The brand new Demon Slayer film serves as a bridge between the anime’s earlier “Leisure District” arc and the brand-new “Swordsmith Village” arc. Whereas the mega-hit Mugen Practice movie was a effective continuation from Season 1 and helped followers put together for a brand new period of Demon Slayer, its successor To the Swordsmith Village is kind of completely different, and never for the higher.
Mugen Practice was a strong expertise that flowed easily as a feature-length anime film and advised an entire story with a starting, center and finish. In contrast, the brand new Swordsmith Village film was simply two anime episodes put collectively, credit and all, with one new episode from the subsequent season added. It is an experimental new formulation that failed miserably.
Anime motion pictures have a tendency to inform tales a little bit in a different way than particular person episodes and general seasons. Like some other film, they embrace tie-ins and have a starting, center and finish. It isn’t even correct to name them supersized anime episodes; a TV present episode is only a fragment, usually starting the place one other episode left off or having a cliffhanger earlier than the subsequent one airs. Self-contained episodes may inform a full story — anthology exhibits or “monster of the week” tales, for instance — however that is an exception.
Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village experimented with the anime film formulation and failed. Not solely was it evidently a rip-off to pay to re-watch older episodes, however placing them right into a film is not a good suggestion. Even when Swordsmith Village was fully new materials and was made up of the subsequent arc’s first three or 4 episodes, it nonetheless would not have labored. The film would have had a correct starting in beginning with the premiere episode, however the center and finish would undergo.
Anime tie-in or not, a film can’t be the primary chunk of a much bigger storyline since there will not be a strong conclusion. If Demon Slayer had executed that for the “Leisure District” arc and put its first 4 episodes collectively in a single movie, the viewing expertise would finish with Tanjiro simply starting to struggle Daki for actual. The arc was a bit too lengthy to develop into a film, however adapting simply a part of it does not work both. By combining the “Leisure District” arc’s final two episodes with the “Swordsmith Village” arc’s premiere, the film began with a climax and ended with build-up, which is totally backwards.
The Swordsmith Village film tried to bridge two anime seasons by jamming three episodes collectively, contradicting even essentially the most basic ideas of movie idea. It did not actually have a actual ending — it simply stopped, nothing was resolved and there was no payoff. That compares terribly to Mugen Practice, which had severe payoff with Enmu’s defeat, Akaza’s retreat and the mournful however hopeful finish of Kyojuro Rengoku’s life.
Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village’s chilly reception suggests greater than followers’ common dislike. Statistics inform a part of the story: as of writing, Mugen Practice having a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes whereas Swordsmith Village is at 68%. The latter’s decrease rating could also be a moot level, nevertheless, if followers resolve to not watch it anymore and keep away from it as a perceived rip-off. Saddest of all, the Swordsmith Village film in all probability did not must exist in any respect.
Even the preferred and profitable anime sequence do not at all times want a tie-in film. Some anime movies can and do deepen the unique franchise’s lore, however others appear to exist simply because they’ll — and a few franchises have a mixture of each varieties. It is often clear to followers when a film is only a money seize somewhat than a vital a part of the lore, and Swordsmith Village is hardly even a money seize — it is barely something in any respect.
Mugen Practice was an integral a part of Demon Slayer lore, neatly bridging the 2 anime seasons after which showing once more in Season 2. Making tie-in movies for their very own sake not often ends effectively, and borderline rip-off motion pictures like Swordsmith Village — which added nothing new — are even worse. Frankly, this film did not have to be made in any respect; followers might have waited another month for the precise Season 3 to start. Simply because there was one smash-hit does not imply Demon Slayer motion pictures are a golden goose, and it is clear that Mugen Practice was a one-of-a-kind anime movie expertise.
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