2026 Oscar nomination predictions

If we are throwing nods to shonen manga arcs turned into movies, Chainsawman seemed to get better critical reception.

I haven't seen the Chainsaw Man film, but I've seen the other two multiple times.

Demon Slayer, I watched twice at different theaters. I saw the English dub at the local Alamo, as it was the earliest available, and I watched the subtitled version (better) at an Atmos theater (though the venue itself was less comfortable).

I've been watching Demon Slayer since the first season dropped, and have watched it grow into an international phenomenon. I watched Mugen Train in a theater when it came out, and remember thinking Ufotable had achieved something visually spectacular at the time...and going back, I can see how incredibly far of a leap they've made with Infinity Castle. This is basically the cutting edge of 2D animation, and it's really something to behold when you compare it to their prior works. Consider Disney's first steps, decades ago, to integrate CGI with traditional animation, in the "Renaissance" films...and then see how every shot in this film is a blend of intricate CGI environments with many layers of hand drawn work over it. And having CGI elements not stick out like a sore thumb is a technical feat in itself. Non Photorealistic Rendering is something that the CGI industry has grossly overlooked, and takes extra effort to achieve still, with custom shaders and meticulously prepared materials.

I should have prefaced this with saying that I'm first and foremost a Ufotable fan. I really like their work with the Fate series, and I've also see Kara no Kyoukai.

Story-wise, it was good. It wrapped up some characters' arcs, in a way that makes sense for a movie, but seemed a little abrupt and out of nowhere in the context of a larger series. (Though maybe that's more true to life than dramatic expectations...) It's good at emotional punches, and I really like how they handled Akaza. One of the weaker points of Demon Slayer as a whole is that they kill a demon and then the audience gets the backstory flashback, every single time. I really like that we got, perhaps the most tragic one to date, and with someone who Tanjiro has a personal vendetta against, during the drawn out fight. Every part of that fight, in the present, is just foundation to show us that story and add a ton of depth to a character that Tanjiro had wanted dead as much as the Big Bad.

Kpop Dmeon Hunters...I was very early to that one. I saw it on day one, thought it was funny and enjoyable, but then have been forced to experience the film and the music over and over again since. (And people don't even like the good songs, which are definitively Soda Pop and How it's Done.) They criminally underutilized SungWon Cho.

The animation was good, and I like how they stylized it, but it's ultimately still CGI, and isn't doing anything that wasn't already done (on a higher budget) with the Spiderverse films. The animation for fights also lacks...weight?

Story wise...it's fairly basic stuff. The plot's on a rail and doesn't have much time to breathe, taking us through a mix of an idol anime and a shounen type story. Which, in principle, I'm all here for, but I guess it only 75% landed. I think Zoey would have been a more interesting character for it to focus on.

The music was well done and integrates well with the film. I'm generally of the opinion that not enough films are musicals.

So, I'd say it's very good, not amazing, and not doing anything too spectacular with the art...but where it's picked up a lot of steam is as a more kid-friendly movie that's freely available on one of the largest streaming sites. Which means it's going against Zootopia 2, which was also a good film, a very anticipated and now high-grossing one, with some interesting technological advancements. (That snow!)

And on that note, I'm going to go see the new Zombie Land Saga movie tonight and go from two films about slaying demons to a film about zombie idols...maybe fighting invading space aliens.