REVIEW: ‘Demon Slayer To The Harisha Training’ Is A Deserved Theatrical Experience

For fans of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, it’s not surprising that Aniplex and Crunchyroll are bringing Demon Slayer back to theaters in 2024. This year, Demon Slayer’s theatrical run follows the same formula as the previous theatrical event. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Hashira Training (Kimetsu no Yaiba Kizuna no Kiseki, Soshite Hashira Geiko e) combines the last episode of Season 3, Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc, with the first episode of Season 4, Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training. This allows fans to remember where the last season left off before this new arc starts as Tanjiro enters the beginning of the training to be a member of the hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Last year, many were divided about this event format, and the division is still a part of the conversation. This type of showing is still relatively new in the US. Still, the feature is not offering anything different other than allowing people to watch the first episode before its premiere later this Spring. There aren’t any bonus scenes, extended cuts, or behind-the-scenes additions. We see the ending to Swordsmith Village with the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji and the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito.

That may be a con to anyone on the fence about going, but to me, the experience itself is still worth a big-screen viewing. There’s no arguing about how impressive ufotable’s animation is, and it only gets better as each season goes on. In the darkness of a theater, you can vividly see the attention to colors, movements, and composition. It feels as if every episode is animated to be shown in a theater.

Something that also struck me is how much more impactful certain moments felt. Episode 11 of Season 3 contains the final showdown between Tanjiro and Hantengu, and while those moments are intense and shine on a larger screen, the moments of stillness stand out more.

In Demon Slayer Season 3 Episode 11, we see Tanjiro Kamado’s (Natsuki Hanae) younger sister Nezuko (Akari Kitô) sacrifice herself for her brother to save the villagers Hantengu is pursuing. As she is burning in the sun, she kicks Tanjiro off of her, and the moment he is in mid-air, it’s as if the world stops. Watching this scene at home was emotional, but in a theater filled with hundreds of people, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. The silence was so loud it made the moment all the more impactful.

As the screening transitions to the first episode of To the Hashira Training arc, a completely new tone is set. The episode begins in a high-action but moody-colored scene, completely offsetting the emotional ending we just witnessed. We are reminded just how high the stakes are and how much we still don’t know about the demons. And we see the entrance of the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.

Compared to a home viewing, this type of experience offers a sense of community among the fandom. Watching something you normally watch alone at home, in a room filled with fans just as excited as you, feels like watching a Marvel or DC movie. It is truly an event made for anime fans. At the end of the screening, the theater was filled with fans buzzing about what they had witnessed and what might be coming next in the season.

All that to say, while fans of Demon Slayer will certainly enjoy watching both episodes on the big screen, this event may be more suited for fans of the movie theater experience in general. The animation and sound are stunning on a larger screen, and it is a wonderful way to experience Demon Slayer. However, like last time, it may leave some disappointed and wanting more without a bonus scene or extra content.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Hashira Training is playing in select theaters now.