Demon Slayer fans fail to realize the Swordsmith Village Arc's hidden charm and it's saddening

Demon Slayer gets a lot of flak for a lot of reasons. Fans love to talk about how the novelty of seeing Tanjiro behead a demon wears off after it’s been done so many times. There are also complaints of poor world-building from other Demon Slayer fans. Some anime fans go as far as to say the series is all style and no substance.

These criticisms have been there since the first season of Demon Slayer and have even intensified as the last season was released. The area in the previous season that divided fans was the Swordsmith Village Arc.

The Swordsmith Village Arc is not the best in Demon Slayer but it is certainly not the worst. The beauty of this arc lies in its subtext, there is so much happening at once. Here is why the Swordsmith Village Arc is one of the most misunderstood in Demon Slayer.

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Why the Swordsmith Village Arc is misunderstood by Demon Slayer fans

Tanjiro becomes as powerful as a Hashira in the Swordsmith Village Arc (Image via Ufotable)

Most of the blame for how the Swordsmith Village Arc is perceived by fans falls on the creators of Demon Slayer. The bar they set from the beginning of Demon Slayer was so high that it was the best anime in the year it was released. Other seasons fail to live up to this hype and this causes viewer excitement to die down.

Another reason the Swordsmith Village Arc gets a lot of flak is due to how it sidelined other characters. People expected the likes of Zenitsu and Inosuke to have more of an onscreen presence and when they don’t, it annoys fans. Their anger rises as they see Inosuke and Zenitsu post-Swordsmith Village Arc being stronger.

The villains are also some of the dullest in Demon Slayer history with them being caricatures of the average Demons Tanjiro faces. Before the arc, Gyuki and Dataro were the villains Tanjiro faced. The two demons are some of the most rounded in the entire series.

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What was the true meaning behind the Swordsmith Village Arc?

Hotaru is heavily shown throughout the arc (Image via Ufotable)

When it comes to subtext, not many arcs in the series had as much weight as Swordsmith Village Arc. For the first time, the series tries to show viewers who the real heroes are. It doesn’t do it lightly, it zooms in on their lives by showing an entire village full of humans dedicated to crafting weapons for the demon slayer corps.

One swordsmith who is shown a lot in this arc is Hotaru Hangenezuka. Before this arc, he was just shown as a very quirky individual, but this time, viewers are shown who he is. They see the dedication from the swordsmith as he faces mortal injury but continues doing what he is doing. While Tanjiro and Muichiro fight off the demons in this arc, the true hero is Hotaru.

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Final thoughts

The villains shown in the Swordsmith Village Arc are some of its biggest problems. Unlike any other arc in the series where tension is slowly built up and the fear of demons is ever present, in this arc, none of that is felt. This might have been deliberate by the creators as they wanted the village to be the main focus, but this decision backfires and makes the demons look silly.

The demons shown are not likable in the slightest. Hantengu feels like a flat character and this is despite his many clones who show different emotions. He feels like an eyesore throughout his entire screen time. Gyokko also shares the same similarities with Hantengu, as he is also heavily one-dimensional.

Despite the two demons being part of the Twelve Kizuki, viewers do not feel any fear from these characters. They feel less powerful than other characters shown so far and this problem lies with the plot.

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