I don't know where they're gonna cut between the second
and third, like movies, and how long each of them is going to be and like what they're gonna,
you know, where they're gonna try to squeeze things or what they're gonna let play out longer,
but but I am gonna go see them both. And this movie definitely made me like really confident
that the animation studio will do a good job making it look awesome. So yeah, that was those
are my thoughts on the film. Okay, so did you hear any theme songs? Yeah, there is kind of an opening
and ending theme song for this movie. Neither one really sounds like an anime opening theme song or
an anime closing theme song. They kind of sound like regular movie opening and closing theme songs.
And so it makes it feel more like a theatrical experience than I'm watching like a TV show
in a theater. The one thing that is really weird is the closing credits are unbelievably short. Now
again, maybe this is me like my bias as an American who's used to like, you know, a five or seven
minute like end roll. But they put up a lot of the credits on the screen during the kind of
closing of the film. And so by the time you get to the end roll, it's only like a minute or two
long, it's really short. And there's nothing after the end roll. There's no like preview of the next
one or anything. It's just over. That's you know, it was actually kind of cool. I really liked that
feeling of like not having it be like a friggin Marvel film where you have to wait for like the
劇場版の体験の違い
bonus credit scene and the treasures just being quick because they did some of them on the screen
during the sort of closing part of the movie in a way that really made sense.
So there are two theme songs. One is by Emma.
Right. And the other one is by Lisa.
Yeah, so they both did theme song for Kimetsu before.
I think it's the songs themselves are fine as like opening anything sucks. But I just feel
like they were not like, quote unquote, anime opening and closing theme songs. They were
regular pieces of music that fit a film, as opposed to like the type of sort of frenetic,
you know, and the animation doesn't match the opening or closing theme songs. They are just
played over the animation that's happening normally. So there isn't like an opening
with like a bunch of quick cuts and like fancy editing. It's just the movie playing with a song.
And the same is true of the closing. The closing is like, you know, kind of like a,
you know, a day to month, like crows flying around and stuff like things you would expect
from Demon Slayer, but like, not a lot of action or anything, just a song being played over the
credits. And like some really slow paced, you know, images. And I think there's even like
people talking during them. It's not like just the song, it's, it's like woven into the fabric
of the end of the film. I see. The one thing you forgot to mention about the differences between
going to see a movie with specifically anime in Japan and America is when you go see a movie
in Japan, you get some little gift. Yes, you do. Yeah. So especially for anime films,
they'll often hand out kind of a prize for having come to see the film. So I got a slightly larger
than a postcard of Akaza fighting Giyu and the main character was named Tanjiro. There we go.
Tanjiro and Giyu fighting Akaza is like this thing that I got it. I don't know. It's not
quite an eight by 11. It's like a weird size. It's a weird size. It's it says this is the third
gift. Oh, okay. So first, like a couple weeks, people receive a different thing. They got better
stuff. They got, I think they got, uh, art stand or something. And then now it's, oh, the second
one was like clear card, whatever that means. That sounds like a character thing. And then like
it keeps going on. So like, it's a great business model. It's an incentive to be like,
if you want all the, if you want all the swag, you got to come see this movie four times. Yeah.
That's smart. But in America, we don't, we don't usually get anything. We just have
like a interview by director or voice actors. I don't think they're going to do that for this
film because it's already, it's already three hours long. So I don't think they're going to
go make us see like, you know, interview with the voice actors. That's true. That's true.
Not that I wouldn't enjoy that, but like, I don't think they're going to do that. All right. So
it's worth watching. Yes. Okay. You're not going to go say I can't convince you, but I can probably
convince some listeners. It's totally worth watching and it's worth seeing it in a theater
because the animation quality is so high that getting to see it on a big screen is like really
無限城の体験
worth it. You just mentioned that there's 4D. 4DX. 4DX. Yeah. 4DX is like a ridiculous gimmick that
some movie theaters have where like the seats move around and like spray you with water and scents
and like, it's just kind of silly, honestly. But I saw like an Indiana Jones movie in 4DX. And I
also saw like the second to last Mission Impossible in 4DX. And like, it's ridiculous.
But for a movie I've already seen once that I like don't need to pay that much attention to,
and especially given that this is the Infinity Castle and like the characters are like literally
constantly being thrown upside down and stuff. I feel like 4DX is a good fit for this particular
one because it's going to like, it's just it's a really a theme park ride. You know, it's like
being on a roller coaster and I feel like it'll go well with this movie. Yeah. After hearing that,
I'm a little bit interested in. Really? Uh-huh. You're gonna hate it. But yeah,
I don't think you will enjoy it at all. You're gonna be like, it was so disorienting. But I
found it fun in the other movies I've seen it in, which were both like popcorn movies were like,
you know, the plot wasn't really the point. And so I feel like it might work for this one too.
Yeah. We talked about this last year when we were doing a road trip in Japan, but you actually went
to the model hotel. Yes, I did. Infinity Castle. So good. Yeah, I was tired. So I didn't.
You missed out on that too. I'm just the adventurer. But you went I did. How was your
experience? It was great. I mean, it's so much like, especially having seen this movie, like
the Infinity Castle is bigger in the anime than it was in the manga. I mean, like whatever in the
manga, you can't really get a sense of that type of space, you know, like it just doesn't work.
But like in the anime, you're like, Oh my god, it goes on for infinity. Like it's so big. And
the real Infinity Castle is, it's pretty modest. Like it's the the thing that is notable about it
is if you go at the right time of day, someone is playing a Biwa, right? No shamisen. Someone's
playing a shamisen. And like they're on a special platform that is in between like the top floor
and the bottom floor. And there are some like really interesting walkways that feel kind of
kabuki inspired, right? That like go in some different directions and some staircases that are,
you know, needlessly complicated, but it's really beautiful. And sitting there like there's a bar,
you could like sit there and like drink a drink and like listen to someone play, you know, like
basically a geisha play the shamisen. Like imagine you're in the Infinity Castle, and they'd be
pretty cool. And it's a famous hot spring. So there's that too. I think it's called Okaso.
Yes. In Fukushima. That's correct. And we didn't stay there because it was it was too much.
We stayed in the neighboring one that was a lot cheaper.
Yeah. Anything else you'd like to add?
No, I think that's actually mostly it. I encourage people if you have the opportunity to see
a movie in Japan, just to get a sense for what's different. And if you're an anime fan,
particularly, chances are good you'll walk away with some kind of like extra swag that will make
it especially worth it to have done that. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode.
If you liked this week's episode, please give us good reviews on Spotify and Apple Podcasts,
or like and leave a comment on YouTube. Make sure to subscribe and follow 2AMOTAK and 3AMOTAK.
It'll keep us making more fun episodes. See you next time for more 2AMOTAK.
