A few hours after season two's finale, Ufotable announced Demon Slayer's return for a third season! The studio took to Twitter to share a 30-second teaser and two key visuals from the upcoming arc, confirming that the new season will adapt the Swordsmith Village Arc from the manga.
Though we only have scraps of information about the release date at the moment, we do know quite a lot about the plot and what you can expect!
Read on to find out everything we know about the plot, release date, and cast for the third season of Demon Slayer!
We don't have an official date yet, but based on previous release patterns, Demon Slayer season three could air anytime between Fall 2022 to Winter 2023.
Demon Slayer has faithfully followed a Fall premiere schedule (September—November) for years now. The anime debuted in Fall 2019, the Mugen Train movie first aired in Fall 2020, and the season recap in Fall 2021. If this is any indication, the Swordsmith Village Arc will premier in Fall 2022, or at least make it to the prime-time Winter 2023 (December 2022 — January 2023) slot.
The first trailer for the season should be unveiled by Summer this year, with the second trailer following a few months later. Hopefully, the wait isn't long.
Swordsmith Village Arc is the ninth arc from the Demon Slayer manga, running from chapters 98 to 127. Tanjiro and his friends will be accompanied by Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanoji and Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito as they face off against Upper-Rank Four And Five.
As the name suggests, the Swordsmith Village is where all Nichirin Blades are forged. When Hotaru refuses to fix Tanjiro's sword for the nth time (he threw quite a fit last season alone), Tanjiro makes his way to the mythical Swordsmith Village to find a new blade.
However, when Tanjiro arrives, he learns that Hatoru has been missing for some time. Concerned but unsure what to do, Tanjiro bumps into Mitsuri (the Love Hashira) and learns from her that there's a secret weapon hiding in the village, supposedly making its user exponentially stronger. Muichiro Tokito is adamant about finding this weapon, and Tanjiro tags along.
Unbeknownst to the slayers, all the Upper-Rank Demons have turned their attention towards Tanjiro (he managed to kill an Upper Six, it's bound to make them curious). Two of these demons (Upper-Rank Four and Five) manage to infiltrate the village undetected and start working on their devious scheme to destroy the source of the Demon Slayer Corps' power once and for all.
Truth be told, the Swordsmith Village Arc isn't the most popular among manga readers. It isn't bad, but by Demon Slayer standards, it falls short of that extra oomph factor (plot-wise). You can trust the studio to blow you away with the animation and action, though. And judging by the teaser, the soundtrack will be equally epic.