Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Geiko-hen

Pretty entertaining throughout, and then ends with what is one of the best single episodes of animation I've ever seen. Story-wise, it's pretty simple--and naturally so, as if the plot constantly had characters on the verge of death without room to breathe (pun intended) it'd be a pretty unbalanced series. Speaking of puns about breathing, this season was a breath of fresh air after seeing Jujutsu Kaisen S2; I was worried modern anime had dipped in the quality of its storytelling and had placed all its focus on how it looked visually, but this pairs decent storytelling with fantastic animation. Granted, some of the training does feel disjointed at times and missing some of the gratification of a sense of progress that can be gotten from your typical shounen training arc, but there are indeed emotional payoffs. Pacing and tone-wise, the first episode gives a really enticing hook with a sense of foreboding and mystery due to the seeming disappearance of demons. The middle episodes prior to the final one may've worked even better if they'd cut some of the "comedic" bits (e.g., Zenitsu's character in general) since I've never found them particularly worthwhile or funny. Otherwise, I think the parts that deviate from the seriousness, foreboding, and mystery of training and anticipation for finding and fighting demons are solid, particularly thanks to Tanjiro. The moments he brings to humanizing some of the other characters are nice. And, again, the final episode is pretty much perfection in my eyes. I've had long-lasting complaints about some of the characters in this show, the hashira being among them. Their introduction in season 1 gave the impression they were stock characters (e.g., the constantly chipper insect breather, the constantly crying stone breather, the constantly angry wind breather, the constantly lustful/sexual love breather, etc.) and I was put off by them being lazily written. This season did well in rounding more of them out (except for the angry wind breather) and I was overall pleased with them being less archetypal. This was a good season. Yay.

The latest season of Demon Slayer suffers from mediocre pacing, unfunny comedic moments, and mid-tier characters. Most episodes aren't enjoyable to watch as there's nothing going on, with the best ones carried by fight scenes while character development and world-building are non-existent. Like previous seasons, this one has only 1-2 good episodes, with the rest being lackluster. However, the final episode was nothing short of a masterpiece, making the season worth watching. The characters and story are rated at 5.5/10 and 5/10 respectively, the pacing at 4/10, music at 7/10, voice acting at 9/10, and the animation at a perfect 10/10, bringing the overall enjoyability to a 6/10.

First of all, The last Ep was an absolute masterpiece. Ufotable really cooked so hard that my kitchen started catching fire by itself. The animation, music, sound effects are just beyond my expectations. It was perfect down to every last minute detail. I really like it, good quality as usual well done to everyone involved. The opening theme was not the best but it was still great. I don’t get the people who hate on DS lol if you're not enjoying don’t watch it lol. Okay but that aside i'm really enjoying this season, The falling physics and muzan regeneration was top tier and everyone are trying their best to survive this life-threatening battle and instead of them just popping out battle ready we get to see them preparing by training and getting stronger physically and mentally.

It's typical DS, just another season, what to say more about it... Still amazing music, still amazing art and animations, still easy yet fancy story and fights. Final episode just rocks and is definitely giving high hopes for final 3 movies. It's true that this season is more about dialogues and fun and some character development rather than permanent fights like in previous seasons and movies. But personally I really liked it. It just carry over the easy story it develops and makes here some proper character development also with some deeper introduction of some characters we will meet in future 3 movies. It's understandable not everybody is happy about it but obviously majority of people is satisfied with the outcome. But because it's just 1 slower season taking its time and care, doesn't mean it's a bad season. As far as I see, majority of DS community liked this season and we are just dealing again with some vocal minority trying to shit on this season just because they didn't like it, so that automatically has to mean nobody can like it and everybody who liked it has to be spammed with laugh emoji or such. Do as you please, it really doesn't change the reality, which must be frustrating for some of those individuals :) Season is finished, waiting for a grand finale. It's safe to say that if you are a DS fan and you know the flow of the show, you will most likely like it. Slow pace and more easy story in majority of this season doesn't have to be the right cup of tea for everybody but the stories around Hashiras and entire training is more than enjoyable. If you don't like slowly paced shows/seasons, you can also just try the first episode and then skip to the last one, as much as it was a nice season, it's also safe to say you won't miss much if you'll skip 6 episodes. Take it based on your taste, enjoy it and don't spread childish hate, there just depends on you how much you will or won't enjoy it, nothing more.

In the grander scheme of things, this calm before the storm arc is pretty wholesome. We get to know the Hashira's a bit more, which is great because they really get about 1 major battle each before the series ends, 2 or 3 if they're lucky. However, from the way the anime is structured, waiting such a long time for another season that's a big nothing burger, before facing up another long wait for the actual substantive arc is pretty unsatisfying. And given that this pace is THE reasonable speed that animation of this quality gets released, I suppose it's a big pacing issue for the story. Additionally, this arc unearthed shed a troubling light on the state of the corps. Are we supposed to believe that some of them can't even survive basic training? Oh dear, I'll try to be brief. If this arc was to be a fun 'wow tanjiro's awesome' showcase, then it failed because the predominant emotion is 'why the fuck are the rest of them so bad?'. The fact that Tanjiro's training with them killed any comforting notions that we are simply watching the bottom of the barrel. No, these in fact appear to be all the corps have to offer beyond the hashiras, the few retired grandmasters here and there, and the tanjiro prodigy generation that have apparently materialised for narrative purposes. I genuinely don't know what these guys are supposed to be doing in the final battle. I don't think they can even pick off demon fodder when they can get annihilated by the aftershocks of the hashiras fighting upper moons. At this point it's wise to start giving them range weapons or employ them in some mass production of whatever poison shinobu finds useful. It really just feels so incomplete in terms of worldbuilding because...like...no other shounen can have this sort of arc? because normally you wouldn't have legends + civilians with sword with nothing in between? Anyway, if you want filler x 12 + cool hashira fights (very rare tho), this is fun and wholesome. Otherwise, no.

This is the lowest score I've ever given to a Demon Slayer season. I still gave it a 7 because it feels unfair to the animators to rank it any lower, and the last episode was good, but other than that this felt like a filler season to me. One problem I've always had with Demon Slayer is the pacing can feel glacially slow sometimes. I've remarked to friends that I think the first season could've been cut in half with how much certain plot-lines were dragged out (the spider demon arc took foreverrr), without too much value added, and the same stands for this season. Unlike the first season however, the plot never really progresses forward, and the whole season is pretty much a set-up for the following season. I obviously didn't absolutely hate it since I gave it a relatively high score, but for Demon Slayer it didn't keep the standard I'm used to. If you're a big fan of Demon Slayer, don't let my review deter you, the animation is still fantastic, and there is some good development of some of the Hashira. However for me personally, I was a little annoyed when I finished and it didn't feel like it added anything tangible to the plot-line (save for 1 major addition which I won't spoil). Overall still a solid season compared to other anime, but a disappointment to me in terms of Demon Slayer seasons.

The animation was fantastic as always. Not quite as good flashy as some of the previous seasons, and occasionally the 3d sticks out like a sore thumb, but overall very dynamic and some of the best animation you'll see in the genre. As for the story, this is filler and is paced a little too slow. The whole allure of seasonal anime is better animation and no filler. If I am only going to get 8 episodes in one year I expect them to be well paced, well written, important episodes, and the majority of this season wasn't that. I know this is set up for an impactful conclusion but I much prefer how that manga treated this part of the story instead of the anime. Furthermore as the show goes on, the character jokes are getting too repetitive for my taste. I want to see slow growth over the course of the series with milestones along the way, not slapstick over and over again until they ultimately do a 180 and overcome their weaknesses. This is ultimately a shortcoming of the manga and the story in general, but it felt like the anime leaned more heavily into it since they were stalling for time.

Just finished watching the last ep, and i kid you not i an literally shaking. Everything was so beautiful and ethereal. Every single detail,the story line, literally just everything has left me in awe, i am actually speechless how i can't properly express my feelings here at the moment. Ended up crying because it really touched my heart, this is what you call an anime which just leaves you speechless & shaking. I feel so alive rn. If you need to suggest a beginner an anime, this has to be the one. It literally gives you a new perspective, it's seriously so interesting to get to know more about the characters & what motivates them to move forward to fight for their lives after feeling like they have no reason to live anymore. I am so attatched to this, i am surely going to be heartbroken as if my marriage with the loml got called off the moment this anime ends, really going to miss all the characters so much. Truly very excited to see what happens next.

I don't... get this. I don't understand why the pacing had to be this way. I'm sure it's an issue carried over from the manga but it's utterly bizarre. I'm not someone that only enjoys bombastic fights 24/7, in fact I was bored during the previous arc because it was 100% fights and no downtime, but this ends up the exact opposite end of the spectrum with the same problem. Why the heck was this it's own season? We merged a greater plot with a training arc in the first season, so why have we waited a year for an isolated 8 episodes of pure grinding, none of which offer particular interest. The Hashira aren't much more characterized despite most being given their own dedicated episode, and it hardly feels like Tanjiro had to learn anything from them besides the rock-pushing activity. This all felt like fluff that could've done with being trimmed down and tacked onto the end of the prior season, or some other compromise. I do truly enjoy things like filler and downtime and getting to know the characters (and I know that the next arc necessitated a training arc prior to justify the leaps the characters will make in it, as well as providing breathing room), but this felt completely void and empty of real charm. There were bits I certainly enjoyed - Giyuu's centric episode was quite nice, and there were a few character interactions I found comedic and charming, but it was all buried under an overwhelming feeling that this didn't particularly earn the right to be it's own season. Meh.

Ufotable has once again proven themselves to be the perfect studio to adapt Kimetsu no Yaiba. into the anime format. At first, I didn't expect much from this season. After all, it adapts a short arc focused on character development and heartwarming interactions, particularly with the Hashira (Pillars), instead of concentrating only on action. And yet, ufotable delivered an incredibly entertaining show with exceptional production quality. The animation, art, and music are phenomenal as always, but what truly elevates this season are the creative anime-original moments that seamlessly blend into the story. These scenes offer a delightful mix of humor, wholesome moments, and stunning action sequences with intricate choreography. And that final episode... It just need to be watched. The finale delivered a truly satisfying conclusion. It'd be hard to describe it relatively well without spoilers. All I can say is that the quality it presents is on a whole different level to the rest of the season, and that it's worth of being the episode to end the whole season. It's hard to impress me a lot or to leave me speechless when it comes to entertainment. This season's finale, however, succeeded in both. Overall, even though this season might not be as action-packed in general as the previous ones, it's a breath of fresh air that retains the signature Demon Slayer atmosphere and, of course, incredible quality. This season is definitely worth recommending to both dedicated Kimetsu no Yaiba fans and anyone who appreciates high-quality, entertaining anime.

Season four of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba might be the first time since becoming an anime fan where I watched an entire season of television, and the only real tangible thought I had consistently throughout was “this is a shounen.” Outside of recognizing its target demographic, I felt effectively nothing of what is supposed to be the biggest anime franchise in the world. I’m not the type of character to stand from my intellectual ivory tower where I watch shit like Asatte no Houkou or Koi Kaze, shows that no one has ever heard a fucking peep about, and unilaterally lambast mainstream (shounen) anime like its reality television, I can like this stuff as much as the next guy. However, I also possess the basic faculties necessary to completely disengage from a work because I recognize it doesn’t provide much insight in whatever subject matter it chooses to tackle. Demon Slayer Season Four may be one of the most rote takes on a pre-final boss power up arc you could possibly find in the medium today. It’s so bereft of any kind of serious stakes for most of its run that I’m legitimately surprised they didn’t try to add content like they did for the television release of Mugen Train or something. I really don’t want to be some kind of navel-gazing Demon Slayer hater, especially given that I enjoyed parts of the first season, but at this point I don’t think people would even fucking care if I did. Much like My Hero Academia, the ardent support base for KnY has been falling off since season three and for a good (but separate) reason, the story is consolidating itself entirely around Tanjiro, thus depriving the narrative of any kind of serious depth. We are 62 episodes into what will probably be an 80+ episode long television series, and we still have no idea what the backstory of one of its supposed “main characters” are. How the fuck can Inosuke fight!? Who is he? Why is he here? I shouldn’t be asking these questions at this stage in the game. The only thing we’ve gotten is that he has a heightened sense of touch, and he can’t be poisoned because “I’m from the mountain” or some bullshit like that? The only facet of a standard shounen manga that Gotouge is even good at writing is the sad backstory, and we can’t even get that. Hell, if you count season 2, we’ve BARELY gotten any Zenitsu or Inosuke in the last like 20+ episodes, and they’re supposed to be the flavor that accentuates Tanjiro’s personality. And because of this, all we get for most of this season is Tanjiro going around to various Hashira and being like “I’m a good little boy :D.” Such incredible drama, literally crying and throwing the fuck up. I know the author was trying to drive a greater point home that Tanjiro is a living ideal that inspires other people in the narrative to push past their limits, but his personality is still foundationally shallow. It leads me to believe this entirely inconsequential trajectory we’ve been on since season three has entirely been the product of whatever was going on in Gotouge’s life back in 2017/18 that lead her to make a mad dash towards the manga’s ending, regardless of the consequences that would have on the overall storytelling. In a timeline where God is real, season four should’ve been jumping back and forth between Zenitsu and Inosuke, elegantly depicting their respective fights with their own respective demons while Tanjiro trains. Since Tanjiro has no real character to develop, it is on THEM to compensate for him and develop their own ideas accordingly. Season one created the loose foundations to do it, but the manga clearly failed to capitalize on its own potential, leading to another season lacking any serious intrigue (at least until the final episode where they shoehorn in the beginning of the manga’s final arc). And any of the development we do get this season is just kind of laughable. One of the three characters from the first episode, who’s only been in maybe 4 of the 60 something-odd episodes released so far, completely releases like a decade’s worth of repression and trauma because the main character says one thing? Are you fucking kidding me? I legit giggled out loud in pure incredulity at Tanjiro’s Christ-like persuasive abilities despite him lacking any charisma. When Tanjiro helped out Kanao in season one, before the show became this giant, corporate, franchise homunculus, even then I thought it was a tad out of character for him to have any genuine charm. It felt like the mangaka wanted to start actually imbuing life into her puppets only to give it up because of whatever was going on in her personal life. So with Tanjiro being “in character” (as the flanderized, empty-smiling husk he is), it made it even more stupid. And this nonsense involves the Hashira, the supposed “good characters.” Laughing my fucking ass off. In terms of visuals, it’s the same as ever. Compared to another Ufotable show from ten years ago I’ve recently been watching, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Demon Slayer’s character art is incredibly consistent and impressively displayed, with thick outlines in abundance. While you can criticize the show for lacking truly exceptional directorial talent, something Ufotable has been struggling with since losing Ei Aoki in my opinion, the studio’s usual style of 3D storyboards, dynamic camera movement, vibrant color design, and extravagant digital compositing, ends with Demon slayer still looking impressive with genuine artistic demonstrations. You know this already it’s season goddamn four, there’s no reason for it to magically look dogshit at this point even with the limitations of TV animation. Suffice it to say, there isn’t much else to say about Demon Slayer at this point outside of it soiled what could’ve been mildly interesting. I’ll keep watching every year because I want to know what’s popular, and every year until it finishes, I’ll keep being underwhelmed. It’s all downhill from here motherfuckers, I’ve not heard anything impressive about the final arc so it’s just going to be trudging along with more fights until this work gasps its last fancifully depicted breath and we never have to hear about it ever again. It’s so bizarre to have a work, which is one of the defining pieces of Japanese media from this side of the century, be something so absolutely hollow, bland, and uninteresting. I may write something for whatever half-hearted finale we end up getting, but I think this 1200 words I just pumped out is probably all that this series deserves. It’s sad, I’ve had barely any time to watch anime these last two months because I now have consistent employment and dared to have a social life, and the only show from this season I could possibly fit into that schedule, that I spent three hours watching, that I dedicated like three hours to write for, was Demon fucking Slayer of all things. I know, it depresses me too. Have a nice day.

This season is great. Even though this is just a season characters training to get stronger they made it somehow fun to watch that's the point. You don't get bored, scenes are fun, and small mysterious things that happen during these fun scenes you get more exicted and curious. Animations were great, soundtracks also great. This season feels like The Last Supper painting. You see all the characters that you saw in other season together, they are having fun, getting stronger together. And the last two episode is absolute cinema. This anime once more proved that it's a masterpiece. Must watch.

I just finished this arc and wow, I loved it more than I would've imagined. I'll make it short, it reminded me a lot of Krilin and Goku's training with Master Roshi before their first Tenkaichi tournament, and I don't understand how some people called this season "boring". The animation was peak as always, the background music was also very good, and the characters are the strong points. I enjoyed Tanjirou growing even stronger, the Pillars getting more screen time, and a little bit of Himejima's past, plus the comedic side of the episodes was awesome. Also, what's the matter with Zenitsu in the last episodes? I can't wait to see what's cooking with him. Speaking of last episodes, this one was fantastic, from start to finish, and it made me more excited of what's to come in the next season. So that's all folks, this training arc is the calm before the storm, so sit back, relax and enjoy it, the best is yet to come.

Slow build-up to perhaps some of the most incredible scenes in media history. The fact that most reviews seem to have watched only 4 of the 8 episodes is honestly crazy given the ramp-up in this arc. As if you do that then you are effectivly kneecapping the entire point of watching this season. A season that is, as described, a training arc. As much as I would love non-stop action, it's these slow moments in anime that build up character and motivation within fights. After this season I am substantially more invested in a significant volume of the cast. This season is full of chill vibes, meaningful interaction and progress. And will be a highpoint for many in retrospect. When you get to the end of the season you'll understand this review.

The last episode made this arc great, though the other episodes were alright. This arc is relatively short and even shorter in the manga. Essentially, the demon slayers are training to become as skilled as the Hashira and for the Hashira to unlock the mark in preparation for the final battle. When I read the manga, this arc felt more like a few chapters of training before diving straight into the final battle. Most of what the anime presented is filler. For instance, the two separate episodes featuring Uzui and Tokito were only two pages each in the manga, amounting to just 2-6 panels though there's nothing wrong with that. The added character development strengthens the viewer's connection to the characters. Also from what I've heard, the creator had to end the series quickly around this time due to IRL stuff with family, which sped up the progression to the final battle. The anime's inclusion of backstory and character development adds in a bit of content to build a connection with the hashira a bit more. Regarding the last episode, it truly stood out. I think I speak for every fan that they are ready for the final battle to begin and can't wait for the upcoming movies. As for the opening and ending themes, they were nothing special to me. They weren't as great as the previous ones, in my opinion. Overall, I give it a 7/10. It's a good setup for the final battle but ultimately it's just a build-up arc.

When I saw they were animating the training arc as its own season, I was really disappointed. The source material for this anime ended in 2019. I'm just about ready to see this story come to a close. Its clear that the studios are just milking this title for everything its worth. That being said, I love these characters. And it was low key nice to spend an arc with them when they werent all ont he verge of death. A good training arc is an essential part of any anime and this one performed well. We got back stories, we got unrealistic physical feats of strength, we got build up for the final battle. Well done. The last episode got me HYPED. This 3 part movie cant ocme soon enough

Training arcs are some of the most looked down upon stuff in the anime medium. However, this season proves you can actually incorporate these things and add to the story while making a set up for what actually is the finale of an action series. The season is primarily focused on showing the natural progression Tanjiro goes through along with learning about the pillars better. Honestly there are some pacing issues here and there and some minimal flaws but let's be fair, every story has its fair share of shortcomings and honestly why focus primarily on them? In the end I will be mostly talking about the last 2 episodes and why that makes this season my fav after the 1st. Demon slayer is about grieving with loss and a large group of people having a single common enemy. We see from various backstories that it was also a matter of who meets whom first. Most demons are unlucky people who met Muzan who is also at most occasions portrayed as the "whisper of the devil" while slayers being people who are either betrayed or lost their loved ones. The ultimate battle between these 2 forces comes down the individual resolves both of these groups have. Often portrayed as super humans or just straight up psychos sometimes even, in this season we get to learn about these ultimate + normal slayers who are actually just normal human beings and how if times were different, they could have lived a normal life. This factor adds to the characterization of the cast in a way since in most cases we don't usually get to engage with such mannerisms of the side characters or the strongest individuals in a shounen series. I won't be mentioning the examples at least but these are some things which distinguishes it from other shounen series. In short, all the things are ultimately setup from season 1 considering the nature of the narrative so far and this season brings it all together in the last 2 episodes setting up the ultimate finale. From the moment Gyomei's story begins to the meetup between the 2 leaders, the anime provides with several analogies using Buddhist beliefs, symbolism and ultimately the clash of ideals between 2 groups of people and that in turn creates the kind of stakes which are rarely a thing in shounen nowadays. There will be action but that action won't be mindless considering the reasons most of them fight for and the battles themselves. And of course, the spectacle itself considering the production. I know people often complain about how "the show is produced by a good studio" which honestly is a complaint I can't wrap my head around... I mean when did having good adaptations became a bad thing... Not to mention the nitpicks though ig I am going to ignore that for now. In short, the character moments, the set-up, the overarching ideologies, symbolism, clash of resolves by 2 groups and ultimately the progression of the characters themselves makes this not only a great set up but honestly a perfect arc before the finale and shows that training arcs can actually serve a greater purpose for an action series. Time for the trilogy and yeah see you guys in well several years. Thankyou for reading and adios :)

Let me preface this review by saying I like Demon Slayer, it has some really standout hype moments for a shonen. It’s what I look for when I’m craving eye candy or something to really just get me hyped for the spectacle around a fight. Unfortunately what there wasn’t a lot of in this season was spectacle. Nearly the entire season lacked spectacle until the final amazing episode and that isn’t really enough to take away from the monotony of what came before it. When I heard there would be anime original content in this season I kind of grimaced because I knew it would mean that much of the season would feel like it did, a bit redundant. A lot of the shenanigans we see throughout this season can be reduced to what you’d see in an after episode skit or something for other shonen, or more relaxed slice of live esque training episodes. Unfortunately this season’s runtime is almost exclusively these aside from a couple exceptions. Demon Slayer’s main appeal is spectacle, is these grand finales, swelling music, and a crescendo of action and choreography. These episodes tend to drag on, especially consecutively. It’s why for most of this season, it was background noise for me. The final episode was a needed change of pace but it’s a bit too little too late to really carry the weight of the entire season. It garners hype for the concluding entries but doesn’t really do much when looking at this season as a monolith, retrospectively. I like Demon Slayer, I really do, but this season didn’t excite me like the first few.

A damn filler season with nothing interesting — just blah blah, yada yada, and a tiny bit of character development, but barely even that. I’d say if it weren’t for the final episode, this season would’ve been completely useless, since no Hashira awakened their mark, and the characters didn’t even seem to have grown in any meaningful way. The entire season existed just for that last episode, just to set things up for the movies, which are going to be the peak of ANIME. I feel like if that was all they had, they could’ve just made a short movie or something. But I guess they realized there wasn’t much to stretch out, so they only made 8 episodes to speed things up — at least there’s that.

When filler is actually good: After becoming an anime of which nearly everyone has expectations on, Demon Slayers fourth season tackles the challenge to adapt its shortest arc. While many think that a training-arc can't be interesting, Demon Slayer does what it's known for: surprising again with insane visuals, great enhancements of the manga, outstanding animation and direction. Every step of the training was interesting and granted with great animation, every episode was consistently entertaining and the final episode just speaks for itself, hyping the fans up for one of the most intense arcs in anime history. As always the story isn't that good, but as long as the production value is that high, the show manages to overcome the flaws left by the manga becoming an exceptional experience for anime fans.