Demon Slayer has easily become one of the most popular anime series of its generation, and a huge part of that has to do with its fights. In particular, the production quality behind Ufotable's animation, combined with the beautiful art style used by in the original manga, created a perfect formula for success. Season two single-handedly propelled the series to new heights thanks to its emotionally charged Hashira battles, and fans had extremely high expectations for season three because of that.
With season three's finale now in hindsight, much of those expectations weren't met. It could just be the case that sights were simply set too high to ever be reachable, but that's too simple an excuse. On the other hand, it is easy to point the blame at the animation studio itself, being that at least half of the credit to the series' successful anime adaptation rightfully belongs to Ufotable for its success. However, there's actually a more concrete explanation to point to. Simply put, it's actually the nature of the source material itself that is to blame for the lesser intensity of this season's combat sequences.
Hantengu Never Got to Show His Full Potential
Part of what makes Demon Slayer's fights so epic is the sheer overwhelming power that demons have in the face of Tanjiro and his friends. With Hantengu's combined clones making up Zohakuten, The Upper Rank 4 demon appeared to once again set a new precedent for power in the series. Zohakuten's mere presence gave off such an intimidating pressure that Tanjiro could barely take a breath or move. Unfortunately, he never ended up putting the Slayers in as much of a precarious position as even Gyutaro did, who was actually two ranks lower.
In Ufotable's defense, the animation for the fight was up to par with anything they've done so far, and Mitsuri's acrobatic fighting techniques in particular were everything manga readers could've imagined they would be. Still, even in the manga, Mitsuri is relegated to the position of holding off the Upper 4's clone while Tanjiro chases down its real body, and thus she doesn't truly get to shine as much as she could've. There's only so much an animation can embellish a fight before it loses all emotional weight and disconnects completely from the source material.
Despite coming off as one of the most powerful and intimidating demons thus far, and being second in rank only to Akaza, Hantengu's battle just didn't have the same sense of impending doom to it as those in prior arcs. Even the main defining moment of the arc, Nezuko's apparent death, was really more a case of the sun rising at an inopportune moment than it was a direct result of Hantengu's terrifying strength.
Tokito Soloed One of the Strongest Demons in the Series Thus Far
One of the situations in the manga most indicative of the fact that the fights were much lower stakes in the Swordsmith Village arc than in previous arcs was Muichiro Tokito's fight against the Upper Moon 5, Gyokko. When compared to one like Tengen's fight against Gyutaro, the stakes never felt anywhere near as high. Of course, it also helps that Tokito was able to unlock a hidden level of strength thanks to his Demon Slayer Mark. While it perhaps says more about Tokito's sheer prodigal strength than it does about Gyokko's weakness, that doesn't change the fact that this fight was pretty underwhelming overall.
For manga readers, this arc was really more about introducing new characters and building on Tanjiro's relationship with those characters than it was about the fights themselves. In that sense, season three of the anime did everything required of this arc and then some—even if it did begin with a lackluster film release. Tokito's development over the short period of this season's 12 episodes was one of the highlights, and he's sure to be a fan-favorite character for the series moving forward. The stage is now set for some major advancements to begin unfolding, and fans will just have to wait for Demon Slayer's upcoming fourth season to see what Muzan's next move will be.
The Fights Were Never The Most Important Part of The Swordsmith Village Arc
As it stands, animation studios are already tasked with adding fluff and fleshing out fight sequences to make them more natural and realistic to watch in motion. Ufotable definitely has proven itself more than capable at this, as the Hashira's signature breathing techniques are ordinarily relegated to one—albeit beautifully drawn—picture in the manga. In season three, this was the case once again, but the difference this time around had mainly to do with the surrounding circumstances around the fights than the actual scenes themselves.
Though fights have always taken center stage for Demon Slayer—and they certainly still did in season three—this arc was never really about the fights. Instead, numerous character motivations and story revelations were revealed that made up the real substance of the Swordsmith Village Arc. Between introducing two key Hashira, demonstrating Gentaro's hidden ability, hinting at the meaning of the Slayer mark, and displaying Nezuko's sunlight immunity, this season was all about introducing key concepts to set things up for what's in store for the future.
The revelation of the Slayer mark in particular also explains why much of the fighting was less intense this time around. At least part of it was to demonstrate just how much of a power increase the Hashira receive once their mark is activated. After all, they'll need every bit of strength they can get if they want to survive the upcoming battles hinted at in the season finale. Ultimately, while it would be easy to just dismiss it as the anime is falling off, the Swordsmith Village arc has always been one of the more underwhelming arcs in terms of combat in the manga, but that's not indicative of the rest of the series going forward—nor is it a reflection of Ufotable's work on the animation.