Demon Slayer Season 2 Review: Ends Right When it Begins
When Koyoharu Gotouge's original manga series first hit the scene it was a pretty modest hit within the pages of Shueisha's Shonen Jump. The series truly started taking off in 2019 thanks to not only the success of the anime, but due to the wider availability of the manga around the world too. The first season felt like a warm up for what could be possible from the team at ufotable and director Haruo Sotozaki, who only had a few notable projects before jumping into a full Shonen Jump production. So it was safe to say that the anticipation was through the roof for the follow up.
It's also safe to say that follow up made sure to deliver as well, so soon the success of the Mugen Train movie was followed by a full second season just a year after the movie first hit theaters in Japan. Kicking off with a repackaged version of the movie (with a few extras made for TV) before launching into a brand new arc, the second season unfortunately faced an uphill battle. No matter what, it was going to be compared to what came before. Thankfully, the second season does manage to stick the landing all of its own regardless of all that pressure. It just took a while to get to that point.
While the Entertainment District arc was the true start of the new material, you can't reflect on Season 2 of the series without mentioning the first seven weeks of it. Beginning with material exclusively made for the anime with its premiere, the second season spent Episodes 2-7 showcasing a TV of the Mugen Train film. These episodes included new opening and ending themes, an additional post-credits gag scene, and seemingly not much else was tweaked. It mainly served as a way for fans to catch up to the events of the movie if they hadn't seen it, but for those who had seen it, those six weeks really derailed that forward momentum.
The Entertainment District arc itself gets off to an interesting start, however, and that's what makes that early viewing experience that much tougher. Tanjiro and the others are immediately introduced to a new Hashira, Tengen Uzui, who intriguingly is a completely different type of character than the openly kind and honest Kyojuro Rengoku. With the Pillar of the story (in all senses of the word) immediately having a much different energy than what's come before, the new material feels immediately fun. Added to the intrigue of an investigation into a new setting, and the wheels got turning fast.
Then they just kept spinning and never quite stopped. The second season begins with the tease of Tanjiro and the others taking on a disguise and doing some secret investigating in order to find a hidden demon, but the demon's reveal happens in a moment that doesn't really involve them at all. The demon's revealed soon after they're introduced, so there's no real time to invest in any kind of real mystery. It all seems like it's there to add flavor to the setting (which it does) but there's no substance to that additional bit of flair.
It's all in service for the main fight of the series that takes place over the course of the arc. Once the fight gets going, it's one intense moment after another. Everything is put together in a stellar way from top to bottom, and there are several moments that outshine what came before in the Mugen Train movie and the first season. Demon Slayer has made a name for itself with its stellar visual presentation, and that's very much the case with the second season. But when looking back at the events of each fight, that's really all there is to it.
There is very little time spent (outside of the season premiere and finale) in the space in between each fight. There's very little time to breathe and truly have each of the characters react to, let alone truly overcome, each of their respective challenges. Unlike other Shonen series of its ilk, it's not a mental hurdle in the guise of a powerful villain, it's just some demon that Tanjiro and the others have to defeat or they're dead. It's missing that personal touch that should make you root for Tanjiro and the others all the more beyond the obvious want for their survival. When Tanjiro succeeds, you're supposed to want him and the others to succeed.
The season is so lacking in that hefty emotional anchor that the only way to truly raise the stakes is continue to physically abuse its characters. It's taken to an extent where it gets kind of indefensible to keep some of them alive without huge leaps of logic and easy fixes. The most unfortunate thing is that Season 2 does eventually reach this peak of emotional investment and intense action. It's just that by the time it happens, we're already at the end of the season. It's over right when it began. All in a flash.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Arc and Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc are now streaming with Crunchyroll and Funimation.