A new report from an insider claims that while Demon Slayer season 4 will continue as normal, with a bunch of episodes covering the Hashira Training Arc of the manga, season 5 may end up being a bit different.
The leaker, a generally reputable anime news account, claims that Ufotable may release at least one movie ahead of season 5. The last arc, The Final Battle, is split into The Infinity Castle and Sunrise Countdown, 69 chapters, longer than any arc that’s come before it. The idea is that there would be an Infinity Castle movie, then perhaps season 5 continues on as it would normally. Or multiple movies could be made, that’s not clear just yet.
Why the possible change? It is impossible to forget that Demon Slayer’s Mugen Train movie was a massive hit for Ufotable, bringing in an astonishing $453 million worldwide for what was essentially four episodes of the TV show stuck together, a bridge between seasons 1 and 2.
They would no doubt do this with a wide theatrical release planned, though as with Mugen train, eventually those did air “normally” outside of the theaters. There are a lot of open questions with this idea, and as of yet, none of it is confirmed by Ufotable. But ever since Mugen Train made all that money, it was easy to believe that they would try to figure out how to repeat that success. And what better way than at least one movie in the final arc of the entire series?
Demon Slayer season 4, the Hashira Training Arc, does not yet have a released date after being officially announced this June. Given the length between seasons, usually 2-2.5 years, it may be mid to late 2025 before it actually arrives. I am curious about how the US writers strike may affect its release. Yes, the show is Japanese and made in Japan, but if the US dub actors are part of SAG, they would not be able to record lines, in theory, until the strike is over. But I doubt we’ll ever hear the internal workings of how that shakes out.
As for the season 5 idea, I can’t say that I love it, as I’d rather just watch the thing normally on Crunchyroll rather than truck to a theater. But I guess you can’t fault Ufotable for trying to get that bag after Mugen Train. We’ll see if or when this gets officially announced.
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