Demon slayer is as always, all style over substance, extremely repetitive and boring , monster of the day madness with pretty animation and a frankly undeserved music score…..
I still feel all things considered Demon slayer season 3 is actually a very huge improvement over the previous season in all honesty.
Last season was such a slogfest , each episode we got hit with the “HAHA you thought you got me ? this aint even my FINAL FORM” and it dragged on and on for eternity , Sure the animation is jaw dropping , but you don't sit around for a show that is basically the main character monologuing “ think tanjiro think, the infamous tanjiro KANGAERO ” in every goddamn episode. This time around the side characters get more of a chance to be explored and the fights are more rigid and interesting rather than moving around in an infinite loop of ‘sword hits sword with pretty colors’ kinda situation.
Plot (4/10)
Demon slayer just has the plot of a shitty repetitive game , where we are introduced to the same elements over and over and somehow supposed to give a shit.
There are severe plot holes in demon slayer that have been essentially abandoned for an easy to understand tier based enemy team system and a similar one for the home side , this is probably and intention move by the author to simplify and make it as easy as possible without any nuance for the less sophisticated viewers , while also maintaining a little bit of substance by having backstories some tragic , some that give you “wait I have heard this some…” and a instance in this season where , sorry for the lack of context but those who watched will agree with me .….
All he had to do was tie his arm up and he acted like a realist and died a dumbfuck.
No explanation is ever given about what exactly is the regular life of a normal person , it goes through a more gamified route where other than the demon slayer corp and the demons the rest of the characters are NPCs with some of them having small roles like calling nezuko cute or tanjiro kind or sometimes serve as family to the important demon slayer characters or their counterpart.the plot is basically explore a new beautiful and culturally significant part of the Map … no sorry japan and fight there with the enemy have a new side character hashira join the fight , gib hashira backstory make us care for hashira , then rinse and repeat the plot is basically that of A COMPLETELY REPETITIVE RPG GAME.
Characters (3/10)
“I am a nice guy so I pull respect and girls every time from everyone , I make no mistakes , I am full of potential and don't even have flaws in my moral character. My only real challenge was my sister being a demon but you know what I don't really care about that since last season”. This is the most hollow inhumanely idealistic bullshit of a protagonist that I have ever seen! I bet he would even make the goddesses of his universe blush. Seriously with a main character like this it's no wonder even most demon slayer fans agree that their favorite character will never be tanjiro. It makes even Goku look like a good lead. The classic friends / rivals of tanjiro the MC are not much better , zenitsu is a pathetic excuse of a “hidden talent” who is usually just a simp for nezuko while croaking and sleeping through most fights , inosuke is the comic relief attempt whose name mistaking bs joke has already been beaten dry to a pulp . Most of the hashiras have their backstory ripped off from other anime is the feeling I usually get because none of them are unique in any way or form and just serve as motivation to go attack mode or some sorta powerup or like a performance drug rather than have any emotional or psychological impact on them.Mitsuri had a decent bit of backstory which was a welcome change from the usual sobstory for every hashira. And well about muichro , he did a complete 180 character wise after the usual sad guy moments.
Art and animation (10/10)
Yes i admit it , this and the sound design is probably the only reason i keep torturing my poor brain to keep going ufotable knows what the majority of the audience is here for, and delivers it fabulously , amazing and unique art which is further enhanced by the best of the best the japanese anime industry has to offer in animations. The Op and ED were also gorgeous , the art and animation remain immaculate as always and need no new introduction or critic so ill leave it at that.
Sound and VA (8/10)
The ost has always been incredible in DS . most of it is unused and new and always adds nicely to the atmosphere , the impacts of attacks and slicing of swords have a surreal sense of force in em because of this ost ,OP and ED are both amazing but i cant help but feel they cut some budget in the ED since its mostly still frames. The VA of tanjiro has evolved and is no longer cringe the rest of the newer cast do a good job too.
Well its Demon slayer , whether we critic it or not and even if we point out the obvious not much will change , I can appreciate that the stakes in DS are atleast less shounen and there is a real sense of danger since rengoku. But after the cashgrab of a movie (which is a shame the first movie was quite good and had me rooting for the series) the series is mostly going on a nosedive which we saw just a slight glimpse of hope in s3 in terms of plot . all that as it may be , every anime fan should definitely watch Demon slayer it is the bridge that connects us to the general audience after all.
