Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is full of original developments and is receiving rave reviews. Episode 3 depicts a 6-frame story from the original work: “This is what it means to love a work

The TV anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Pillar Training Arc” began airing on Fuji TV in May. The episodes, which cover volumes 15 and 16 of the original manga, tell the story of Tanjiro and his friends receiving training from the Pillars, the highest-ranking swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, in order to become even stronger. So far, only the first three episodes have aired, and the anime's original (ani-ori) developments that were not depicted in the original work have become a hot topic online.

The third episode, which aired on May 27th, has been particularly popular. It depicts the story of Tanjiro, who has recovered from his injuries, visiting former Pillar Uzui in order to participate in Pillar training, and receiving training to improve his basic physical strength.

Uzui puts Tanjiro and the other members of the corps through rigorous training, and there is a fight scene between Uzui and Tanjiro and the corps members, which has resulted in joyful comments online such as, “Tanjiro and Uzui are battling!”, “Uzui is too strong!” and “The corps members were cool too!”

It was a story worth watching, but if you read the original manga volume 15 (chapter 132), it's only a six-frame story. In the original, Tanjiro, who has fully recovered from his wounds, begins participating in the Pillar training, and Uzui tells him, “Now, get your body slackened and ready to go,” to which he responds with enthusiasm, “Yes, I'll do my best!” Uzui's three wives then appear, and the scene ends with them heading to the next Pillar training location, Tokito Muichiro.

As a result, the battle between Uzui, Tanjiro, and his corps members does not appear in the original work, and furthermore, in the third episode of the anime, there was a scene where the Wind Pillar, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and the Snake Pillar, Obanai Iguro, challenged each other to a fight, but this was also an original anime development that was not in the original work.

The first episode of the anime started with a scene in which Shinazugawa and Iguro teamed up to defeat demons, but this story is also not in the original work, and the anime's “Hashira Training Arc” continues with original developments, with online comments such as “I'm grateful that they even depicted parts of the original work that were not visible.

“I love the original work, but I'm more than happy to see an anime original like this,” “The original Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba barely explored the unnamed mob soldiers in the original work, and there was hardly any proper interaction with Tanjiro, so I think this is well done as it fills in the parts of the original that bothered me. This is what we call 'anime original with love for the work'…!” “In the manga, the tension towards the final battle around this point builds up at an accelerating rate, and it feels like a lot of things are left behind (but that's a good thing), and in the anime the Wind and Snake Pillars are also given thorough support,” and other such praiseworthy comments are overflowing.

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Pillar Training Arc” is an episode that spans volumes 15 and 16 of the original manga, and tells the story of Tanjiro and his friends receiving training from the Pillars, the highest-ranking swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, in order to become even stronger.

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is based on the manga of the same name that was serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump” from February 2016 to May 2020, and is a popular work that has sold over 150 million copies in total.

Set in the Taisho era in a world inhabited by man-eating demons, the story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a young boy whose family was killed by demons, who joins the Demon Slayer Corps and sets out on a journey to slay the demon that killed his family and turn his younger sister Nezuko, who has also become a demon, back into a human.

The first season of the TV anime aired from April to September 2019, and its popularity ignited, becoming a social phenomenon.

The movie “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train,” which is a sequel to the anime's final episode, was released in October 2020 and became a huge hit, grossing over 40 billion yen in Japan. The second season of the anime, “The Entertainment District Arc,” which continues the story of the movie, began airing in December 2021. The third season, “The Swordsmith Village Arc,” which is a continuation of the second season, began airing in April 2023.