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Japanese animation 'Demon Slayer' becomes No. 1 movie in Korea in 2025

Published: 22 Nov. 2025, 14:34 Updated: 23 Nov. 2025, 15:58

A person holds a movie ticket in front of a poster of Japanese animated film ″Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle″ at a theater in Seoul on Sept. 8. [NEWS1]

"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle," the latest feature in the hit Japanese animation franchise, has become the top-grossing film in Korea so far this year, according to its distributor Saturday.

According to Animax Broadcasting Korea, the film has drawn a cumulative 5.638 million moviegoers as of Friday, topping the country's previous No. 1 film, "My Daughter is a Zombie," which recorded 5.637 million admissions.

It marked the first time an animated title has topped Korea's annual box-office rankings. While foreign animations have set major box-office records, such as "Frozen 2," which sold 13.36 million tickets in 2019, none have reached No. 1 for the year.

Based on the comic and TV animation of the same name, the latest "Demon Slayer" movie is the first installment of a planned three-part finale to the series.

Since opening in Korea on Aug. 22, the film reached 1 million viewers within two days and surpassed the 3 million mark on its tenth day of screening, recording the fastest pace among all movies released this year.

Yonhap