Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was quite easily one of the biggest highlights of 2025 in terms of anime releases. It was released in July and immediately became a hit not only in Japan but also around the world. Due to the quality, Demon Slayer was well-received by fans, but was definitely not the best movie of the year as judged by fans. The latest anime awards, called the Anithing Awards, in South Korea saw Demon Slayer defeated by its biggest rival from 2025.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle nominated for a Massive Award
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle could finally win a Golden Globe.
During this event Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc eventually rose to the top and was able to defeat Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle convincingly. Not only that, but Demon Slayer's Shinobu, who was a major highlight of the film, was also dropped from the list of the top three female characters of 2025.. Meantime, Reze, from Chainsaw Man, was the number one most popular female character.
Award Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Beat Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle At The Anithing 2025
Now that 2025 is officially over, there are a lot of big anime awards going on. Recently, South Korea has revealed the results of its biggest anime awards, called the Anithing Awards. The event awards titles such as the best anime of the year. TV anime along with anime movies are included in this category.
You misunderstand Tanjiro, I only despise the weak. I only spit on weaklings. Yes. I'm sick of weaklings. It is a law of nature to weed them out.
With the inclusion of the anime movie, most fans naturally expected to see the biggest anime of the year at the box office, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, take the top spot. However, he was defeated by his biggest rival from 2025, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was better received by fans around the world. Beating Demon Slayer at these awards is a huge win for a much smaller franchise.
My Hero Academia beat both series to the top spot
Chainsaw Man winning over Demon Slayer is certainly impressive, but it's not the only series that has done it. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc wasn't actually the number one best anime at the Anithing Awards 2025. Instead, this year's big winner was none other than My Hero Academia. Season 8 of My Hero Academia was phenomenal, beating two huge blockbusters at these awards due to its immense quality. You could definitely say that My Hero Academia Season 8 was the overall best anime of last year.
Chainsaw Man's Reze was the best female character of 2025
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What Shinobu likes didn't make the Top 3
Chainsaw Man's victory over Demon Slayer during the 2025 Anithing South Korean Awards goes beyond just winning second place in the Best Anime category. Chainsaw Man once again dominated by Demon Slayer as fans look at the top female character of 2025although both series have a very strong cast of female characters.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle had Shinoba Kochou as the main female lead in the film. Shinobu, the insectoid Hashira, took on one of the film's main threats, Doma, and while she lost her fight, she still put up an amazing fight. Despite all this, however, she did not make it to the top three at the Anithing Awards in the Best Female Character category. Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man's Reze dominated there. Reze was voted the best female character of 2025and fans can certainly see why. Reze, the bomb devil, proved to be an incredible character, and her fight, as well as the complex connection with Denji, was one of the most memorable points of the anime of 2025. Chainsaw Man constantly shows how much better its female cast is than the average shonen series.
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Shinobu was also defeated by Kaoruko Wagyuri from Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity and Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up Darling. This is definitely a huge loss for Demon Slayer, especially since the other two series are much smaller in comparison. Fans must be wondering how Shinobu Kocho could lose so badly.
Demon Slayer's Akaza beat Denji in the Best Male Character category
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Small win for the demon slayer
While Chainsaw Man dominated the Best Female Character category, Demon Slayer had a narrow win in the Best Male Character category against the series. In this category Akaza, the main villain of Demon Slayer Infinity: Castle, finished in third place.
Meantime, Chainsaw Man's main character, Denji, was nowhere to be seen. Denji is of course an interesting character and was a huge success last year, but Akaza proved to be a monumental character that brought more fans to theaters last year.
Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was better rated, but Demon Slayer remains the biggest success
It's no secret that when it comes to awards and fan reviews, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was a phenomenon. For example, on MAL, Chainsaw Man became the highest-rated anime of 2025. This rating was so high, in fact, that it became the second highest rated anime of all time, behind Frieren. While Demon Slayer was definitely well received, its ratings weren't nearly as high on those platforms.
However, while fan ratings and awards are nice, what really matters is how much money each anime makes. Chainsaw Man did incredibly well at the box office, but its success was nowhere near as great as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.
To appease the spirits of those he killed and to make sure he doesn't claim any more victims, I will swing my blade down and cut off the head of any demon without mercy! But I will not belittle those who regret their actions and suffer because of the things they have done as demons. Because demons were once human. Because they were like me.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was so successful that it became the number one Japanese box office hit of all time.breaking the previous record held by another Demon Slayer film. Not only that, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle went on to crack the top ten highest grossing movies of 2025 and was the seventh highest grossing movie of the year.
Quite clearly, Demon Slayer set a new standard for anime movies in 2025. Chainsaw Man's influence is lower in that regard. Overall, it can still be said that Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is still the best movie of 2025.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is in theaters now. Fans who don't want to wait for the movies to drop can watch the manga on Manga Plus. Meanwhile, for the anime, the series currently has 4 anime seasons. You can find all these anime seasons on Crunchyroll. However, the rest of the series will be animated into movies, which fans will have to wait for their theatrical release, depending on their country.
