^{Credit: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment)}

Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini has confirmed that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle will compete for consideration at the 98th Academy Awards. When asked about Oscar prospects in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Purini said, “We think the movie is incredible — the animation, the story, the quality on all fronts. So yes, the fans absolutely deserve for the movie to be considered for awards. We’ll do our part to make sure it gets the right level of support to be considered in all of the categories it could be eligible for.” 

Infinity Castle stands its best chance of a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category. At the worldwide box office, it’s already the second-highest grossing animated feature of 2025 after China’s Ne Zha 2. Where Ne Zha 2 didn’t make the biggest splash at the U.S. box office, the Demon Slayer movie has passed the $100 million mark in North America after only two weeks. In doing so, it surpassed Pokémon: The First Movie as the highest-grossing anime film in U.S. box office history. It goes to show that Eastern animation is no longer niche in the West. It’s mainstream. 

Will Demon Slayer be mainstream enough for the Academy, though? For newcomers who have never seen the Demon Slayer series, Infinity Castle might be hard to follow. It’s not as digestible as a wholly original property like KPop Demon Hunters. If there are enough anime fans in the Academy, though, perhaps we could see the Demon Slayers and Demon Hunters face off. Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet, another Japanese animated feature, is also in the Oscar conversation. 

The previous Demon Slayer movie, Mugen Train, wasn’t just a financial hit. It was the biggest film of 2020, an otherwise dismal year for the box office. Yet, this still wasn’t enough to get Mugen Train an Oscar nomination. Infinity Castle may face a similar uphill battle, despite its immense success. That said, Infinity Castle has already made more in America than Elio or The Bad Guys 2. Not long ago, the idea of an R-rated anime film making more than a Pixar or DreamWorks film sounded unthinkable. So, it’s already defied odds.

Even if it doesn’t get into Best Animated Feature, Infinity Castle could contend in Best Original Song. It has two possible submissions: Aimer’s “A World Where the Sun Never Rises” and LiSA’s “Shine in the Cruel Night.” If either gets nominated, it would be the first time the Academy recognized an anime film for music. Not even the great Joe Hisaishi, who composed numerous Studio Ghibli films, has made it beyond the Oscar shortlist. In a year where K-pop will likely break through at the Oscars, though, perhaps there’s room for more Asian artists. 

Crunchyroll has been trying to break into the awards scene for a while. This past Emmy season, they pushed Solo Leveling for Outstanding Animated Program consideration, but it didn’t pan out. Crunchyroll also has their own Anime Awards, which have been presented since 2017. When it comes to other awards like the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes, though, Crunchyroll is still fighting for a spot at the table. Anime may be mainstream, but not necessarily at award shows. That is unless you’re Hayao Miyazaki, who directed the only Oscar-winning Japanese animated features, Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron.  

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!