In the first three days, the box office revenue reached nearly 5 billion; this was just the beginning of the legendary run for the theatrical film "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train."
Entering the second week, the box office performance remained strong, especially on the weekend, with daily box office receipts still reaching over a billion.
Then, before the second week had even passed, with only nine days of release, the animation's box office suddenly exceeded 10 billion yen, with over 8 million admissions.
Following Hayao Miyazaki's works and "Your Name," this is another animated film to surpass 10 billion in box office revenue, and it is undoubtedly the fastest work to achieve this 10 billion yen milestone.
When these box office figures were released, animation and film-related media went into a frenzy of reporting:
"Breaking News! Another 10 billion box office animation has just been released!"
"Reaching 10 billion in just nine days of release, what is the secret charm of the animation 'Demon Slayer: Mugen Train'?"
"Shocking! It only took about a week for this film's box office to break 10 billion!"
"The strongest animated film in history! Why is 'Demon Slayer: Mugen Train' able to attract so many viewers?"
"He's back; after a seven-year hiatus, Lin Zhiyan has finally created another 10 billion box office animation."
"Fastest to reach 10 billion at the box office; the box office record of 'Spirited Away' is in jeopardy."
In the first three days, the box office approached five billion, which was already absurd. In nine days, it broke through ten billion, a feat sufficient to shock the entire country, so much so that even mainstream publications and television stations scrambled to report on this animation.
It appeared on news channels of major television stations, and some variety shows even proactively extended invitations to the voice actors of "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train," hoping to do a special program on it.
Even Lin Zhiyan received an invitation to a talk show from a television station.
The animation industry and related professionals were shocked, discussing the ten-billion box office milestone of "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" in their spare time, all expressing their disbelief that this animation could become such a massive hit.
The producers of those animation companies that had previously competed with L.S Produ for the adaptation rights of "Demon Slayer" were slapping their thighs in regret, lamenting that they should have done whatever it took to secure the rights to this work.
People in the film industry were also marveling: it was truly unexpected that, amidst such a complex pandemic situation, such a wildly popular animated film could emerge.
Even people from the economic, cultural, and social circles began analyzing the reasons behind the explosive success of this animated film.
Evening, at the Shiga residence.
The television was on, playing the news.
As it played, a report on "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" suddenly appeared:
"Recently, the animated film titled 'Demon Slayer: Mugen Train' was released, setting the entire film market ablaze. In its first weekend, just three days, it grossed nearly five billion yen. In just nine days, it surpassed ten billion yen in box office revenue, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year and the fastest film in Japanese cinema history to reach the ten-billion-yen milestone. Below is the on-site report..."
The so-called "on-site report" was actually a reporter from the news channel reporting from a movie theater:
"This is a movie theater in Shibuya Ward. As we can see, the theater is already packed with people. Although everyone is wearing masks, it doesn't dampen their enthusiasm for the movie at all..."
After saying a few simple words, the reporter interviewed some of the audience members on-site, asking them why they wanted to see "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train."
After saying a few words, the reporter interviewed the audience at the scene, asking them why they wanted to see "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train."
"Due to the pandemic, I haven't seen a movie in a long time. It's not like there haven't been other movies released before 'Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,' but none of them suited my taste. This time is different; even though the virus is still raging across the country, I felt it was necessary to come to the cinema to watch it."
"It's mainly because the kid wanted to come. I heard this animated film is a sequel to the first season of the TV series that aired last year. I was worried that not having seen the first season might be an issue, as my wife and I haven't actually watched it either, but since our child wanted to see it, we had no choice but to accompany him."
"I'm a fan of Lin Zhiyan. Although he isn't the director of this anime, just the producer, it relates to his goals and the new anime he will direct personally in the future, so I definitely had to come and support it."
"I rarely watch anime, but since this animated film is so popular, I felt it was necessary to see it; otherwise, I'd feel out of the loop."
"I originally didn't plan on coming, but this anime is so popular that I was curious to see if it's really as excellent as they say, so I came."
"I'm a fan of this work. I've followed both the original manga and the first season of the anime. Now that the theatrical version is out, of course, I had to come and watch it."
"I'm a fan of this series. I've followed both the original manga and the first season of the anime, so of course, I had to come see the movie now that it's out."
The people interviewed gave a wide variety of answers, a real mixed bag.
However, when asked about their thoughts after watching the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train movie, the answers were almost unanimous: "It was amazing," "It was so moving."
In front of the TV, Taka Shiga was eating dinner while watching the news.
As he watched, he heard his wife sitting opposite him say, "It's surprising that this Demon Slayer movie has become such a huge hit."
"Yeah," Taka Shiga nodded. "Even Your Name seven years ago wasn't this popular."
Though he said that, in his mind, he was thinking about a judgment he had made two and a half years ago.
At the time, he thought it was absolutely impossible for Lin Zhiyan to make an anime that would surpass EVA in disc sales and Spirited Away at the box office. If an anime he directed himself couldn't break those two records, it was even more impossible for one where he only served as a producer and didn't direct himself.
At that time, I still thought it would be better if Lin Zhiyan had realized the reality sooner, stopped daydreaming about taking both first places, and focused his attention on the new animation he was directing.
He never expected that Lin Zhiyan wouldn't give up on his goal, and against all odds, would actually succeed.
It's not quite right to call it a "success" at this moment, after all, the box office of "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" has just broken 10 billion, and it is still more than 20 billion away from the box office of "Spirited Away". However, at this point, I'm afraid no one would believe that this animation won't break the box office record of "Spirited Away".
It is only a matter of time before one of Lin Zhiyan's two goals is achieved, and I'm afraid it won't take too long, perhaps in another two months or so.
Is it a coincidence?
If it's not a coincidence, then it's truly amazing.
Indeed, a god-like existence.
Because he was almost omnipotent in animation production and his level in every field was quite high, many fans called him "Lord Hayashi". Looking at it now, this nickname was really not wrongly given.
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