I knew about this campaign since it was announced but I forgot that it existed until when it was happening. For one day only on July 9th, if you ordered from the McDonald’s app, you could snag some Jujutsu Kaisen themed Special Grade Garlic Sauce. Why it is garlic-themed? No idea, but when I realized that today was the day it went live, I thought “Why not?” I had vivid memories of the Szechuan Sauce fiasco and I expected a similar rush to grab this sauce, so I expected nothing to be available at my store.

So to my surprise, they had plenty. My girlfriend and I went onto the app, saw it was available at our store, put in an order, and then grabbed it. I know that may sound banal, but after dealing with the hellscape that was collecting Amiibo, I was prepared for the worst. But no, we ordered a burger, fries, some nuggets, got our sauces, and then drove back to our home.

After we sat down (and after my girlfriend tricked me into thinking that my burger already had two bites taken out of it because I’m gullible as hell), I was ready to try it. After separating the Gojo-themed label, which I got a laugh out of, I was surprised at how dark the sauce looked. It didn’t look like a garlic sauce but more like a BBQ sauce. It was about as thick as a BBQ sauce too, but that may just be the consistency of all McDonald’s sauces. I could easily see the black pepper chunks in it and it smelled like pepper more than anything else, but it was the taste that mattered to me.

My goal was to try the sauce with each of the three main McDonald’s staples and see how they stacked up. After taking a single bite of a nugget drenched in this sauce, the first thing that hit me was pure garlic. It overpowered everything about the nugget to the point where it didn’t even taste like one of their nuggets. McDonald’s nuggets have a specific taste I could only taste oozing garlic. As for the pepper that I smelled, I weirdly didn’t taste any pepper. I guess there was a light tang at the end of each bite when I let it sit for a while, but it was less peppery and just tasted like more garlic.

The same situation happened with the fries. The saltiness of the fries helped to weaken the garlic, but the garlic had complete and total control over each bite. And look, I like garlic a lot, so I wasn’t too upset by how potent the garlic was here, but those who are only mild fans of it may be immediately turned off by it. What was universally a bad idea was putting the sauce on the burger. I don’t know if anyone normally puts McDonald’s dipping sauces on their burgers, but after securing a part of the burger that my girlfriend didn’t bite, I spread some sauce on, took a bite, and instantly regretted my decision.

I know that there are people who will mix mayo with ketchup, but the garlic sauce didn’t blend at all with any of the ketchup, onions, or pickles that were on it. It was like mixing oil and vinegar and the ketchup and garlic fought in my mouth but never came together. It just left a bad aftertaste, but considering I’m probably the one person in the world who thought to put Jujutsu Kaisen Special Grade Garlic Sauce on a burger, I don’t think anyone else will make the same mistake.

Look, I can’t say that I approve of the method McDonald’s took to make this marketing stunt work but at the end of the day, I didn’t care about any of that. I just wanted to know if the McDonald’s Jujutsu Kaisen Special Grade Garlic Sauce tasted good. For what it’s worth, it was pretty alright. If it was available on their menu normally, I’d probably order it, though it wouldn’t replace my beloved sweet and sour sauce. My curiosity was satisfied, and now I can sit back and watch people try to flip these sauces on eBay for ludicrous sums of money. Because of course people are already doing that.

The work of Steins Alter Productions, this fan-made anime received its first teaser trailer, and it looks impressive. In this almost minute-long clip, we see some of the most iconic characters from Elden Ring lore including Maliketh the Black Blade, Radagon, Mohg, and more. It is worth noting that this is still development footage, so expect it to be more polished once the production is done.

The finished product won’t be a complete series, but it is intended to be an impressive five-minute short showing the potential this franchise has in anime form. Once it is finished the anime will be released via the studio’s YouTube channel. Right now, the plan is for this short to arrive in the Fall, but no exact date has been set.

So far the work of Steins Alter Productions looks like it’s coming along nicely and we’re more than excited to see the finished product.

On the official front, there’s been no word of any movies or series for Elden Ring in development, but there is interest from the studio themselves. If FromSoftware is ever going to green-light an Elden Ring TV production now’s the time to do it, and who knows, perhaps the interest in this fan-made anime will fuel the fire that eventually gets us an official full-length show.

For now, fans who want to experience the Elden Ring story will have to stick to testing their luck in-game, and with Shadow of the Erdtree live, there’s been no better time to do it. You can purchase the DLC on console and PC devices right now.

The Junji Ito x Sanrio special collaboration will appear exclusively in Parco locations in Tokyo from August 23 to September 9, this year, before moving to Osaka from September 27 to October 14. So, if you have plans to see the leaves change color, why not swing over to Parco and pick up some merchandise?

The goods for sale are strangely pastel and innocent, despite the collaboration. Though there are only three characters from Junji Ito’s series on display. The first is naturally the self-healing and replicating Tomie, who’s most prominently featured with Sanrio mascot Hello Kitty. Though she’s also paired up with Pompompurin and My Melody and is wearing their iconic head gear. Whether that’s a red bow, a beret, or a bunny-eared bonnet.

The next two characters are the spirits of the intersection from the four volume manga Lovesickness Dead. That includes both Pretty Intersection Boy in Black, who gets a cameo with Lloromannic Berry, while Pretty Intersection Boy in White gets Cinnamoroll. Sorry, Cherry!

The pop-up up features all sorts of merchandise, including holographic stickers, keychains, coasters, tote bags, and t-shirts. I can almost guarantee that the tee featuring Tomie with Hello Kitt’s bow will sell out first. $30 USD is almost a steal!

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this pop up will make its way out of the country. Which is a shame, because the images are pretty iconic. The only thing I’d change is a little more spiral iconography and maybe a shark on metal legs terrorizing the Sanrio family. Fortunately, if you’re craving that Uzumaki touch, there’s an anime coming soon, too.

For more information on the event, check out Asobi Factory’s website here.   

What Happened in Tower of God’s Season 2 Premiere?

If you forgot what happened at the end of season 1, don’t worry, Tower of God will remind you of the only thing that mattered. The season begins with Bam getting pushed off the tower by Rachel and falling to the bottom. Bam picks himself up and is determined to climb the tower, not for Rachel but for him to discover his own answers, with a young woman named Hwa Ryun tagging along for the ride.

We then cut to Yuri (one of the Princesses of Jahad who had acquired the Green April and Black March swords towards the end of season 1) traveling to a massive castle where she meets some of the other princesses. While she briefly has a curt conversation with another princess, Maschenny, over the control of the 13 Months Series swords, Yuri’s main goal is to meet with her sister, Repellista. Yuri wants help finding Bam, who she believes did not die during the test, unaware of Rachel’s betrayal. Repellista agrees to help Yuri on the condition she finds something for her, although we don’t learn what that something is.

It’s during these opening scenes that I think it’s pretty evident the show’s animation has seen a significant jump in quality. The first season’s animation was never consistent and, at times, was a bit too haphazard and scratchy. Now, the shift in studios between seasons from Telecom Animation Film to The Answer Studio looks to be paying off almost immediately.

Ja Wangnam & the E-Rank Exam

We cut to some time later on the 20th floor of the tower. We’re told via narration that this floor of the tower is a bustling metropolis serving as the hub for E-Rank exams, a test that prevents anyone from going beyond the 20th floor until they pass. However, due to the test’s difficulty and the sheer cost of it, most Regulars (aka people trying to climb the tower) stop there and make lives for themselves, turning this floor into a hub of activity and crime.

It’s here we meet a new character, Ja Wangnam. Ja has been attempting to pass the E-Rank exam for quite some time but has failed each attempt, with his most recent failure coming at the hands of a “flamethrower girl.” He’s despondent but eager to try again. However, his home is broken into by the loan shark funding Ja’s E-Rank test attempts and demands payment. Ja says he doesn’t have the money, which causes the loan shark to try to make Ja sign a contract saying he’ll pay him back by selling his organs. Ja freaks out over this, but the loan shark gives him one last chance before he starts harvesting Ja’s organs for cash.

After a brief conversation with a girl, who delivered him ramen, about their respective situations on the 20th floor, Ja is ready to attempt the test one more time. The test is akin to the Royal Rumble, where entrants will enter an arena every few minutes and have to survive until the timer runs out, which will only begin once all the combatants have entered. Ja is raring to go, but, upon entering the arena, he’s confronted by a silent, long-haired man who had just brutally defeated his opponents. Ja immediately realizes he can’t win a fight against this man and attempts to negotiate with him, suggesting they just sit to save their strength against later challengers. The long-haired man neither refuses nor accepts Ja’s offer, instead just sitting down and doing nothing.

A Brawl in the Arena

After that, four more entrants enter the arena and opt to sit alongside Ja and the long-haired man. Some of them already know each other, while most are complete strangers. But tensions begin to rise when the final entrant, a silver-haired man, enters and speculates they should weed out weak people because future tests may require them to work as a team. Ja says they should expel the silver-haired man for calling others in the group weak. The long-haired man then speaks for the first time, saying there won’t be a need for teams, and attacks the silver-haired man.

This leads to a brawl between the long-haired man and two other entrants as Ja looks on in awe. The long-haired man is impossibly strong, and it’s revealed that not only is he a Wave Controller (a person who can naturally control water-like energy called Shinsu) but he’s also a member of FUG, a crime syndicate that is in opposition to Jahad. Ja realizes that they’re completely screwed if someone this strong is in their room, and he attempts to run.

With only seconds left before the test ends, the long-haired man tries to attack Ja, only to be stopped by flashbacks of Rachel, confirming that the long-haired man is Bam. Ja then throws firebombs at Bam, which injures him despite how weak the bombs are. Before Bam can land a mortal blow on Ja, the test ends and all six competitors pass, with Bam proceeding to the elevator for the next trial alone, reflecting on the visions he saw of Rachel.

Tower of God Season 2 Is off to a Strong Start

With the foundation now laid for season 2, Tower of God is off to a strong start. Focusing on a new protagonist and offering a mystery around Bam’s circumstances between the first and second seasons was a smart choice, making this a fairly compelling watch, helped further by the upgrade in animation. For the first time in a long while, I’m actually interested in what Tower of God is offering, and I look forward to seeing if it can keep it up in the following episodes.

Tower of God is available to stream on Crunchy Roll.

Is There a Madoka Magica Movie 4 Release Date?

There is currently no officially announced release date for Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht – Rising. A trailer for the movie released in September 2023 listed a Winter 2024 release window, later clarified to be the end of 2024 as opposed to the year’s opening winter months. Since then, there have been no additional details provided about the fourth Madoka Magica movie, including no narrowing of its nebulous release window. Walpurgisnacht: Rising is expected to retain much of the cast and crew from the previous Madoka Magica movies, including its core cast and franchise creators Magica Quartet.

The Madoka Magica movies are based on the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica created by the production team Magica Quartet and produced by the anime studio Shaft. Running for twelve episodes, the series was adapted into two feature-length anime movies featuring new voice work and additional footage released in October 2012 as Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Beginnings and Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Eternal. A third anime movie, revolving around an all-new story, was released in October 2013 as Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion.

Madoka Magica takes place in a world where mythical creatures grant wishes to young girls in exchange for the girls becoming magically empowered versions of themselves and vanquishing witches who are fueled by despair. As protagonist Madoka Kaname is drawn into this high-stakes world of sorcery and fantasy, she learns the true cost of magic as she joins with others to battle a particularly powerful witch known as Walpurgisnacht. Since its debut, Madoka Magica has been adapted into a manga series and multiple video game titles.

Rising Impact Season 2 Release Date Confirmed

Rising Impact Season 2 is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on August 6, 2024. As with its first season, all episodes in Rising Impact Season 2 are expected to release simultaneously rather than in a weekly release schedule. It is currently unclear if the second season will have as many episodes as the inaugural season, which ran for twelve episodes, though this is the expectation at this time.

Rising Impact follows elementary school student Gawain Nanaumi, who is discovered to be an impressive golf prodigy and trained to become a masterclass professional golfer. In keeping with the Arthurian origins of Gawain’s name, he is joined by fellow golfer Lancelot Norman for much of the series as Gawain continues to hone his golfing skills at Camelot Academy. Season 1 ended with the tease that Gawain and Lancelot would both travel together to England for the ultimate test of their golfing aptitude against some of the best golfers in the world.

Suzuki’s Rising Impact manga series ran for 17 volumes from 1998 to 2002 and, interestingly, has yet to receive an official English-language translated publication in North America over 20 years since its launch. Hopefully, with a resurgent interest in the property through the anime series, the manga will receive translated distribution in North America. After the conclusion of the Rising Impact manga, Suzuki would go on to create The Seven Deadly Sins, which went on to become one of the best-selling manga series of all time and be adapted into its own popular anime series.

And that’s the confirmed release date of Rising Impact Season 2.

Rising Impact is streaming now on Netflix.

What Happens in the Blue Lock Movie Post-Credits Scene

There are actually two post-credits scenes in the Blue Lock movie, both of which directly set up what is sure to be an exciting second season for the Blue Lock anime series. The first scene shows the soccer team in the Blue Lock XI training program in preparation for a big game against Japan’s under-20 national team. Should they be successful, the team will replace their opponents to represent Japan at the next FIFA World Cup. This scene takes place 50 days after the main ending to the movie where this opportunity was revealed to the Blue Lock XI team.

RELATED: Anime Helped Me Understand Why People Love Sports

The second post-credits scene takes place during the climax of the big game, with an announcement that stoppage time has been extended before a winner can be determined. Reo Mikage is visibly anxious with how the game has proceeded so far, as failing will mean he and his teammates will never have a future on Japan’s national soccer team moving forward. Several of Mikage’s teammates appear and advise him to move against his rival Seishirō Nagi, with Mikage tacitly agreeing when the timing is right, especially given how his and Nagi’s rivalry escalated significantly during the movie.

These events will likely be revisited and expanded upon for Blue Lock Season 2, which is currently scheduled to premiere on October 5, 2024. Nagi is confirmed to play a major role in Season 2 and his rivalry with Mikage will presumably be a major plot thread throughout the season as the Blue Lock XI team competes for the prestigious role of representing Japan at the World Cup.

What Happened In The Season 2 Premiere of Oshi No Ko?

The season begins several months after the events of the first season. with a look at a stage play Aqua and Akane are in called Tokyo Blade. The show is an adaptation of a popular manga and is being put on by the Lala Lai Theatrical Company, who were attempting to seek new talent in order to revilatize their pool of talent. Aqua decided to audition for the role, but not because he wants to hone his acting abilities. Rather, he suspects that the director of the production, Toshirou Kindaichi, may have some knowledge or involvement of the murder of his mother, Ai Hoshino. Akane auditioned because of the opportunity it presents for her career, and because she’s dating Aqua.

Meanwhile, Aqua’s sister Ruby visits Ai’s grave and lets her know about how her former Idol group, B-Komanchi, is doing. Since their revival at the end of season one, the group has steadily been growing more popular by putting on smaller shows and releasing a steady stream of videos thanks to Mem-Cho. Ruby confides to her dead mother that her goal is to put on a dome show, something Ai was never able to do, to make her mom happy.

The episode doesn’t really focus on Ruby though as we spend more time on the rehearsal process of Tokyo Blade. Akane narrates some of the behind the scenes business of the rehearsal process for shows like Tokyo Blade, namely that there’s only around a month or so of rehearsals before the show begins. Most of the cast members usually have other jobs and come in whenever they’re able to, but rehearsals are usually from around noon to evening. The cast of Tokyo Blade is a fairly large one, filled with newcomers to Lala Lai like Aqua, Akane, and Kana, who is pulling double-duty not only in acting in Tokyo Blade but also starring in B-Komanchi, and veteran Lala Lai actors like the disheveled yet brilliant actor Taiki Himekawa.

It’s during these rehearsals that we see Kana, who is usually restrained in her acting abilities, able to fully let loose with her co-star Taiki’s bombastic flair. Since most of her acting performances have been with subpar scripts and actors, being able to go all-out and be rewarded for it is an enthralling experience for her, made all the better by Taiki matching her energy. It’s a performance that’s literally exploding with color and personality, with Kindaichi speculating that all of the actors who witnessed their rehearsal will probably strive to better their performances.

Aqua is not one of them though. Aqua never viewed himself as an actor and is merely playing the part required of him, biding his time until he can get the information he needs from Kindaichi. Because of this, he isolates himself from the rest of the cast. Akane tries to invite him to interact with his cast members, but his dour and gloomy vibes make it difficult for her to break through to him. Besides, he’s more interested in Kana and how she’s grown as an actress, something that Akane grumbles about since they’re supposed to be dating.

As for Akane, she struggles to really work with the part she was cast as. Her role in the play is as Princess Hime, the central antagonist of the manga. While she has no problem playing a villain, she slowly begins to realize that she’s having difficulties developing her character. Akane is a method actor and likes to learn everything about a role she’s been cast as. After reading the Tokyo Blade manga, she comes to the conclusion that Princess Hime is a soft-spoken woman, but Kindaichi is having Akane play Hime as a brash and kill-crazy warlord instead of the conflicted ruler she’s been basing her performance off of.

She confides this in Aqua, who approaches Kindachi and the lead script writer of the play, GOA, and lets them know of Akane’s problems with the script. Much to her surprise, GOA agrees with Akane and gives her an insight into his scriptwriting process. Given that the show is only 2 hours long, cuts had to be made and characters arcs and motivations had to be simplified. He wanted to keep the main plot of the story intact, but if he tried to insert Hime’s personal conflicts into the script, then the show’s runtime would balloon, leading to problems with other scenes. So he had to take her complicated thoughts and simplify them into simpler dialogue, which Kindaichi then interpreted as he did. Akane accepts this answer, which helps her better refine her performance.

Shortly after this, the author of the original manga, Abiko Samejima, enters the rehearsal. Abiko is incredibly shy and can’t make eye contact with any of the cute male or female actors, but she’s accompanied by the author of Sweet Today and her former mentor, Yoriko Kichijouji, who is all too happy to be reunite with Kana and Aqua after working with them on the live-action adaptation of her manga. Once the actors begin to perform, Abiko is enamored by them, but assertedly says to Kindaichi and GOA that she wants a change to be made – she wants the entire production rewritten.

Seeing Oshi no Ko dive headfirst back into what it does best – examinations of numerous elements of the acting industry with rich character drama – is a welcomed return to form for fans who loved the first season. It certainly isn’t newcomer friendly and those who watched the first season may struggle to remember the numerous players and their relationships, but this is a strong premiere that is a great reminder why the show has earned the positive reputation it has today.

On the cover of Kagurabachi Volume 3 shared on social media on July 2, fans can see a recommendation from Kishimoto praising the artwork and style that can be found within its pages.

“There is power and emotion in the pictures that turn over and captivate you,” the recommendation reads as translated by X user brkagurabachi. “This talent, this style, is what manga fans love.”

We can only imagine these words mean the world to Kagurabachi creator Takeru Hokazono who previously shared how much Naruto as a series inspired his work. Now to have his inspiration sharing praise must feel like a full circle moment for the new mangaka.

This isn’t the first respected mangaka to endorse Kagurabachi. On the cover of Volume 1, My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi shared his support of the new series with a similar glowing comment.

Reports claim that there are more than 350,000 copies of Kagurabachi in circulation with just three volumes. This is an incredible achievement for a new series, especially being Hokazono’s debut serialization.

Kagurabachi Volume 3 is set to hit stores in Japan on July 4, however, it will be quite a long wait before it arrives here in the West. Right now, not even Volume 1 of the physical manga is available to collect in English but it is on the way.

If you are yet to check out Kagurabachi then there is no better time to start than now. While it is yet to get a physical release in the West you can check out every chapter so far via the Viz Media website and Shonen Jump app. Believe us, this series is not just hype.

The past few Chapters of Chainsaw Man have been some of the wildest to date, but it seems that fans are more viscerally upset with how the friendship between Denji and Nayuta has come to a close. While they have had nearly 50 chapters together, it seems that their friendship may be finished.

It appears that Denji just got served a horrifying plate of relaxation once Barem called out the final plate, seeing Nayuta’s head served down a sushi line. Does this mean that he just got done eating one of his closest friends, or is Barem not that cruel? It’s hard to say at this point, but there is one thing we can say — this makes Chapter 168 look like nothing.

Related: Chainsaw Man Chapter 169 Recap & Spoilers

As we can expect after seeing something so horrifying, fans are making waves on social media about this tragic ending to a beloved character. Seeing Denji consistently slammed for shock value has become rather depressing lately, and I’m scared to see what’s going to happen to him next.

Even seeing how some of his worst enemies react to this is disturbing. Katana Man is one of the worst offenders when it comes to treating Denji like a piece of garbage, but maybe he’ll finally loosen up on our favorite little guy in the future after seeing something this tragic happen.

Fujimoto must love the idea of making their readers as depressed as possible, and I must say, it’s working like a charm. The past few chapters of Chainsaw Man have been impressively bleak, so we can only hope that Denji gets a win soon, or it may be over for him. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be sick.

Chainsaw Man is available to read on VIZ, and available to watch on Crunchyroll.

What Happened In Demon Slayer Season 4’s Finale?

Before getting started with a recap of “The Hashira Unite,” looking back on the season, if there was one thing that was abundently clear, it’s that even though this season was an arguably shorter one given its eight-episode length. One of the biggest criticisms of the season was its bland padding. Most, if not all of the episodes were padded out with either lame moments of character development or with dramatic flourishes meant to show off the animation budget. It made the season a frustrating watch, but “The Hashira Unite” is probably the most frustrating for how it pads out virtually every moment.

The episode runs 40 minutes, but the first three minutes are spent playing the same dramatic montage of Muzan walking through the Ubuyashiki compound from the end of last week’s double-length episode. After that, Muzan and Ubuyashiki begin to have a conversation wherein Muzan repeatedly voices his disdain for Ubuyashiki and the Demon Slayers.

It’s here that Ubuyashiki reveals that Muzan and him are actually distant relatives. Muzan has existed for over 1,000 years and was an ancestor of the Ubuyashiki family. Due to their connection with Muzan, they’ve been cursed with poor health that has resulted in their children being born frail and sickly. If they didn’t die during their infancy, then it’s a certainty that no one would live beyond 30. Given how the manga – and one would assume the anime – explains Muzan’s origins, the nature of this “curse” is somewhat puzzling, but that’s neither here nor there. In any case, a priest an ancestor of Ubuyashiki visited said that if the family tried to fight against the demons, the curse would be lifted, which led to the foundation of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Muzan doesn’t care about any of this. He feels no emotional connection to Ubuyashiki other than disgust and all that Ubuyashiki’s speech is doing is boring him. Ubuyashiki then asks Muzan what his ultimate goal is, which he guesses is eternal life. Muzan doesn’t refute this and says that once he finds Nezuko, he’ll be able to walk in the sun again and gain true immortality and he’ll wait as long as he needs until he finds her. Muzan’s enhanced smell indicates that Ubuyashiki already smells like a corpse, so Muzan also tells him that he’s already dead.

To his credit, Ubuyashiki admits that he knows he’s not long for this world and has only survived as long as he did because of his hatred for Muzan and his death ultimately doesn’t matter. The Demon Slayers Corps will still fight and hunt down demons regardless of if Ubuyashiki is alive or not. He does remark that it’ll only increase the drive and passion of the Hashira to kill Muzan, with Ubuyashiki content with the knowledge that when the Hashira kill Muzan, then all demons will die. And with that, as Muzan prepares to end Ubuyashiki’s life, Ubuyashiki detonates a ton of explosives in the mansion, annihilating him and his family in an effort to injure Muzan.

Muzan reforms, but the explosion did a lot of damage to him and delays his regeneration enough for Tamayo to appear and use a Blood Demon Art to immobilize him. As Muzan attempts to absorb this Blood Demon Art, he also absorbs an antidote developed by Tamayo (and most likely Shinobu) that turns demons back into humans. It doesn’t appear to have any immediate effect on him, but his immobility allows Gyomei, who was hiding alongside Shinobu, to use his weapon to decapitate Muzan.

Gyomei reflects back on his time with Ubuyashiki and we learn that Gyomei was the only person who knew the extent of Ubuyashiki’s plan. Ubuyashiki wanted to use himself as bait to lure Muzan out, giving the Demon Slayers the best opportunity to defeat him. Ubuyashiki speculated that if Muzan was as strong as he believed, then decapitating him wouldn’t kill him. The only method to kill Muzan would be to expose him to sunlight, hence Tamayo’s immobilization in an open space like Ubuyashiki Manor. As Muzan’s head begins to grow back, he lashes out at Gyomei, who deflects all of the attacks and confirms Ubuyashiki’s hypothesis that sunlight is the only way to kill Muzan. This isn’t going to be an easy battle anymore. It’s a war of attrition to keep Muzan in place until the sun rises.

By this point, the other Hashira and Tanjiro have made it to Ubuyashiki Manor and see it in flames. Gyomei quickly informs everyone present that Muzan can only be killed by sunlight and everyone launches an all-out assault against Muzan. It’s at this point though that Muzan reveals his hand. Using Nakime’s ability to draw people into another dimension, now known as the Infinity Castle, he summons every Demon Slayer to it. Tonight is the night that either Muzan is killed or the Demon Slayer Corps is eradicated. As every character we’ve known in the Demon Slayer Corps begins to fall into the Castle, Tanjiro calls out to Muzan that he’ll be defeated before the night is out. Muzan fires back that all of the Demon Slayers will die here as a five-minute credit scroll begins to play, ending the season.

And that’s it. Over the course of nearly half an hour of episode runtime, we spent half of it watching Muzan and Ubuyashiki talk, followed by the detonation, Gyomei decapitating Muzan to no avail, and then the Demon Slayers being thrown into the Infinity Castle for the final arc of the season. It’s a remarkably brief synopsis and really makes a lot of this season feel even more pointless. We don’t get any follow-up on Zenitsu’s development (for those who care at least), the amount of actual fight scenes can be counted on one hand, and the season ends on a cliffhanger to tease the trilogy of movies that will conclude the series.

I know I’ve said before that the Swordsmith Village Arc of Demon Slayer was the series at its worst due to it indulging its worst tendencies. The Hashira Training Arc, and “The Hashira Unite” to a lesser extent, is the show at its most pointless. This is a season that could have been summarized in three or four episodes and didn’t need multiple double and triple-length runtimes. Nearly all of this was set up for the series finale, which I suppose is okay, but that just makes the Hashira Training Arc feel like the bland vegetables you had to eat before getting to the delicious steak. Even then, given the amount of padding that Demon Slayer is all too eager to indulge in, who can say if those three movies won’t drag things out further with an additional film to formally wrap up the series?

This season was subpar at best, but as has become commonplace in these recaps, I can only hope and pray that the next time we see Demon Slayer, we’ll get back to the stunning action and fast-paced narrative that made me fall in love with the show all those years ago and not the bloated melodramatic series it has become.

And that’s what happened in “The Hashira Unite,” the finale of Demon Slayer’s Hashira Training Arc! Thank you all who read these recaps week after week and I’ll see you next time for the Infinity Castle movies!

The Kaiju No. 8 sequel was announced on June 29 right after episode 12 aired, and soon after Crunchyroll shared that they will be the streaming home for the series when it returns. Sadly, no date or timeframe was given for when this will arrive, and we don’t expect it to be before 2025 at the soonest.

Kaiju No. 8’s sequel will continue adapting the story from Naoya Matsumoto’s original manga series, picking up where season one left off. While no details specifically for the next release were shared, we did get confirmation that Soul Eater star Koki Uchiyama will voice Gen Narumi the captain of the First Division, so that’s something for fans to look forward to.

The first episode of Kaiju No. 8’s anime aired on April 13 and was welcomed with open arms by anime fans quickly becoming one of the most popular shows of the season. While there were some hiccups along the way, the show concluded its initial run strong, leaving fans eager for more. 

While it will probably be an extended break before more of the anime arrives, fans can check out the manga for the series right now, picking up from where the first season left off. You can start the series from Chapter 39 to jump in where the show ended, but we’d suggest reading from the beginning again to get the full experience.

Alternately you can spend the break binging through the first season again and it’s available in full on Crunchyroll right now. Once we have more news about Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 expect to hear about it here on The Escapist.