A Covid-19 Cinema success

By Ruan Botha ruanbotha08@gmail.com

A COVID-19 Steamroller Cinema Success

Kimetsu no Yaiba continues to astonish, with its recent feature film instalment - Mugen Train - exceeding everyone’s expectations for a mid-pandemic movie release. While most 2020 films opted to push their release dates back to 2021, Kimetsu no Yaiba stuck to its October 16th date and succeeded in becoming Japan’s highest-grossing film of 2020 and the 3rd highest-grossing anime film ever. But why is Kimetsu no Yaiba so popular? How has it bucked the trend and how has its licensing program contributed to its popularity and astronomical success? Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a 2016 Japanese manga series serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotoge, it tells the story of a young boy in the early 1900s, Tanjiro Kamado, who becomes a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, after his family is murdered and his younger sister is turned into a demon. An animated adaptation of the manga aired in the late-night slot across Japan and was produced by the animation studio Ufotable. After airing on television, the series was released on various digital platforms, locally and abroad, introducing it to a wider audience and creating a surge in the popularity of the series. On September 29th 2019 an animated film, titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train was announced. Traditionally anime films based on popular series are spun-off from the source material and have no bearing on the main plotline. Instead, the Kimetsu no Yaiba production team decided to break tradition and produce a theatrical film, rather than a second season, to follow up on the anime - requiring fans of the series to see the movie if they wanted to stay up to date with the story. Although it can’t be denied that the roaring success of Mugen Train can in some part be attributed to the slim offering at Japanese cinemas amid the Covid-19 pandemic, you would be remiss not to credit Kimetsu no Yaiba’s brilliantly executed licensing program. To fill the year-long gap leading up to the release of Mugen Train, licensing collaborations and promotions stepped in to keep the brand front of mind. Licensees leveraged the characteristic colours and patterns adorned by the series’ cast to create instantly recognisable products. And although the usual categories were licensed - catering to niche anime fans - consumer permission encouraged the licensing of everyday items, like face masks, IC cardholders and stationery. Some of the first reusable face masks to grace Japanese shelves at the beginning of the pandemic were Kimetsu no Yaiba themed. You would also not have to look far to find a Japanese salaryman swiping his Kimetsu no Yaiba IC card as he enters the subway station. To further ingrain itself in the minds of the general public Kimetsu no Yaiba collaborated with Lawson convenience stores on four different campaigns, from as early as April 2019. The promotion saw Kimetsu no Yaiba food and other goods being sold exclusively by Lawson resulting in sales of more than ¥5 billion ($48 million). A sushi restaurant chain, Kura Sushi also helped to ramp up anticipation for the film, partnering with Kimetsu no Yaiba for themed sushi-rolls, original merchandise and giveaways. For its efforts, Kura Sushi was handsomely rewarded with an almost 8% salesincrease when compared to 2019 same-store sales. Oricon Monitor Research gauged the franchise’s popularity and confirmed that everyone and their grandma knows about Kimetsu no Yaiba, as their survey indicated that 97% of Japanese respondents were aware of the series. While 40.5% of respondents knew the series very well. Of those who replied that they knew the series very well more than 75% either ‘liked’ or ‘loved’ Kimetsu no Yaiba. Needless to say, by the time Mugen Train hit theatres the general public were chomping at the bit for more Kimetsu no Yaiba content and despite the continued pandemic, flocked to Japanese cinemas. It comes as no surprise then that Dai-Ichi Life Research estimates the economic impact of the hit franchise at ¥270 billion ($2.59 billion) of which more than a ¥130 billion ($1.24 million) is attributed to sales of related merchandise. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba illustrates how entertainment franchises can rely on thorough licensing programs to help overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 economy. While strategic licensees stand to profit by supplying fans eager for new content. While Western audiences are uniquely different from their Asian counterparts it remains to be seen how its licensing program will go to work on assisting the release of Mugen Train in Europe and the Americas. If successful, it might just take top honours as the highestgrossing anime film of all time. Either way, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train will go down in history as a COVID-19 cinema success story.