Demon Slayer: Is A Sequel Possible?

Demon Slayer fans are excited about watching the upcoming movie, the first one of the Infinity Castle Arc trilogy. Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infinity Castle is likely to be a box office hit, maybe bigger than any previous film in the franchise. As the anime is reaching the conclusion of the story, many fans would like to have more coming. While the manga ending wasn’t controversial, contrary to many Shonen Jump manga that recently concluded, like Jujutsu Kaisen, despite some thinking the final stage was a bit disappointing. A portion of fans would like the series universe to be expanded, ideally by creator Koyoharu Gotoge. But is a Demon Slayer sequel even possible?

Well, everything is possible in fiction. So, a better question to ask would be: is it desirable to create a sequel to this story? Is that what fans would want? And then the best answer is that while some might want a Demon Slayer sequel, it could be a bit complicated to come up with one. However, there are better options than a sequel to expand the universe, and these options would probably please those fans who hope for new content to be announced.

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The Problem With a Demon Slayer Sequel Series

After Muzan is defeated, the demons are gone for good (or at least, that was the original plan). So what would the sequel be about? Showing what each of the surviving Demon Corps are doing could be an obvious option, but it seems more like short extra stories than a proper sequel.

It’s not impossible to create a new story with similar premises, though. In a not-so-distant future, there could be a demon left who would try to avenge Muzan or even a demon unrelated to him with similar goals and born from a similar experiment somewhere else – but that could sound too repetitive. In the distant future, well, someone could have heard the story and tried to recreate demons with advanced technology.

Tanjiro briefly turns into the Demon King for a while in the final stage of the series, so another possibility – that could make some fans mad – is turning him into a new villain (this one could also be a “what if” story). The roles could be inverted, and now Nezuko tries to save him.

So, while it may not be difficult to find an excuse to bring demons back, fans would likely see it as trying to “milk” the series too hard. Also, considering both the ending and the Kimetsu Gakuen series, it seems Gotoge would rather make a school-themed sequel in which demons no longer exist – and those who enjoy the action and battles of the original story would likely not take it very well.

Why Not a Prequel Series?

While the future of Demon Slayer may be too bright to include deadly demons once again, the past looks like the perfect place to create some good action. Many beloved Hashira die during the series, and some of them come from “Hashira families” – it would be nice to see these characters or their ancestors in action prior to the main series.

Looking at the past, there is a lot of room to create new stories. Of course, as Muzan wouldn’t be defeated at the end of the prequel, he couldn’t be the main antagonist, although he could be mentioned or even occasionally featured in it. It would be cool, for example, to see the Hashira going into a crisis that divides them – it could even include one Hashira being lured by Muzan and becoming a demon, turning into the main antagonist of the story.

Anyway, this is just a suggestion, as there are many options for a prequel (or many prequels!) to the story – they wouldn’t need to focus on characters we’ve seen or those related to them, as the author could choose a historical setting for a prequel (Kamakura Era, Muromachi Era, Sengoku Jidai period or Edo Era) and go for it.