Anime: Gekijouban Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha Hen 53684d

Let's start by stating the obvious: the animation in this movie varies wildly. On the one hand, the attack animations of the protagonist(s) are well done, in the unique art style that is the redeeming feature of Kimetsu no Yaiba. On the other hand, you have the villain's animation during the train fight, where his blob form looks to be animated with software from 2008 with a filter on top. In a regular anime this would already be unacceptable, but when overlaid with the sharp, bold art style of the protagonists, the villain's mediocre animation is nothing but jarring. This is intensified by the fact that it was evidently done by 3D modelling software rather than drawn with keyframes. As such, it stands out when you have the keyframe/drawn animation in one part of the scene, and the clunkily animated blobs in the other part. Apart from the 3D animation, the art is well done and high quality, with great attention to detail (as compared to your average modern-day isekai).

The story is nothing to call home about; it's a couple of extremely drawn out fight scenes. The length of said fight scenes, combined with the knowledge that the manga was rushed near the end (due to personal circumstances surrounding the author), leads me to believe that they're simply milking out the franchise as much as possible. As such, you will see the usual suspects of padding in anime: flashbacks, comedic moments that add nothing to the story, etc.

The characters also follow the stereotypical shounen archetypes. You have the young but iron-willed apprentice, surrounded by a group of like-minded friends; the wise and powerful mentor, who still struggles against the villain; and of course, the villain himself, whose personality is shallow and forgettable. We know nothing of his motives other than him wanting to climb the ranks of the demon hierarchy. The character development is as predictable as the personalities of the characters themselves; you have all of them "evolve" to become stronger purely by sheer will and friendship.

With the villain being as forgettable as it is, this film will not stand the test of time; the only redeeming aspect of it is the animation, and even that is botched by cost-cutting.