IGN calls Kimetsu no Yaiba 'horrible'

Popular media outlet IGN has surprised the anime community by giving a low rating of 3/10 to the fourth season of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba," describing it as "Horrible." According to the review, the "Hashira Training Arc" sacrifices momentum and depth in favor of an absurdly long and meandering season that, in the critic's opinion, should have been condensed into a montage.

The official synopsis for this season states that the Hashira, the highest-ranking swordsmen and members of the Demon Scuttling Corps, have begun their training to face the impending battle against Muzan Kibutsuji. Each of them, with their own thoughts and hopes in their hearts, prepares for the challenges ahead, starting a new story for Tanjiro and the Hashira.

IGN argues that, despite high expectations, the fourth season failed to maintain the same level of excitement and development as previous seasons. Critics point out that the Hashira Training Arc stretches out unnecessarily, with a slow pace that dilutes the impact of the narrative. The outlet suggests that a considerable portion of the season could have been summed up in a one- or two-episode montage, thus maintaining the viewer's intensity and interest.

And of course, his opinion was not without comments:

"For reference, this reviewer gave the previous season a 5/10 and called it filler, haha. So I'm not surprised that he liked it even less this season."
"The last episode was 2 of those 3 points on its own."
"I mean, I get it. It's just a great training arc where only the last two episodes are really interesting."
"As someone who has read the manga, it doesn't bother me how they handled this arc. The next arc is super long, so it's impossible to reduce this training arc to just 2-3 episodes and then let the final arc be the rest of the season as people probably would have wanted. I'd rather they be faithful to the source until the end, even if the story dragged on this time."
"This reviewer is great, he gave Undead Murder Farce a 9."
"I'm looking at all these comments and I'm starting to think... do I have bad taste?"
"Just me, but I actually prefer this season over the Blacksmith Village Arc, which is a legitimate 5 out of 10. Even without the final episode, a slice of life centered on the Hashira is nice to watch."
"Maybe a 3 is a bit harsh, but I understand it. This season was a complete waste of time and could have easily been 1 or 2 episodes. The pace was atrocious. Extending approximately 4 chapters of the manga into 8 episodes eclipses even the procrastination of One Piece's Dressrosa era. You have to squeeze everything worth from the series, since it ended years ago. You can only be carried away by pretty particle effects to a certain extent."
"The Hashira training arc a 3!? IGN really overrates everything!"
"The truth is, it was a gigafiller. Literally nothing happened."
"Am I the only one who likes training arcs in anime? I thought this season was a lot of fun and a good break from the action."
"Obviously this was Demon Slayer's weakest season, especially compared to the high points of Mugen Train and the Entertainment District Arc. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit because I like these characters and it's nice to be able to spend time with them one last time before we get to the climax of the story. It's not doing in the best way possible, but the season was an attempt to increase our investment in these characters once again before we see them take on Muzan and his most powerful minions. And the final episode was genuinely Demon Slayer at its best in terms of generating hype and leading to an explosive sequence of action and visual grandeur."
"He is not wrong. I'm a huge fan of Demon Slayer and found myself completely disconnected by how obvious most of the filler was, some of it almost reminded me of Shippuden's filler. Now, it's totally worth it for the last episode 10/10, holy cow, and some of the workouts were good as well."
"I can understand that level of negative reaction to the show. The sense of pace in Kimetsu no Yaiba has completely dropped, and the film trilogy is only going to exacerbate those problems (it was rushed even in the manga)."

This diversity of opinions reflects the impact that IGN's rating has had on the community of followers of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba." While some share the disappointment expressed by the medium, others find value in quieter moments of character and fidelity to the source material.

Source: IGN