As a manga, Demon Slayer's greatest accomplishment was telling a simple and entertaining Shonen Jump story with all the tropes you'd expect – like friendship being the ultimate power-up, power scaling, and naming your attacks – but in a compact timeframe and with a simple story. It wasn't monumental in terms of art or story, but it was easy to digest and it didn't overstay its welcome.
As an anime, Demon Slayer's biggest blessing has also become its biggest curse: Arguably the most popular anime airing today – thanks to studio ufotable’s prestige animated adaptation – it’s trying to replicate past successes with visual spectacle, at the cost of the simplicity and effectiveness of the story.
The first season made some effective adaptation choices, expanding on what the manga's story barely hinted at, making every small moment feel epic and hugely important. This culminated the global phenomenon of episode 19, with its dazzling use of color, fantastic action choreography, and a rather emotionally charged song by Go Shiina featuring Nami Nakagawa. In an attempt to deliver internet-breaking moments like this all the time, the third season of Demon Slayer overrelies on sweeping camera angles and lavish backgrounds. By turning every small moment "epic," ufotable reduces the anime to a repetitive, boring drag. Back in the '90s and early '00s, we had a word for this – "filler" – and it was considered the death of anime creativity.
After a double-sized premiere episode that separated our kindhearted protagonist Tanjiro from his annoyingly funny friends and sent him off to craftsmanship town, the rest of the season is essentially dedicated to a single overly long fight. Granted, there is some stunning imagery in the face-off against the Upper Four and Upper Five, particularly the Love Hashira's ribbon-like sword and Genya Shinazugawa blowing out heads with a demon-slaying gun. Ufotable continues to do great work, particularly in the effects, which turn even the most simple swing of a sword into a pivotal moment of triumph.
But after 15 pivotal moments of triumph that lead nowhere – because the fight has to continue – some of the impact is lost. 90% of the season is dedicated to Upper Four and Upper Five, going back and forth between the two, and only stopping for repetitive flashbacks involvingthe new side characters. There's still drama, but the story is not deep enough to support the formula of fights that reach a climax before revealing the villain is still alive and in a new form. Tanjiro's story works – the manga proved it – but it does so because it moves on to the next thing quickly. To stretch out the fights without changing up the formula is to lose what makes Demon Slayer special.
When it comes to the story, this season does have an interesting focus on art and craftsmanship. We've spent three seasons exploring how demons see themselves as superior because their immortality prevents them from being forgotten at death, and allows them to create things that endure forever. We see this in one of the demons this season, who is obsessed with art that will outlast all humans, but we also see this with the craftsmen of the swordsmith village, particularly Haganezuka and the way he considers his craft more important than his safety.
[Demon Slayer] is trying to replicate past successes with visual spectacle, at the cost of the simplicity and effectiveness of the story.
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Unfortunately, Demon Slayer drowns out this theme with more (and more and more) repetitive fight scenes. Likewise, our new replacements for Inosuke and Zenitsu – Genya, the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito, and Mitsuri Kanroji – are all interesting characters with tragic backstories and cool personalities (and even cooler weapons and abilities). But when their flashbacks are awkwardly shoved into the middle of never-ending fights, they end up feeling like a distraction rather than essential parts of the story.
It's not just that the fights are overly long and repetitive; Demon Slayer kills all momentum by explaining the obvious to the audience. As a character, Tanjiro is best during slower moments, when his calmness and gentleness in a world of incredibly intense warriors makes him the comic relief. It’s frustrating to see the show replicate that during fight scenes, which fails to properly portray Tanjiro’s kindness.From the beginning, Tanjiro was special among the other slayers because of the deep empathy he felt toward the demons despite the atrocities they commit. By now, however, it's clear the show is all talk and no action. This version of Tanjiro may shed the occasional tear for his victims, but he doesn't do anything other than chop heads with gusto.
Verdict
Demon Slayer season 3 has some spectacular moments that continue to show ufotable's ability to make every frame pop with color and gravitas, and the story moves forward significantly, especially when it comes to Nezuko – who finally becomes a character this time around. For the most part, though, it feels like too little, too late. After the the Mugen Train movie's success in translating a short story arc into a single feature rather than multiple episodes, season 3 feels like a step backward, stretching a short arc into a bloated and dull season that overstayed its welcome.
