Over a year after the end of Demon Slayer's wildly-successful Entertainment District Arc, the next instalment is fast approaching! Here's Demon Slayer Season 3: Swordsmith Village Arc's release date, plot, characters, movie and everything else you could need to know ahead of the premiere.
We won't be sharing any major spoilers in this guide, so don't worry!
Demon Slayer Season 3's Story: What is the Swordsmith Village Arc About?
Without going over spoiler details, Demon Slayer Season 3 will adapt the Swordsmith Village Arc of Koyoharu Gotouge's popular Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga series, which sees Tanjiro head to a village of swordsmiths to get his Nichirin Sword repaired.
Demon Slayer Season 3 will likely cover chapters 100-127 of the manga, which covers a similar range as the Entertainment District Arc (70-99).
The Swordsmith Village Arc is expected to feature Tanjiro heading to the Swordsmith Village to acquire a new weapon. The village is known for being the home of an ancient weapon, but it gets more complicated than that.
The ending of the Entertainment District Arc also hinted at where some of the major plot lines will go during Demon Slayer Season 3.
Tengen is no longer involved, but he's still alive. Tengen told Iguro that his likely Hashira replacement should be Tanjiro. From there, Tanjiro and the other Demon Slayers can finally reach their ultimate target: Muzan Kibutsuji, the Demon King.
Demon Slayer Season 3 Release Date
It has been confirmed that Demon Slayer Season 3: Swordsmith Village Arc will be released on Sunday, April 9th, 2023, forming part of anime's Spring 23 season.
Ahead of that, the hour-long first episode was given a special screening in cinemas across the world in a Demon Slayer World Tour.
For fans in the US, Demon Slayer Season 3's first episode was premiered in cinemas nationwide on March 3. Other international regions also had limited cinema releases around the same time.
If you didn't make it to the Demon Slayer Swordsmith Village movie, don't worry; the first episode (and the rest of the series) is still being released as normal.
Demon Slayer Season 3: Swordsmith Village Arc Release Countdown
Demon Slayer Season 3 Release Date Countdown
The timer above is set for when Demon Slayer Season 3 is scheduled to premiere on Japanese TV.
Bear in mind that there may be a slight delay (usually one hour) between the domestic broadcast and when international streaming services make it available.
Is Demon Slayer Season 3's First Episode a Movie?
There was some confusion when the Demon Slayer Season 3 movie was announced, especially after Mugen Train.
However, we can confirm that the Swordsmith Village Arc will be a TV anime series rather than a purely cinematic release.
The Swordsmith Village Arc movie was mainly promotional, combining the end of the Entertainment District Arc with the extended first episode of Season 3.
Demon Slayer Season 3's first episode will be one hour long, similar to the first episode in the previous season. While this doesn't necessarily count as a movie in its own right, it's certainly something to get excited about!
Demon Slayer Season 3's Characters: Who are the Heroes and Villains in Swordsmith Village Arc?
Two new(ish) characters will star alongside Tanjiro in Demon Slayer Season 3: the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanoji.
On the other side of the divide, one of Season 3's key villains will be Doma, a demon affiliated with the Twelve Kizuki, holding the position of Upper Rank Two.
Notably, the key visual for Demon Slayer Season 3 does not feature Tanjiro's trusted friends Inosuke and Zenitsu. While they may appear in the early stages, those two are largely absent from the Swordsmith Village arc.
Discover: Who is the Strongest and Weakest Hashira in Demon Slayer?
Demon Slayer Season 3 Cast: Who will Voice the Characters?
It's been confirmed that the same main cast as in previous seasons will reprise their roles for Demon Slayer Season 3.
Some of Demon Slayer's main cast are listed below:
- Tanjiro Kamado – Natsuki Hanae / Zach Aguilar (English)
- Nezuko Kamado – Akari Kitou (Japanese) / Abby Trott (English)
- Inosuke Hashibira – Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese) / Bryce Papenbrook (English)
- Zenitsu Agatsuma – Hiro Shimono (Japanese) / Aleks Le (English)
- Mitsuri Kanroji – Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) / Kira Buckland (English)
- Muichiro Tokito – Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese) / Griffin Burns (English)
- Muzan Kibutsuji – Toshihiko Seki (Japanese) / Greg Chun (English)
Demon Slayer Season 3 Episode Count: How Many Episodes Will it Have?
While unconfirmed, given the length of the arc, it's largely expected that Demon Slayer Season 3 will follow a similar one-cour length to the previous Entertainment District Arc.
The Swordsmith Village Arc is expected to adapt around 25 chapters from the manga. Given this, we expect an episode length of somewhere around 10-11 episodes for Demon Slayer Season 3.
What Studio Will Produce Demon Slayer Season 3: Swordsmith Village Arc?
Anime studio Ufotable will once again manage production duties for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc.
Hauro Sotozaki, who directed the first two seasons of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba as well as the feature-length movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, is set to return to helm Season 3.
Chief animation director and character designer Akira Matsushima is also set to return for the anime's third season.
Where Will We Be Able to Watch or Stream Demon Slayer Season 3: Swordsmith Village Arc?
Demon Slayer Season 3 will initially be available to watch on Crunchyroll in most regions, in line with previous seasons.
Demon Slayer is also available to stream on Hulu, so the new season may arrive on that service at some point in the future.
Demon Slayer Season 3 may eventually arrive on Netflix, but that will likely happen long after the season has ended. Demon Slayer Season 2 only recently arrived on Netflix, so if you want to keep up to date, you'll need to look somewhere else.
Demon Slayer Season 3 Trailer: Is There a Full Trailer for Swordsmith Village Arc?
A full trailer for Demon Slayer Season 3 has now been released!
The trailer is light on detail, providing a few action scenes that have also been seen in other promotional videos. However, it's the clearest look we've had yet regarding what fans can expect from the next season!
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