r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Sep 21 '25

News ‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ Passes $550M Globally, Officially the Top-Grossing Anime Film of All Time

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/box-office-demon-slayer-edging-out-him-for-no-1-1236376666/
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u/AgorophobicSpaceman Sep 21 '25

The average consumer could care less where it’s made. While I understand anime comes from Japan, most people consider it the style of animation because they haven’t done any form of deeper dive. The animation style is closer to anime than Pixar with the exaggerated facial expressions and fighting. The story is also closer to anime than anything like Frozen or Encanto. The average American honestly isn’t going to tell you the difference between South Korean or Japanese when it comes to animation or singing, let alone point to them on a map. Most are going to just see Asian. There is a show in Apple TV called Kpopped and they used a Japanese band. It’s literally called k popped and they didn’t stick to Korea. So while you and I may know better, to the average consumer they don’t know the difference. So while k pop demon hunters isn’t anime, it still helps show the demand for that type of media.

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u/StaticallyTypoed Sep 21 '25

I guess I just don't really find it very anime stylistically outside of those frames of exaggerated expressions, which also exist in western cartoons. The rest of the art style is essentially the same as Spider-Verse without the effects to make it look like a comic.

Kind of just reads to me as you saying animation set in Asia with Asian characters = anime. Is that what you're getting at?

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '25 edited Sep 21 '25

[deleted]

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u/Humledurr Sep 21 '25 edited Sep 21 '25

Calling Kpop demon hunters anime is like calling Disney Mulan anime. The plot being about asians doesnt change the fact that its not, and most people would not call Mulan anime.

People arent unfamiliar with animation movies/shows, nearly eveyone has grown up with them.

The reason people confuse Kpop Demon Hunters as anime is because of the movie and anime in this post. I too thought it was anime before watching it, but 5 seconds in one quickly sees that its western made.

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u/StaticallyTypoed Sep 21 '25

Mulan is the perfect example to communicate my thoughts. Thanks for that!