Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Geiko-hen Episode 3 Discussion

By the way the contents of this episode were covered in 1.3 pages in the manga. I'm fully expecting them to make every following episode about training under a single pillar.

And thus begins the part where we add filler, considering this is a nine-chapter arc, after all.

After fully recovering, Tanjiro joins the Hashira Training, feeling happier than the others about being able to participate. Tengen warmly greets his former companion and is impressed to hear that Tanjiro has slain another Upper Rank demon. He then orders Tanjiro to run, which Tanjiro does gleefully. Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma also greet the Demon Slayer as they distribute food. Ten days later, Tanjiro successfully completes the stamina training and is granted permission to advance to the next stage.

This is the issue when you dedicate an entire season to an arc that's less than 10 chapters long and then adapt four of those chapters in the first episode just to meet the 40-minute runtime expectation. You end up with filler. There's no other way to put it; this is filler, plain and simple. Barely any progress was made in this episode. I don't understand why this couldn't have been a movie or even an OVA; it would have worked better.

How they'll stretch out this arc for five more episodes is anyone's guess, but we'll have to wait and see.