Demon Slayer Arcs in Order: How Many Are There & What Are They About? (2023)

Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer manga was published between February 15, 2016andMay 18, 2020, ending its run with 205 chapters that were collected into a total of 23 volumes. The manga became a global phenomenon and the ongoing anime has quickly become one of the most popular in the history of the genre. Now, the anime is still not even close to its end, which means that there are several upcoming arcs that are going to be adapted. In order to prepare you for that, we have decided to give you a thorough guide to all the Demon Slayer anime arcs.

How many Demon Slayer arcs are there?

As we have said, the Demon Slayer manga was published between 2016 and 2020. It had a total of 201 chapters which have been published in a total of 23 volumes. Now, what do 201 chapters amount to in terms of story arcs? The Demon Slayer manga is usually broken down into 11 major arcs, with each having several smaller arcs within them. The anime arcs are probably going to be different.

The arcs are of an uneven length and don’t contain the same number of chapters. The longest arc is the “Infinity Castle Arc”, which consists of a total of 47 chapters, while the shortest arc is the “First Mission Arc”, which has only four chapters.

Demon Slayer arcs in order

This section is going to list all the major manga arcs and give you some basic info about their plots.

1. Final Selection Arc

Number of Chapters: 9
Chapters: 1-9

Tanjiro Kamado and his sister Nezuko Kamado are introduced as the main protagonists of the series. The Kamado Family was slain by the Demons and Nezuko also turned into a demon. This series of events plunges Tanjiro on a journey to avenge his family and restore his sister’s human form. In order to carry out his mission, Tanjiro had to become a Demon Slayer.

Giyu Tomioka sent the Kamado brothers to stay with his teacher, Sakonji Urokodaki. Sakonji took them with him and trained Tanjiro to become a swordsman. During the two years that Tanjiro mastered the Water Breathing Style, Nezuko fell into a deep sleep. During his training, he encountered the spirits of two former disciples of Sakonji. They trained Tanjiro and gave him the strength of all Sakonji’s former disciples.

Thanks to this, Tanjiro was qualified for the Final Selection for the Demon Slayer Corps. On Mount Fujikasane, where the Final Selection was held, a demon lived who killed thirteen of Sakonji’s disciples. Makomo and Sabito believed that Tanjiro was the one who could avenge Sakonji’s students. Tanjiro encountered the demon and struggled to overcome the demon’s power.

However, with the guidance of spirits close to his heart, Tanjiro defeated the beast. Tanjiro and four other students were the only survivors of the Final Selection for seven days. They received the lowest rank of Demon Slayer, and each took a Nichirin Sword ore with them. With Sakonji returning home, Tanjiro found Nezuko awake.

Nezuko hugged him, and he and Sakonji, who was glad that one of his students survived, were reunited three years later. Days later, Tanjiro’s sword was handed over to him by a sword smith, and the sword turned black as he held it. Shortly after, he received his first assignment order.

2. First Mission Arc

Number of Chapters: 4
Chapters: 10-13

Now a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro travels with Nezuko to a town in the northwest, where girls disappear every night. His first mission is to track down and neutralize the demon who kidnapped the girls. In the latest kidnapping case, a young man named Kazumi is accused of allowing his fiancee to disappear.

With Kazumi’s help, Tanjiro tracks down a shape-shifted demon with the ability to open a portal to his own secret swamp. With a small amount of drugs from Sakonji, Nezuko helps Tanjiro protect the people. Tanjiro plunges into the kidnappers’ swamp and uses his training from Mount Sagiri to defeat two of the three demons there.

He questions the third and final Demon and learns that Muzan Kibutsuji is somehow connected to all these events. Tanjiro learns that Muzan was the one who murdered the Kamado Family and turned his sister into a Demon. Tanjiro says goodbye to Kazumi, who learns that he has lost people, just like his fiancee. Soon after, Tanjiro gets his next assignment.

3. Asakusa Arc

Number of Chapters: 6
Chapters: 14-19

Tanjiro travels to Asakusa, Tokyo for his second assignment for the Demon Slayer Corps. The big city of Tokyo is unusual for a village boy. He is tasked with investigating the demon problem in the area, but even at the start of his quest, Tanjiro smells a very familiar scent. He rushes through the crowded streets in a hurry and finds Muzan Kibutsuji, who seems like a family man.

To get out of this situation, Muzan transforms a human into a Demon and escapes with his family while Tanjiro takes care of the new demon. This event attracts the attention of Miss Tamayo and a young boy named Yushiro. They fix the problem and take Tanjiro to a secret house where Tamayo, a demon doctor, treats patients.

Yushiro is also a demon and together they are trying to defeat Muzan. Meanwhile, Muzan is enraged by Tanjiro’s outward appearance as it reminds him of a similar Demon Slayer from the past. He orders two of his supporters, Susamaru and Yahaba, to bring Tanjiro’s head. Tamayo and Tanjiro agree to produce a cure for demons by working on the blood of Nezuko and demons close to Muzan.

Lord Muzan’s assassins disrupt the meeting, claiming to be members of the Twelve Kizuki, and using Temari and Arrow spells to launch a furious attack on the house. While the others play handball to the death with the Temari Demon, Tanjiro takes care of the Arrow Demon. Tanjiro manages to defeat Yahaba by combining many forms of Water Breath, but the result of the fight is pestle.

Nezuko and Yushiro were able to stall Susamaru, but eventually their strength was insufficient. To end the growing problem, Tamayo uses a spell that triggers Muzan’s curse inside Susamaru. The Temari Demon falls victim to this curse and dies, leaving a scar on Tanjiro’s head. After the fight, Tamayo and Yushiro decide to leave the area. Nezuko saw both as human families and was attracted to Tamayo and Yushiro. They say goodbye and Tanjiro leaves the city for his next mission in the south-southeast.

4. Tsuzumi Mansion Arc

Number of Chapters: 8
Chapters: 20-27

On his next assignment, Tanjiro encounters a cowardly corps member named Zenitsu, and the two of them go to investigate reports of a demon nearby. They arrive at a spooky house and discover two young children who reveal that their older brother has been kidnapped by a demon, the four of them enter the house and are suddenly separated as the house begins to transform to the sound of a drum.

Tanjiro encounters a sinister demon named Kyogai as well as a mysterious demon slayer named Inosuke. Demon Slayers maneuver around the house, encountering demons along the way, while Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Teruko, and Shoichi continue to search for Kiyoshi’s missing brother.

5. Natagumo Mountain Arc

Number of Chapters: 17
Chapters: 28-44

As Tanjiro continues to recover from his previous injuries at the Drum House, he is told that he must prepare for his next task of investigating reports of demons at Mount Natagumo. Now accompanied by demon slayers Inosuke Hashibira and Zenitsu Agatsuma, the three boys travel up the mountain and face eerie situations, as well as encountering unusual members of the spider family. However, they soon discover that family is the last of their worries and they may have to defeat a member of the Twelve Demon Moons that may be lurking on the mountain.

6. Rehabilitation Training Arc

Number of Chapters: 9
Chapters: 45-53

Tanjiro is brought before the Hashira and put on trial for traveling with his demonic sister Nezuko. Tanjiro tries to explain his situation, but the Hashira don’t accept it; all except Giyu, who also broke the rules by protecting Nezuko. The Wind Pillar, Sanemi Shinazugawa, refutes Tanjiro the most and even wounds Nezuko, stabbing her three times through her wooden box.

The master of the mansion, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, arrives and asks the Hashira to forgive them. A letter was sent by Sakonji, explaining the situation and asking the Demon Slayer Corps not to hold it against him, even saying that he and Giyu would also commit seppuku if Nezuko harmed humans. Sanemi tries to prove that Nezuko is an evil demon by letting her out of the box and then baiting her with his own blood.

However, Nezuko resists despite her injuries and proves that she will not harm humans. After the trial concludes, Shinobu brings Tanjiro and Nezuko to the Butterfly Mansion, where Zenitsu and Inosuke heal their wounds as well. The Hashira begin their council with Master Kagaya, while the other Demon Slayers heal.

After their injuries have healed sufficiently, Tanjiro and the boys undergo rehabilitation training under the tutelage of Aoi Kanzaki, one of the mansion’s nurses, and Shinobu Kanao Tsuyuri’s apprentice. Tanjiro also learns about Shinobu’s past with a demon that killed his sister. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke struggle with training at first, unable to beat Kanao in any form.

Eventually, the boys regain their stamina and master the Breath of Total Concentration, the ability to use the Breath technique all day and all night. After their training is complete, Tanjiro’s group heads west to join the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, for the Infinity Train mission. Meanwhile, Muzan dismantles the Lower Ranks and continues his plans to crush the Slayer Corps.

7. Mugen Train Arc

Number of Chapters: 16
Chapters: 54-69

After Enma is assigned to kill Tanjiro Kamado in order to become an Upper Moon and get more of Muzan’s blood, Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke buy tickets for the Mugen Train in search of Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira. Tanjiro hopes he has some information about the Hinokami Kagura dance.

Kyojuro informs them that he was sent to kill a demon suspected of being the cause of numerous disappearances on the train. He informs Tanjiro that he unfortunately doesn’t know anything about the Hinokami Kagura dance. He quickly senses the demon and kills it, the group, impressed by his skills, asks him to make them their Tsuguko and Kyojuro accepts.

The trio and Kyojuro fall asleep and Enmu enlists the help of five civilians on the train with severe insomnia. One of them is the train conductor who follows Enmu to dream about his late wife and child. Enmu promises to use his powers to give each of them touching, sweet dreams in exchange for their help in his plan to kill the demon slayers.

The group had already touched Enmu’s blood, taking their tickets and setting the first act of the plan into motion. The guide is put to sleep as a reward for his work, while the other four are sent to carry out the rest of the plan.

8. Entertainment District Arc

Number of Chapters: 30
Chapters: 70-99

Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu accompany the Soung Hashira, Tengen, on a mission to Yoshiwara to help find his missing wives who were investigating rumors of demons in the neighborhood.

9. Swordsmith Village Arc

Number of Chapters: 28
Chapters: 100-127

Set in the Swordsmith Village, Tanjiro Kamado was sent to the village to get his new Nichirin Blade. There he meets Mitsuri Kanroji with Genya Shinazugawa. Walking around the village, Tanjiro sees Muichiro Tokito asking for a key to give Kotetsu, the key is the means to launch Yoriichi Zeroroshiki, an ancient doll that kept an unusual Nichirin Blade.

Muichiro, while training with the doll, breaks one of her six arms. Kotetsu, overwhelmed by the thought that he won’t be able to fix the doll and become a craftsman like his father, runs away. Tanjiro finds him and supports him. After, when Kotetsu comes to the broken doll, he asks Tanjiro to become stronger than “that damn indifferent bastard”.

The painful and harsh training with the fighting doll begins. After 7 days, Tanjiro still manages to hit the doll, and he gains the ability to smell the movements of the enemy by smell, the next day he cuts off the head of Yoriichi Zeroshiki. In the doll, the heroes find an ancient nichirin blade, which Hotaru Haganezuka takes to be repaired and polished.

The village is attacked by the fifth and fourth upper moons. At the moment of the conversation, which later influenced Muichiro Tokito, with Tanjiro Kamado, Hantengu comes to them and a fight begins. In the course of this battle, Genya Shinazugawa and Nezuko Kamado are connected. Muichiro is thrown away from the battlefield and he encounters Gyokko, who is about to kill Haganezuku, interrupting his polishing process before doing so.

Muichiro, overcoming himself, awakens a mist-like mark and defeats Gyokko. Meanwhile, Mitsuri Kanroji joins the fight against Hantengu and also receives a mark that looks like a heart. Tanjiro chases after the real body of the fourth moon and uses his new, not yet polished blade. The fifth and fourth moons are defeated, and Nezuko Kamado overcomes her demonic powers and is no longer harmed by the sun’s rays.

10. Hashira Training Arc

Number of Chapters: 9
Chapters: 128-136

The Hashira Training, run by the Hashira themselves, is a special training aimed at improving the abilities and physical health of all demon slayers. The training is divided among the Hashira. First, the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui does basic endurance training. Then the Love Hashira, Kanroji Mitsuri, does the flexibility training, and the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, does the quick movement training.

The Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro, then focuses on revisiting sword skills, followed by Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, who trains strikes, and finally the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, who trains muscle reinforcement. The Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho does not take part in the training. Most demon slayers view training as an eternal journey to hell, with the exception of Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira, who view training as a chance to improve themselves.

As a general rule, the Hashira should take part in each other’s training. This is considered a win-win situation for both the Hashira and Demon Slayers, as even the Hashira are improving due to being constantly attacked by wave after wave of juniors ranked lower than themselves.

11. Final Battle Arc

The Final Battle Arc is the ultimate arc of the Demon Slayer manga. Due to its importance and larger narrative structure, it is split into two larger sub-arcs, which we are going to introduce separately.

Infinity Castle Arc

Number of Chapters: 47
Chapters: 137-183

The Hashira rush to Ubuyashiki’s estate and Sanemi is the first to see the mansion and he feels relieved, believing he will get there just in time. However, the mansion suddenly explodes in a huge explosion with all nearby Demon Slayers witnessing it in shock. Even Muzan, with his skin burned and his left eyeball fully exposed, is surprised at this as Kagaya looked calm – with a serene smile as he and his family blew themselves up.

In order to delay Muzan’s regeneration, he made the explosion more deadly by adding spike traps and while Muzan was busy trying to heal himself, he was again attacked and immobilized by a Blood Power which summoned spikes in the area. Due to the spikes piercing her flesh, Muzan tried to absorb them to escape but out of nowhere, Tamayo appears and stabs Muzan with a special medicine she had concocted.

However, Muzan absorbs his entire arm while doing so. Suddenly, Gyomei Himejima arrives and cuts off Muzan’s head, though the demon is able to regenerate. Soon the other Pillars also arrive and Gyomei tells them that the one he is fighting is Muzan and he won’t die even if his head is cut off. The Hashira, given that it was the first time they had seen him, were initially shocked, but began attacking him with their respective Blast styles – including Tanjiro Kamado who was with Giyu Tomioka when the explosion occurred.

They attack Muzan from all sides but before they are able to land a single blow, they are transported to the Infinite Castle and are separated. As he falls, Muzan taunts the Demon Slayers and proclaims that he will slaughter them all night long. Tanjiro refutes that it would be Muzan who would go to hell that night and beat him. Muzan challenges Tanjiro to come get him if he can as the Demon Slayers’ climactic battle against Muzan and his forces is about to begin.

Sunrise Countdown Arc

Number of Chapters: 22
Chapters: 184-201

Tanjiro Kamado regains consciousness and sees the night sky above him, finally back to the surface after Yushiro works to get them all there. Realizing they are in the middle of town, Tanjiro panics and Kiriya Ubuyashiki sweats and says that they have all been thrown much further than he imagined.

He asks his sister how long until dawn and she informs him that there is still an hour and a half until dawn as Kiriya’s eyes widen knowing that there are still so many time. A crow tells the Demon Slayers how long they have until dawn and taking note of the fact, Tanjiro looks around to confirm that his comrades are fine.

Relieved that the Hashira that were with him are all safe, Tanjiro moves to try and sniff out Muzan. Suddenly, the Demon Lord bursts through a pile of rubble, sending him flying in all directions. Enraged, Muzan taunts the Demon Slayers and challenges them to keep him there until dawn if they could even do it.

While you’re here, if you’re interested in our list of best demon anime out there, we got you covered!