Demon Slayer Loses Best Animated Movie Award in Major Golden Globe Snub

To call Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle a success would be the understatement of the century. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle released in 2025 to rave reviews, earning an incredible 98% Rotten Tomatoes score, while becoming an instant box office hit, grossing $791,214,565 to become the highest-grossing Japanese movie of all time. The movie’s impressive animation, art direction, and stellar fight choreography have earned Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle plenty of award buzz, with both anime fans and general moviegoers.

Demon Slayer Has Officially Been Beaten By Its Biggest 2025 Rival

Demon Slayer was a major box office hit, but at these anime awards, it lost to its biggest 2025 rival.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was nominated for a Golden Globe for ‘Best Motion Picture – Animated’ as part of the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, which aired on January 11, 2026. In a stunning upset, however, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle lost its only Golden Globe nomination to Netflix‘s sleeper-hit movie of 2025, KPop Demon Hunters. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle was only the fifth anime movie in history to be nominated for a Golden Globe, and would have been the second anime after Studio Ghibli’s 2023 film, The Boy and the Heron, to win had KPop Demon Hunters not beaten it.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Officially Loses ‘Best Motion Picture – Animated’ Golden Globe Award to Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters

In a massive shock to anime fans worldwide, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was soundly beaten by KPop Demon Hunters at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards. To be fair, Demon Slayer was always the dark horse in the race. KPop Demon Hunters has been nominated for over 100 awards since the movie’s June 2025 release, having already won 79 of those as of 2026’s Golden Globe Awards. KPop Demon Hunters‘ widespread popularity & accessibility on Netflix has also directly contributed to the rise of South Korean media and pop culture internationally – referred to as the ‘Korean Wave’.

That said, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle does boast the higher Rotten Tomatoes score, beating out KPop Demon Hunters‘ 93% Tomatometer by 5 points and can be argued to be just as popular worldwide, considering Demon Slayer is currently the biggest ongoing anime franchise in the world. Throw in Infinity Castle‘s beautiful animation and art direction, and Demon Slayer winning was a very real possibility. Unfortunately, even Demon Slayer wasn’t big enough to take down KPop Demon Hunters.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’s Oscar Nomination is Anything But Guaranteed

Oscar Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on January 22, 2026, and while KPop Demon Hunters‘ nomination is all but locked in, things aren’t looking as good for Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. Despite being the highest-grossing Japanese film ever made, there’s no guarantee Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle will make the cut. The Oscars are notably stingy when it comes to awarding anime movies, let alone nominating them, mainly sticking to Studio Ghibli’s filmography above all else.

Not helping matters is that Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is actively competing with Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which is already getting more Oscar buzz on account of the film’s amazing animation, direction, music, and storytelling. Given how regularly the Academy Awards snub anime films, it’s possible Demon Slayer will be cut from the nomination list in favor of the Academy giving Chainsaw Man 2025’s resident anime nomination. In a best case scenario, both Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man are nominated, but this just stiffens the competition for the former.

Get Ready For Demon Slayer’s Major Return in 2026

Demon Slayer is returning in 2026, and some fans are excited.

As the Academy now requires all voters to watch every movie nominated, Demon Slayer is at a particular disadvantage. KPop Demon Hunters is a totally standalone film, and while Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is technically a sequel to Chainsaw Man Season 1, the story is self-contained enough where audiences can enjoy the story & animation without necessarily having seen the series. This is now the case for Infinity Castle, which serves as the culmination of the entire Demon Slayer anime and is only the first in the franchise’s finale movie trilogy.

It’ll be a miracle if Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle can get an Oscar nomination this year, let alone secure the win.