Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village is a feature-length film summarizing the 10th & 11th episodes of the Entertainment District Arc. Alongside the recap, we are shown a sneak peek of the 3rd season which is available to stream now. Originally released in Japan and then globally, the movie was met with mixed reviews from fans and critics alike, scoring the movie an overall average rating of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, a popular reviewing site for shows and movies.

“Walking into this movie, I expected to see the new season much like the Mugen Train film, instead I was met with a recap and about 30 minutes of the actual new season,” senior Daniel De La Rosa exclaims.

Much of the movie takes place within the previous arc during its climactic battle sequence with both the fight and events that follow end parallel to the anime’s climactic ending of the arc. Two months after recovering from the battle Tanjiro, the protagonist, sets off to the Swordsmith Village to recover a replacement sword.  

“Seeing the ending fight again was nice but I would’ve much preferred seeing more of the new season,” said senior Kimberly Cano.

Shortly after arriving, he encounters the Demon Slayer Mitsuri Kanroji, who informs Tanjiro of a secret powerful weapon that will aid him in his quest to kill Muzan, the antagonist, before leaving. While relaxing in a hot spring, he encounters the Demon Slayer Muichiro and an unexpected guest alongside him ending the movie.

“This movie didn’t do much besides give a short teaser of the exciting next season for Demon Slayer,” Daniel explains. 

This movie was very underwhelming as most fans, myself included, believed that the movie would showcase newer content from the upcoming Swordsmith Village arc much like how the previous film, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. Mugen Train showcased the entire arc in a condensed movie format, which more or less exceeded fan’s expectations Instead, the film chose to recap the fight which was ultimately very unnecessary, then show a singular new episode at the end, showing the beginning of the Swordsmith Arc. 

“Gladly the return of the anime is soon enough for me to forgive the lazy recapped ‘movie’ ” Kimberly remarks.

However, this movie can be a great substitute for those preferring a film version rather than the serialized version. Anime-only watchers have much to look forward to as this arc’s ending begins to build the catalyst for the finale between Tanjiro and Muzan. The animation for this movie was beautiful and amazing as is normal for this series’ animation, especially during its battles. With much to look forward to in the future, fans of Demon Slayer will most likely be surprised by the end of this arc when the anime adaptation is finished.

To conclude, Demon Slayer – To The Swordsmith Village is a great watch for those currently watching the Entertainment District arc and feeling the need to watch the final battle on the big screen. Not to mention the added bonus of the upcoming arc is included. With that being said, if you have already finished the Entertainment District, I highly recommend waiting patiently for the Swordsmith Village arc to get animated.