The best Demon Slayer watch order is basically the order in which the shows or the film was released.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba follows the struggles of young Tanjiro as he tries to turn his sister human again.
The watch order for this anime can be a bit confusing, but it boils down to watching the first season of the show, then the film, then the second season of the show.
What is Demon Slayer about?
As far as coming of age stories go, training to be a demon slayer after a demon killed your entire family and your sister was turned into a demon, is pretty extreme.
Yet, this is exactly the journey that Tanjiro Kamado undertakes in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (also commonly known as “Demon Slayer”).
After finding out that his sister, Nezuko’s, humanity has not completely left her, Tanjiro decides that his only viable option is to try and turn her human again.
To do this, he joins the Demon Slayer Corps and teams up with the elite Hashira in an endeavour to fight against the various demons that they find along the way.
In what order should you watch Demon Slayer?
As is the case with many anime shows, Demon Slayer was initially introduced to the public in the form of a weekly Japanese manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge.
However, the series quickly started gaining traction and by 2019 it was turned into the first 26-episode anime television series.
Over the years, Demon Slayer has arguably become one of the most successful anime shows of all time. Now, only a few years later, the anime series has two full seasons, a spin-off film, and an upcoming third season.
The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train film even overtook Spirited Away, becoming the highest-grossing anime film of all time globally.
If you are new to the series and you want to make sure that you can catch up on everything that has happened before Demon Slayer season three starts airing in April 2023, you may be wondering what the correct order is in which to watch the show.
Fortunately, the Demon Slayer watch order only seems confusing at first glance, but it makes complete sense you understand that the second season is effectively divided into two arcs.
The first arc is pretty similar to that of the spin-off movie and the second arc is commonly referred to as the Entertainment District Arc.
Once you have an understanding of this distinction, the order in which you should watch the first two seasons and the movie is much more obvious, as shown below:
| Watch order | Description |
| First | Demon Slayer season 1 (episodes 1 to 26) |
| Second | Mugen Train movie and/or Demon Slayer: Mugen Train TV arc (episodes 27 to 33) |
| Third | Demon Slayer season 2 (the Entertainment District arc, episodes 34 to 44) |
What is the canonical order of the franchise?
Fortunately, the canonical order of the Demon Slayer franchise follows the chronological order in which all of the shows and the film were released, which is as follows:
| Name | Canonical watch order | Release date |
| Demon Slayer season 1 | First | 2019 |
| Mugen Train movie and/or Demon Slayer: Mugen Train TV arc | Second | 2020 (movie)
2021 (show) |
| Demon Slayer season 2 | Third | 2021 |
What is better: the Demon Slayer film or the Mugen Train TV arc?
If you are interested in catching up on all of the Demon Slayer content as quickly as possible, you may wonder if you can substitute the movie for the first part of the second season of the show, since they cover the same story arc.
If you absolutely have to choose one over the other, it is recommended that you watch the episodes 27 through 33 of the show instead of the movie, as this will give you much more context and backstory.
About the third season of Demon Slayer
All in all, Demon Slayer has 44 total episodes before its season three launch. The third season of the show will adapt the “Swordsmith Village” arc from the original mange series, which has 30 chapters.
This new season is set to start off with a special hour-long first episode and a special theatrical screening event will be held on 1 March 2023 in Canada and the United States to celebrate its release.
This special event will also feature episodes 10 and 11 from the second season of the show, similarly to the event that was hosted for the movie, as the third season will pick up right where the Entertainment District arc left off in the previous season.