SPOILERS: Following the Entertainment District, that seemed to have a set purpose in what it was trying to tell, Swordsmith Village throws you around from fight to fight with zero build up, zero attachment, and zero intent on explaining anything. The constant use of, "but how?" is asked a plethora of times to which the story refuses to elaborate any further. Muichirou for example, when hit by poison, the Upper 5 demon asks how he could be resisting all the poison. It simply does not affect him only until the fight is over, and by happen stance, he has enough strength to deliver a blade to Tanjiro just to fall over and pass out for the second time. It's simply a device to say, "hey, here's why Muichirou is not able to do anything for the rest of the season." While still being inconsistent in it being poison and not some strength sapping material. Another example of the "but how?" that is so blatantly swept under the rug is Nezuko being able to survive at the end of the season. It not only ruins the scene from something genuinely painful for the main character to go through but could well lead to an interesting character arc for him to go through. Instead, we are left with everything working out fine because we get hit with the same explanation as anything with her. In the words of Tanjiro, "I don't know how it happened, but I'm glad it did." The same is shown in Nezuko lighting Tanjiro's sword on fire to which he just simply levels up for some very strange out of nowhere way. It wasn't earned, it isn't logical, and it simply feels forced like they had no organic way of having Tanjiro grow as a character for the entirety of this season.

But for a brief moment, going back to Nezuko, the writing is extremely lazy in writing off every single plot convenient thing she does as "she's an anomaly" which to that I say, you didn't even try to hide the fact that everything she does is for the sake of the plot or false and artificial tension which is, again, incredibly lazy and makes it so that everything can be solved with an excuse. Not to mention that established problems now just simply don't happen despite the fact they most certainly would have. The most glaring of the issues being Nezuko's big-tit demon form which Tanjiro himself even makes a comment about "Don't transform" out of fear that she may lose control again like in the Entertainment District Arc, where she wasn't in the form for very long before losing her sense of self. But after being in this form, for literally the majority of the season, she does not even struggle to control it. It's jarring due to the already established problems that the form has if Nezuko uses it for too long.
And now we can get into another blaring overshadowing issue this season faces, from the conception of episode 1, we are informed that Upper Rank 5 demon has found the Swordsmith Village which has been hidden from them for at least decades. How did he find this out? I don't know, because that question is never answered. A majority of the issues is that simply things happen for the sake of happening. The reveal of the Swordsmith Village wasn't the fault of a character, or even relevant enough to share the insight to this very secret location. It is not a domino that went into play because of something that happened in a previous season or character choosing to give it away. Nothing, it just is told and you have to accept that, no questions asked.
The same is shown in Muichirou going to Hotaru Haganezuka's shed where he's making Tanjiro's sword. Why is the Upper Rank Demon here? He doesn't even know why the shack is important. It just happens, because the plot is supposed to take place here. Why isn't he helping attack the village? I don't know they don't tell you. Another very clear "they don't tell you moment" is Genya as a character before the fight, being very combative and unsociable, his entire personality. There is none. Sure we see his backstory as to why he's a demon slayer but we don't see why his personality shifted other than his brother basically disowning him. To continue building on stupidity, let's discuss Tanjiro's mini training arc with the robot with six arms. To think that no one but him has cut off the head of the robot, and to also think that Tanjiro genuinely did not eat or drink in his time training despite the fact that we never see him out at night, meaning he probably returned to the village for sleep, makes zero sense why he would put himself on the verge of death for a kid who he even says to not be aware of his declining state. It's dumb, it makes no sense, and you won't ever know why. You just accept what you see on screen.
To continue talking about the characters, by the end we don't care really about anyone other than maybe Muichirou who had his whole character backstory dumped on us while he was stuck. While the story wasn't anything bad, I can't say it made me care about his character anymore than before other than the fact he's less insufferable to talk to. Mitsuri doesn't even have really any interesting things about her other than the message of "be yourself don't hide who you are" in a very basic plot. The two Upper rank demons are also not given any to little backstory. That also brings me to expectations set at the beginning of the story about the upper ranks. They have been known to kill literally over 50 Hashira, yet only one Hashira has died while 3 Upper Rank demons have now perished. One to a beginner demon slayer Tanjiro, and now the other two in this season. The expectations and fear of the Upper Ranks that was set up is now completely gone. We don't fear nor even think that the Hashira's have a chance of losing. They just all happen to be the most skilled of any Hashira they've faced before I suppose. The fights with both Upper Rank demons were also extremely underwhelming, either being prolonged throughout most of the season with very questionable pacing, mostly due to the fact that we have three backstories given to us. Perhaps, dare I say it, that the season needed more episodes to give everyone their depth and make the pacing less abhorrent, or we also could have stuck to the 11 episode format, but cut out most of the fluff and parts of the fight that add nothing.