The Demon Slayer Season 2 release date has been confirmed to be scheduled for December 5, the Fall 2021 anime season. But new content related to Mugen Train premieres on October 10, 2021.
Demon Slayer Season 2 Episode 1 will be a one-hour special that’s an original story featuring the day leading up to the events of Mugen Train. New episodes will be streaming at 11:15 PM JST (10:15 AM EST) on Sundays.
The anime TV sequel is officially titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -Entertainment District Arc- (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Yuukaku-hen).
The demon Daki (Upper Six) will be voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro.
Furthermore, the first cour of the second season will re-adapt the Mugen Train story arc that was covered by the movie! Beginning on October 10, 2021, the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train Arc TV version will release 7 episodes and add more details in 70 new scenes, especially the aftermath of the story arc that leads up to the Entertainment District arc.
These Mugen Train episodes for Demon Slayer Season 2 will definitely cover missing details from the Mugen Train arc like Tanjiro visiting Rengoku’s family mansion in manga Chapters 67 through 69. Better yet, the second season offers an expanded version of Mugen Train for that includes an entirely original story
According to email correspondance from Crunchyroll, the original episode features Kyojuro Rengoku taking on a new mission on the way to the Mugen Train. But it’s also apparently focused on some of our favorite female characters!
Waifu arc incoming pic.twitter.com/ihcEzeX0AY
— Chifuyu (@ChifuyuMatsun0) September 25, 2021
The music artist performing the Demon Slayer Season OP (opening) for the Mugen Train arc will be LiSA. She will be performing the opening theme “Akeboshi” and ending (ED) theme ”Shirogane”.
Starting on December 5, 2021, Aimer will perform the new OP for the Entertainment District/Yuukaku arc. Aimer will be performing the opening theme “Zankyosanka” and ending theme ”Asa ga kuru”.
That means it’s been officially confirmed that Demon Slayer Season 2 will have two cours. A “cour” is a three-month unit of TV broadcasting based on the physical weather seasons.
The second cour will be streaming in Winter 2022, which means that Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 is not a split-cour anime, which is when a single anime season takes a TV broadcasting break before resuming after several months. Recent examples include Attack On Titan: The Final Season (please see our articles on the Attack On Titan Season 4 Part 2 release date).
On September 25, 2021, it was confirmed that Crunchyroll is streaming Demon Slayer Season 2.
On July 21, 2021, FUNimation confirmed that it will be streaming the anime TV series in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. FUNimation will be streaming the second season in Latin America territories at a later date.
FUNimation also released a Demon Slayer Season 2 trailer with English subtitles.
The official announcement of the release year was initially made in early 2021. On July 4, 2021, it was confirmed after an event at Aniplex Online Fest 2021 that the Demon Slayer Season 2 release date was still scheduled for 2021.
“Get ready for a new mission in the Yoshiwara Entertainment District with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc coming in 2021!” stated the official English Twitter account.
On July 13, 2021, the official Demon Slayer Season 2 TV broadcast information for Japan was released in addition to the first key visual.
Rather than a completely new trailer, the new key visual in animated form was also released onto YouTube (it was the same trailer that was later released by FUNimation).
Get ready for a new mission in the Yoshiwara Entertainment District with #DemonSlayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc coming in 2021! ✨ pic.twitter.com/GPwnlL2mVK
— Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (English) (@DemonSlayerUSA) July 5, 2021
In addition to the Kimetsu no Yaiba anime series, Aniplex Online Fest 2021 also made announcements concerning anime like Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night, Fate/Grand Order, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgis no Kaiten, and Magia Record Season 2.
The Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Blu-Ray/DVD release date was on June 16, 2021. It included English subs, but not FUNimation’s English dub, which came out on June 22, 2021.
The Demon Slayer movie’s USA release date was on April 21, 2021 (see below for more details).
A Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 preview released during the AnimeJapan 2021 livestream. It contains brief clips from the new episodes without an English dub or subtitles. The Japanese voice actors can be heard laughing and talking about the anime TV sequel.
A Demon Slayer Season 2 anime announcement was only a matter of time based on the stunning success of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba movie in Japan while in the middle of a pandemic.
The single-day Demon Slayer: Mugen Train box office numbers for the opening day have already slain all previous movie records in Japan, including Frozen 2 and Harry Potter. The total box office amounted to 31,721,231,550 yen (roughly $307 million USD).
The film even beat the record set by Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, which gives the anime production committee plenty of incentive to make a Demon Slayer Movie 2 sequel. (Please see the stories in the links for the detailed breakdown of the Demon Slayer box office numbers.)
What’s more, anime news leakers had already claimed that the Demon Slayer Season 2 production had already begun.
On October 12, 2020, Spytrue wrote, “We killed one demon. The rest is soon other. Let’s kill the second one. Confirmed mission.” Two days later, Spytrue claimed, “[Kimetsu no Yaiba] Season 2 in Production”.
In addition to the TV sequel announcement, a Demon Slayer Season 2 trailer was released on February 14, 2021.
Apparently, some companies involved in the anime project wanted another movie sequel rather than a TV sequel. On December 15, 2020, a managing producer for Toho said the company wanted to do a Demon Slayer: Yuukaku-hen movie that’s based on the manga’s Entertainment District (Red Light District) story arc.
“We are anxious to do a [Demon Slayer] sequel,” Ichikawa Minami said at a Tokyo press conference. “Three companies are involved. We [Toho] are distributing. Since I am in this position, I am anxious for [a Demon Slayer sequel], but I have not heard of any subsequent actions [toward greenlighting the production].”
Aniplex partnered with Toho for distributing the Mugen Train movie in Japan, but Toho is not one of the three companies on the anime production committee. Aniplex is the anime/music distributer, Shueisha publishes the manga by creator Koyoharu Gotoge, and ufotable is the animation studio.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 will be the sequel to the breakout anime hit of 2019. Reviews of the first season have been stellar, and the anime has often topped the popularity charts of Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Funimation. Sales of the manga series topped six million in May 2019, and if fans devote whole sub-Reddits to the demon named Nezuko, you know they’ll be demanding Demon Slayer Season 2.
Not only has Demon Slayer done well on streaming platforms, but the Oricon charts also show that Demon Slayer Blu-Ray/DVD sales in Japan have been about double of the Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken anime… and we all know how That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Season 2 was announced immediately.
And, now the new Demon Slayer movie has set box office records for all movie releases in Japan, not just animated movies. It broke 1 billion yen on a Friday and set the new record for single-day admissions. Thus, the Demon Slayer Season 2 anime announcement was inevitable.
Director Haruo Sotozaki (Tales of Symphonia: The Animation) is returning for the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -Entertainment District-. Lead character designer Akira Matsushima is also confirmed to be returning.
For the first season, the sub-character designers were Miyuki Sato, Yoko Kajiyama, and Mika Kikuchi. The music was composed by Yuki Kajiura (Sword Art Online, Fate/Zero, and Madoka Magica) and Go Shiina (Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, and God Eater). Hikaru Kondo is the producer.
The anime first premiered with two cours composed of 26 episodes on April 6, 2019. The second cour’s finale, Demon Slayer Episode 26, aired on September 28, 2019.
Aniplex released the Toonami English dub of Demon Slayer Season 1 back on October 12, 2019.
- Updated September 25, 2021: Demon Slayer Season 2 release date confirmed!
- Updated September 6, 2021: Demon Slayer Season 2 confirmed to be two cours.
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Updated July 29, 2021: Added Demon Slayer 2 rumors about Mugen Train being Part 1 of two cours.
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Updated July 13, 2021: Added Demon Slayer Season 2 anime key visual.
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Updated July 12, 2021: Studio ufotable’s tax evasion indictment filed by authorities.
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Updated July 4, 2021: Demon Slayer Season 2 release date once again reaffirmed for 2021.
- Updated March 30, 2021: Added Demon Slayer Season 2 preview from AnimeJapan 2021.
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Updated March 18, 2021: Added Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Blu-Ray/DVD release date and English subs info. Added theater release info
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Updated February 14, 2021: Demon Slayer Season 2 confirmed! Added trailer and announcement art.
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Updated December 31, 2020: Added Toho quote about Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -Yoshiwara Yukaku- movie.
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Updated October 17, 2020: Added movie box office record and new analysis.
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Updated October 12, 2020: Demon Slayer movie U.S. release date confirmed for early 2021.
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Updated August 3, 2020: Added Demon Slayer: Mugen Train trailer. Confirmed 2021 premiere for U.S. and Canada.
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Updated July 6, 2020: Demon Train movie announced for North America.
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Updated June 3, 2020: ufotable tax evasion scandal continues.
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Updated April 28, 2020: Added info about the Demon Slayer manga’s ending.
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Updated April 10, 2020: Demon Slayer movie release date confirmed! Added movie poster and trailer.
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Updated October 21, 2019: Added Demon Slayer movie trailer and release time frame.
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Updated September 28, 2019: Demon Slayer movie confirmed!
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Updated September 9, 2019: Added ending theme song for Episode 19.
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Updated August 15, 2019: Added comments from Demon Slayer producer Yuma Takahashi and financial analysis.
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Updated August 14, 2019: Revised manga comparison and added more details.
This article provides everything that is known about Demon Slayer Season 2 (Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Why the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 release date is in December 2021
Shueisha, Aniplex, and Ufotable officially confirmed the exact Demon Slayer Season 2 release date on September 25, 2021. It’s been confirmed that the second season is coming out in Fall 2021.
However, the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 release date is set for later than normally. Typically, the Fall anime season includes October, November, and December.
In this case, the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 release date is on Sunday, December 5, 2021. This release schedule is similar to Attack On Titan: The Final Season Part 1, but that’s due to the first cour re-adapting the Mugen Train arc with additional content.
In the past, there were signs that Fall 2021 was the plan from the start. In late December 2020, an anime industry official claimed, “When the project for this [Demon Slayer: Mugen Train] movie was launched there were talks about future projects.”
Ufotable is on the anime production committee so they definitely have a financial incentive to adapt the entire manga series. The biggest issue is the availability of Ufotable. As a small animation company, they do have concurrent projects (films and video games) but they usually only have one big project per year.
Ufotable usually announces their projects a year in advance. The Demon Slayer movie released in October 2020 so a spring 2021 TV season was unlikely since historically an anime TV series will not launch within six months of a movie premiere.
In the future, Studio ufotable is working on a Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu movie and co-producing original story Girls’ Work with Type-Moon. They’re also producing opening animations and cutscenes for the Bandai Namco video Tales of Aris. But those project’s time frames have not been confirmed nor has the studio made any other project announcements for 2021.
Besides ufotable’s scheduling, there is the tax evasion scandal (see below for more details). Let’s just hope it’s not Ufotable’s Blade of Studio Destruction.
The Toho producer inferred that early talks about the next project had begun by December 2020. Unless the Toho producer wasn’t aware of the TV sequel plans, it appears that actual production did not begin until early 2021.
Considering that the July 2021 announcement was still stating 2021 it logically follows that the studio hasn’t experienced any major delays from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused some productions to slip back in their schedule.
Therefore, Monsters and Critics successfully predicted that the Demon Slayer Season 2 TV anime would come out in Fall 2021 in order to allow for a reasonable production schedule.
Ufotable surprises fans with Demon Slayer Season 2: Part 2 not being a split-cour
While good news, the fact that the Demon Slayer anime’s first season was not a split-cour was a surprise to some anime fans since animation studio Ufotable is producing the TV show. They are well known for producing the Fate/Stay series, Tales of Symphonia, and Type-Moon’s The Garden Of Sinners.
In 2019 they were working on the Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel movie trilogy. The animation studio also produces video game cutscenes for God Eater and other games.
Founded in 2000 by Hikaru Kondo and staff coming from the TMS Entertainment, Ufotable went on a hiring spree in recent years, but they’re still a relatively small company. Although small in size, their talented staff produces all of their content in-house rather than relying on outsourcing to freelancers, which is a common practice in the Japanese anime industry.
Based on their work on the anime Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, the studio’s high-quality animation has resulted in the nickname Ufotable: Unlimited Budget Works. But this nickname is based on the commonly held misconception that higher quality animation requires a bigger budget.
As a comparison, the first season of One Punch Man (see our article on One Punch Man Season 3) was lauded for its quality animation, but OPM animator Chikashi Kubota claimed its budget was average. Instead, quality animation is the result of a talented staff combined with proper project scheduling (longer production times).
And that’s why it was a surprise Demon Slayer’s second cour was not a delayed split cour. Ufotable is known for producing split-cour TV shows to give their animation staff ample time to produce quality work.
But in this case, the Demon Slayer credits reveal that they finished up through Episode 8 by the end of 2018. By May 2019, Ufotable was already working on layouts and key animations for Episode 21 and music for Episode 18, which means they scheduled plenty of time and the second half won’t feel rushed quality-wise.
And it seems like Ufotable is doing it again in 2021 and 2022. Both the Mugen Train TV arc and the Entertainment District TV arc are being released back-to-back with no delays in-between the two parts.
So, that’s the good news concerning Ufotable and their plans for the second half of the Demon Slayer Season 2 anime. Unfortunately, that now brings us to our next bit of news.
Ufotable: Unlimited Budget Works no more due to tax evasion/earthquake charity fraud scandal
Based on the success so far, Demon Slayer Season 2 being greenlit for production was like a foregone conclusion, but will troubles at the animation studio cast a shadow over the production?
Starting in April 2019, reports came out that Ufotable owed about $3.65 million USD in unpaid taxes. Worse, the company allegedly misappropriated charity auction funds that were supposed to go to victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.
“The investigation is still ongoing, but the tax evasion amount we know here is 4 Billion yen,” said an investigator from the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau in the report by Weekly Bunshun Magazine. “The additional tax will be 200 million yen.”
The Bureau searched Ufotable’s offices and even their cafes (which sell anime-related merchandise) as part of the tax evasion investigation. Ufotable president and Demon Slayer producer Hikaru Kondo allegedly spent days at home consulting with lawyers before returning to work.
Concerning the earthquake charity, Ufotable also hosts a town revival event called Machi Asobi, held twice a year. According to reports, Ufotable may have committed fraudulent accounting.
“Even though charity auctions are being carried out for the reconstruction of the disaster area, if their earnings are used in different ways, fraud charges of Article 246 of the Penal Code may result in imprisonment of 10 years or less,” explained lawyer Toshiaki Kobayashi. “In addition, if the corporation does not properly declare the revenue to be recorded, it will be a violation of corporate tax law, that is, tax evasion.”
Reports claim Ufotable president Kondo allegedly directly received revenue from of the Ufotable merchandise sales. Shortly after these reports were published, Kondo resigned as chairman of the executive committee for Machi Asobi. He did not provide a reason for stepping down.
Ufotable’s tax evasion scandal settled down for a time in the news only to hit the headlines again in June 2020. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office charged Kondo and the anime studio with evading 137 million yen (which is about $1.24 million in U.S. dollars).
The formal indictment by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office was issued in July 2021.
The company allegedly hid about 30 percent of the income from their Tokyo anime restaurants in a safe at a private home. From 2015 through 2018, it’s claimed that ufotable altered its accounting ledgers to hide about 446 million yen ($4.11 million). This meant they avoided millions in corporate and consumption taxes.
The source cited by the news site claims that Kondo used the unpaid tax money to fund ufotable studio. However, a lawyer for Kondo claims that Kondo has already filled an updated tax return and paid back the taxes owed.
In July 2021, ufotable acknowledged that the indictment had been filed against the company and President Kondo. But the studio claims they had already filed a corrected tax return and paid the taxes owed to the Japanese government.
Will this scandal cause any repercussions for the anime production of Demon Slayer Season 2? It’s still too soon to tell since the legal case is still ongoing. Even if no one serves prison time, let’s hope the studio has enough cash available to both pay the taxes owed and to continue their production schedule without any hiccups.
Demon Slayer manga compared to the anime
The story for the anime is based on the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga series by writer and illustrator Koyoharu Gotoge. Published by Shueisha‘s Weekly Shonen Jump, the manga comes out weekly, usually on Mondays, but it can skip a week during the holidays.
As of May 13, 2020, the Demon Slayer manga will be up to Volume 20, which includes up through Chapter 178. The Demon Slayer climax in Chapter 204 is scheduled to release in Japan on May 11, 2020.
VIZ Media has licensed the official English translation of the Demon Slayer manga series. The first three chapters, as well as the three most recent chapters, can be read on the official website for free. The English online release is usually caught up with the Japanese magazine release.
Starting in July 2018, the English manga began releasing in tankobon format, which is up to Volume 11 as of April 2020. VIZ Media shows that the English Volume 12 is scheduled to release on May 5, 2020, Volume 13 on June 2, 2020, Volume 14 on July 7, 2020, Volume 15 on August 4, 2020, Volume 16 on September 1, 2020, Volume 17 on October 6, 2020, Volume 18 on November 3, 2020, and Volume 19 on December 1, 2020.
Reviews of the anime have praised the animation quality and flowing battle scenes that integrate digital effects seamlessly, never mind the beautiful character designs and gorgeously detailed backgrounds. Manga fans have also been pleased since, for the most part, the anime is almost a panel-by-panel adaptation of the manga, which can be seen clearly in the above comparison.
Some fans have complained about weird story pacing issues thanks to flashbacks and some slow moments, but everyone agrees that once the action picks up, it’s amazing. The best part is that Ufotable is not rushing through the manga, so the pacing is slightly less than two chapters of manga per episode.
To put things into perspective, the halfway point, Demon Slayer Episode 13, adapted up through Volume 3. The famously well-animated Demon Slayer Episode 19 adapted Chapters 38 through 40 of Volume 5. Episode 24 adapted Chapter 49 and parts of chapters 48 and 50.
This comfortable pacing continued for the rest of the first season. The ending, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 26, found an ending somewhere near Chapter 51 of Volume 6, which happens to be the ending of a significant story arc.
The Demon Slayer movie will pick up once again with Chapter 52, the start of the Demon Train story arc. That means Demon Slayer Season 2 will start with Chapter 67, the beginning of the Red Light District arc.
The good news is that there is plenty of source material available for creating Demon Slayer Season 2. In fact, at the rate at which new manga chapters are released, there will be enough chapters available for producing both Demon Slayer Season 3 and 4 by the summer of 2020.
Demon Slayer Season 2 will likely adapt two story arcs (Chapters 70 through 127) with two anime cours since the manga arcs have 58 chapters combined.
Then Demon Slayer Season 3 could start with a short, 9-chapter training arc before launching into the final arc. Unfortunately, the final arc’s plot does not offer a decent stopping point anywhere but it’s 67+ chapters are divided into two major parts. The third season will likely need to have three or four cours for a good adaptation with solid pacing.
English manga readers who can’t wait for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 to release can immediately pick up Volume 8 to read ahead of the anime’s story. Thankfully, the English volumes are already ahead of the anime. Alternatively, you can subscribe to Shonen Jump online and have access to all of the manga chapters immediately.
Demon Slayer Mugen Train U.S. release date in Spring 2021
A Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba movie was confirmed to be in production immediately following the airing of Demon Slayer Episode 26. The official title is Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-Hen).
First season director Haruo Sotozaki and character designer Akira Matsushima are both returning for the production. Returning cast includes the Japanese voices for Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, and Kyojuro Rengoku.
The Demon Slayer movie will directly connect to the last scene in Episode 26 where the main characters boarded the infinite train.
The Demon Slayer movie release date in Japan occurred on October 16, 2020.
The Demon Slayer: Mugen Train release date for U.S. theaters was teased for almost half a year. On August 2, 2020, the official Twitter page announced that the Demon Slayer movie was coming to North American theaters in 2021, but did not specify an exact time frame for the U.S. and Canadian premiere.
In October 2020, FUNimation and Aniplex reaffirmed during the New York Comic Con Metaverse panel that the Demon Slayer movie U.S. release date was being planned for early 2021 but did not specify the exact month.
On March 15, 2021, it was announced that the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Blu-Ray/DVD release date will be on June 16, 2021. According to the official website, it will include English subtitles, but not an English dubbing. It’s likely that FUNimation’s English dub will be released at a later date.
The Demon Slayer: Mugen Train release date in U.S. theaters is scheduled for April 21, 2021. The anime film will premiere in the USA and Canada with 4DX and IMAX theater screenings.
FUNimation’s Demon Slayer: Mugen Train English dub will be available in theaters. But it will also be screening in Japanese audio with English subtitles.
Digital copies of the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train movie will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada on June 22, 2021. Preorders can be made via Apple TV, Microsoft Store, and PlayStation Store.
Demon Slayer movie spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: The spoilers start with the assumption that the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba movie will open with events surrounding manga Chapter 52.
The last time we watched Tanjiro Kamado and his sister Nezuko they were confronted by the leaders of the Demon Slayer Corps, the Hashira, and put on trial because Tanjiro was protecting his demonic sister, which was considered a violation of conduct. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke also mastered Total Concentration breathing techniques.
Fully recovered in the care of the Hashira, the group embarks on their next Demon Slayer Corps mission. They’ll go aboard the Infinite Train of Dreams, a demon train that takes them into the dreams of demons.
Meanwhile, villain Kibutsuji Muzan summons the Lower Moons, the six lower-ranked members of the Twelve Demon Moons. The Upper Moons have not changed in over 100 years, but the Lower Moons have been killed and replaced many times over.
Furious at the Lower Moons failure after the death of Lower Moon Five Rui, the demon leader intends on disbanding the Lower Moons and begins brutally killing them off one by one. Some tried to flee while others chattered and tried to convince Muzan to spare them.
Only Lower Moon One, a demon named Enmu, was spared because he was thankful that Muzan wanted to kill him personally. Enmu was also overjoyed at the suffering felt by the humans and the other slain Lower Demon Moons.
In response to this outburst, Muzan stabs Enmu and gives him an injection of his own blood. Enmu is charged with killing Tanjiro and the Pillars of the Demon Slayers Corps. Enmu hopes to succeed and receive more of Muzan’s blood so he can challenge the Upper Moons with his renewed strength.
Enmu has the ability to put targets into a deep sleep using both sound and visual attacks. He derives pleasure from first showing people a pleasant dream but then twisting it into a nightmare. Using these abilities, he can put the Demon Slayers on the Infinity Train to sleep.
When Tanjiro eventually confronts Enmu aboard the steam engine, the sleep demon promises Tanjiro a dream where his father comes back to life. Tanjiro manages to overcome Enmu’s sleep powers and severe the demons head, but this deadly attack doesn’t even faze the decapitated Enmu.
It turns out Enmu had fused his spirit with the Infinity Train while the Demon Slayers slept. Not only does Tanjiro’s mission now require taking on demons in combat, but he must also face the demonic spirit of the Infinity Train while protecting the 200 human passengers of the train.
Joining Tanjiro in protecting the passengers is Kyojuro Rengoku, Flame Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. Like many of the Pillars, the second cour of the first season introduced this character.
Kyojuro will take on Third Upper Moon Akaza, a pink-haired and yellow-eyed demon with a tragic past. When still a human child, Akaza was named Hakuji, and he was a thief to raise money for his gravely ill father. The boy was already labeled as a demon child because he was born with pointed teeth.
The young Hakuji overcame his criminal childhood with the help of a dojo leader who saved him from being killed. Over the years, Hakuji became known for being kind and enjoying fights against strong people. Hakuji eventually married the dojo leader’s daughter and took over leadership of the dojo.
Hakuji traveled to his hometown to tell his father the good news, but while he was gone a competing dojo poisoned the village well, killing Hakuji’s newfound wife and father-in-law. Despair caused Hakuji to go on a rampage, killing and mangling the members of the competing dojo with his bare hands. The only survivor went mad.
Hearing rumors of a demon in the area, Muzan visited and found Hakuji. When Hakuji attempted to kill Muzan, the latter stabbed his hand into Hakuji’s face and told of him of his intention to create 12 powerful demons. At that point, Hakuji didn’t even care about anything anymore.
Now known as Azaka, the demon kills to become stronger, but he doesn’t even know why he does it. But he still maintains a thread of humanity since he refuses to eat female humans.
When Kyojuro battles Akaza, the demon is surprised at the Demon Slayer’s “unbelievable” strength. But Akaza is no slouch himself since he has a technique called Compass Needle where he can sense the battle spirit of all incoming attacks. Akaza’s offensive abilities are all based on generating shockwaves.
Demon Slayer Season 2 spoilers (Yoshiwara Yukaku plot summary/synopsis)
Note: The spoilers start with the assumption that the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba movie will open with events surrounding manga Chapter 67.
In their next mission, Tanjiru, Inosuke, and Zenitsu accompany the Demon Slayer Corps Pillar named Tengen Uzui. This jewel-wearing Shinobi is the Sound Pillar, which means he uses a combination of sounds, swords, and bombs to combat demons.
Tengen has three hot, ninja wives (yes, really) named Makio, Suma, and Hinatsuru. The three wives suspected that demons were hiding in the red light district Yoshiwara, Kirimise, so they disguised themselves as oiran (courtesans) and infiltrated a brothel.
Tengen’s wives have disappeared while on their information-gathering mission. This story arc is a bit humorous since Tanjiro and his friends end up disguising themselves as women to sneak into the red light district!
The head oiran named Warabihime is a sadistic demon named Upper Moon Six Daki. Capable of manipulating her deadly sashes, she has already fought and killed seven of the Demon Slayer Corps Pillars. Daki is known for her cruelty, toying with her victims before dispatching them.
She is also known for viciously abusing the people of the brothel, and when a manager confronts her, the demon lifted the hostess high into the air and dropped the woman to her death.
When Daki returned to her room, she is surprised to find her master Kibutsuji Muzan waiting inside. The demon leader praised Daki as a “special demon” but also cautioned her against being careless.
Disguised as an oiran, Daki avoided detection even when under the watchful eyes of Tengen. It turns out the wives had quickly realized that the Warabihime was a demon, so Hinatsuru drank poison to be sent away from the brothel.
But she’s being monitored by a demonic sash given to her by Warabihime in case she does something suspicious. Tengen eventually finds Hinatsuru and gives her an antidote.
Daki had suspected that Demon Slayers were in her midst, but her disguise as Warabihime came to an end when the Upper Moon was caught abusing someone. The demon and Tanjiro clash, and the overconfident demon notes Tanjiro’s lack of backup. But Tanjiro manages to use a combination of skills to surprise her and eventually counterattack, slicing at her neck with his blade.
But that’s not the end of the fight. It turns out both Daki and her older brother Gyuutarou hold the position of Upper Moon Six. The brother and sister share the same body, so Gyuutarou emerges from his sister’s body and then reattaches her severed head to her body.
The demon, Gyuutarou, uses poison in his blood sickle blades, and he’s already defeated and eaten 15 Pillars to his sister’s seven. Furious at the Demon Slayer Corps members for hurting his sister, Gyuutarou launches an attack against Sound Pillar Tengen and manages to poison him. The demonic siblings are also fighting against the other Demon Slayer members and Nezuko.
The ninja wives join the battle and manage to create an opportunity for Tengen and Tanjiro to attack. They are horrified when they realize their husband is fatally injured and they begin to say their final farewells.
Fortunately, Nezuko saved Tengen using a blood demon technique to burn away the poison. After losing an eye and an arm during the battle, the Pillar retires.
After Upper Moon Six Daki and Gyuutarou are defeated, Muzan summons the remaining Upper Moons to the Infinity Dimensional Fortress. It’s revealed that the Upper Moons have not been summoned together for 113 years.
Akaza appears and reports to him that he couldn’t find the Blue Spider Lily, the key ingredient in the medicine that transformed Muzan into a demon, thousands of years ago. Akaza also reports on how he killed one of the Pillars.
In response to this news, Muzan dispatches Upper Moon Four Hantengu and Upper Moon Five Gyokko to the Swordsmith’s Village. Muzan wants everyone there exterminated so that the Demon Slayer Corps lose their swords, the only weapons capable of killing the demons.
Depending on the number of episodes, Demon Slayer Season 2 could end on a cliffhanger note if it finishes with teasing the Swordsmith Village story arc, which begins with Chapter 100. The first season adapted 52 chapters, so in order to adapt two story arcs, Demon Slayer S2 would have to cover 61 chapters!
Needless to say, either the episode pacing would have to increase significantly, or Demon Slayer Season 2 could have more episodes than usual per cour. There’s certainly no room for filler story content!
There are two major demons that Tanjiro and Nezuko must face off against to save the swordsmith village. The first is Gyokko, Upper Moon Five of the Twelve Demon Moons, a grotesque creator who resembles an armless statue with multiple child-like hands lining his back. Instead of eyes, he has large green mouths.
This demon is proud of his strange art and becomes easily angered if anyone insults his morbid work. As an example, he stitched together the bodies of multiple swordsmiths using swords and called that “art”.
Gyokko is an oddball who can teleport between clay pots and he can summon fish-like demon minions to attack his opponents. Due to being given Muzan’s blood his regenerative abilities allow him to even survive a beheading.
The second demon is Hantengu, Upper Moon Four of the Twelve Demon Moons. As a human, Hantengu had committed many crimes but still insisted that he was innocent and instead blamed his “hands” for the crimes. Transformed into a demon that has killed many true innocents, the delusional demon still stubbornly believes that he has done nothing wrong.
Hantengu’s primary form resembles a cowardly old man with demonic horns and eyes, but although this form is easily dispatched severing Hantengu’s head only reveals his true abilities. Hantengu can regenerate into multiple clones that are embodiments of different aspects of Hantengu’s personality. Working together, these personifications are able to overwhelm Tanjiro and his friends!
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Demon Slayer: Kimetsuo no Yaiba Season 2 release date to watch how the shonen anime plays out. Stay tuned!