Demon Slayer Has Officially Been Beaten By Its Biggest 2025 Rival

My Hero Academia Beat Both Series To The Top Spot

Chainsaw Man’s win over Demon Slayer is definitely impressive, but it isn’t the only series that managed to do so. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was actually not the number one best anime at the Anithing Awards of 2025. Instead, the grand winner this year was none other than My Hero Academia. My Hero Academia Season 8 was phenomenal, and thanks to its immense quality, it was able to beat two huge blockbuster movies at these awards. One could definitely say that My Hero Academia Season 8 was the best anime of last year as a whole.

Chainsaw Man’s Reze Was The Best Female Character of 2025

• The Likes of Shinobu Didn’t Make It Into The Top 3

Chainsaw Man’s victory against Demon Slayer during the Anithing South Korean Awards of 2025 goes beyond just winning the #2 spot in the Best Anime category. When fans look at the Best Female Character of 2025, Chainsaw Man was yet again dominating Demon Slayer, despite both series having a very strong cast of female characters.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle had Shinobu Kochou as its main female highlight in the movie. Shinobu, the Insect Hashira, took on one of the major threats in the movie, Doma, and while she lost her battle, she still put on an amazing fight. Despite all that, however, she did not make it in the top three at the Anithing Awards for the category of best female character. Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man’s Reze dominated there. Reze was voted as the best female character of 2025, and fans can definitely see why. Reze, the bomb devil, proved to be an incredible character, and her fight, as well as the complex connection to Denji, was one of the most memorable points of 2025 anime. Chainsaw Man keeps on showing how superior its female cast is to the average shonen series.

Related

14 Best Swordmasters In Manhwa

For those who enjoy battle-ready intellect and jaw dropping combat skills, it’s always best to look out for the swordmasters in manhwa.

Shinobu was also beaten by Kaoruko Wagyuri from The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, and Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up Darling. This is definitely a huge loss for Demon Slayer, especially as the other two series are far smaller compared to it. Fans are definitely wondering how Shinobu Kocho managed to lose this badly.

Demon Slayer’s Akaza Beat Denji In The Best Male Characters Category

• A Small Win For Demon Slayer

While Chainsaw Man dominated in the best female character category, Demon Slayer did have a small win against this series in the category of best male character. In this category, Akaza, the main villain of Demon Slayer Infinity: Castle, ended up in third spot.

Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man’s main character, Denji, was nowhere to be seen. Of course, Denji is an interesting character and had a huge highlight last year, but Akaza proved to be a monumental character that kept on bringing more fans to the theaters last year.

Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Was Better Rated, But Demon Slayer Remains The Bigger Success

It’s no secret that when it comes to awards and fan ratings, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc has been a phenomenon. For example, on MAL, Chainsaw Man became the highest-rated anime of 2025. This rating was actually so high that it saw the movie become the second-highest rated anime of all time, just behind Frieren. While Demon Slayer was definitely well-received, its ratings were nowhere near as high on these platforms.

However, while fan ratings and awards are nice, what really matters at the end of the day is how much money each anime makes. Chainsaw Man did incredibly well at the box office, but its success was nowhere near as big as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was so successful that it went on to become Japan’s number one box office hit of all time, surpassing the previous record held by another Demon Slayer movie. Not only that, but Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle went on to crack the top ten of the biggest box office movies of 2025, being the seventh most successful movie of the year.

Quite clearly, Demon Slayer set a new standard for anime movies in 2025. Chainsaw Man’s impact in that regard is inferior. Overall, it can still be said that Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is still the greatest movie of 2025.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is out in theaters now. Fans who don’t want to wait for the movies to drop can check the manga out on Manga Plus. Meanwhile, for the anime, the series currently has 4 anime seasons. These anime seasons can all be found on Crunchyroll. The remainder of the series will, however, be animated into movies, which fans will have to wait for their theatrical release to watch, depending on their country.