Coming straight from the previous seasons, Swordsmith Village Arc immediately features a host of characters ranging from the main cast, the Upper Rank demons, and among characters that we may or may not care about. As a pilot episode, I confess that upon rewatches, it did not truly hold up to its standards. Perhaps my expectations were a bit high but I can't deny the fact that the season premiere featured far too many characters. Some of these include supporting characters that seems irrelevant or beg us to ask why we should care about them. On the other hand, the Upper Rank demons are a fascinating side with their unpredictable natures. We should remind ourselves that they are the elite among the elites, and likely serves as the main antagonists for the rest of the season. Still, we do also have the familiar cast rejoining this season such as Tanjiro, Nezuko, Genya. New faces among the cast includes the charismatic Mitsuri Kanroji and the mysterious Muichiro Tokito. Brace yourselves because this season is more than just about Tanjiro's life and his adventures.
The first few episodes tries its hardest to appeal with entertainment by throwing in humorous gags and comedy. Demon Slayer has been a serious anime from the start but it also loves to have fun with itself when given the chance. However, fun doesn't come easy as Tanjiro trains his hardest. With its cartoony segments, we are also introduced to cartoony characters such as Kotetsu. As Tanjiro trains, we are reminded ourselves the harsh life of a demon slayer. Luckily, he's given the chance to be part of the Swordsman Village. Without going into spoilers, it is a setting where weapons are forged and is a prominent part of demon slayers' society. The arc focuses this location as it also becomes a central battlefield between the demons and demon slayers.
One of the more fascinating element of this anime is the antagonist Hantengu, with a very unique ability revolving around emotions. To be honest, he has potential to become one of the most dangerous antagonists of the franchise, given what he's capable of. Watching his battles against the demon slayers shows the testament and capabilities of the upper ranks. They are no pushovers as Tanjiro quickly finds out the hard way. Meanwhile, we also do have some of the other prominent supporting cast playing their roles. Muchiro is perhaps he most interesting for his background story and his unorthodox way of dealing with problems. On the other hand, we don't get to see much of Mitsuri in action until later on. By the time she does get the highlight, the arc seems to have its climax and peak. And to be honest, I think this is a problem with the season. It can be described in one simple word: pacing. The first episodes had a slow awkward way of introducing us to the Swordsman Village while trying to progress Tanjiro's training. The mid-season focuses more on the battles themselves with some background storytelling thrown in between. Structured in the format as an "arc", I suppose they were focusing exclusively on events at the Swordsman Village. The main supporting character known as Muchiro managed to outshine majority of the cast with his characterization. Meanwhile, Mitsuri becomes a source of attraction or distraction, depending on how you perceive her character. Nonetheless, 11 episodes designated that the season had to start and conclude with events in this village. Even with the finale extended to more than 1+ hour long, it's a questionable decision. The season deserved more episodes or part of something bigger than 'arc'. It tried to be too safe and lacked the character development compared to previous seasons. Knowing this season, it felt like the arc tried to just be fundamentally sound as possible with its pacing. Don't get me wrong though, it's still a watchable season for sure and among one of the most extensively chereographed anime of the year.
And of course, we can't forget about Ufotable being the force of bringing this anime to life. Watching Swordsman Village had its explosive energy and chereography with jawbreaking cinematics. Every episode did have its movie-like feel that captured the height of its action elements. Still, don't expecting much different compared to the previous seasons. As I said before, this season played it too safe.
The question we should ask ourselves is not whether this season is enjoyable but if Demon Slayer can truly exceed our expectations. It felt like the first season was its absolute peak while now, it just feels the anime is more or less on autopilot mode. There's no doubt the anime community and Internet will talk about this season for years to come. But compared to the first season, this one missed the mark.
