Ahead of the theatrical release of the film adaptation of Demon Slayer‘s Infinity Castle arc, Crunchyroll has released official, feature-length episodes highlighting impactful moments from the series so far titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba TV Specials. With five streamlined chapters to revisit the Tanjiro Kamado Unwavering Resolve arc, the new collections offers a fast-paced recap for longtime fans, or even a condensed way to jump into the series before the movie released in September 2025.
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As of writing, all five episodes are available exclusively on Crunchyroll in English-speaking territories and Latin America. The episodes are titled “Sibling’s Bond”, “Asakusa Arc”, “Tsuzumi Mansion Arc”, “Mt. Natagumo Arc”, and “Hashira Meeting Arc”. While this isn’t the first time Demon Slayer has created feature-length content to seamlessly connect and bridge new seasons, this is the first time the franchise has released a serialized collection that condenses the entire series in this way.
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Despite Its Relatively Short Run, Demon Slayer Became a Worldwide Sensation
Originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ran for just over four years from 2016 to 2020 with a total of 205 chapters that were collected into 23 individual volumes, or tankobon. Compared to many of the other smash-hit success stories to come out of Shonen Jump, Demon Slayer had a relatively short run, managing to wrap up its story exactly how it intended to and without needing to drag things along for countless chapters against the creator’s wishes. It was, all things considered, the best thing for the manga, as its easy to digest story and gorgeously illustrated panels gave fans enough to get attached to, and with the release of Ufotable’s absolutely stunning anime adaptation, gave the fandom a reason to keep going despite the anime coming to an end. While the manga was popular on its own, the anime adaptation skyrocketed the franchise to new heights, and, in 2020, Demon Slayer had made $8.75 billion, becoming the highest-grossing series in Japan, surpassing other properties like Anpanman, Mickey Mouse, and even Pokémon.
To really cement just how massive Demon Slayer‘s cultural impact has been, Oricon Monitor Research conducted a survey in 2020 just to see how familiar the Japanese public is with the franchise. Astoundingly, 90% of the individuals surveyed reported that they knew of the series, with 40.5% of participants stating that they either engaged directly with the manga or anime, or that they were very familiar with the story. While the sudden boom in Demon Slayer‘s popularity could potentially be attributed to the COVID-19 lockdowns that occurred around the time the series initially aired, which would put more eyes on its week-to-week release, it’s clear that the franchise very much stands on its own for earning its audience. Gege Akutami, the creator of another Weekly Shonen Jump superstar, Jujutsu Kaisen, stated that Demon Slayer was an excellent entry-point for those new to reading manga, which perfectly captures just how important Demon Slayer is for the industry.
Source(s): Viz Media, Crunchyroll
