SPOILER FREE

If you’ve seen the movie, then the only part you really need to watch from the TV series arc is episode one; it sets the scene for the rest of the arc and gives Rengoku a bit more screen time. The only other notable parts of this adaptation are the opening and ending. That’s it. That’s my review. Except reviews have a minimum character count, so here we go.

Capitalism runs the world, and that’s why we got the TV series following the movie. Well, mostly. Since most anime movies aren’t part of the canon world, future Demon Slayer watchers may skip the movie and miss part of the canon material that is necessary to understand other pieces of the story. To prevent that, they adapted it into a TV series as well so future fans don’t miss anything. (But mostly it’s for the money).

If you’re comparing the series to the movie, you’ll notice the series is rated a bit lower than the movie. If I had to give a reason the movie is rated better than the anime, my guess is that it has something to do with the movie experience. Seeing it on the big screen certainly improves the experience, and even if the material is practically the same, watching it split into different episodes just doesn’t have the same feel as a movie. (On a not entirely different note, the movie has almost 100,000 more views logged in anilist than the series does, which I find immensely amusing.)

Now, onto the material itself.

As usual, ufotable’s animation is nothing less than incredible. My first time watching it, I was completely blown away with the amazing animation of the train, as well as their breathing techniques and demon blood arts.

The story of this arc is quite good too. It isn’t anything deep, but there is a nice balance of intense fighting and almost-in-tears moments. And while the extra episode may not have come from the manga, I still really enjoyed it. I loved the insight it gave into Rengoku’s character, which I appreciated since this is the only arc he really appears in, and I also loved how well it fit into the rest of the series.

As for characters, I generally find all of Demon Slayer's characters annoying, but Rengoku is by far my favorite. Many of the characters seem static, and Rengoku is no exception, but it just works for him. He's already at the peak of his career. He doesn't need to go anywhere, he doesn't have anything else to gain. He's allowed to be static, because he doesn't need to change. Even though it's not shown, he's already had that character development, and it works.

The music is excellent as well. LiSA does an incredible job on the opening and ending, and the animation for these are nothing less than what you would expect from Demon Slayer. The rest of the OST is also exceptional.

Personally, I really enjoy the Demon Slayer franchise. I understand how some people believe it’s overhyped, but it fits right into the genres I enjoy and that’s that. After reading the manga, I can say for certain that this is one of my favorite arcs. Even though I would choose the movie over the series, if you’re going to watch one over the other, I would recommend the series, if not only for the extra episode and the banger music.

*an 8.5/10 on my rating scale is "amazing and enjoyable"