Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was quite easily one of the biggest highlights of 2025, as far as anime releases go. It was released in July, and was an immediate hit not only in Japan but also all around the world. Given the quality, Demon Slayer was well rated by fans, but it definitely wasn’t the best movie of the year based on fan ratings. The most recent anime awards, called the Anithing Awards, of South Korea, saw Demon Slayer being beaten by its biggest 2025 rival.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Nominated For Massive Award
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle movie might end up winning a Golden Globe.
During this event, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc ended up rising to the top, and it managed to beat Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle convincingly. Not only that, but Demon Slayer’s Shinobu, who was a major highlight of the movie, was also dropped from the list of the top three best female characters of 2025. Meanwhile, Reze, from Chainsaw Man, was the number one most popular female character.
Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Beat Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle At The Anithing 2025 Awards
There are a lot of big anime awards unfolding, now that 2025 is officially over. Recently, South Korea revealed the results of its biggest anime awards, called the Anithing Awards. This event gives awards for titles such as the best anime of the year. In this category, TV anime are included, along with anime movies.
You misunderstand, Tanjiro I only despise the weak. I only spit on weaklings. Yes. Weaklings make me sick. It is the law of nature that they be weeded out.
Naturally, with the inclusion of an anime movie, most fans expected to see the biggest anime movie of the year at the box office, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, to take the top spot. However, it was beaten by its biggest rival of 2025, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was better received by fans all over the world. By topping Demon Slayer at these awards, this is a huge win for a much smaller franchise.
My Hero Academia Beat Both Series To The Top Spot
Chainsaw Man’s win over Demon Slayer is definitely impressive, but it isn’t the only series that managed to do so. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was actually not the number one best anime at the Anithing Awards of 2025. Instead, the grand winner this year was none other than My Hero Academia. My Hero Academia Season 8 was phenomenal, and thanks to its immense quality, it was able to beat two huge blockbuster movies at these awards. One could definitely say that My Hero Academia Season 8 was the best anime of last year as a whole.
Chainsaw Man’s Reze Was The Best Female Character of 2025
- The Likes of Shinobu Didn’t Make It Into The Top 3
Chainsaw Man’s victory against Demon Slayer during the Anithing South Korean Awards of 2025 goes beyond just winning the #2 spot in the Best Anime category. When fans look at the Best Female Character of 2025, Chainsaw Man was yet again dominating Demon Slayer, despite both series having a very strong cast of female characters.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle had Shinobu Kochou as its main female highlight in the movie. Shinobu, the Insect Hashira, took on one of the major threats in the movie, Doma, and while she lost her battle, she still put on an amazing fight. Despite all that, however, she did not make it in the top three at the Anithing Awards for the category of best female character. Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man’s Reze dominated there. Reze was voted as the best female character of 2025, and fans can definitely see why. Reze, the bomb devil, proved to be an incredible character, and her fight, as well as the complex connection to Denji, was one of the most memorable points of 2025 anime. Chainsaw Man keeps on showing how superior its female cast is to the average shonen series.
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Shinobu was also beaten by Kaoruko Wagyuri from The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, and Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up Darling. This is definitely a huge loss for Demon Slayer, especially as the other two series are far smaller compared to it. Fans are definitely wondering how Shinobu Kocho managed to lose this badly.
Demon Slayer’s Akaza Beat Denji In The Best Male Characters Category
- A Small Win For Demon Slayer
While Chainsaw Man dominated in the best female character category, Demon Slayer did have a small win against this series in the category of best male character. In this category, Akaza, the main villain of Demon Slayer Infinity: Castle, ended up in third spot.
Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man’s main character, Denji, was nowhere to be seen. Of course, Denji is an interesting character and had a huge highlight last year, but Akaza proved to be a monumental character that kept on bringing more fans to the theaters last year.
Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Was Better Rated, But Demon Slayer Remains The Bigger Success
It’s no secret that when it comes to awards and fan ratings, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc has been a phenomenon. For example, on MAL, Chainsaw Man became the highest-rated anime of 2025. This rating was actually so high that it saw the movie become the second-highest rated anime of all time, just behind Frieren. While Demon Slayer was definitely well-received, its ratings were nowhere near as high on these platforms.
However, while fan ratings and awards are nice, what really matters at the end of the day is how much money each anime makes. Chainsaw Man did incredibly well at the box office, but its success was nowhere near as big as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.
In order to soothe the spirits of those it killed, and to make sure it claims no further victims, I will swing my blade down and lop off the head of any demon without mercy! But I will not belittle those who regret their actions and suffer over the things they did as demons. Because demons were once human. Because they were like me.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was so successful that it went on to become Japan’s number one box office hit of all time, surpassing the previous record held by another Demon Slayer movie. Not only that, but Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle went on to crack the top ten of the biggest box office movies of 2025, being the seventh most successful movie of the year.
Quite clearly, Demon Slayer set a new standard for anime movies in 2025. Chainsaw Man’s impact in that regard is inferior. Overall, it can still be said that Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is still the greatest movie of 2025.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is out in theaters now. Fans who don’t want to wait for the movies to drop can check the manga out on Manga Plus. Meanwhile, for the anime, the series currently has 4 anime seasons. These anime seasons can all be found on Crunchyroll. The remainder of the series will, however, be animated into movies, which fans will have to wait for their theatrical release to watch, depending on their country.
