Highlights
- Hashira training arc continues in Demon Slayer, focusing on intense training methods and challenges for Tanjiro.
- Iguro brings intensity to Tanjiro’s training with obstacle courses and sparring, pushing him to improve his skills.
- Despite improvements in conflict and action sequences, show risks losing fans with excessive filler episodes.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Demon Slayer episode 60, “I Even Ate Demons” available to stream on Crunchyroll
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba returns this week with more of the Hashira Training arc. The series’ continued focus on filler and training sequences has been a weakness of this new season so far.
These elements are neither advancing the story nor are they delivering more character development to characters fans would like to get to know more. Is this the week the arc takes off and flies, or is it another disposable episode?
I Even Ate Demons
After showing other potential demon slayers in the previous episode, our latest episode opens with Tanjiro meeting up with Mitsuri. This results in her being so happy to see him, she serves him pancakes (which look quite tasty, we must add). This is a brief time out for our heroes though, as Mitsuri is going to be the teacher for the next round of training (which gives us the sense that the whole point of this saga has been to reintroduce everyone into the series). Her training method involves stretching and gymnastics, which…well, is funny at the very least.
Iguro Also Makes an Appearance
Mitsuri isn’t the only one on deck though: Iguro is also in town to help Tanjiro with his training. Needless to say, Iguro’s training methods are MUCH more intense than Mitsuri’s are, as his training involves difficult obstacle courses and humans. For his task, Tanjiro is going to have to get through the courses, hit all of his targets with his wooden practice sword, all while not hitting any of the humans tied up. This is easier said than done, of course, and we finally have a task where Tanjiro is not exactly up to snuff. He will need to get through the courses with flying colors if he is to improve his accuracy in a real battle.
Iguro Strikes Back
All this is made more complicated by the fact that Iguro is also an obstacle during these sessions. Tanjiro can’t simply practice until he memorizes the course or something like that. Iguro is there to try and deflect all of Tanjiro’s attacks at every step of the way. This leads to Tanjiro starting to feel the pressure of the training, and it’s refreshing to see the main protagonist be put in a position where he has to struggle again. The one-on-one sparring lessons might not be a complete substitute for demon fighting, but it does help bring back some intense swordplay if nothing else.
What’s Everyone Else Doing?
While Tanjiro has largely been doing well during his training (current session notwithstanding), it appears his friends aren’t doing as well as he is. Zenitsu in particular is struggling with his training sessions, and even attempts to escape at one point during the episode. Other characters (most of them nameless) don’t appear to be doing much better, leading to frustration with some of the trainers (Genya Shinazugawa seems especially annoyed at the lack of progress, vowing to destroy anyone who doesn’t keep up with him).
The Season is Getting Better, But…
Is this episode an improvement over the past few episodes? Oh, it unquestionably is. There is some actual conflict now that Tanjiro isn’t able to breeze through the tests with flying colors, and bringing in two of the more moody characters as trainers makes the training sessions more real. It also helps that by increasing the intensity of the training, some of the fluid action sequences (with free flowing camera movement and everything) can return, bringing back a major element of what makes this series stand out visually from most other anime on the market. The main problem still persists though, as the story simply isn’t going anywhere substantial, and we’re nearing the halfway mark of this whole thing.
If the creators decide to include filler episodes to stretch out the episode count, then this show could be in serious trouble. This isn’t like Dragon Ball Z, where the show was being produced every week for years, and thus training stretches could be forgiven. No, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is (rightfully) being produced in season sets. When this set of episodes is done, fans will be waiting several months for the next batch of episodes. How many of them are going to want to return if this is what they were experiencing? While far from the worst anime on TV, the training arc is certainly outstaying its welcome, and we’re hoping the writers fix this before fans simply give up in frustration.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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