Popular media outlet IGN surprised the anime community by giving a low rating of 3/10 for the fourth season of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba“, describing it as “Horrible”. According to the review, the “Hashira Training Arc” sacrifices momentum and depth in favor of an absurdly long and meandering season that, in the critic's opinion, should have been condensed into one montage.

The official synopsis for this season states that the Hashirathe highest-ranking swordsmen and members of the Demon Slayer Corps began their training to face the impending battle against Muzan Kibutsuji. Each of them, with thoughts and hopes in their hearts, prepares for the challenges that lie ahead, starting a new story for Tanjiro and Hashira.

IGN argues that despite high expectations, the fourth season failed to maintain the same level of excitement and development as previous seasons. Critics point out that the Hashira Training Arc drags on unnecessarily, with a slow pace that dilutes the impact of the narrative. The medium suggests that a considerable part of the season could have been condensed into a montage of one or two episodes, thus maintaining the intensity and interest of the viewer.

And of course, his opinion was not without comments:

• «For reference, this reviewer gave the previous season a 5/10 and called it filler, haha. So I'm not surprised he liked this season even less.».
• «The last episode was 2 of those 3 points alone».
• «I mean, I get it. It's just a big training arc where only the last two episodes are really interesting.».
• «As someone who has read the manga, I don't care how they handled this arc. The next arc is super long, so it's impossible to cut this training arc down to just 2-3 episodes and then let the final arc be the rest of the season like people would probably like. I'd rather they stay true to the source material until the end, even if the story got dragged out this time around.».
• «This reviewer is great, he gave Undead Murder Farce a 9».
• «I'm looking at all these comments and I'm starting to think...do I have bad taste?».
• «Just me, but I actually prefer this season over the Blacksmith Village Arc, which is a legit 5 out of 10. Even without the final episode, it's nice to watch a slice of life focused on the Hashira.».
• «Maybe a 3 is a bit harsh, but I get it. This season was a complete waste of time and could have easily been 1 or 2 episodes. The pacing was atrocious. Stretching roughly 4 chapters of the manga into 8 episodes beats even the procrastination of One Piece's Dressrosa era. You have to squeeze the most out of the series since it ended years ago. You can only be carried away by beautiful particle effects so much.».
• «The Hashira Training Arc 3!? IGN really overestimates everything!».
• «The truth is it was a gigafiller. Literally nothing happened.».
• «Am I the only one who likes training arcs in anime? I thought this season was really fun and a nice break from the action.».
• «This was obviously the weakest season of Demon Slayer, especially compared to the high points of Mugen Train and the Entertainment District Arc. But I still enjoyed it a lot because I like these characters and it's nice to be able to spend time with them one last time before the climax of the story. It doesn't do it in the best way possible, but the season was an attempt to increase our investment in these characters one more time before we see them face off against Muzan and his more powerful minions. And the final episode was genuinely Demon Slayer at its best in terms of generating excitement and leading up to an explosive sequence of action and visual grandeur.».
• «He's not wrong. I'm a huge Demon Slayer fan and I was completely turned off by how obvious most of the filler was, some of it almost reminded me of Shippuden filler. Now, it was totally worth it for the last episode 10/10, holy shit, and some of the training was good too».
• «I can understand this level of negative reaction to the show. The sense of pacing in Kimetsu no Yaiba has completely diminished, and the movie trilogy will only exacerbate these problems (it was rushed even in the manga).».

This diversity of opinion reflects the impact that IGN's rating has had on the fan community. “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”. While some share the disappointment expressed by the medium, others value the character's calmer moments and fidelity to the source material.

Source: IGN