Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji” is the first episode of the new season, and it’s already starting off with Tanjiro recuperating once more. However, there’s more to it than that. This is the start of a training arc, and if you think that there’s the usual halt in character exploration and development, then oh boy, you’re going to be in for a pleasant surprise.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji”: Details

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Hashira Training Arc NA key visual.
You can tell that the Hashiras are in the spotlight this season.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji” is the first episode 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.

Shin’ya Shimomura and Takashi Suhara are the directors behind Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji”, with the both of them also doing the storyboard. As for the anime as a whole, Haruo Sotozaki is still the director. Ufotable 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. Alas, we don’t know what the ending theme song is yet as of this writing.

Voice Cast

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji” features the voices of Natsuki Hanae (Zach Aguilar in English dub) as Tanjiro Kamado, Akari Kitō (Abby Trott in English dub) as Nezuko Kamado, Hiro Shimono (Aleks Le in English dub) as Zenitsu Agatsuma, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Bryce Papenbrook in English dub) as Inosuke Hashibira, Reina Ueda (Brianna Knickerbocker in English dub) as Kanao Tsuyuri, and Nobuhiko Okamoto (Zeno Robinson in English dub) as Genya Shinazugawa.

For the Hashira, 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. We even have Katsuyuki Konishi (Ray Chase in English dub) as Tengen Uzui.

Other notable voice roles for this episode include Toshiyuki Morikawa (Matthew Mercer in English dub) as Kagaya Ubuyashiki, Rina Satō (Suzie Yeung in English dub) as Amane Ubuyashiki, and Maaya Sakamoto (Laura Post in English dub) as Tamayo.

When and Where to Watch

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on May 12, 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. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji”: Synopsis

You can already tell just in the thumb how much effort Ufotable put into this anime.

Alas, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is an ongoing anime series. In fact, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji” is the pilot episode of the new season, and it just premiered three 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 pilot episode has nothing but a blank space where the synopsis should be. 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. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji”: The Good

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 "To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji" screenshot showing all the (remaining) Hashira assembled.
A meeting of the big good folks…well, what’s left of them, at any rate.

First off, I have to make it clear that I am a huge fan of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Have been since that first episode of the anime aired all the way back on April 6, 2019. You might have noticed that if you read any of my previous reviews and articles about this anime. Thus, I will freely admit that I am very heavily biased towards this anime. With that out of the way, let’s begin.

The story of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji” is clearly the best part about it. Koyoharu Gotouge did a wonderful job with this part of the story. Basically, it’s a breather chapter after the dark fantasy action of the Swordsmith Village Arc. At the same time though, it’s also a good example of worldbuilding, as it fleshes out the world of this story more with this discussion among the Hashira. It even fits in character exploration with the Hashiras’ personalities. Combine all that with the comedy, and it’s everything you could ever want from a story, not just a shonen anime.

The animation also deserves much praise though. As in the previous seasons, Ufotable went all out with that animation. It’s on par with Black Butler in terms of animation quality. It’s feature-length anime film levels of quality in an anime series, even for the non-action bits. There’s no two ways about it; it’s just gorgeous.

Lastly, there’s the music. The power duo of Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina have done it again with a stunning soundtrack. The music is not only incredible, but it also fits each scene it plays in. Need I say more?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 “To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji”: The Bad

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Hashira Training Arc Ep. 1 "To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji" screenshot showing a worried Nezuko sitting on a bed.
Don’t worry, Nezuko. Not many people hate this anime, I believe.

Honestly, this episode has it all. It’s predominately drama and slice of life, but it also has a massive dose of action at the beginning. If you don’t like any of them, then I’m not sure what to say. Perhaps a calmer and more relaxing anime like My Dress-Up Darling, Astro Note, or Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF is more your speed?