Highlights
- Disappointing final battle against Muzan due to lackluster action and contrasting with earlier engaging fights.
- Muzan’s underwhelming move set compared to other characters’ unique and intricate abilities.
- Aftermath of the fight felt useless and had little impact on the story, with the Demon Slayer Corps suffering heavy losses.
Few anime have had the same effect on popular culture or have reached the same level of success as Demon Slayer. Since the very first episode aired and showed the horror that Muzan Kibutsuji unleashed upon the world, fans anticipated that the eventual battle against him would be legendary, potentially taking the main heroes of the story and putting them against the Demon King to end the scourge for good.
However, Demon Slayer’s final battle against Muzan proved for many to be a disappointing one. Fans claim that there are many reasons for this, from lackluster action to an insane contrast with other fights in the same arc that were far more engaging. So, let’s break down why many in the fandom consider the final battle of the series to be one that didn’t live up to expectations!
Better Fights Earlier In The Arc
The Infinity Castle arc of the Demon Slayer manga saw perhaps the greatest battles in the entire story. While within the confines of Muzan’s secret hideout, the entire Demon Slayer Corps was pitted against his demonic forces, where the strongest members of the Corps, the Hashira, had to take down the remaining Upper Demon Moons. The resulting battles were incredibly grueling and highly tense.
One of these fights was Tanjiro and the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, against Upper Moon 3, Akaza. This fight was incredible to witness, with the scale tipping both ways multiple times in the fight as the Slayers and Akaza all had shining moments. The ending of this battle was legendary, as it showed the heroes on their last legs at the mercy of a ferocious demon, who ended up sparing them and killed himself after reliving his memories. This also showed, perhaps, the most touching backstory in the entire series.
Another fight was the strongest Hashira battling against Upper Moon 1 Kokushibo, featuring the strongest heroes in the entire Demon Slayer Corps. This was the best show of might and resilience ever seen in all of Demon Slayer, where Kokushibo showed the world just why he was the highest-ranked demon, as well as why Gyomei and Sanemi are the strongest Hashira. The ending of this battle is amazing as well.
There are a few more examples of such fights, such as the battle against Douma or Kaigaku. However, the fight against Muzan, while cool to see the entire Demon Slayer Corps come together, was ultimately disappointing due to there not being any emotional baggage or Muzan not even having a captivating move set, which is the next point to talk about!
Muzan’s Disappointing Move Set
In the final battle against Muzan, fans were waiting with bated breath to see the incredible abilities belonging to the King of Demons. Since the fight against the big bad of the series was foreshadowed from the very first episode and all Upper Moon Demons have amazing unique powers, it was only natural for fans to assume that his unique powers would be greater than all others.
However, Muzan’s ability was, by far, the most disappointing one of them all! This is because the Blood Demon Arts of the Upper Moons were amazing special powers that made perfect sense with who the characters were and how their abilities work. These intricate abilities were not only powerful, but they were very complex, adding great depth to the characters who used them.
I want you to remove the head of that demon hunter with the hanafuda earrings!
Muzan, on the other hand, had an extremely boring special power in comparison. This is because the only thing he did with his biokinesis ability was make tentacles that only sliced his opponents. Being the Demon King surely already meant that his speed and strength were far above those of regular humans and his special power was basically just more of this, doing nothing more than just swinging his tentacles.
One would think that the Demon King who stands far above every other demon on the planet would have powers far greater than anything the other demons can do. However, all he did was effectively swing his tentacles all around the place, which just happened to be so fast and strong that no one could react to them, despite overcoming powerful Upper Moon demons previously.
Aftermath of the Fight:
The aftermath of the fight had Muzan realize a bizarre new ability to prevent his exposure to the sun, where he grew a gigantic shell on the outside that took the shape of a giant baby. This was followed by him trying to pass on his will to Tanjiro, making him the new Demon King in a moment that honestly felt kind of useless, considering how little of an impact this had on the story since the problem was fixed very promptly. The ending of the arc saw the death of most of the Corps and the eradication of all demons, but the fight itself was quite lackluster for many people!
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba can be streamed on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
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