Demon Slayer Season 2 Premiere Nabs Surprising Rating Overseas

The first episode of Demon Slayer Season 2 Ranks Among Japans top TV Shows

By Kofi Outlaw

With the second season of Demon Slayer landing last week, the ratings have come in for the next chapter of the Demon Slayer Corps. Scoring a ten percent rating on the airwaves, Tanjiro and his friends' return was witnessed by ten percent of Japanese households, proving the staying power that the Shonen franchise has. Needless to say, the series has quite the audience, with the latest season even netting bigger ratings than the like of Grey's Anatomy in Japan.

As you can see below, there is a bit of confusion on the part of fans, regarding whether or not Demon Slayer season 2 is off to a good start or not: 

Demon Slayer's popularity has swelled to unprecedented heights over the last two years, since it premiered in Spring 2019. The manga series has crushed all records in readership and sales, ranking it as one of the most successful manga of all time. Season 1 of the anime found similar success, shooting to the top of virtually every critic's list of best anime (or just all-around TV), and finding its way onto pretty much every anime rankings list of note (often in the top spot). The 2020 film release, Mugen Train, also broke box office records, grossing $503 million at the worldwide box office - making it the highest-grossing film released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 In short: Demon Slayer is more than simply "anime," it is a legitimate international hit franchise. 

That all said, Demon Slayer season 2 has stirred a bit of "controversy" with fans, due to the fact that it is starting off with a recap arc of the Mugen movie. That fact has led some fans to misinterpret the season 2 ratings as something bad, when they are in fact quite the opposite. Moreover, the season 2 premiere episode of Demon Slayer, "Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku" was actually a new and expansive chapter of the series, which acted as a prequel to the Mugen Train arc, and gave us a solo adventure with fan-favorite character Rengoku, aka the Demon Slayers' "Flame Hashira." It will be the second episode of Demon Slayer Season 2, "Deep Sleep" (and the overall episodes 2-7 redo) which will tell the tale of whether or not the series' extended version of the Mugen Train movie causes a dip in viewer engagement. 

Demon Slayer Season 2 is now streaming new episodes weekly on Funimation and Hulu. 

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