Unlike Pokemon which I used to watch as a kid and am still a fan of and Star Wars where I can at least recognize the characters, I have never seen an episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. That said, as an aviation enthusiast living in Tokyo, I definitely took note of ANA introducing special livery aircraft inspired by the extremely popular anime.
While I haven’t flown on the first two Demon Slayer Jets that ANA introduced, I had a chance to be on the third such aircraft’s inaugural. Continue reading to learn more about the series of special livery aircraft as well as about what the third Demon Slayer Jet’s inaugural was like.
ANA’s Collaboration with Demon Slayer
ANA announced its plans to collaborate with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, one of the best-selling anime and manga franchises of all time, in November 2021. The partnership started in January 2022 and had ANA make the anime available on its in-flight entertainment system.
More interestingly for aviation and Demon Slayer enthusiasts, though, the collaboration also resulted in aircraft in special liveries.
So far, three of them have been put into service. All three of the aircraft operate on domestic flights around Japan. While the third aircraft will operate on a fixed schedule until mid-October 2022, in general, the Demon Slayer Jets’ schedules are not announced in advance.
Demon Slayer Jet One
The first aircraft that ANA decorated with Demon Slayer decals was a Boeing 767-300ER registered JA616A. The aircraft’s first scheduled flight as Demon Slayer Jet One took place on January 31, 2022, when it operated flight NH241 from Tokyo Haneda to Fukuoka. A day before that, it operated a joyride from Tokyo Narita airport.
On its starboard side, the aircraft features the anime’s main character, Tanjiro Kamado. On the port side, Tanjiro Kamado can be found alongside other characters including Nezuko Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira. The aircraft’s tail is in ANA’s regular Triton Blue livery.
Demon Slayer Jet Two
The second Demon Slayer Jet livery is worn by another Boeing 767-300ER, JA608A. The aircraft wearing the special livery first appeared on a scheduled flight on March 26, 2022, flying from Tokyo Haneda to Hiroshima as flight NH671. Just like Demon Slayer Jet One, the second Demon Slayer aircraft debuted on a joyride out of Narita the day before.
Both sides of the second Demon Slayer Jet’s fuselage feature the Hashira (Pillars) – nine of the Demon Slayer Corps’ most powerful members including Giyu Tomioka (Water Pillar), Mitsuri Kanroji (Love Pillar), Obanai Iguro (Serpent Pillar), Sanemi Shinazugawa (Wind Pillar), Gyomei Himejima (Stone Pillar), Tengen Uzui (Sound Pillar), Kyojuro Rengoku (Flame Pillar), Shinobu Kocho (Insect Pillar), and Muichiro Tokito (Mist Pillar).
The second jet’s tail is in ANA’s regular livery just like the first one’s.
Demon Slayer Jet Three
For the third and so far last Demon Slayer livery, ANA decided to go bigger and use a Boeing 777-200ER registered JA745A. Continuing with the tradition, a day before being put into regular service on October 3, 2022, the aircraft operated a joyride out of Narita. Its first regularly scheduled flight was NH241 from Tokyo Haneda to Fukuoka.
The aircraft features illustrations made specifically for ANA. On the aircraft’s port side, the main character Tanjiro Kamado and the Sound Pillar Tengen Uzui can be found. On the starboard side, Tanjiro Kamado is joined by the Flame Pillar Kyojuro Rengoku.
Unlike the first two Demon Slayer Jets, the third Demon Slayer Jet’s tail is white. Also, instead of the Demon Slayer logo being part of the fuselage livery, the third jet features the logo on its engines.
Flying on the Third Demon Slayer Jet’s Inaugural
While I haven’t flown on the first two Demon Slayer Jets yet, I had a chance to fly on the first scheduled flight of the third jet. Doing so allowed me to not only see the liveries from the outside but also experience the Demon Slayer-themed onboard service.
Demon Slayer Jet Line-Up and Boarding
As I saw a post on Twitter mentioning that all three of the Demon Slayer Jets were parked next to each other at gates 63, 64, and 65, after arriving at the airport, I briefly headed to the observation deck to get a photo or two.
While getting a good photo was difficult, it was still great to see the unusual lineup.
Clearing security was a breeze as I was able to use the Star Alliance Gold lane. Airside, I headed straight to gate 63 where the flight was departing from.
Outside, the Demon Slayer Jet was being prepared for its first scheduled flight. Inside, ANA staff was busy setting up cardboard panels of Demon Slayer characters wearing ANA uniforms and a model of the aircraft. The flight information displays at the gate were, in addition to the regular flight information, also showing an illustration of the special livery.
As usual, many of the passengers were taking photos of all of the above while waiting for boarding to start. That said, this being a Monday morning flight on a major route, there were also quite a few business people who were most likely wondering what all the fuzz was about.
Around 7:10AM, boarding started. Passengers requiring assistance were invited first, followed by ANA Diamond members. Star Alliance Gold and Premium Class passengers followed. When the boarding announcement was made, the gate agent also mentioned that there would be special Demon Slayer Jet onboard the flight.
Along the way to the aircraft, ANA staff was handing out Demon Slayer-themed notebooks – a gift for those traveling on the aircraft on its first day of scheduled service.
Outside, ANA staff holding a Demon Slayer-themed banner was sending passengers off.
Just as we were boarding, the first Demon Slayer Jet was being pushed back prior to its departure to Osaka. That gave me a chance to get one more photo of the three aircraft side-by-side before walking down the jetway and getting onboard.
Departing Haneda Onboard Demon Slayer Jet Three
Once onboard, I settled in my seat 26C, one of the 364 economy class seats on the plane. The seats featured special headrest covers with the anime’s characters. It’s worth noting that the covers were different from those used on the first two Demon Slayer Jets.
It’s also worth noting that the 28 Premium Class seats on the plane lacked any sort of Demon Slayer-theming.
The aircraft’s doors were closed or, as ANA says, the “slide bar was set” at 7:26AM. We were pushed back at 7:30AM, five minutes behind schedule.
As we started taxiing, we were sent off by more ground staff than usual as well as media covering the event. The ground staff was holding a banner and a model of the Demon Slayer Jet.
Around 7:40AM, one of the cabin crew members thanked us for joining the flight and said that the Demon Slayer Jet Three “members” wanted to greet us. That was followed by a pre-recorded message structured as a conversation among the anime characters which started as something along the lines of the below:
“Kamado, is boarding going smoothly?”
“Yes, Rengoku, we’re ready.”
“Uzui, how about you?”
“All’s good to go here too.”
“Thank you!”
“No big deal.”
Not long after that announcement was made, at 7:41AM, we took off from runway 34R.
Demon Slayer-Themed Onboard Service
About five minutes after take-off, the cabin crew made an announcement saying that we were expecting an on-time arrival and that tray tables and seat reclining could be used now. At 7:50AM, the seatbelt signs were switched off.
Not long after that, the drink service started with the cabin crew wearing aprons designed for use onboard the third Demon Slayer Jet. I decided to get a cup of apple juice. Since cups with Demon Slayer design are used on the special livery aircraft, I asked for an empty cup to take home with me. Together with that, I also got a pack of Demon Slayer Menko cards.
The packs are available only on the Demon Slayer Jets. Each pack contains two cards and there are 18 different cards to collect.
Around 8:10AM, the captain welcomed us onboard. He mentioned that we were overflying Nagoya at 40,000 feet and thanked us for flying on the Demon Slayer Jet.
He also explained that ANA’s 777s have been grounded for a while due to an engine trouble a United Airlines plane encountered (I found it interesting that he actually named the airline) and that he is happy to be able to be the pilot of the Demon Slayer Jet’s inaugural flight.
For the rest of the flight, I mostly relaxed and watched Top Gun: Maverick on the in-flight entertainment system. It’s worth noting that all seven episodes of Demon Slayer’s Mugen Train Arc and all eleven episodes of its Entertainment District Arc were available too.
At some point, I also paid a visit to the lavatory. On my way there, I noticed that the cabin crew was filling out flight certificates (in the form of a nice sticker). As such, if I could get one or two and got another pack of Menko cards together with the certificates.
The Third Demon Slayer Jet’s First Arrival in Fukuoka
We started our descent at 8:51AM and three minutes later, the seatbelt signs were switched back on.
The pilots lowered the landing gear at 9:07AM and at 9:10AM we landed on Fukuoka airport’s runway 16. While making our way to the terminal, the cabin crew announced that the Demon Slayer Jet Three members had a message for us. Once again, this was done in the form of a conversation between the characters, this time Tanjiro Kamado and Tengen Uzui.
We reached our parking gate, gate 8, at 9:17AM, three minutes ahead of schedule. While disembarking, I got one more flight certificate.
Inside the terminal, I headed up to the airport’s observation deck to get some photos of the Demon Slayer Jet departing back to Tokyo among other aircraft. Just like during the departure from Tokyo, the aircraft received a send-off from the Fukuoka ground staff.
Summary
All in all, I am nowhere near as excited about these jets as I am about Skymark’s Pokemon Jets or JAL’s Disney Jets. That is just because of my personal relationship with those franchises, though. As an aviation enthusiast, I am still happy to be able to enjoy the Demon Slayer special liveries when spending time at airports around Japan.
Additionally, joining the inaugural flight of the third Demon Slayer Jet was, as usual with this type of flights, a nice change from the regular “non-event” flights that make up most of my flying.
1 thought on “ANA’s Demon Slayer Jets: All You Need to Know & Flying on the Third Jet’s Inaugural”
Very informative post it was. Thanks for sharing this blog with us.