Fans often expect a sequel to a successful anime season, and when it’s announced after a few years, the production staff faces the challenge of helping viewers remember the events of the previous season. Typically, the studio releases a recap series or compilation movie to refresh the audience’s memory. Examples of this include Attack on Titan: Chronicle, which compiles the first three seasons before the final season, and Re:Zero: Director’s Cut, which recaps season 1 before season 2. While these “compilation” movies may not be shown in theatres, they serve as an enjoyable way for fans to catch up on the anime.
The recent US premiere of the Demon Slayer: To The Swordsmith Village Movie has left fans feeling disappointed. Many consider the movie to be a scam because it mainly consists of a recap of the previous season with minimal new content.
What’s the Story?
The Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc Movie has a runtime of 110 minutes and consists of a recap of episodes 11 and 12 from the Entertainment District Arc and a single new episode from the upcoming Swordsmith Village Arc. It’s worth noting that during the promotional period, it was explicitly stated that the movie would include two previously released episodes and one new episode. This information is provided in the movie trailer within the first 30 seconds.
Following its US release, fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment with the movie, stating that they felt scammed.
Why the Issue with Recap Movie?
Demon Slayer has gained worldwide popularity, attracting many viewers who don’t typically watch anime films. Some fans who had watched the first Demon Slayer film and anime seasons were likely expecting a new standalone movie, but instead were disappointed to find that Demon Slayer Swordsmith Village mostly consisted of a recap of the previous season.
While regular anime watchers may have been aware that these films often include recaps, not everyone falls into that category. Many of the complaints stem from cinema-goers who were caught off-guard by the situation. After all, no one wants to pay $20 only to realize they’re watching a recap.
Was the movie a scam?
The answer to that question is clear – no, the Demon Slayer movie was not a scam. The promotion for the movie made it abundantly clear that it would primarily be a recap of the previous season, with only one new episode from the upcoming season. The production staff of Demon Slayer was transparent from the beginning and didn’t resort to any trickery in promoting the movie.
Unfortunately, some anime fans are labeling the movie a scam, even though the information was readily available to them. It’s possible that some fans may not have had time to read up on the movie before watching it. However, regardless of these criticisms, the movie is thriving globally and will likely continue to do so in the future.
Season 3 of Demon Slayer (The Swordsmith Village Arc) is set to start airing on 9 April 2023, and you can watch it on the same day on Crunchyroll.
This movie was part of the world tour Demon Slayer decided to start at the end of last year. The movie is being aired in different parts of the world and thrives. It cannot be released in some parts of the world for some reasons.
In the first 72 hours, the movie made 8.8 million dollars in Japan and internationally; only in the parts where it was released it made almost 20 million dollars, which is high considering it was mostly a recap movie.
Source: Sportskeeda
Proper scam it was ????????. Can’t call it a movie. Only recap and 1st episode of another season which will release in april so don’t know why made a movie. Mugen Train was a movie.
I enjoyed watching the premiere. As fan I would pay to do it again. I knew I wouldn’t be watching the entire Sword-smith Village arc. I really didn’t care as long as I got to see one of my favorite anime on the big screen. My kids also enjoyed it and all of us have watched the Entertainment District Arc countless times. If people weren’t so quick to just run to the theater because they see a name, then they would have avoided “wasting” their money. The only thing I would complain about is the ridiculous price of popcorn.
It did not clearly promote it as a recap on crunchy roll where I first learned about it. And I did read everything. It was a scam because expectations were set with the first movie. It is a money grab scam even if it was illegal.
When the movie was promoted, they said exactly what was going on air. Last two episodes of season two and the first episode of season one. I bought the tickets knowing full well what was going to show. Did none of you read the promotional packages? For any real fan.. it was worth it. If you feel ripped off read better. Learn to tapper your expectations. But it was gorgeous and it was fun to see the big fight from season 2 on the big screen.
Thank you, it was said many times what was in this viewing. I made the time to go see Mugen train in theaters but I unfortunately won’t have time to go see this even though I want to knowing full well what’s in it.
Even a diehard fan should be disappointing. That first episode was so not something to promote in the movie. If you’re going to promote something through theaters it should be a banger not a soggy intro episode!
Except it is a scam to call it a movie and release it in theaters.
Except its a way to make them money and cater to people that wanted to see it. The transparency removes any claim of scam because its explicitly stated in all visual and written advertising. As a real fan i enjoyed seeing the old 2 on the big screen especially the tengen and akaza fight and the new episode had so much new info it was an awesome experience.
No its not, it can still be called a movie and it was said in the promotion As the person before me said , if you did pay attention you would have seen it.
Nobody ever said it was a movie. Only that it was a theatrical release. Again, everything that it was going to contain was very explicitly stated and it exceeded expectations in that respect.
It’s not you casual. This the problem with posers. Real anime fans know how this work. Go back to watch anime on Netflix.
I mean, it IS a movie. It’s almost two hours long. That’s longer than a lot of movies, which average around just over half that runtime. Like they said, the only reason anybody would have to call the movie a scam is if the production company wasn’t honest about it mostly being recap, which they blatantly were.
Yeah, but you DID get to see Mitzuris bath scene in a big humongous screen. My son left that movie with a big smile on his face and asking why her b88bs where so BIG.
I’m guessing that those who say it’s a scam are dub anime watchers, because you guys don’t like or know how to read, the info that was provided in the promo said, season 2 last 2 eps and season 3 first episode in theaters, but I guess because it was written diagonal like Japanese writing, you couldn’t read it huh?
The promotion of the film was very clear as to what we could expect to see and if anybody is going to consider themself as a fan, you should probably do a better job of knowing your shit. I’m js…
It’s not included in the movie poster That was posted outside the theaters. They should have put that information on the poster as well. It’s misleading to call this a movie. They released Mugen Train as a whole movie why couldn’t they have done the same with this one. At least cut out the credits after each episode.
Fk that movie. Many people like me don’t read or watch trailers for movies. I only realised it was a recap after I bought the tickets and thought I’d keep and open mine since the I thought it would still be a good movie. Except it wasn’t, it was horrible. They didn’t even bother removing the credit scene, the cuts between episode to episode had to sense of flow because they kept the intros and outros. It was a horrible experience and even knowing before hand that the movie was going to be a recap I still felt scammed because the movie felt like an extremely lazy copy and paste of the entertainment arc. They may have stated explicitly that it would be a recap but its a scam to call half assed editing and already existing content plus 1 episode a movie.
The article failed to mention the first email* that advertised the movie to Crunchyroll subscribers. It implied that there was only new content AND only in theaters for one day!
So many fans (including myself) bought $18 tickets immediately and waited a month for a recap watch party. They didn’t even cut the episodes into a film, so there were credits and opening recaps with lines repeated multiple times.
*The email sent on February 10th said:
What’s A Demon Slayer Without Their Blade?
After being chipped in his last fight, Tanjiro journeys to the Swordsmith Village in search of a replacement sword, where he encounters Mitsuri Kanroji—the Love Hashira—and the hotheaded Genya!
Tickets now on sale!
Only in theaters March 3rd!
More people should read what they are spending money on! NOT A SCAM!
Quote from the announcement: “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village-” will show Entertainment District Arc Episodes 10 and 11 featuring the fierce battle between Tanjiro, Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, and their comrades against Upper Six, Daki and Gyutaro in theaters for the first time. Swordsmith Village Arc Episode 1, featuring the encounter of Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji at their newly assigned dispatch location and Upper Rank Demons assembled at the Infinity Castle, will also be shown for the first time.”
I was disappointed that It wasn’t the swordsmith village ark entirely, but I did enjoy watching it,
The upper moon meeting was awesome
And mitsuri is S rank waifu material
The movie was completely disappointing. I paid to see 2 episodes that I have watched over 20 times and 1 episode that lack more action and definition then a nerds sx life. Complete waste of time! Even my 12 year old son; who is a big fan, was disappointed. Don’t do this again as you most likely will lose viewership and popularity with this brand.
Nope not a scam. Learn to read. When there was an announcement, they said what it was going to be.
It’s not a scam when they said exactly what it was and you decided not to read and got mad lol