Demon Slayer Season 4: Hashira Training Arc [SUB] (2024) Review

 Demon Slayer Season 4: Hashira Training Arc [SUB] (2024) 8/10

[THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!]

Hello everyone and welcome to another anime review. Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc aired from May 12 - June 30, 2024, with the arc clocking in at only 12 episodes long. Just like the rest of the series, this arc was produced by Ufotable.

Hashira Training has been getting a lot of flak for whatever reason from the community, with even IGN giving it a dirty 3/10. To that I say, did we watch the same thing? I feel like many people were expecting something on the same level as Entertainment District, which to this day is still the best arc of the series. I’m assuming people were expecting more insane fights, but that is not what this is. Because of this, I’m led to believe people don’t have proper critical thinking skills and just want their action spoon fed to them. I’m going to try and keep this short, so let’s begin.

After the events at the Swordsmith Village, Tanjiro, Mitsuri, and Tokito are recovering at the Butterfly Mansion. Both Hashiras have healed extremely fast and are now ready for more missions, as opposed to Tanjiro who got hurt the most and must stay in recovery for a bit longer. Now that Nezuko is no longer affected by sunlight, the Hashiras determine that Muzan’s next move will be to take Nezuko so that he can become immortal. To prepare for the upcoming conflict with the boss of the demons, the Hashira have devised a new training regime for the Demon Slayers, wanting them in their prime for potentially their final battle. This training regime is also for the benefit of the Hashira, who yearn to spawn a mark similar to what Mitsuri and Tokito spawned during their fight with the Upper Rank demons. As all the other Demon Slayers are struggling with each training course, Tanjiro soon recovers and blasts through them. The arc ends with Muzan discovering Ubuyashiki’s location (head of the Demon Slayers), Ubuyashiki blowing himself up, all the Hashira’s are about to gang up on him, and then entryways into the Infinity Castle open up, dumping everyone into its treacherous halls.

Seriously, why are people hating on this? This is a solid continuation of the series. The pacing is good and it adds characterization to the rest of the Hashiras. Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenistu get a power boost and I love how it further develops both Tanjiro and Zenistu. I’m really curious about what was in the letter that Zenistu received. My guess would be something happened to his master which urged him to get his shit together. In this arc, we learn more about Iguro (Serpent Hashira and Mitusuri’s boyfriend), Shinazugawa (Wind Hashira and Genya’s older brother), Tomioka (Water Hashira), and Himejima (Stone Hashira and the strongest of the Hashira). I do hope both Iguro and Shinazugawa get more screen time in the final arc as they definitely need it the most out of the Hashira.

So this arc is a TRAINING ARC, something that is usually prevalent in all Shonen anime (Dragon Ball, Naruto, Haikyuu, and many others). This arc is to help build up Tanjiro specifically to the point that he can sustain the mark on his forehead. He’ll build up his basic strength, endurance, flexibility, resilience, precision, and swordsmanship. Think of this as someone like Goku refining his abilities like what we saw in the original Dragon Ball series. That is what this is. Because of this, this arc will have an overall more lighthearted tone to it as opposed to the previous arcs. We’ll see Tanjiro laugh and enjoy himself as well as be there for his fellow teammates within the corps. It’s these moments that help define a character as well as what they do in the heat of battle. What did Himejima say? “No matter how righteous people are, they reveal their true selves in times of disaster.” It’s important to define these characters in both situations to see them for who they truly are, and that’s what this arc does. We see some of this throughout the series with Tanjiro, but to focus so much at one time was a good idea (especially with what’s to come). To everyone hating on this because “it only adapts like nine chapters so it doesn’t feel like an actual arc and the pacing is garbage”, please stfu and actually look into character development.

And of course we can’t forget how stellar Ufotable is with its production. The show still looks as good as always with its fluid animation and excellent use of 3D CG. This season isn’t on the same level as Entertainment District (that arc was just another breed lmao), there were some excellent moments here. The very first scene where Iguro and Shimazugawa were hunting down those demons in the castle was awesome. Also shout out to Iguro’s training, the explosion at the end, and all the Hashira jumping Muzan as they're about to fall into the castle.

Music is fine. This is easily the weakest aspect of this arc. Muzan’s theme in the last episode was dope as fuck, but the rest of the music is forgettable. I didn’t care for the Openings or Endings, although I was intrigued by the Ending just a bit because of its haunting sound, which is a shame as my favorite Japanese band My First Story helped make these songs. Oh well.

And of course the Japanese dub is still on point. Shout out again to Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro), Akari Kitou (Nezuko, who we finally get to hear talk), Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Inosuke), Takahiro Sakurai (Giyu), Kana Hanazawa (Mitsuri), Katsuyuki Konishi (Tengen), Kengo Kawanishi (Tokito), Tomokazu Seki (Shinazugawa), Tomokazu Sugita (Himejima), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Ubuyashiki), and Toshihiko Seki (Muzan).

Overall Hashira Training Arc is a solid continuation and an excellent lead into the final arc. I enjoyed myself a lot more here than I initially thought I would and I can’t wait for the final arc. I’m very curious what’s going to happen next as there’s a lot of ground to cover for three movies. Until my next review, stay frosty.

Thanks for reading.

This Zorgak, signing off.