Wield your blade against the demons drawing near!
Tanjiro travels to the Swordsmith Village to replace his sword because Hotaru Haganezuka is tired of repairing it. He later discovers that The Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, Genya Shinazugawa, and Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito are also at the village as well. However, it turns out the village is in grave danger as two Upper Rank demons are sent by Muzan to destroy it to cripple the Demon Slayer corps. Now, Tanjiro, Nezuko, and their new allies in this fight band together to stop the demons and protect the village.
Tropes associated with Swordsmith Village Arc:
- Advertised Extra: The three higher-ranked Upper Moons, Akaza, Doma, and Kokushibo are shown in the poster, but only appear in the Upper Moon meeting mainly because they are not summoned by Muzan to attack the Swordsmith Village.
- Arc Hero: With Zenitsu and Inosuke out on their own missions, the Demon Slayers that ally with the Kamado siblings are Genya Shinazugawa and two Hashiras: The Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanronji and the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito. Since the Kamado siblings travel to the Swordsmith Village, the Swordsmiths themselves are prominently featured, with Hotaru Haganezuka, Kozo Kanamori, and Kotetsu getting the most attention.
- Ascended Extra:
- In the previous arcs, Genya only appeared in a few scenes, first being one of the few survivors the final selection (and attempting to attack Kanata Ubuyashiki out of impatience), and rudely coming across Tanjiro at one point out of resentment for breaking his arm. Here, he plays a major role as one of Tanjiro's main allies in his fight against Hantengu.
- The Hashiras Muichiro and Mitsuri get their time to shine as major allies to Tanjiro and co. Their backstories are even revealed as well.
- Haganezuka and even Kanamori were mainly seen as comic reliefs who would get easily pissed when the Demon slayers break their swords (or in Inosuke's case, tamper). They get more prominence here as major allies to the Demon Slayers.
- Arc Villain: Upper Moons 4 & 5, Hantengu and Gyokko, respectively, serves as the primary foes of the story arc, leading the demon offensive on the village. Unlike the previous arc, Hantengu and Gyokko fight separately, the former (and his clones) pitted against the Kamado siblings, Genya, and Mitsuri, while the latter torments the Swordsmiths before facing off against Muichiro.
- Bittersweet Ending: The good news: Gyokko and Hantengu were slain, and Nezuko can talk again and walk under the daylight. The bad news: The entire conflict in the Swordsmith Village ultimately resulted with Nezuko being Muzan's top priority target, as he intends to absorb her to achieve full immortality.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Gyokko, not unlike Gyutaro from the previous arc, doesn't use his chance to kill Muichiro once defeated and near-dead, and pays with his life once Muichiro's mark awakens.
- Cannot Talk to Women: When Genya approaches Mitsuri at the hot springs, he refuses to respond to her courteous greeting, resulting in the latter in tears upon approaching Tanjiro. It's later revealed he did it not because out of unpleasantness, but because he was too shy to even say a word.
- Character Development: Largely due to Tanjiro's compassionate influence, Genya and Muichiro grow out of their aloof nature and move on from their past. Genya in particular rediscovering his nicer side and being willing to work with Tanjiro in defeating Hantenegu, whereas Muichiro sees the importance of helping others and molds out of his disinterested state.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Once again, two Upper Rank members of the Twelve Kizuki are the Arc Villains, but they cannot be anymore different compared to Daki and Gyutaro.
- Daki and Gyutaro, being siblings who genuinely love each other, share the same position as Upper Moon 6 (even though Gyutaro is stronger and more heavily favored by Muzan than Daki). Hantengu (Upper Moon 4) is at a higher rank than Gyokko (Upper Moon 5) and act more as co-workers at best.
- As Gyutaro himself says so, he and Daki fight together, and it shows when Gyutaro uses one of his eyes to keep close observation on her, as well as Daki occasionally helping him with supplemental attacks while Gyutaro is on the main offensive; they're only able to be defeated when the Demon Slayer decapitate them both at the same time. Gyokko and Hantengu on the other hand fight on completely separate occasions, especially shown when Hantengu is still around after Gyokko is humiliatingly decimated by Muichiro.
- Gyutaro and Daki fight mainly utilizing their weapons and blood demon arts, and don't really have much support other than themselves. Hantengu and Gyokko on the other hand have Mooks that assist them in battle (Hantengu's emotion clones, Gyokko's fish demons).
- And finally, Gyutaro and Daki have tragic backstories as abused citizens of the Yoshiwara District's ghettos that justify their willingness to be transformed by demons since they have nothing else to lose but each other. There's nothing sympathetic about Hantengu and Gyokko, even as their backstories are shed to light, and it's only made much worse when they are transformed as Demons.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Genya and Muichiro's pasts are revealed, and boy, are they nothing short of rough.
- Genya grew up under an abusive father (who was killed by an associate with a grudge against him) and his mother, who was turned into a demon that killed all of his siblings, sans his older brother, Sanemi, who was forced to kill her. That last event resulted in a misunderstanding in which Genya accuses Sanemi for murdering their own mother for malicious purposes; Samemi on the other hand gives Genya the cold shoulder out of fear of his life being lost upon joining the Demon Slayer Corps, just so that Genya can apologize to his brother of what he said. It's no wonder why the Shinazugawa brothers are such mean-spirited jerks.
- Muichiro on the other hand became an orphan alongside his older twin brother, Yuichiro, after their mother dies of an unspecified illness and his father perishes in a storm while attempting to find medicine. This results in Yuichiro becoming cold and aloof toward his brother and other passerby, the former attempts to at least lighten the mood regarding their situation. If that's not enough, Yuichiro ends up sacrificing himself to save Muichiro from an unlucky encounter with a Demon, and had it not been for Amane's intervention, Muichiro would've likely been as good as dead. Muichiro would later lose memories of his past and become exactly what Yuichiro was to him.
- Mitsuri's past leans more towards personal insecurity, as she had no encounters with any demons prior to joining the Demon Slayer corps, and her family is still alive at the season's conclusion. She was rejected by multiple suitors for her looks and her immense strength compared to other women, which resulted in her masking up to blend in with the crowd just so that she could be courted by a man without fail. It took encouragement from Kagaya to grow out of it and embrace herself as who she is, with hint that the one person who truly loves her is her fellow Hashira, Obanai.
- Muzan Kibutsuji's past is finally shed to light, and while it does NOT excuse his actions one bit, it's still pretty dark and to some degree, justifies his motives. Similar to Rui, he was born sickly, but it was bad to the point where he was almost cremated because his parents thought he was stillborn, and he was expected to not live past 19. Of course, Muzan killing the doctor attempting to cure him and eventually becoming a ruthless immortality-seeking monster was pure malice on his part.
- Genya and Muichiro's pasts are revealed, and boy, are they nothing short of rough.
- Diabolus ex Machina: No explanation is ever given for how Gyokko found the Swordsmith Village, which is protected by multiple layers of secrecy, so that even visiting Demon Slayers aren't permitted to know its exact location.
- Heroic Second Wind: When Muichiro first fights Gyokko, he ends up on a receiving end of a Curb-Stomp Battle against the Upper Rank that ends with Gyokko trapping him in a vase-shaped water prison. Unable to escape initially, Muichiro recalls his father and Tanjiro's words about helping others would come back to help you, which ends up coming true when Kotetsu gives him enough oxygen for Muichiro to try again and successfully slash his way out of the death trap. The memories of his brother's death also anger Muichiro enough for him to awaken the Demon Slayer Mark, which combined with the new sword given to him Kozo Kanamori, finally allows him to turn the tides against Gyokko.
- Hidden Elf Village: The titular village, and for very good reasons.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Invoked by the Magistrate when he is about be killed by Hantengu, who has become a demon. True to his word, the warranty finally expires once Tanjiro decapitates him and has his remains incinerated by the sun.“No matter what you say, facts remain facts! Killing me will do you no good! You will pay for your sins with your life! I swear it!”
- Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: According to the fanbook, when Hantengu was a human, he killed several of his wives and children after his nature as a scam artist was discovered several times.
- Literal Split Personality: What Hantengu's Blood Demon Art amounts to. Hantengu can split into multiple versions of himself when he's decapitated, each one representing one of his emotions. Hantengu splits into Sekido (Anger), Karaku (Pleasure), Aizetsu (Sorrow), and Urogi (Joy), with Obie (Fear) becoming the main body that has to be decapitated in order to kill Hantengu entirely. Sekido can absorb Urogi, Karaku, and Aizetsu to become Zohakuten (Hatred), and Hantengu can also create Urami (Resentment) as a last resort to protect Obie.
- Living MacGuffin:
- The swordsmiths capable of forging swords for every Demon Slayer, precisely why Hantengu and Gyokko are ordered to wipe them out.
- Nezuko becomes this to Muzan, after he finds out that she can survive the sunlight.
- Mr. Fanservice: The hot springs scene gives the audience a glimpse of Tanjiro and Genya at their most muscular. The anime extends the scene a bit, showing Tanjiro stripping off his clothes and a Freeze-Frame Bonus showing his naked behind.
- Ms. Fanservice: Prior to that, the audience is treated with a near-entirety glimpse of Mitsuri in the hot springs, all in her nude glory.
- Near-Villain Victory: Both Urami and Zohakuten nearly manage to get the win before Nezuko kicks Tanjiro.
- Urami had already grabbed the swordsmiths to eat them and was in the process to absorb them by the time Tanjiro catches up to him.
- Zohakuten defeated Mitsuri and was just about to kill her when Hantengu's death catches up to him.
- Never My Fault: Hantengu considers himself to be innocent and everyone else is guilty for corrupting him. Tanjiro, Genya, and the Magistrate in Hantengu's past life all call him out for his malarkey at least once.
- One-Man Army: Muichiro fights and kills Gyokko, the Upper-5, being the sole Hashira to vanquish an Upper Moon singlehandedly.
- Put on a Bus: Series' mains Zenitsu and Inosuke are off on separate missions while the Kamado siblings handle the demons in the Swordsmith Village.
- Undying Loyalty: Despite being afraid of his wrath, Hantengu is absolutely loyal to Muzan, noting how he saved him from execution due to believing in his innocence. Knowing Muzan, it's more likely he turned Hantengu into a Demon to take amusement in him corrupting the justice system, as well as finding a demon who will one day conquer the sunlight. Hantengu's loyalty is so strong, that he uses his last moments in life to telepathically report Nezuko's newly gained immunity to sunlight, something that Muzan praises him for.
- Wham Episode: The Season 3 finale, with the big reveal that Nezuko survived the sunlight while Tanjiro was focused on Hantenegu. When Muzan senses this, he is overjoyed at the revelation and enacts a new plan to absorb the Kamado demon so that he can finally achieve immortality.
- Wham Shot: Nezuko standing in the creeping dawn, completely unaffected by the sunlight falling on her.
