Demon Slayer director addresses AI use in anime

Demon Slayer: Infinity Train director Hikaru Kondô is focused on human artistry

Well, at least we know where Tanjiro Kamado stands. As the use of artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, the teams behind the most recent Demon Slayer film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle, used the red carpet to speak their mind on the use of AI in animation and whether they're interested in it.

"Our studio, Aniplex and Ufotable, will continue to work with our hand-drawn artists, our writers, our voice actors, and the talent that help bring this emotion to the big screen," writer and chief director of the film, Hikaru Kondô, said on the red carpet at the 2026 Astra Awards. Infinity Castle, the latest Demon Slayer film, was nominated for best animated feature and honored with the Animation is Cinema award. It also earned nearly $800 million at the box office and a Golden Globe nomination.

That statement comes at a time when AI is quickly infiltrating across many industries, including animation. Back in November, Walt Disney Studios hosted an AI startup to demonstrate how the technology could quicken the animation process without removing the human artists from the process. The end result is an upcoming partnership between Disney and an AI company that will potentially see the technology put to use on animation for Disney's TV studios.

On the other hand, companies like Aniplex, Ufotable, and even Warhammer maker Games Workshop are making it clear that artificial intelligence will not rank above human creativity and artistry.

For Kondô, who is president of Ufotable, in addition to writing and directing Infinity Castle, the human-led artistry is central to the film — including his own. In addition to drawing some of the storyboards himself, he also selected animators for specific scenes, working with them to hone the film's style.

"Ultimately, I oversee the entire storyboarding process," he explains in a previous Polygon interview. "But you look at all the different scenes, shots that we have in this film, well then, we should assign this shot to this animator, that shot to that animator. Ok, now that everyone's exchanging their ideas and we've signed everything, do we start from 3D first, or 2D first? These are all conversations and communication that happen in the studio."

And given the success of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle, chances are there are going to be many more of those conversations going forward. While Kondô isn't willing to reveal whether Infinity Castle will be adapted (and perhaps expanded) for TV, as happened with the previous Demon Slayer feature movie, Mugen Train, back in 2021, fans are waiting for a chance to watch Infinity Castle on streaming soon.