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The story
The theatrical version of Demon Slayer holds the record for Japan’s highest box office gross of all time, but that number sparked debate on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board (a general live-discussion board) over whether it really makes the film “the most interesting work in Japanese history.” Posters pushed back one after another, arguing that box office revenue is skewed by inflation, ticket sales figures, and repeat viewers buying tickets again just for merchandise, so it isn’t a straightforward measure of popularity or quality. The thread brought up comparisons with Spirited Away, the long-reigning former #1, and traded analogies like Cup Noodle — “best-selling doesn’t mean best-tasting.”
What people said
Burgers and Coke, more like.
Other movies cost the same price and take the same effort to watch. Are you dumb? Have some shame.
Isn't that actually just… good, though?
People watched it a lot because it's actually good.
Can an anime movie that's just one slice cut out of a long-running manga really be the most interesting thing of all time?
It delivered the results, so what can you do.
A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time are definitely more fun than that.
Even calling it the all-time #1 in box office revenue, remember the currency has inflated. Movies you could once watch for 100 yen a ticket now cost around 2,000 yen. Of course the total revenue is going to climb.
Ah, that's the point you were making. Attendance numbers might be a clearer metric.
Back when Japan was poorer, people barely had the spare cash to go see movies in the first place. These days the same person goes to see the same movie multiple times for other reasons, like merchandise. So attendance numbers ≠ quality either.
Well, back in the day theaters didn't clear the audience between showings, so some people would just sit there watching the same film on repeat from morning to night.
Back then people were told to grind it out until they could afford to eat tonkatsu every day.
I'd buy 'most popular right now' or 'the biggest trend right now,' but there's no way it's the most popular of all time. I doubt Demon Slayer's popularity will still be around in ten years, whereas Ghibli's and Kurosawa's popularity will probably still be around in fifty.
Kids these days don't even know who Kurosawa is.
Ghibli isn't even popular with young people anymore. It failed to cross generations.
Demon Slayer might have the biggest instantaneous peak, but for lasting popularity directors like Yasujiro Ozu or Kenji Mizoguchi rank higher.
I'd have figured Demon Slayer fans would also be into Conan. Surprising.
Whose side are you even arguing from? It's pretty bad if a fan is the one saying that.
I'm just a viewer with zero stake in this, so I've got every right to say it.
That comparison really lands. They're winning on something outside the actual content.
It's the best-seller.
Whether it's the best-tasting is up for debate.
But it's liked by a lot of people.
Except movie tickets are all the same price, whereas instant noodles or burgers come cheap or pricey.
Honestly it's not even intuitive to me that Cup Noodle is the best-seller in the first place.
Other movies cost the same price and take the same effort to watch. Are you dumb? Have some shame.
That order is never changing.
Box office being 'everything' only matters to the people who made the movie.
Spirited Away at #1 feels like, sure, I guess…? But Demon Slayer at #1 just feels flat-out wrong.
Demon Slayer hasn't won any film awards, has it.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Mugen Train, released in 2020, overtook the long-reigning Spirited Away to become Japan’s all-time #1 domestic box office earner. Japan’s box office rankings are a simple comparison of nominal yen totals with no inflation adjustment, so films from eras with higher ticket prices structurally tend to post bigger numbers. Where the thread split was over whether to treat that raw revenue figure as proof of quality, or to discount it for other factors like attendance numbers, repeat-viewer rates, and merchandise purchases. As with the comparison to Cup Noodle sales, a fair number of posters argued that selling well and being genuinely good aren’t the same thing.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Mystery] A ‘man-san’ (mildly mocking 5ch slang for a female poster) claims: ‘Demon Slayer’s movie is #1 in all-time box office revenue. So that makes it the most interesting film in Japanese history, right?’ ← this.”
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