In 2021, Demon Slayer took all the casual Netflix watchers by storm.
Confined at home with little to no entertainment, people turned to the famous streaming service to pass the time. Known before to a niche of anime fans, now Demon Slayer became as mainstream as Attack on Titan, rising to take the throne since the announcement of the latter’s series finale.
The story about a teenager who lost his family turn a vicious demon slayer to seek vengeance and relief has captured the hearts of millions of fans worldwide. Originally a manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, was published in 2016 and in 2019, the now-iconic anime adaptation premiered. Whether you are looking for a recap or an introduction to the series, read on to find out about the plot, watch order, cast, and much more for the one and only, Demon Slayer.
Demon Slayer: Plot for seasons 1-3
Season 1 (2019)
Tanjiro Kamado is a teenage boy who one day returns home to find his family has been slaughtered at the hands of a demon. The perpetrator may have already vanished, leaving Tanjiro’s sister Nezuko behind. To his own horror, Tanjiro realizes that Nezuko is turning into a demon herself.
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A demon slayer called Giyu Tomioka appears at the scene to kill Nezuko; however, he quickly realizes that Nezuko and Tanjiro share a unique bond with the brother claiming that she can be harmless, refusing to eat people like every other demon in history.
Tomioka sees potential in Tanjiro, so he sends the boy to a former demon slayer called Sakonji Urokodaki. Urokodaki trains Tanjiro, and after an arduous journey up (and then down) the mountain, the boy passes the Final Selection to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, he returns back to his teacher and Nezuko.
Tanjiro received a sword from Haganezuka, a swordsmith, and takes off on his first mission. During the whole time, Tanjiro’s nurses hope that he can cure Nezuko and turn her human again. He finds out about Muzan Kibutsuji, the first demon, who is able to turn people into kind like himself.
This is where Tanjiro’s journey takes off, and where he starts meeting more and more demon slayers like himself. And, even being introduced to a group of elite, highest-ranking demon slayers, known as the Hashira.
The Mugen Train movie (2020)
Demon Slayer, The Movie: Mugen Train is a two-hour movie depicting the mission of Tanjiro, Nezuko, and two other demon slayers: Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira. They are trying to help Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, who has been tasked with the destruction of a demon that has been slaughtering swathes the passengers aboard a train.
During their ride on the cursed locomotive, the demon Enmu makes the slayers, except for Nezuko, fall asleep. Only Tanjiro is able to realize that he is dreaming, and when he does, he forcefully wakes himself up by repeatedly committing suicide in his dreams.
While Nezuko wakes others up, Tanjiro fights the demons corrupting the train before the Hashira arrives to lend a much-needed hand. Unfortunately, there is another demon lurking in the shadows, one so powerful that he could surpass even Rengoku’s strength.
Season 2 (2021)
The start of the season follows the same storyline as the Mugen Train movie, with Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke rescuing the passengers of the train while battling the demons there.
The start of the season features Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Inosuke’s mission in the Entertainment District alongside the enigmatic Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, who ‘kidnaps three girls’ (recruiting the three Demon Slayers in disguise) in an attempt to find his missing wife. Now the company not only has to hunt down demons infesting the city but also lead the Hashira onto the right path.
Whilst the battle with the Upper Rank Daki seems to be going well, something doesn’t quite seem right – it’s almost too easy…That’s when her brother emerges, one of the most powerful demons shown in the series so far.
To the Swordsmith Village movie (2023)
Unlike the previous Demon Slayer movie, To the Swordsmith Village is not a separate release. Rather, it is a compilation of the last two episodes of season two, and one episode of season three. Moreover, the first episode of season three was not yet released at the time of the release of To the Swordsmith Village movie.
Season 3 (2023)
In To the Swordsmith Village, Tanjiro breaks his sword and travels to speak to Haganezuka, who forged it originally. In the village, he meets other demon slayers and a couple of the highest-ranking Hashira, Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji.
Simultaneously, five demons, ordered by Muzan infiltrate the village. The demon slayers alongside Nezuko fight them, but the outcome of the fight is tragic. Nezuko is dying from sunlight in Tanjiro’s arms, and she forces Tanjiro to abandon her to kill the last remaining demon in the village, Hantengu. Tanjiro finds Nezuko stopped burning from the sun, so in still hopeful about her survival.
In season three, the motivation behind Muzan’s sinister actions is revealed. The fact that it is connected to the well-being of Nezuko only adds to the drama and tension that is only yet to be resolved in the upcoming season.
How to watch Demon Slayer series and movies in order
Thankfully, despite the number of different story arcs in Demon Slayer and the addition of the movies, the watch order is pretty straightforward. Below is the watch order of everything that has been released by 2023 with the number of episodes/minutes in a movie:
- Season 1 – 26 episodes
- Demon Slayer, The Movie: Mugen Train – 119 minutes
- Season 2 – 18 episodes
- Demon Slayer, The Movie: To the Swordsmith Village (2023) – 110 minutes
- Season 3 (2023) – 11 episodes
All of the launched Demon Slayer anime content is available to watch on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Which manga chapters is each Demon Slayer season based on?
Demon Slayer the anime follows the same timeline as the original manga. Except for an overlap into the Swordsmith Village: where episodes from seasons two and three are included, the adaptation of the manga runs smoothly.
Below is the list of which chapters of the manga correlate with which season of the anime:
- Season 1, episodes 1-26: chapters 1 to 53 in manga
- Demon Slayer, The Movie: Mugen Train: chapters 54 to 66
- Season 2, episodes 27-44: chapters 54 to 97
- Demon Slayer, The Movie: To the Swordsmith Village: chapters 92 to 101
- Season 3, episodes 45-55: chapters 98-127
Fans can purchase physical copies of the Demon Slayer manga from various outlets including Amazon, Bookshop, and Waterstones. Alternatively, digital versions are also available via Viz Media, Google Play, Apple iBooks, and Amazon Kindle.
Demon Slayer cast and voice actors
Although recognizing the voice actors can be harder in animations rather than in live-action movies (for obvious reasons), you can still praise and recognize the talent they put into voicing their characters. Whether it is the original voice cast or the English dub, it can be found here, in the list of main Japanese and English voices of the series, accordingly.
The Kamado siblings and main protagonists:
- Tanjiro – Natsuki Hanae / Zach Aguilar
- Nezuko – Akari Kito / Abby Trott
- Sakonji Urokodaki – Hochu Otsuka / Brook Chalmers
The Demon Slayers and Hashira:
- Hotaru Haganezuka – Daisuke Namikawa / Robbie Daymond
- Inosuke Hashibira – Yoshitsugu Matsuoka / Bryce Papenbrook
- Zenitsu Agatsuma – Hiro Shimono / Aleks Le
- Giyu Tomioka – Takahiro Sakurai / Johnny Yong Bosch
- Kyojuro Rengoku – Satoshi Hino / Mark Whitten
- Mitsuri Kanroji – Kana Hanazawa / Kira Buckland
- Muichiro Tokito – Kengo Kawanishi / Griffin Burns
The ultimate antagonist:
- Muzan Kibutsuji – Toshihiko Seki / Greg Chun
Demon Slayer: Season 4 release information
Yes – it is official that season four of Demon Slayer is on the way. The last episode of the third season teased the continuation, and, moreover, a teaser was released by Ufotable only a few minutes after the finale aired. Although there is not much going on plot-wise in the teaser, the hint to the next arc of the adaptation is given. Judging by the stills of different Hashira in the teaser, Hashira Training Arc will be the foundation of the fourth season.
Chapters 128 to 136 of the Demon Slayer Manga explore the Hashira Training Arc. With the Final Battle Arc consisting of two smaller arcs, being the last one in the manga, we can only speculate if that means the anime finale will await us soon.
While the official release date for a new season is still unknown, new episodes are expected to arrive in 2025, judging by a mostly consistent release schedule of Demon Slayer. However, the rumors about an early production have been confirmed, so maybe we will see Tanjiro’s next moves much quicker than expected.
The synopsis for the Hashira Training Arc, as provided in Volume 16 of the manga series, reads:
“Tanjiro goes to see the Stone Hashira, Himejima, who intends to prepare him for the battles to come. The training to become a Hashira—a high-ranking member of the Demon Slayer Corps—is intense and demanding, and earning Himejima’s approval seems impossible, but Tanjiro won’t give up! Meanwhile, the demon lord Muzan continues to search for the location of Nezuko and Ubuyashiki.”
Which studio animates Demon Slayer?
Demon Slayer features some of the most beautiful animation in the entire industry and that is thanks to the incredible work of Studio Ufotable.
The Tokyo-based production company has more than 270 staff members and since its founding in 2000, has worked on some of the best titles in recent memory, including:
- Fate/Zero (2011)
- The Garden of Sinners (2013)
- God Eater (2015)
- Katsugeki (2017)
- Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family (2018)
The studio will also helm a currently untitled Genshin Impact anime series alongside Type-Moon. Details on the plot and targeted release remain TBA; however, if the success of Demon Slayer is anything to go by, this could also become one of the best new animated shows of the next few years.
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