A warning for spoilers of the previous seasons of this show, plus spoilers of the first episode of this season!

Despite being a ravenous Demon Slayer fan since its first season came out in 2019, the latest installment caught me by surprise. It’s an exciting surprise nonetheless!

Hashira Training Arc – Episode 1

While Crunchyroll considers the Hashira Training Arc the fifth season because the site considers the Mugen Train Arc to be season two, most fans consider this the fourth season. Starting on May 12th, the season premiers with Tanjiro Kamado recovering after his intense fight with upper-rank demons in the swordsmith village. After he recovers, he’ll begin training to become a Hashira, something he proved he could be after the events of the previous season.

We see his sister, Nezuko, in the sunlight, slowly learning how to talk again, as well as beloved characters, Inosuke and Zenitzu, making their return from their respective missions. 

Then the show introduces the overarching main plot of the season, which is Tanjiro and friends training to become a Hashira while training with all the other Hashiras. However, the water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, has reservations about training the others and opts out, upsetting the rest of the Hashira group. 

The retired Hashira from season two, Tengen Uzui, even makes an appearance of him training other recruits to make up for his life-altering injuries from his battle with upper-rank demons. 

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, is now weaker than ever and basically on his deathbed. He can no longer move around to speak with the Hashiras, so he sends someone else in the family to relay the message. It is revealed that the Hashiras who were at the swordsmith village and Tanjiro were able to unite and fight in unison because of the mark on his forehead that hadn’t been seen for a long time. 

This means that theoretically, all the Hashiras can do this as well to finally defeat Muzan Kibutsuji, the leader of all demons. With this, they make a plan for training. 

Finally, the episode closes with the appearance of Tamayo, a demon who has been helping Tanjiro find a cure for Nezuko. A crow sent by Kagaya stops by her home and invites her to come to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters to work with Hashira Shinobu Kocho with medicine and help defeat Muzan. 

Thoughts on What’s to Come

Admittedly, I’m excited for a change of pace this season. While I’m sure there’s a lot of action coming in later episodes, the past two seasons started feeling formulaic to me, even if the finale last season left me in tears when I thought Nezuko was going to burn in the sun, only to be the first demon to conquer it. 

With that, I’m eager to see the direction it’s going in. What is Giyu thinking and why doesn’t he want to train with the rest? How will others react to Tamayo’s arrival? The Hashiras back in season one took a lot of convincing to not kill Nezuko on the spot, despite her extraordinary self-will to reject eating humans. 

I’m also excited to see Inosuke and Zenitzu return, as they were completely absent last season. I do find Zenitzu a difficult person to swallow because of his sometimes unsavory personality, but he’s slowly getting better. I also wonder if Tengen will play a larger role this season or if that was his only appearance. 

We now know Nezuko has a larger target on her back now that she can conquer the sun. Undoubtedly, Muzan will be after her to capture her and figure out a way he can conquer the sun and truly reign terror on the world.

This looks like it’s gearing up to be an incredible new season and I can’t wait to see how this season will unfold and emotionally wreck my heart.