If you want a simple yet efficient action manga or anime, you can’t do much better than Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer is a short yet solid series, and we’re going to rank each major arc of the series from worst to best.
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Demon Slayer lasts only 23 volumes and the anime has a handful of seasons and some feature films, making it an easy action series to enjoy in a short amount of time. Due to its brevity, it’s relatively easy for newcomers to get into it, but that also means that certain arcs are given more love and attention than others. While there are technically 12 arcs in the series, several of those arcs are remarkably short and only last a handful of chapters. Most of these arcs are at the beginning of the series, so for the sake of this list, we’re going to combine the first six arcs into one entry, which fans call the Unwavering Resolve arc. While that may seem excessive, those six arcs make up the first season of the anime, and each arc’s relatively brisk pace makes them easy to get through, justifying lumping them all together.
With that in mind, we have six major arcs of Demon Slayer to rank, making a much fairer and more balanced list. With that in mind, here is our ranking of every Demon Slayer arc, from worst to best.
6. The Hashira Training Arc
The Hashira Training arc of Demon Slayer is meant to be the calm before the storm, serving as the last bit of setup before the final major arc of the series. Unfortunately, most of this setup focuses on the worst element of Demon Slayer – its cast. Like it or not, most of the characters of Demon Slayer aren’t very well developed, so having an arc centered on that development is dull at best. It’s meant to also introduce the rest of the Hashira that Demon Slayer had yet to introduce and feels the need to cram as much information in as short of time as possible. This arc lasted 12 chapters, making it a somewhat long arc that doesn’t do a whole lot.
Not only that, but the anime adaptation, which encompassed all of the show’s fourth season, made its labored pacing even worse. The anime version of the Hashira Training Arc seems insistent on wasting people’s time, whether it be through unexciting character moments or padding out episode runtimes with unnecessary visual flourishes. Again, this is all meant to be setup for the final battle between the demons and Demon Slayers, but this arc left a lot to be desired.
5. The Swordsmith Village Arc
The Swordsmith Village is an okay if unexciting arc. In the manga, this arc lasts 30 chapters while the anime adaptation adapted this arc for its third season. While the first half of the arc spends most of its time introducing us in more detail to the characters this arc centers on – Tokito, Mitsuri, and Genya – and has Tanjiro undergo some unique training, the second half of the arc features our heroes fight against Upper Moon 4 and 5.
The fights themselves are fine, but the Swordsmith Village arc feels like an arc that’s on autopilot half of the time. We have obligatory flashback sequences for most of the cast, but these moments break up the fights, ruining the pacing. Even in the anime, these fight sequences are never given the love and attention that other major fights in the series have, making this arc feel like it’s spinning its wheels until later, better arcs. It has a pretty good ending, one that changes the status quo of the series thanks to Nezuko’s transformation, but this is a fairly forgettable arc.
4. The Unwavering Resolve Arc (Final Selection Arc to Rehabilitation Training Arc)
The first major arc of the series has a lot to accomplish, which it does fairly well. Lasting 53 chapters, or the first season of the anime, the Unwavering Resolve arc is able to sufficiently introduce audiences to the core conflict of the series as well as the unique aesthetics it goes for. We see Tanjiro vow to restore Nexuko’s humanity after she’s turned into a demon, meet the supporting cast, meet our main antagonist, and have a handful of exciting fight scenes. Given everyone’s overall weakness this early in the series, fights are entertaining as we see the threats gradually escalate, leading us to the cathartic fight against the Rui and his spider family in the Mount Natagumo arc that caps off the early arcs of the series.
The melodramatic and over-the-top elements of the series are here, but the moments present feel fresh and impactful like Tanjiro trying desperately to save Nezuko from Giyu or learning Rui’s history. Some of the smaller arcs aren’t all that exciting, like when Tanjiro has to fight the Bog Demon or the Drum Demon, so the Unwavering Resolve Arc finds its home in the middle of the list.
3. The Entertainment District Arc
In many ways, the Entertainment District arc is the purest distillation of what Demon Slayer could be at its best. The arc has Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Nezuko joining the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, hunting a demon in an Entertainment District. This arc, which lasted 31 chapters and was adapted for the anime’s second season, features some truly excellent fight scenes. The arc’s climax, which sees our heroes fighting Upper Moon 6, one of the strongest demons that appeared in the series at that point, features wonderful action rendered beautifully both on and off-screen. In my opinion, it’s the best fight in the entire series, thanks to the shifting tension and constant twists that happen throughout, like making Nezuko actually do something for once!
The biggest reason this isn’t ranked any higher is how it ever so slightly wastes its potential. The arc is centered on trying to figure out where the demon is and who it is, but that mystery lasts for all of seven chapters before going in on bombastic action. It could have made for an interesting dynamic, but instead, we have to settle for an arc that’s almost all action, which is hardly a bad thing, but could have been better with some more variety.
2. The Mugen Train Arc
The Mugen Train is, arguably, the most famous arc of Demon Slayer. Set aboard the eponymous train, our heroes team up with the Flame Hashira, Rengoku, to defeat the demon onboard, revealed to be Lower Moon One. This arc is remarkably short, lasting 13 chapters and serving as the basis for the first feature film, which helps it dive right into the action. There are minor character beats here and there thanks to the mental manipulations of Lower Moon One, but these help to provide insight to the cast and their motivations, some of which are poignant while others are comedic.
Even when the arc appears to be winding down, it decides to present a clear threat to our heroes that shows they still have a lot to learn and plenty of room to grow. I find it insufferable how much the series tends to deify the one-note Rengoku thanks to this arc, but it doesn’t diminish the actual quality of the arc itself as a great Shonen story.
1. The Final Battle Arc (Inifnity Castle Arc and Sunrise Countdown Arc)
Undeniably the longest arc of the series, the Final Battle arc is almost entirely focused on action, action, and more action. Every character established in the series has a moment to shine and unlike most Shonen series, a lot of people die in this final arc, showing legitimate consequences for the final showdown between the Demon Slayers and Muzan’s forces. This is where some of the most creative fights of the series are, with numerous abilities flying around several battlefields, all culminating in the final battle against the surviving Demon Slayers and Muzan. It’s a white-knuckle showdown, one that delivers on nearly every single level and leads to a resolution that feels well-earned.
There are still some character development moments here and while some of them come a bit too late to leave much of an impact, like Zenitsu’s, other backstories offer some fascinating insight into the history of the demons and their creation. It’s rare for a manga to end on a completely satisfying note, but the Final Battle arc satisfies on almost every single level, easily making it the best arc of Demon Slayer.
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