The third season of Demon Slayer wrapped up the Swordsmith Village Arc on June 18 with an explosive 70-minute finale, and not long after, Ufotable announced that a fourth season, which would adapt the Hashira Training Arc, would be the next stage in Tanjiro and Nezuko’s adventure. As one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, it should come as little surprise that the Demon Slayer finale had such a vast viewership that it overwhelmed the Crunchyroll servers and they crashed momentarily.
Demon Slayer first aired in 2019, then it was a two-year wait between the Unwavering Resolve Arc and the Mugen Train and Entertainment District Arcs, then just over a year until the third season, the Swordsmith Village Arc. Judging by the pattern emerging, we would estimate that the fourth season won’t be airing for at least another year, possibly two. If the schedule remains consistent, we should expect Demon Slayer season four to arrive in the fall of 2024. Of course, nothing will be confirmed this early, so this is the most educated guess.
Aniplex unveiled a teaser trailer for the Hashira Training Arc adaptation less than a day ago at the time of writing, so that’s the most we’ll be getting for a considerable amount of time, we’re assuming. In the teaser, we get some title cards jogging our memory for past Arc adaptations, then we get a montage of all the characters with Demon Slayer marks, some of which are old faces. And finally, the clip closes out by saying the name of the upcoming Hashira Training Arc, followed by a title card that reads “TV Anime Confirmed.”
As for the stellar cast, we’re expecting the same voices to return for the fourth season as we’ve seen throughout. Both Natsuki Hanae and Akari Kitô are irreplaceable as Tanjiro and Nezuko, but we also see the usual suspects returning, such as Muichiro, Kanae, and a few other Hashiras. Here’s the rundown of all the voice actors presumably returning for the Hashira Training Arc.
- Tanjiro Kamado – Natsuki Hanae (Japanese) / Zach Aguilar (English)
- Nezuko Kamado – Akari Kitô (Japanese) / Abby Trott (English)
- Zenitsu Agatsuma – Hiro Shimono (Japanese) / Aleks Le (English)
- Inosuke Hashibira – Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese) / Bryce Papenbrook (English)
- Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito – Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese) / Griffin Burns (English)
- Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho – Ai Kayano (Japanese) / Bridget Hoffman (English)
- Muzan Kibutsuji – Toshihiko Seki (Japanese) / Greg Chun (English)
- Kagaya Ubuyashiki – Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese) / Matthew Mercer (English)
- Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka – Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese) / Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
- Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji – Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) / Kira Buckland (English)
- Tsuguko Kanao Tsuyuri – Reina Ueda (Japanese) / Brianna Knickerbocker (English)
As far as the plot, any avid manga readers will be familiar with the way in which the story progresses. In the finale, we see the final form of Upper Moon Four, “Urami.” We also learn in a surprise twist that Nezuko is immune to sunlight, which is usually fatal to demons. We discover this detail after Tanjiro is faced with the difficult decision of saving the Swordsmith Village and allowing the demon Hantengu to escape, or rescuing Nezuko before she burns to death.
Thankfully, we don’t need to keep guessing as to what direction the fourth season will take. Here’s the official synopsis for the Hashira Training Arc:
“Tanjiro goes to see the Stone Hashira, Himejima, who intends to prepare him for the battles to come. The training to become a Hashira—a high-ranking member of the Demon Slayer Corps—is intense and demanding. Earning Himejima’s approval seems impossible, but Tanjiro won’t give up! Meanwhile, the demon lord Muzan continues to search for the location of Nezuko and Ubuyashiki.”
And that’s all we know for now. We’re in for a grueling hiatus ahead of us, but hopefully, Ufotable won’t keep us waiting for too long.