From its premiere in 2019, Ufotable’s adaptation of Koyoharu Gotouge’sDemon Slayerhas taken the world by storm, shattering records at every turn while keeping fans on the edge of their seat. The studio’s decision to release a film adaptation of the Mugen Train Arc, was a master stroke, netting them incredible returns. This was followed by an extended edition of the arc for the second season, in conjunction with an additional cour to cover the Entertainment District Arc, which rounded off the season with a phenomenal climax that showcased the full extent of the studio’s capabilities. Now, the third season, which isadapting the Swordsmith Village Arc, has a slightly shortened run, expected to last in the region of single cour of 13 episodes, give or take a few.
Considering that much of theDemon Slayermanga’s story has already been adapted to the screen at this point, it is worth inquiring into how the studio intends to package the final arcs of the story. This becomes even more pertinent when thinking of how Ufotable will have to step up their game even further — difficult as it may be — to make the final showdown with Muzan all the more memorable and awe-inspiring. While previous arcs have found success in the structures they adopted, the pacing of the third season has made its length seem a lot shorter than it actually is, even if there are still a few more episodes left to conclude the battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and theUpper Rank Four and Five demonsin the Swordsmith Village.
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How Long Have Previous Seasons Been?
The first season ofDemon Slayeradapted a massive portion of the manga for its 26 episode run, covering over 50 chapters from the tragedy of Tanjiro losing his family, to the Rehabilitation Training Arc just prior to themain trio’s mission on the Mugen Train. All in all, there were six story arcs adapted over two cours, although some were quite short in their narrative structure, covering face offs against weaker demons. The introduction of the Upper Moons among the Twelve Kizuki has changed this formula quite considerable, with the whole of the Entertainment District Arc and the Swordsmith Village Arc devoted solely to one or two long and drawn out battles.
At first glance, this could be a consequence of the power scaling in the series intensifying in the build up to the final confrontation withthe Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji. Moreover, there has also been a bit more build up in the battles against Gyokko and Hantengu in Swordsmith Village, Daki and Gyutaro in the Entertainment District, and even Enmu and Akaza in the Mugen Train Arc. This extended run time is necessary to flesh out character backstories, introduce world building elements, and finally, drive home the gap in power between the Lower and Upper Ranks, as well as the stakes involved in each case.
Since the second season adapted two story arcs for a total length of 18 episodes, it does appear that the lengths of the arcs in the manga are also increasing. Whilethe Mugen Train arc adapted 16 chaptersin nearly 8 episodes, the Entertainment District took close to 11 episodes — with some spill over from the previous arc — to completely cover the 28 chapters it ran for in the manga. There is a caveat to this unfortunately, as the Swordsmith Village Arc is at the mid-point of the manga’s length, with just over 100 chapters left to adapt. This latest arc is expected to run for 11-14 episodes as per current estimates, animating approximately 30 chapters from the manga.
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Are The Final Arcs Long Enough For Full Seasons?
Keeping a ratio of between two and three chapters per episode, there is a considerable conflict in how the final three arcs of the story will be rendered on screen. Besides the extremely short Hashira Training Arc, which only extends for nine chapters, the next season may also have to adapt part of the Infinity Castle Arc, which is the longest arc in the series as a whole, spanning 47 chapters. It is fairly certainthat the Hashira Training Arcwill be clubbed with part of the Infinity Castle Arc for a 24-26 episode length season, although the actual breakup may vary depending on the intensity of animation required, as well as the flow of the story’s momentum.
Following this, the Sunrise Countdown Arc, which concludes the story, runs for a total of 22 episodes, which might be a bit too short for a two cour run. However, some overlap from theend of the Infinity Castle Arcwill definitely push the length of the season past one cour, and may even push it to a full two cour length, contingent on the structure of the previous season. In this vein, it may be important to appropriately break up the final arcs for release, or adopt a release schedule that manages to keep the momentum going.
Doing so might be vital to prevent it from going down the same road as shows likeAttack on Titan,whose release schedule has become meme worthyin spite of the consistently high quality of the anime throughout its run. Fans can only hope that the finale ofDemon Slayerwill provide the same level of hype and fulfillment of earlier seasons, and the pressure is on Ufotable to make this a reality.
