Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Geiko-hen

Demon Slayer Hashira Training Arc was known as the “calm before the storm arc” where all the demon slayers were trained in the mindset to defeat the demon king.

Only a few people know why this season and the previous season (Swordsmith Village Arc) was lower quality than the prior seasons. This reason is simple and obvious. Ufotable wasn’t used to make multiple anime adaptations in the same time period. Therefore since they accepted to make Genshin Impact adaptation, the Director of Demon Slayer had to either say goodbye to half of his staff (animators) or they had to cut down on Demon Slayer production ... schedule. Either option was a hit back in the expense of Demon Slayer which resulted lower quality.

The only way that they could have remedied this situation if they would’ve delayed the release. They chose to do less animation and less detail and that’s what happening.

I can also understand that people doesn’t like Zenitsu’s crazy personality, for their satisfaction we are not going to see more crazy screaming. We’re also not going to see smiling Muichiro and all these lovely moments were made as happy memories for the viewers. We all got this warming and friendly vibes in which we had a chance to know more about all the hashiras before things get serious.

Everyone knew the story isn’t that extraordinary or complicated to understand and follow, but still somehow people are getting mad in 2024 that “demon slayer has no story”. Now they are crying for action, because they only watching Demon Slayer for the action.

In conclusion, this is a training arc. Ufotable doing multiple anime at a time, and those who really enjoy Demon Slayer (with all its flaws) hopes that people who now let out their hatred, can found themselves enjoy the final with us. For whatever reason they are still watching it six years in. I believe we all watching it for entertainment, even if you hate it or love it.

I know that this wasn’t on par with season two, but still Demon Slayer is a gem in the shounen genre. That will receive love for its little details and distaste for its greater mistakes. Either way, all viewers are just wants to see the best cinematic action ever created in the history of anime.. as expected to be.

The reputation of this stirring adventure is now in the hands of Ufotable’s team and they better not drop the pen before sun rises.

Final Score 6/10

(This is a balance review to the overwhelmingly numerous negative reviews - rants)

Thank you for reading! See you all in the theaters!

Demon Slayer's Hashira Training Arc has been one of the more controversial arcs in the franchise, not because of sensitive content or uncharacteristics elements. No, it's in fact, a training arc. Literally as it says, this 8-episode arc is about training and something you'd probably would be fed up with after just three episodes, let alone 8. While shounen adaptations often have episodes with training, those only span short episodes or even segments. It's uncommon that an entire season is dedicated on training. Suit up because there will be a whole lot of training in the fourth season.

Hashira Training Arc didn't start out in such ... a predictable style however. From the opening minutes of the first episode, we witness the Hashira doing what they do best: exterminate demons. It leads with Wind Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa and Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro doing work and protecting the public. What started as a trailblazing chase ends in a bizarre twist when we see a labyrinth of walls and demons literally spawn out of nowhere. It's a confusing segment that needs more explanation but this season won't have those answers. Flashforward to rest of the episode and we open our eyes to the reality of this arc: Hashira Training.

As it says, this is essentially a training arc meaning that everything you see is related, connected to, or associated with training. It's an extended preparation for our main characters to take on the Upper Moon Demons and Muzan himself. Up to this point, it's established that the highest ranking demons are eons above the average generic demons and even the lower ranks. In order to reach the same level, this arc has the cast training in blood, sweat, and tears. The season also explores some of the background storytelling and motivations among the Hashira members, noticably Giyu and Tengen. Each episode also pits Tanjiro, Zenitsu, among others to train in different styles. The season aims for a diverse range of training sessions but let's be honest here, the storytelling all sells the same product. Once you've seen one or two of these episodes, it feels like you've seen them all.

Nonetheless, this is an important arc to prepare the cast physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, this season will be a big disappointment if you're seeking for action. Compared to all the previous seasons and even movies, this has the least amount of fighting sequences and direct conflicts. You really should not expect a training arc to have battles on the frontlines. Instead, we got character connections and how some can relate to others based on their past and present experiences. Muzan and his Upper Demons are also plotting behind the scenes as we see glimpses of their characters. There's no doubt this season is preparing for the Hashira to take them on in th their eventual conflict, like events destined to happen.

We would be lying to ourselves if we said ufotable didn't do a stellar job. Once again stepping up to the plate to deliver an animation extravaganza, they set the bar this season with quality. Character designs, settings, and emotions are protrayed at the highest quality, similar to previous season. Even if you find this arc itself monotonous to follow, it contains jawbreaking animation and groundbreaking chereography. It truly is a visual feast of the season.

Controversy is a word that will be bought up when fans describe this season. It contains 8 episodes but all of it is set up to prepare our cast for their inveitable battles. Even with an extended 1-hour season finale, let me just say that this serve as a prep season. The real meal is up to fans to feast on later.

One really good episode does not make a below average season suddenly really good.

This season was a training arc where nothing really happened. There some funny moments here and there and character exposition but it really felt like Naruto filler. All of these episodes but the last one are almost parallel to the filler stretches of Shippuden that were pretty forgettable. That’s fine when there’s going to be an entire canon arc of action in between these filler stretches of a weekly anime. But this season is only 8 episodes and almost all of them are like this and one episode feels like it ... pushes the story forward. It’s kind of an insult to the viewer when their time feels wasted. I saw people saying this could have been a special and that for sure can be case. I think people would like this part of the story way more instead of padding for the final episode.

I don’t think the anime has fallen off or anything but this was disappointing.