I Watched “Kimetsu No Yaiba: To The Hashira Training” So You Don’t Have To
Ah, "Kimetsu No Yaiba: To the Hashira Training," the movie I sacrificed two hours of my life for so you can spend yours doing anything else—like watching paint dry, which I assure you, would be infinitely more exhilarating. The Kimetsu franchise has a history of blurring the lines between their movies and the anime series, making each film feel like an essential piece of the main storyline rather than a detachable bonus episode. This approach is a breath of fresh air in the anime universe, where films often meander into non-canonical territories, leaving you wondering why you even bothered. However, with "To the Hashira Training," it feels like they took a deep breath in... and forgot to exhale.
Let's start with the first 30 minutes, a thrilling déjà vu for anyone who caught the last two episodes of season 3. Remember the good old days when anime movies at least pretended to offer something new? Well, cherish those memories because "To the Hashira Training" takes recycling content to a whole new level. They kick things off with a bang—a big fight, a big reveal, the whole shebang. You're there, popcorn in hand, thinking, "This is it, the rollercoaster is starting!" (That’s it, if you didn’t watch season 3 of the anime). But little do you know, you've already hit the peak, and it's all downhill from there.
Now, for the grand nothingness that follows. Imagine my excitement, sitting there, waiting for the plot to thicken, for character development, for anything to justify the price of admission. But no, the universe had other plans. I basically paid $20 to have some nachos with cheese in a dark room. I’m not one to give away spoilers, but what is there to spoil anyways? The majority of the film is spent with Tanjirou in a hospital bed, which is as exciting as it sounds, and the Hashira, arguably some of the most compelling characters in the series, reduced to background noise in their own meeting. The climax, if you can call it that, is Ubuyashiki's demise—a moment that could have been poignant but instead felt like it was checking off a plot point. And the grand finale? A crow extending an employment offer to Tamayo. If that doesn't scream edge-of-your-seat entertainment, I don't know what does.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: the lazy writing. It's as if the creators sat down, pondered deeply about how they could push the narrative boundaries, and then decided, "Eh, let's just not." The brilliance of Kimetsu No Yaiba has always been its ability to weave complex and emotional battles all while exploring the character’s motivations and backstories, and developing the characters even further in the heat of the battle. Yet, "To the Hashira Training" feels like a filler episode that somehow escaped into the wild, masquerading as a feature film. The decision to stretch what could have been a concise, powerful storyline into a drawn-out snoozefest is baffling. It's like they forgot that the essence of storytelling involves, you know, actually telling a story.
"Kimetsu No Yaiba: To the Hashira Training" is a masterclass in how not to make a movie. It's an exercise in patience, testing how long you can stare at a screen without anything of substance happening. If this movie were a meal, it would be a beautifully decorated cake that, upon your first eager bite, reveals itself to be made entirely of cardboard—looks promising on the outside but utterly disappointing once you get into it. So, do yourself a favor: skip this cinematic equivalent of a placeholder and use those two hours to partake in more fulfilling activities, like knitting a sweater for your pet rock. At least then, you'll have something to show for your time.
