Abit late but here's my review. I'll make it completely unbiased. So far this is the worst season Demon Slayer has to offer, even damaging to the overall series, but I'll start with the positive things it has to offer.

• It has a strong start, introducing the characters and giving alot of unbelievably cute moments:

The above one particularly killed me.

• It has decent music, an emotional ED and a strong OP.

• It does a good job of adapting the manga arc.

• Also it's Demon Slayer, so the story / backstories are pretty solid. This arc goes over the stories of a few of the characters, such as Genya and more.

• We got some pretty epic scenes, especially with my boy Muichiro.

Now onto the flaws:

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• The least important flaw: the atmosphere was entirely depressing. A good contrast is the Entertainment District Arc's atmosphere: dark in a sense, with burning buildings on the cover, but the arc had alot of creative designs, even tho it was limited to one place mostly. Swordsmith Village, in contrast, is almost entirely set in a dark, depressing forest with nothing flashy and no diversity to make up for it. I would've enjoyed anything more.

• The comedy. There were some better moments, but the main attempt at comedy in this arc was the mean, weird swordsmith guy. Neither funny, new or enjoyable.

• Nezuko just helps in the fights. Cool and all but that's not new anymore like before. Give us something more with her.

• An underwhelming finale (if you know the part I mean). I'm sure this is gonna be the most controversial thing in my review. It was cool and all but relying on an emotional atmosphere for a part that was not built up to in this season can end up feeling kinda mid.

• We could've at least been told that Inosuke and Zenitsu, some of the characters carrying the seasons until now, wouldn't appear in this arc. Not complaining about them not showing up as that's just the canon, but warnings are good too.

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Main Flaw #1: Apparent Plot Armor

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As an anime season, it fails to show why some of the characters won some fights they did, the reasons which, however, were shown in the manga soon after. There was a reason, however good or mid it was, for Muichiro and and Mitsuri to win the fight right when they were losing, but because that reason isn't shown here, and their flashbacks are shown, all we get is "oh, he can power up through sheer willpower. oh, she can power up through sheer love." And the thrill of that is cool but only for about 5 seconds.

Losing Fight -> Dramatic Flashback -> Winning Fight EZ. Kind of the worst thing you can do for your anime.

Just look at the banner at the top of this review. You see 2 characters (or at least part of them on mobile). When a season has 1 main thing to offer, creates a misunderstanding with it, and doesn't clear things up..... I mean just think of the poor anime-only fans who think the story is now less than mid..

"Maybe that's not the only main thing it has to offer?"

Yes, yes it is. When a season spends 9 and a half out of 11 episodes on a single event, that's the main course.

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Main Flaw #2: The Production

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"What?? Demon Slayer surely has great production, that's literally what it's known for!!"

Yes, true. It does. The animation, art and music are all really good. But it's been 2 years since Entertainment District Arc came out. Fans have been able to enjoy an upward trend since the anime first came out in 2019. The last season was absolutely stunning in terms of production, music and animation. This season doesn't really compare. It's a step back instead.

Fight scene (spoilers for both seasons mentioned) gifs for both to compare:

Spoiler, click to view

In contrast to

Both good, for sure, but one season is stunning and the other is weaker and cgi-carried at times..

And of course the music is more subjective, but I could make an argument that of all the seasons, this one has the worst OP, ED and ost.

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Conclusion:

So without a clear explanation of the fight's ending, and without the same quality of production as before, is there really anything that makes this season shine like the rest?

In spite of all this, I am not going to rate the season low per se. The manga arc isn't nearly as bad, because along with the good story, you get everything explained right after with no wait. Even if this somewhat fails as an anime season, judging it purely as an adaption of the manga arc, it does a good job. And as for the production, mid for Demon Slayer is pretty good. I give it 50/100, literally just in the middle.