The popular media IGN has surprised the anime community by giving a low rating of 3/10 to the fourth season of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba“, describing it as “Horrible.” According to the review, the “Hashira Training Arc” sacrifices momentum and depth in favor of an absurdly long and meandering season that, in the critic’s opinion, should have been condensed into one montage.
The official synopsis for this season states that the Hashirathe highest ranking swordsmen and members of the Demon Exterminating Corps, have begun their training to face the impending battle against Muzan Kibutsuji. Each of them, with their own thoughts and hopes in their hearts, prepares for the challenges ahead, starting a new story for Tanjiro and the Hashira.
IGN argues that despite high expectations, the fourth season failed to maintain the same level of excitement and development as previous seasons. Criticism points out that the Hashira Training Arc is unnecessarily drawn out, with a slow pace that dilutes the impact of the narrative. The outlet suggests that a considerable portion of the season could have been condensed into a one- or two-episode montage, thereby maintaining intensity and viewer interest.
And of course, his opinion did not go unnoticed:
- «For reference, this reviewer gave the previous season a 5/10 and called it filler, haha. So I’m not surprised he liked this season even less.».
- «The last episode was 2 of those 3 points on its own».
- «I mean, I get it. It’s just a big training arc where only the last two episodes are really interesting.».
- «As someone who has read the manga, I don’t mind how they handled this arc. The next arc is super long, so it’s impossible to cut this training arc down to just 2-3 episodes and then let the final arc be the rest of the season like people probably would have wanted. I’d rather them stay true to the source material all the way to the end, even if the story was dragged out this time around.».
- «This reviewer is great, he gave Undead Murder Farce a 9».
- «I’m looking at all these comments and I’m starting to think… do I have bad taste?».
- «Just me, but I actually prefer this season over the Blacksmith Village Arc, which is a legit 5 out of 10. Even without the final episode, a slice of life focusing on the Hashira is nice to watch.».
- «Maybe a 3 is a bit harsh, but I get it. This season was a complete waste of time and could have easily been 1 or 2 episodes. The pacing was atrocious. Stretching out roughly 4 chapters of the manga into 8 episodes eclipses even the procrastination of One Piece’s Dressrosa era. You have to milk the series for all it’s worth since it ended years ago. You can only be carried away by pretty particle effects so far.».
- «The Hashira Training Arc is a 3!? IGN really overrates everything!».
- «Honestly, it was a gigafiller. Literally nothing happened.».
- «Am I the only one who likes training arcs in anime? I thought this season was a lot of fun and a nice break from the action.».
- «Obviously this was Demon Slayer’s weakest season, especially compared to the high points of Mugen Train and the Entertainment District Arc. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit because I like these characters and it’s nice to be able to spend time with them one last time before we get to the climax of the story. It’s not doing it in the best way possible, but the season was an attempt to increase our investment in these characters one more time before we see them face off against Muzan and his more powerful minions. And the final episode was genuinely Demon Slayer at its best in terms of building hype and leading up to an explosive sequence of action and visual grandeur.».
- «He’s not wrong. I’m a huge Demon Slayer fan and found myself completely turned off by how obvious most of the filler was, some of it almost reminded me of Shippuden filler. Now, totally worth it for the last episode 10/10 holy crap, and some of the training was good too».
- «I can understand that level of negative reaction towards the show. The sense of pacing in Kimetsu no Yaiba has completely dropped off, and the movie trilogy is only going to exacerbate those problems (it was rushed even in the manga).».
This diversity of opinions reflects the impact that IGN’s rating has had on the community of fans of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”While some share the disappointment expressed by the outlet, others find value in the quieter character moments and faithfulness to the source material.
Fountain: IGN
