Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc

ufotable does it again, bringing stellar movie-quality animation to all of their adaptations. Coming off the heals of probably the most successful anime movie ever in the worldwide market, it's got a lot of hype to live up to, especially to its growing western audience. So how did it do? We get things started with Tanjirou going to pay respects to the Renogku family, in a classic bad father turns out to actually be a decent guy somewhere underneath all the alcoholism and mean exterior. We don't really see much of him again until the very end in a letter he writes but it's clear thatthe path for Tanjirou moving forward on the Sun Breathing technique is going to involve him in some way. I loved seeing that moment, though where his outer demeanor kind of falls away and you see how much he's actually hurting underneath.

The action in this series is always stellar, and after a few episodes of buildup and mystery we get into our first big fight and Tanjirou is forced to do a lot of growing very quickly. It can feel a little cheap the way he seems to get big power boosts for seemingly nothing, but the breathing power system is vague enough that I can't take too much issue with it. It's a soft magic system, where the rules aren't all so clearly defined so the author can let it do whatever the plot needs it to. This can feel lazy but they can get away with it for as long as they manage to stay consistent with it, not getting too far out there with what the powers can do.

The ninja Uzui and his polygamous wives were a fun addition this season, and I'm happy they managed to not kill him off, though a little sad to see him retire. In fact, it's crazy that no one died this season. They were all in such critical condition, but it's a battle shounen and they just killed off an important mentor character. That means nobody else is allowed to die in the story until right near the end. When Inosuke got stabbed I thought maybe they'd pull the trigger on that but no, apparently he can just tank getting stabbed through the heart. They did establish a bit earlier how flexible he is, but it's a bit of a stretch to just say he's so flexible he can move his internal organs at will.

Alright for all my gripes though I had a ton of fun watching this. The action is just so cool and with animation so clean how can I be mad? I give it a 9/10. Good gramphics, good grameplay.