Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc

Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc is probably high up on a lot of people's watchlist this year and for good reasons. The franchise has amassed an enormous fanbase. Helmed by one of the most famed animation studios today, there's no short in terms of expectations for this season. At least that's what it looked like from the surface because prepare yourself, those expectations aren't what truly holds up this season. 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 notcare 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.

Does Kimetsu no Yaiba even need an introduction at this point? The first season blew up like crazy in 2019 to the point it turned into one of the most popular anime series, the movie is the highest grossing anime movie of all times, and this is already the 3rd season. The problem with this season isn’t that it is doing the same thing as the previous one, the problem is that it does that worse than its predecessor. Everything is a downgrade from the characters, presentation, visual effects and yes, animation suffered a downgrade too. This arc focuses on two Pillars, Mitsuri (the energetic pinkhaired girl with big breasts) and Muichiro (the guy who was looking at the clouds instead of paying attention on the first season), and let me tell you this was a terrible idea because it didn’t know how to balance the showing of the characters. Up to some point I could only fake that I cared about Muichiro, and so many episodes where nothing happened centered on him without developing anything about him weren’t helping, I guess you can say that they showed his backstory for a whole episode, but if you have been watching Kimetsu then you already saw his backstory, his parents are dead, someone of his family was killed by demons and then he turned into a demon slayer. Compare him to Uzui, he maybe wasn’t the best character, but he showed personality with his looks alone, he quite literally looked like a star from the glam rock era, and then you see his characterization and it’s actually entertaining to watch unlike 99% of the characters in the series, to the point I can say I liked him. Then you look at Muichiro, he has as much personality as a self-insert MC in an isekai series, and none of his scenes are actually entertaining to watch and some are even painful like his sudden character development after some nice boy words from Tanjiro, what’s worse is that he is the Pillar we spend the most time this season with, I cannot even fake to care about him at all, and I could do that even with Zenitsu. The other is Mitsuri, when she appears we see her naked in an onsen, which actually surprised me, the series didn’t have so much blatant fanservice, sure there were some revealing outfits like Daki’s but no actual scene was this blatant on it, and not only that but even her breasts going full “boing” in another scene, before you think this is a complaint, it isn’t, I liked that as I’m not one to usually complain about fanservice. Her backstory is nothing special, but she isn’t “oh, my family died by a demon” for a change and I can at least thank for that, even if her backstory is basically “people didn’t want to marry me because I don’t fit with the standards of women”. I have seen people claim this didn’t make sense because of how attractive or sexy Mitsuri is, but it actually makes sense, women stronger than men was obviously not looked well back in the time this series takes place, she was so clearly out of the “norm” of how women should usually behave to get a man. Overall, Mitsuri is pretty to look at I guess, she is a sweetheart, but that’s pretty much it. Tanjiro and Nezuko stay pretty much how they always were, just that Nezuko for some reason can get into her “adult form” without losing control unlike last time she transformed into it, not much to comment on those two this season. The other companion this season is Bakugo, I mean, Genya, I barely remembered him when he reappeared, so Tanjiro reminding us of stuff we should already know was helpful for once, he also has a sad backstory where his family was killed by demons and his brother is one of the Pillars. Do I care about him? Well, no, he is still as unremarkable as he was before, just that he is at least in battle now to say that he isn’t only a background character anymore, and he has a gun! Because of course someone should have a gun that also slays demons but no one else uses them as far as we have seen, katanas are just better I guess. Then there are the Upper Moons, these ones were so lame that I cannot even bother to remember their names, when compared to the previous ones that appeared they end up even worse. Akaza was a little memorable, even if his debut was just suddenly appearing and fighting a character I barely cared about and lasted for about 10 minutes or so, as his fight had great visuals and good choreography and he even managed to kill Rengoku. There was Daki and Gyutaro, who also had a great fight that lasted half of the previous season, and they almost killed the main cast, Uzui and his wives. When you see that, it is no surprise why they said that Upper Moons haven’t been killed in 100+ years, everything they showed up to this point being incredibly strong even for the strongest demon slayers. And finally, we have these two who, aside from being completely unmemorable, one has one of the lamest fight scenes in Kimetsu no Yaiba where he is killed easily by 1 SINGLE Pillar, and how did he do this feat previously seen as impossible? Easily, he had a mark, but what’s this mark that served as the key point to one of the most important scenes of this season? Erm, well, we don’t know. You know your writing is extremely subpar when a series over 40 years old did foreshadowing better than you in the same genre, just look at Dragon Ball, we had a whole arc talking about the Super Saiyan, it was “hyped up” for a long time as a big power up that would turn the tides of the battle, and so when the time came where Goku turned into a Super Saiyan, it was actually exciting, because it was a pay-off of what has been built up until that point. Now, what is this mark again? I think it appeared last arc but under no explanation of why or what happened neither there nor on this season. These battles were here, but there is no tension, no excitement, no anything, because even those two Upper Moons Kokushibou and Douma were more memorable with just a couple of scenes under their belt than these two and their whole season. But I think one of the things that bothers me the most is the obvious false advertisement this season had, apparently the producer Yuma Takahashi said that this season’s animation would “enter in a new level”, and unless he meant a new level of low, you’ll see this is a blatant lie if you have eyes. The animation this season isn’t better than in the previous ones, in fact, it is worse, the example that everyone could have noticed is the CGI used on this season, going from the absolutely ugly looking fishes that were simply laughable, and this is a thing that every Kimetsu no Yaiba season have suffered, because Ufotable cannot hide their CGI, but this looks as bad as the snakes in Mugen Train, and the CGI when Emu turned into a giant larva or whatever he turned into looked hideously bad. Take for example the CGI used last season, Daki’s ribbons were made of CGI but they didn’t look ugly, sure, they were pretty noticeable but they wasn’t a problem in their actual look, here, aside from the fishes that some may argue were intentionally made to look bad, there is also the wood dragons, that are as noticeable as Daki’s ribbons but when people interact with them it looks really bad, like when Tanjiro was holding onto one of them, it almost looked like MAPPA level CGI, and with that I mean that it looked almost like a green screen where the actors were put over and not properly interlayered. I know, Ufotable is mainly known for making their CGI backgrounds and actually making their characters interact with them naturally with their great compositing that still remains for these season’s backgrounds, but when it comes to the attacks that the characters use, the CGI usually looks from meh to bad, and this season unfortunately had to eat up the bad part. And with this I’ll say that the crowd saying that Kimetsu no Yaiba has the best animation in the industry have always confused me, I cannot even comprehend why anyone would say that, pick literally any anime from Kyoto Animation, ANY OF THEM, and it has better animation. No, I’m not saying that Kimetsu doesn’t have some incredible cuts of animation, including things from the previous seasons, and even this season had a very good one of Tanjiro with the Sun Breathing technique against the fourth moon thanks to Nozomu Abe, but aside from some places, the series has pretty regular animation. No matter what they do while adding the layers upon layers of digital effects, people will eat it up as “the best animation” disregarding anyone who complains about the visuals, but the visuals in Kimetsu no Yaiba aren’t perfect, not even close, and I would like for Ufotable to be more confident in their actual animation and not just in their digital effect spam. And speaking of too many digital effects, this season got definitely the worse treatment, I think the people at Ufotable thought that they weren’t adding enough digital effects and for that they decided to add even more, just look at the first episode with the reunion of the Upper Moons, there was so much exaggeration to the most minimal thing that it looked like an Indian soap opera, you can even see the comparisons on internet about that, it made the scene look funnier than any of the jokes in the series, and I know that’s not a high bar because the humor in this series has always been and will probably keep being terrible in the future, yet this scene was actually funny, and I know this series has never known the concept of being well directed but this is just too much, this is directing that is just damaging the scene instead of helping it. In my tags about the first season I said that this series puts me to sleep, it is like a sleeping pill, this is a thing I cannot say about many series because as much as I complain about some of them, since they get on my nerves they just bother me more than causing another emotion, but Kimetsu no Yaiba is different, I don’t hate it, it’s just that it puts me to sleep, but while the first season had multiple memorable moments that were actually engaging, the Red District arc also was engaging and what’s more I don’t remember any episode actually putting me to sleep that arc, sadly, this season returned to putting me to sleep, even while watching an episode a person walked close to me and told me that I was falling asleep, that’s mainly why I remember the episode where Tanjiro trained and got that sword. This just puts this series in this very weird situation where I don’t hate it, but when there’s absolutely nothing happening it literally makes me want to sleep because of being so superfluous when there isn’t any of those scenes with good animation. This season isn’t engaging at all and it is a step in the wrong direction. Thank you for reading.

I am only writing this for the sake of the old days of DS and how much I enjoyed previous seasons .at the same time I admit that this season is the least favorite of all previous ones but that doesn't mean it's bad by any means DS probably has the most number of haters in the anime community and why? the show is constant in all its terms of story, animation, etc. so I don't get what people are complaining about if it's not your type don't watch it So why this season is heated? basically because of the number of episodes so you feelyou didn't witness anything new but if we compare it to the previous season we can tell it has the same slow start but unlike the previous season this one didn't have the same kind of thrill and action during the fight and also the last season's demon was much better in writing quality. for that reason, I think the season should have more episodes also one of the reasons is the viewer kinda expected the season events cause it's basically a copy of the last season another reason that the animation quality has dropped a little and I am talking about the CGI, especially the fish I think it was so bad away from these problems, I think everything else is the same as the old DS there is not so much happening but the arc is important for the characters and story development and that last episode was absolutely gorgeous and IMO is the best in DS so we hope for a better next season.

Well. I hope I'm wrong, but Ufotable seems to have gone the way Mappa had - they grew too comfortable on the park bench and can't help but throw at us whatever waste they have at hand. Anime industry really is like feeding pigeons: get them used to you with a fancy treat or two, and next time they'll gladly eat any garbage. Let me preface this by admitting that I do know where the real problem lies: the manga. KnY is not a literary masterpiece, far from it in all honesty. There's glaring issues all over the 205 chapters, and the Swordsmith Village arc isarguably the least liked among the fandom. Working with such source material is basically like being given a bucket of shit and expected to paint something as an acrylic masterpiece. I do believe, however, that the first two anime seasons and the Mugen Train movie managed to perform that miracle of alchemy. Can't say the same about the third season. The glaring issues with the manga should be mentioned as they're almost at fault here. Almost. To start with, the characters are unthrilling, and that's putting it mildly. Some are just a background noise, some suffer from the quick exposition syndrome which makes it hard for the reader to form any sympathies... but above all, MOST of them have uninspired, tragic backstories that fail to feel like a proper motor for their actions. It's difficult to tell them all apart, going by just their personality. The way we get to know them is, in fact, my biggest gripe - no mysteries or reveals to be had here, each arc throws in another set of demons/hashira, whom we learn about through poorly placed flashbacks. This is especially tiresome with the demons who, in the author's ridiculous effort to humanize them in their final moments, are flashbacked into oblivion as they're about to die. No exceptions, pretty much. It also doesn't help that every character presented in KnY is one-dimensional and doesn't really develop or grow over the course of the manga. The action is formulaic at its best, and repetitive at its worst. Starting Mugen Train arc, the plot follows the same trope and line of logic: a random location is presented and the setup is established, then the demons reveal themselves and the Corps put up a valiant effort to defeat them. Rarely does a hashira die, despite what we had been told over and over; instead, we're witnessing the slow but sure annihilation of the Upper Moons as the heroes push forward, winning through anger, willpower and sheer coincidence. The entire action structure is coincidental to an extreme, which is a no-go for a shounen. We're watching Tanjiro become more and more powerful alongside the hashira, but we're given no explanation for how exactly did he acquire his newfound powers. If the author were to pull any more stuff out of her ass, she'd be gutting herself. The plot. Is there any? KnY is as basic as it gets. We're told that the Upper Moons are hashira executioners and none stood a chance against them in hundreds of years, yet there we are, watching their entire ranks being obliterated, despite the stakes set up before. This leads to no stakes being present, as not only do we not give a flying fuck about the characters, but we're also aware that somehow, Tanjiro will find a way. And save mostly everyone. And the fabled Upper Moons will succumb to the power of one deus-ex-machina or another. Someone got poisoned? Bam, it's now revealed they're immune to poison. Someone's on the verge of dying? Bam, a hashira/Nezuko intervenes. Tanjiro's out of breath? Bam, he breathes again cause someone has to go all tatakae on the bad guys to wrap up this nonsense. There. Are. No. Stakes in KnY. Nearly everything can be predicted 1:1, rarely does it fly differently. And since there's no stakes, there's subsequently no plot to speak of, as the action leads nowhere in particular. The power system is incomprehensible and self-conflicting. Power scalling is done poorly, with no rhyme or reason, which leads to every fight feeling same-ish, but it also leads to another problem: if Tanjiro is to survive, he has to contribute, and therefore is scaled beyond all logic just to meet the demands of the arc. Training doesn't seem to be relevant in the world of KnY - you're either gifted with a mark, forced to push the "plot" forward (enter Hinokami), or you're a background goon yelping about how helpless you are. There's no hype to it nor a well-established path for the main cast to follow, all we have is the nagging feeling that something is going to happen, something that will turn the tables and allow progression in the story. The humour. Do I need to elaborate? I don't think so. Now that we're done with the manga issues, here's the issue with Katanakaji no Sato. Ufotable did not do ANYTHING to remedy those issues. Not a THING. This came as a surprise to me, as I remember the changes they made to e.g. Heaven's Feel in order to push the story in a more unique, horror-like direction. Season 3 of KnY suffers from all the things listed above: bland, overly exposed characters that could've been utilized better by simply having them shut the fuck up and do their thing, instead of needless commentary and back'n'forth exchanges lasting entire episodes. Awfully timed flashbacks nobody's interested in, that could've been handled via OVAs and perhaps enhanced (no shortage of good writers at Ufotable). Dully engaging combat that felt like skipping rope, when it could've lasted for half of the screentime it took and would've been better off that way. No plot to speak of, this entire season felt like a filler. No stakes due to poor characterisation and lack of tension, with Upper Moon deaths feeling borderline unearned and disappointing - the build-up should've been much longer, like it was with the Entertainment arc. Power-ups and random techniques conjured up from thin air as required by the plot, when all Ufotable had to do was precede this season with a proper training OVA, or anything to explain the nonsensical logic of KnY universe, and if not that, just shift the focus to the hashira and mask the inconsistencies. And the god-awful, horrendous, brain-numbing, cringy humour of which there was way too much this time for me to handle - now that's entirely on Ufotable's writing, and might've been where all the tension dispersed.Lastly: this season was inflated for the sake of meeting the 12-eps quota and it shows, it really does. The pacing was all over the place, which is a no-go for a series devoid of both plot and intriguing cast. Actually, no. Lastly would be: we were promised a "new level of animation" with this season, weren't we? Where was it, then? See, here's the problem: KnY really *is* being carried by animation as it has little else to offer. Season 3 was a major downgrade in this department, with "Sun Halo Dragon Dance" being the only highlight of the entire runtime. Gone were the cinematic executions like Hinokami Kagura in season 1. Gone were choreographies of the Mugen Train's Rengoku vs Akaza. Gone were the gorgeous movements seen with each sequence in the Entertainment arc. This time around, animation was non-existent, and an extra layer of CG and VFX were plastered all over the action to cover the deficiencies up. Should you disagree, play Muichiro's sequences in slow motion, you'll see what I mean. I wish Ufotable would show more trust in their animation crew, rather than complacently vomit visual effects and lackluster CG at every turn. If you wanna know the difference, compare their Fate entries with KnY season 3. Hey, at least the opening was the best one yet. Really digging the song. Too bad the opening's animation didn't carry over to the actual show.