Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite” must have surprised everyone just as it surprised me. You probably thought this just another season finale. It actually is that finale, but that’s not the only thing it is. In fact, it seems to herald the beginning of the end of the anime series as a whole.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”: Details

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Hashira Training Arc NA key visual.
As it turns out, there’s a reason why every Hashira is here.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite” is the eighth and final episode (you can read reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, and Ep. 7 here) of the fourth season of this dark fantasy adventure and martial arts anime series. Said season comes on the heels of the previous season, which was the Swordsmith Village Arc. Meanwhile, said anime series as a whole is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Koyoharu Gotouge. Ufotable (Fate/Zero, God Eater, Tales of Zestiria the X) is the animation studio behind this anime. Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime for its NA debut.

Yūji Shimizu, Seiji Harada, and Haruo Sotozaki all co-directed Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”, with Takashi Suhara and Yō Miura doing the storyboard. As for the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime as a whole, Haruo Sotozaki is still the director. Ufotable still collectively claims credit for the writing. Akifumi Fujio, Masanori Miyake, and Yūma Takahashi are all producing. Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina composed the music you hear in the anime.

Speaking of music: the opening theme song for this season is “Mugen” (夢幻, lit. ’Dream’) by MY FIRST STORY and HYDE. The same band also performs “Tokoshie” (トコシエ, lit. ’Eternity’) as the ending theme music.

Voice Cast

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite” features the voices of Natsuki Hanae (Zach Aguilar in English dub) as Tanjiro Kamado, Hiro Shimono (Aleks Le in English dub) as Zenitsu Agatsuma, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Bryce Papenbrook in English dub) as Inosuke Hashibira, Nobuhiko Okamoto (Zeno Robinson in English dub) as Genya Shinazugawa, and Reina Ueda (Brianna Knickerbocker in English dub) as Kanao Tsuyuri.

On the Hashira side: we have Tomokazu Sugita (Crispin Freeman in English dub) as Gyomei Himejima, Takahiro Sakurai (Johnny Yong Bosch in English dub) as Giyu Tomioka, Tomokazu Seki (Kaiji Tang in English dub) as Sanemi Shinazugawa, Kana Hanazawa (Kira Buckland in English dub) as Mitsuri Kanroji, Kenichi Suzumura (Erik Scott Kimerer in English dub) as Obanai Iguro, Kengo Kawanishi (Griffin Burns in English dub) as Muichirō Tokitō, and Saori Hayami (Erika Harlacher in English dub) as Shinobu Kocho. The other notable voices on the Demon Slayers’ side is Toshiyuki Morikawa (Matthew Mercer in English dub) as Kagaya Ubuyashiki, Rina Satō (Suzie Yeung in English dub) as Amane Ubuyashiki, Yumiri Hanamori (Kimberly Woods in English dub) as Hinaki Ubuyashiki, Ari Ozawa (Brianna Knickerbocker in English dub) as Nichika Ubuyashiki, and Maaya Sakamoto (Laura Post in English dub) as Tamayo.

On the demons’ side, we have Toshihiko Seki (Greg Chun in English dub) as Muzan Kibutsuji.

When and Where to Watch

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on June 30, 2024. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll at the moment. As for the previous seasons of the anime (including the anime film), you can watch it on Crunchyroll, Hulu, or Netflix.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”: Synopsis

I think this trailer alone should tell you a whole lot.

Alas, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is still an ongoing anime series despite the conclusion of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc. In fact, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite” only just made its debut two days ago as of this writing. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis from Crunchyroll…is what I would like to say, but alas, there’s a problem. This episode has nothing but a blank space where the synopsis should be, just like the episode before this one did at the time of its writing. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis of the anime as a whole instead, also from Crunchyroll. You can check out that synopsis below:

It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself.

Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”: The Good

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 "The Hashira Unite" screenshot showing the Ubuyashikis being confronted with Muzan Kibutsuji.
The ultimate good versus evil here.

As always, it’s the story of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”- the best part about it. However, it’s even more so in this case than even in the previous episodes. Seriously, this whole episode is just a series of escalating “WTF” moments in a very good way. My jaw was just half-open in shock for much of the episode. I can’t even talk about the specifics of the episode’s story without spoiling anything. I can only say that it involves a bunch of major character deaths, a massive explosion, and a bunch of screaming and fighting. You’ll have to watch the episode for yourself to find out what all that means.

Complementing that jaw-droppingly wonderful story by Koyoharu Gotouge is the animation. Once again, Ufotable has proven that they are committed to maintaining a very high level of animation quality for this anime. Really, it’s feature-length anime film levels of quality in this episode alone. Honestly, given that this episode is a little over 40 minutes long, it’s practically a short anime film as it is. Of particular note is the aforementioned explosion, which is as beautiful as it is horrific.

Finally, Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina have one heck of a soundtrack for this finale episode. A significant portion of why this episode is so great is because of the epic music and vocals. You need to hear the chanting and sick violin riffs for yourself to understand how good it is.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”: The Bad

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 "The Hashira Unite" screenshot showing a confidently smiling Muzan Kibutsuji.
Don’t worry. His smirk will be wiped off of his face soon enough.

Do you not like stylish action or intense drama? Honestly, I think even most action junkies will finish watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 8 “The Hashira Unite”, and leave very much satisfied. However, if the action is getting too intense for you, then might I suggest Astro Note, Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF, Black Butler -Public School Arc-, and/or DDDD to cool off with? You might enjoy something lighter to relax a bit with.

For more on Anime, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Keep Reading:

‘Kaiju No. 8’ Confirms Sequel Following Season 1 Finale