The Backstory on Channing Tatum’s Small — But Significant — Role

Channing Tatum’s role in the record-breaking Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie — Infinity Castle, released in North American theaters this weekend, was a small but significant one.

For Demon Slayer fans who haven’t read the manga, their introduction to his character was likely in the feature-length film that became top opening ever for an anime title at the North American box office. [Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the movie or read the manga.]

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Tatum voices Keizo in the English dub version of the movie. Here’s the backstory on that character: Keizo is a kind widower whose wife took her own life shortly after their daughter, Koyuki, was born. He owns a dojo where he takes care of his sick daughter and teaches students in the ways of the bare-fisted Soryu fighting style.

At the same time, a boy named Hakuji (voiced by Lucien Dodge) is taking care of his sick dad, resorting to thievery so that he can afford to buy his medicine. But after seeing his son get punished for his crimes time and time again, Akaza’s dad hangs himself.

This is where Keizo enters the story. The dojo master finds Hakuji and takes him in, teaching him to fight, while Hakuji also takes care of Koyuki (voiced by Rebecca Wang). He falls in love with the latter, and they are set to marry.

One day, Hakuji leaves to visit his dad’s grave. When he returns, he learns that a rival dojo has poisoned and killed Keizo and Koyuki. He takes revenge and kills 67 members of that dojo.

This draws the attention of Muzan Kibutsuji, head of all demons, who turns Hakuji into a demon himself, who becomes known as an Upper Rank demon named Akaza. Because of his (forgotten but still buried in his subconcious) love for Keizo’s daughter, Akaza refuses to eat women.

Akaza is crucial to the overall Demon Slayer story, as he kills a high-ranking demon slayer named Kyojuro Rengoku, who had become a mentor and inspiration to the the central protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado. Rengoku’s death fuels Tanjiro’s resolve to become stronger so that he can take down Akaza and ultimately Muzan.

As for why Tatum signed on to the movie, he recently told Entertainment Tonight that he and his 12-year-old daughter, Everly, are fans of the anime. The duo attended the film’s premiere together.

“We’ve been watching this for so long,” he told ET on the red carpet, as his daughter added: “It’s beautifully made and has an incredible storyline, and I love anime in general. It’s beautifully animated.”

Tatum also posted on X: “Walking the #DemonSlayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle carpet with Evie by my side was honestly a dream come true. She’s been my anime inspiration from the start, and sharing this moment with her made my first time voicing Keizo extra special. Having a project we both love in theaters now just feels unreal-heart is full and fanboy levels are off the charts!”

The film opened well ahead of expectations over the weekend, bringing in an estimated $70 million from 3,315 theaters. The movie, which was released in Japan in July before heading Stateside., is the first of a trilogy based on the Infinity Castle arc of the manga.

Sony-owned Crunchyroll is handling the movie in North America and a raft of foreign territories, excluding Japan and other select Asian markets. The show is available for streaming on Crunchyroll’s website along with Netflix.

The English dub cast also includes Zach Aguilar, Abby Trott, Aleks Le, Bryce Papenbrook, Johnny Yong Bosch, Kira Buckland, Erika Harlacher, Brianna Knickerbocker, Zeno Robinson, Ray Chase, Griffin Burns, Erik Scott Kimerer, Kaiji Tang and Crispin Freeman.

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