Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past year and a bit, you won’t be surprised to hear that people really like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Like, a lot. As a result, anticipation for the upcoming cinematic continuation of the story in animated form was high, and we’re now just days away. Tickets for the first screenings of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie Mugen Train went on sale at midnight in Japan, crashing cinema websites as floods of people struggled to purchase tickets for the highly-anticipated film.
Typically, cinemas in Japan operate a system where tickets will go on sale at midnight 3 days before that day’s screenings, unless it’s a special event where tickets may be available sooner. This meant that all major cinema chains such as Toho Cinemas, Aeon Cinemas, United Cinemas and Cinema Sunshine each had tickets for the latest Demon Slayer film going on sale on Monday night/Tuesday morning at midnight. Even though many put contingency measures in place and bent these conventions (Toho Cinemas, for example, offered tickets for the full opening weekend), people still struggled to access cinema websites.
【鬼滅の刃】
10／13日火曜日から始まった鬼滅の刃最新映画の前売りチケットのアクセス数がやばすぎる…購入ページはこちらhttps://t.co/9lTR6I4cDT pic.twitter.com/s87mcUixtr
— 衝撃の事実まとめ (@XL_SML) October 12, 2020
Many found themselves simply unable to access the site when tickets first became available. This only got worse as time went on, with multiple tweets noting online queues to access the TOHO Cinemas website numbering over 200,000 people! Other chains, like United Cinemas, apologized for issues.
TOHO鬼滅まってｗｗｗいい加減にしてｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ pic.twitter.com/jVSGqHSvpK
— め組の人 (@meg369_A) October 12, 2020
【インターネットチケット販売が混雑中】
現在、インターネットチケット販売が混雑しております。混雑しているとの表示がされた場合、恐れ入りますが、少し時間を空けてから再度ご利用をお願いいたします。ご迷惑をおかけし申し訳ございませんが、よろしくお願いいたします。— ユナイテッド・シネマ公式 (@UNITED_CINEMAS) October 12, 2020
There’s plenty of reasons to want to see it as possible, of course. The first 4.5million people seeing the film will be given a free prequel manga illustrated by Demon Slayer mangaka Koyoharu Goutoge about Kyojuro Rengoku. Still, you can’t help but feel the rush was unnecessary. A cursory glance at TOHO’s flagship cinema in Shinjuku shows ample availability, though this is more to do with the cinema putting on a whopping 40+ screenings each day across standard and IMAX showings going into the early hours of the morning.
It may be popular, with screenings selling out even as capacity returns to 100% now social distancing requirements are lifted, but there are still plenty tickets available.
Tickets for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie Mugen Train are on sale now.