Once more this dance, which feels like it’s been going on forever. I have to be honest – I always try to be – and say that the Swordwmith Village season (which could have been called the insomnia-curing season) came pretty close to cashing me out on Kimetsu no Yaiba. Which is pretty remarkable, considering it had almost no Zenitsu or Inosuke, who (especially the former) have historically been my worst nightmare with Demon Slayer. But even without them it was for the most part a sloppily written bore. I acknowledge that this series, overrated as it is, can be very good indeed at its best. That was nowhere near its best.

Neither was this, at least for me. There was a lot of Zenitsu, at least in the second half. And of course that was unwatchable. But I found my attention drifting pretty hard even before then. One things that really strikes me is how wooden most of the performances in this series are, and considering there are some very good actors involved in some roles, one can only assume that’s a directorial choice. There was way too much exposition. Way too much Kanroji, who I find one of the most annoyingly sexist characters around (and I find this series generally to be pretty sexist). And the humor in this show almost never works. All in all, just not that good.

As such, and given that we seem very likely to get an overdose of Zenosuke this season given the premise, it’s pretty likely I’m going to opt out. I will watch another ep or two and if they surprise me, maybe I’ll keep covering. But they’re going to have to surprise me, because after last season and that premiere my expectations are modest at best. Samu keeps telling me the final arc is really good and if so, great, I’ll cover it. But even if I do there’s no rule that says I can’t skip part of what comes first if it doesn’t light my fire.