It's a trivial fact of knowledge so far that Demon Slayer has climbed up to the peak of season animation, or any kind of animation really. It even went as far as surpassing the very ceiling it set up with its previous season and movie in a single seasonal screening like no other Anime before.
Hate it as much as you want, but Demon Slayer has risen to be THE quality unit of measurement that will likely be used objectively for years to come, and it's far from being done.
For me personally, my leanest grip on the franchise is how weak and uninteresting the overarching plot of Demon Slayer is. It's the simplest form of quest storylines that have a clear starting and ending point, no strings attached, not even any detours are made in the pursuit of the final goal of healing Nezuko, however, it can be a good thing also, as it doesn't distract away from what they story really is about. It's a linear story at its very core and a decent one at that.
I must really step up here and admit, that for the longest time, I've dreaded 99% of the entire characters of this series. Every one of them feels like a case of “been there, done that”, only, a massively downgraded version of that. However, this season was the trigger than set my view on these characters afresh. Even characters that I hated to love before, e.g Zenitsu, have massively stepped up in ranking after this arc. Not to mention, Tengen, one of the characters I cared the least about (The Hashirah) quickly became of the coolest characters introduced in this show.
Now, for the cream of the crop. The animation was just. Cathartic, I seriously can't come up with a good enough word that really puts it into perspective, but then again, an image is a thousand words, but every frame of this masterclass was a world-renounced painting, light years ahead from being just an image. It was one of the shows that really innovated on top of what it already innovated just 2 years ago. Even the faintest action-related moments had so much soul and character put into them, and don't get me started on how dynamic the camera felt. The entertainment arc not only did it live up to its name thematically, but also literally, it was folds and layers of hype and raw Shounen entertainment, every episode built on top of the last's cliffhanger and there was never a slow, dull, or breather moment. A show that was a blast watching weekly, and would even rise up to a higher status on a binge-watch.
Overall: 9/10.
