Demon Slayer Season 4 aka The Hashira Training Arc ended a couple of months ago. Yes, I know, at this point, it’s old news. The Hashira Training Arc has already been completed airing, and the trilogy has been announced based on the Infinity Castle Arc. However, when I began writing this article, I felt that there was more than just writing a review and news on this piece. There are a few things that I felt should be laid out.
And of course, Demon Slayer gained a small traction thanks to a Gojo-loving (not me) “influencer”. So, the timing was something that can’t be ignored. In this article, I will not only be reviewing the show and talking about the upcoming film but also highlight a few views on how and why Ufotable continues to exceed expectations. On another note, check out my other DS articles – Season 4 News, Season 3 Review, and Season 3 pre-review.
About Demon Slayer Season 4 – The Hashira Training Arc
If I am gonna be 100% honest, there’s nothing Demon Slayer Season 4. The previous arc had failed to live up to the expectations because it was a successor to the most visually stunning arc of all time. I guess Ufotable knew that and that’s why they didn’t attempt to make it a bigger and grander sequel. Rather a self-contained arc that serves as a narrative bridge to the next arc.
If you had read my article on Demon Slayer Season 4 where I expressed my concerns as to how Ufotable would execute this arc when it is the least action-focused and more drama-focused, then you also know that it had nothing much to offer. That’s why they did what no other studio might have done. Other studios would add elements from other arcs to make it cross the 24-episode landmark. But Ufotable took the opposite approach and cut it down to 8.
The next good thing they did was something that they had poorly executed in the previous arc. Where in the previous arc they had added unnecessary scenes which added little-to-no elements, they did just the opposite in Demon Slayer Season 4. It’s as if they had learned from their mistakes and made proper execution in terms of both writing and visual storytelling. I’ll be explaining that in-depth in the next section.
Demon Slayer Season 4 Fifth Element, Quintessential
The four elements are fire, water, air and earth. But there are times when there is an element that breaks traditional norms. These are called the Fifth Element, or Quintessential. What makes these elements unique is that they have something that no other element has. Ufotable has been making those quintessential moves with their visual aspects, but for the first time, they went to the writing aspects in Demon Slayer Season 4.
If we were to count the opening moment of Demon Slayer Season 4 or the episode featuring the return of our Flamboyant Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, then we can count them as quintessential. As someone who had read the manga, I haven’t seen those scenes taking place within the panels. But Ufotable chose to add action to that drama and made sure they were not just style but substance as well that everyone would love to revisit.
I believe that the training scene with Iguro Obanai and the backstory of Gyomei Himejima deserves another form of credit. Both existed in the manga but were expanded upon in the anime. Himejima’s backstory was executed so well than it was in the manga, that it made you emotionally invest in him and makes me want to spoil a few things. But I will maintain a professional courtesy and remain silent on this one.
My only complaints with their execution include the unnecessary attempt to highlight Muichiro’s training session and the overuse of effects on Muzan’s entry. No matter what everyone else may say or how they would fawn over Muzan’s “dynamic” entry, I would still prefer the scene in the manga to the anime one. Other than that, Demon Slayer Season 4 was executed well and exceeded expectations.
The Upcoming Trilogy
With the Demon Slayer Season 4 aka The Hashira Training Arc concluded in an explosive (pun intended) and suspenseful way, there are currently two more arcs remaining until the end. They are Infinity Castle Arc and Sunrise Countdown Arc. I’m sure the name itself provides the idea of what we can expect from the arc itself.
The Infinity Castle Arc has already been announced to be a Trilogy of Films, set to release one after the other. My guess is it will cover ⅗ major fights that will take place within that arc in each individual film. Each of those fights contains the substance of action and emotions combined that have left manga readers such as myself in shock and awe.
Maintaining professional courtesy, I will not spoil anything for anyone who is reading this. Hopefully, I will write a separate article on that but I will say this, be ready to scream and cry and do both at the same time. Because it’s an arc where I had to process my emotions multiple times when reading it. I wonder, with Ufotable’s execution, how everyone (myself included) will handle the final product.
Final Verdict
I might’ve been too harsh on Ufotable once the Swordsmith Village Arc came out and too skeptical towards the Hashira Training Arc aka Demon Slayer Season 4. But there’s a saying, actions speak louder than words, and Ufotable did just that. They let their efforts do the talking and told us to just sit back and enjoy. I will say, that I did enjoy the Hashira Training Arc more than the Swordsmith Village Arc.
Despite having read the manga and knowing what will or will not happen in the films, I am still excited for the trilogy to come out and when it does come out, I have hopes that it will be a Banger. As I had said in the previous section, the fights they may cover in the films are filled with actions and emotions that not everyone can process. If you can process after all of this, then boy you are emotionally stronger than me.
