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 season finale of the latter.
The story about a teenager who lost his family turn a vicious demon slayer to seek vengeance and relief has captured a lot of viewers’ hearts. Originally a manga by Koyoharu Gotoge, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, was published in 2016. In 2019, an 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.
Demon Slayer: Plot for seasons 1-3
Season 1
Tanjiro Kamado is a teenage boy who one day returns home to find his family dead at the hands of a demon. The perpetrator has already vanished, leaving Tanjiro’s sister Nezuko behind. To his own horror, Tanjiro reveals that Nezuko is turning demon.
A demon slayer Giyu Tomioka appears at the scene to kill Nezuko, however, he quickly realizes that Nezuko can be harmless. Because of her bond with Tanjiro, she will not try to eat people, unlike other demons.
Tomioka sees potential in Tanjiro, so he sends the boy to a former demon slayer called Sakonji Urokodaki. Urokodaki trains Tanjiro, and after that, the boy passes the Final Selection to become a demon slayer, 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 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, Hashira.
The Mugen Train movie
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 to destroy the demon who is slaughtering the passengers aboard a train.
During the train ride, the demon makes Enmu makes the slayers, except for Nezuko, fall asleep. Only Tanjiro is able to realize he is dreaming, and when he does, he forcefully wakes himself up.
While Nezuko wakes others up, Tanjiro fights the demons corrupting the train before the help comes.
Season 2
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 is interrupted when the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, kidnaps three girls 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.
To the Swordsmith Village movie
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
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 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
Which manga chapters is each Demon Slayer season based?
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
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 day. The last episode of the third season teased the continuation, and, moreover, a teaser was released by Ufotable. Although there is not much going on plotwise 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.
