is a Japanese anime television series produced by Ufotable, based on the manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a Demon Slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon.
The series' first season premiered in April 2019, having aired on Tokyo MX and other networks, while from the second season onwards it has aired on Fuji Television and its affiliates. In North America, the series is licensed by Aniplex of America. The English dub of the series aired on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in the United States.
A sequel film set after the events of the first season, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, was released in October 2020 while the compilation films, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, were respectively released in February 2023 and February 2024. The film trilogy adapting the manga's "Infinity Castle" story arc premiered in July 2025.
The series received critical acclaim for its storyline, animation, action sequences, characters, and voice acting (original and dubbed), as well as numerous awards, and is considered one of the best anime of the 2010s.
Plot Set in Taishō era Japan, the series follows Tanjiro Kamado, a teenage boy who joins the Demon Slayer Corps—an organization consisting of humans seeking to hunt down demons—after his family is slaughtered and his sister Nezuko is turned into a demon. The story spans multiple arcs, detailing Tanjiro's growing strength, his bonds with other Corps members, and their quest to defeat the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji.
Series overview
Cast and characters
+ Character Japanese English Main characters Natsuki HanaeSatomi Satō (child) Zach AguilarAllegra Clark (child) Akari Kitō Abby Trott Hiro Shimono Aleks Le Yoshitsugu Matsuoka Bryce Papenbrook Reina Ueda Brianna Knickerbocker Nobuhiko Okamoto Zeno Robinson Secondary characters Takahiro Sakurai Johnny Yong Bosch Saori Hayami Erika Harlacher Satoshi HinoMariya Ise (child) Mark WhittenRyan Bartley (child) Katsuyuki Konishi Ray Chase Kana Hanazawa Kira Buckland Kengo Kawanishi Griffin Burns Tomokazu Seki Kaiji Tang Kenichi Suzumura Erik Scott Kimerer Tomokazu Sugita Crispin Freeman Supporting characters Toshiyuki Morikawa Matthew Mercer Rina Satō Suzie Yeung Yumiri Hanamori Kimberly Woods Ari Ozawa Brianna Knickerbocker Aoi Yūki Christine Marie Cabanos Shiori Izawa Mela Lee Toshihiko Seki Greg Chun Marina Inoue Amber Lee Connors Yoshimasa Hosoya Alejandro Saab Ryōtarō Okiayu Jonah Scott Mamoru Miyano Stephen Fu Akira Ishida Lucien Dodge Toshio Furukawa (Hantengu and Urami)Yūichirō Umehara (Sekido)Kaito Ishikawa (Karaku)Shunsuke Takeuchi (Urogi)Soma Saito (Aizetsu)Koichi Yamadera (Zohakuten) Christopher Corey Smith (Hantengu and Urami)Yong Yea (Sekido)Caleb Yen (Karaku)Chris Hackney (Urogi)Brian Timothy Anderson (Aizetsu)Ben Balmaceda (Zohakuten) Kohsuke Toriumi Brent Mukai Miyuki Sawashiro Erica Lindbeck Ryōta Ōsaka Brandon McInnis Daisuke Hirakawa Landon McDonald Taiten Kusunoki Ray Chase Sōichirō Hoshi Stefan Martello Kana Ueda Kira Buckland Koki Uchiyama Billy Kametz KENN Alan Lee Junichi Suwabe Steve Blum Minor characters Ami Koshimizu Allegra Clark Tetsu Inada Kellen Goff Showtaro Morikubo Derek Stephen Prince Ryoko Shiraishi Erica Lindbeck Jun Fukuyama Xander Mobus Mikako Komatsu Sarah Anne Williams Hōchū Ōtsuka Brook Chalmers Yuki Kaji Max Mittelman Ai Kakuma Ryan Bartley Takumi Yamazaki (Tanjiro's)Rie Kugimiya (Muichiro's) Doug Erholtz Maaya Sakamoto Laura Post Daiki Yamashita Kyle McCarley Shizuka Ishigami Erica Mendez Nao Tōyama Emi Lo Atsumi Tanezaki Anairis Quiñones Yuri Ehara Reba Buhr Makoto Furukawa Derek Stephen Prince Ayumi Mano Michelle Marie Yūki Kuwahara Kimberly Woods Nanami Yamashita Jackie Lastra Daisuke Namikawa Robbie Daymond Eiji Takemoto Kyle Hebert Ayumu Murase Jeannie Tirado Kōki Miyata Khoi Dao Shigeru Chiba John DeMita Ai Kayano Bridget Hoffman Shin-ichiro Miki Kirk Thornton Houko Kuwashima Dorothy Elias-Fahn Yō Taichi Michelle Ruff Konomi Kohara Ryan Bartley Kaede Hondo Jessica DiCicco Aoi Koga Philece Sampler Hirofumi Nojima Howard Wang Rikiya Koyama Imari Williams Megumi Toyoguchi Suzie Yeung Junya Enoki Cedric Williams Kazuhiko Inoue Mick Lauer
Production Season 1
An anime television series adaptation by studio Ufotable was announced by Weekly Shōnen Jump in June 2018. The anime was directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by Hikaru Kondo. Akira Matsushima served as the character designer. The series ran for 26 episodes, from April 6 to September 28, 2019, on Tokyo MX and other networks.
Season 2 and anime shorts
The second season ran for two consecutive cours, beginning with a seven-episode television series adaptation of the "Mugen Train" story arc, broadcast from October 10 to November 28, 2021. It included an original first episode, as well as new animation cuts and background music that differ from the film adaptation. premiered with a one-hour special on December 5, 2021, and aired till February 13, 2022. The main staff and cast members from the first season returned to reprise their roles. The second season of the series aired on 30 stations across Japan, including Fuji TV and its affiliates as well as Tokyo MX.
Four Valentine's Day-themed anime shorts, titled , debuted on the Aniplex YouTube channel on February 14, 2021.
Season 3
At the end of the second-season finale, a third season covering the "Swordsmith Village" arc from the manga was announced. It premiered with a one-hour special on April 9, 2023, and ended with a 70-minute episode on June 18 of the same year.
Season 4
A fourth season covering the "Hashira Training" arc was announced following the finale of the third season. It premiered with a one-hour special on May 12, 2024. The season ended with a one-hour special, which aired on June 30 of the same year.
Compilation films
Prior to airing, the first five episodes screened theatrically in Japan for two weeks from March 29, 2019, under the title . Aniplex of America screened the film at the Aratani Theatre in Los Angeles on March 31, 2019. Madman Entertainment screened the film in select theaters in Australia on April 2, 2019. The film was broadcast on Fuji TV's Saturday Premium block on October 10, 2020, followed by , which compiled episodes 15–21, on October 17, 2020. Fuji TV also rebroadcast the series in the Kanto area, under the title : episodes 6–10 aired from October 12–16, episodes 11–14 on October 17, and episodes 22–26 on October 24, 2020. Episodes 22–26 were recompiled into a special edition episode, titled , which adds some new footage and special ending credits roll, and aired on Fuji TV on December 20, 2020.
A compilation film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village, which includes the final two episodes of the Entertainment District Arc and an advanced screening of the first Swordsmith Village Arc episode, premiered in Japan on February 3, 2023. The film premiered in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2023, and in North America on March 3 of the same year.
Another compilation film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, which includes the final episode of Swordsmith Village Arc and advanced screening of the first Hashira Training Arc episode, premiered in Japan on February 2, 2024, with a theatrical release on February 23 of the same year.
Films
On September 28, 2019, following the airing of the first season's finale episode, an anime film, titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, was announced, with the staff and cast reprising their roles. The film is a direct sequel to the series, and covers the events of the Mugen Train Arc. The film was distributed in Japan by Aniplex and Toho, and premiered on October 16, 2020. The film has grossed over worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2020, and broke several box office records, including the highest-grossing Japanese film and anime film of all time. The film was released worldwide digitally on June 22, 2021.
Following the airing of Hashira Training Arc on June 30, 2024, it was announced that the manga's "Infinity Castle" story arc would be adapted into a film trilogy. The first installment, entitled Part 1: Akaza Returns, was released in Japan on July 18, 2025.
International release and distribution The series has been licensed by Aniplex's North American subsidiary and streamed it on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Funimation. Aniplex of America released it on two limited editions Blu-ray volumes: the first on June 30, 2020, and the second on November 24 of that same year. The company also partnered with Funimation to release standard-edition Blu-ray volumes. Two volumes were released on September 29, 2020, and January 19, 2021. Netflix also started streaming the series on January 22, 2021, in the United States and Canada. An English dub produced by Aniplex of America and Bang Zoom! Entertainment, aired on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block from October 13, 2019, to May 3, 2020. Funimation began streaming the English dub on December 8, 2020.
According to Jason DeMarco, the executive producer who oversees the Adult Swim block, the success of the Mugen Train film initially made further seasons of the series too expensive to acquire for broadcast. Two years later in October 2023, Adult Swim announced that the English dub for the Mugen Train Arc would broadcast on its Toonami block which aired from November 12 to December 17 of the same year. A month later, it was confirmed that Entertainment District Arc would also air which broadcast from January 14 to March 24, 2024.
The third season had aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block from August 11 to October 20, 2024.
Crunchyroll announced that the film trilogy of the manga's "Infinity Castle" story arc will release exclusively to theaters globally.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the first season was released on home video by Anime Limited, while later entries have been handled by Crunchyroll. Madman Entertainment acquired the series in Australia and New Zealand and simultaneously streamed the series on AnimeLab.
Muse Communication licensed the second season in Asia-Pacific.
Music
Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina composed the anime's music. For the first season, LiSA performed the opening theme , while the ending theme is "from the edge" by FictionJunction and LiSA. The ending theme for episode 19 is by Go Shiina featuring Nami Nakagawa. For the second season's Mugen Train Arc, LiSA performed the opening theme , as well as the ending theme . For the Entertainment District Arc, Aimer performed the opening theme , as well as the ending theme .
For the third season's Swordsmith Village Arc, Man with a Mission and Milet performed the opening theme , as well as the ending theme . The last episode of the season features the song by Go Shiina featuring Nami Nakagawa. For the fourth season's Hashira Training Arc, My First Story and Hyde performed the opening theme , as well as the ending theme .
Reception Viewership The anime had received high TV rating percentage and has consistently ranked among the top ten animated shows in Japan, since the release of second season's Mugen Train and Entertainment District story arcs.Japanese TV animation weekly ratings in the Kantō region: Episode 27: Episode 28: Episode 29: Episode 30: Episode 31: Episode 32: Episode 33: Episode 34: Episode 35: Episode 36: Episode 37: Episode 38: Episode 39: Episode 40: Episode 41: Episode 42: Episode 43: