Demon Slayer has, in the span of just a few short years, risen as one of the most popular and well-regarded shonen franchises in the modern era, competing vigorously with other hard-hitting titles like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. All three of them got off to a good start, but Demon Slayer's meteoric rise could truly be called lightning in a bottle.

Now, that momentum is slowing down slightly. While good, the second season didn't quite capture the magic of the first, and many fans agree that the Swordsmith Village movie fell far short of the smash-hit Mugen Train movie. By now, Demon Slayer can no longer rely on its novelty and "lightning in a bottle" status to keep viewers engaged. Ideally, this series will focus on its roots and stay the course until the end so it can stick the landing.

RELATED: Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles Needs DLC More Than Ever

How Demon Slayer's Mega-Hype Era Took Shape

Demon Slayer's Muzan in the foreground with the series' main protagonists in the background

Demon Slayer's overall hype and popularity are still going strong, with anime fans eagerly looking forward to the upcoming Season 3 and its all-new adventures. That said, relatively speaking, Demon Slayer's honeymoon period is over, and the franchise can no longer coast on the incredible momentum it had right out of the gate. Demon Slayer's ultra-popular first season was a perfect storm of elements, including the quarantine era of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors. While its first season launched in 2019 in the months leading up to the pandemic, during quarantine, anime fans needed something to watch and pass the long days.

Shows like Tiger King became popular as a result, and looking back, there's strong evidence that Demon Slayer had the same experience. When Season 1 launched, it arrived with explosive hype, and quarantine helped that initial hype last much longer as a result. In early to mid-2020, many anime fans who hadn't already watched Demon Slayer heard all about Studio UFOtable's new masterpiece and decided to give it a look to distract themselves during quarantine, and it worked. As social distancing tapered off in 2021, the Mugen Train animated movie arrived in theaters just in time, and that helped keep the hype going -- and of course, the movie's genuine quality was a contributing factor.

However, in early 2023, the lightning in a bottle hype is dissipating, and the unpopular Swordsmith Village movie definitely threw a monkey wrench in the works. The overall franchise isn't in any trouble, of course, and plenty of loyal fans are ready for Season 3 when it airs in the Spring 2023 anime season. That said, Demon Slayer's anime must take some steps to keep the overall hype going and not just settle into a comfortable has-been rut.

RELATED: Demon Slayer: Is Yoriichi Tsugikuni Related to Tanjiro?

Demon Slayer's Future Seasons Must Stick to the Fundamentals

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village movie poster featuring Tanjiro and other Hashira

To keep itself relevant and maintain the momentum that Season 1 and Mugen Train built up, future seasons of Demon Slayer must pull off a tricky balancing act with the narrative. Season 3 and beyond are expected to push the series in new directions with all-new characters like the remaining Upper Moons and Mitsuri Kanroji, along with exploring new mysteries regarding sun breathing and Muzan's true goal. However, ultimately, Demon Slayer can and probably will recapture its pandemic-era super-hype by sticking to the formula of what made those early story arcs so great without simply rehashing them.

Demon Slayer's early storylines were hugely successful partly because of the series' strong emotional core, especially in the darkest COVID days. Back then, people felt lonely, afraid and tense, but Demon Slayer's messages of hope, compassion, and strong family and friendship bonds made viewers feel more hopeful. It was exactly what stressed-out, quarantined anime fans needed to hear, and Mugen Train kept it going, all the way through to Kyojuro Rengoku's tragic yet inspiring death and the touching scene with his father Shinjuro, a retired Hashira.

Now, in the post-pandemic era, Demon Slayer must maintain that strong emotional core, even if fans are used to it by now, and reaffirm the story's central themes of family love, hope, kindness and prevailing against seemingly impossible odds. Intermittently, the "Entertainment District" arc did that too, but that arc was more about sheer action with the Daki/Gyutaro villain duo. The "Swordsmith Village" arc in Season 3, if it remembers what made Season 1 such a breakout hit, will surely make fans forget all about the botched Swordsmith Village movie and maintain Demon Slayer's position as one of shonen's best current anime series.