Director Takashi Watanabe had an interesting piece of advice for anime studios in the wake of the latest demon Slayer episode. He was of the opinion that studios would be forced to match Ufotable‘s animation level sooner or later.

He further added that not being able to achieve such standards in animation, would risk the studio losing whatever demand they have in the industry.

According to him, some studios are already aiming to improve their animation quality.

The above tweet translates to:

Even I heard about Demon Slayer’s reputation
Eventually, all companies will be forced to reach that level.
It seems that some studios have already made it there.
However, if they cannot achieve it, the company will be branded as a bad company and might disappear.
I bet this era is going to be incredible.
At the end of the day, I think what a company will become depends on the production ideas of the “P”s.

Takashi Watanabe is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist, and director. He is best known for directing the anime series Slayers, Boogiepop Phantom, and Shakugan no Shana.

According to claims from sites like Fandom Wire and Anime Galaxy Official, the production budget of individual episodes of Demon Slayer costs between $80,000 and $90,000 (about 9-10 million yen).

Ufotable, the series’ production company, however, has never publicly stated the series’ overall budget.

In fact, looking at the quality of “Entertainment District” arc episode 10, they assume the Studio has further increased the budget.

After the debut of episode 8 of the latest season, fans went head-over-heels for the anime’s delivery.

They even went ahead to compliment the episode saying, “The battle drawing was better than the Mugen train” or “It’s not the quality of a TV series.”

Furthermore, the popularity of the Demon Slayer: Entertainment District arc also increased from episode 9 which featured the duel between Gyutaro, Uzui, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.

According to Mantan Web, Fuji TV‘s audience rating rose up on Feb 6, with an average audience rating (household) of 8.5% (Video Research survey, Kanto area). Statistics show that even though Demon Slayer: Yukaku-hen debuted with a 9.2% rating, it fell to 7.4% halfway through the season until now.

Yukaku Episode 1 (December 05) 9.2%
Yukaku Episode 2 (December 12) 8.7%
Yukaku Episode 3 (December 19) 8.5%
Yukaku Episode 4 (December 26) 7.4%
Yukaku Episode 5 (January 02) 7.7%　
Yukaku Episode 6 (January 09) 7.5%
Yukaku Episode 7 (January 16) 8.3%
Yukaku Episode 8 (January 23) 7.5%
Yukaku Episode 9 (January 30) 8.2%
Yukaku Episode 10 (February 06) 8.5%

The official website for the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc announced recently that the anime’s 11th and final episode will be 45 minutes long, titled “No Matter How Many Times I Am Reborn”. The episode will air on Feb 13.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It was serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2016 to May 2020, with its chapters collected in twenty-three tankōbon volumes.

A 26-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Ufotable aired in Japan from April to September 2019. A sequel film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, was released in October 2020 and became the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film of all time.

A second season of the anime series, readapting the “Mugen Train” arc seen in the film and covering the “Entertainment District” arc from the manga, premiered in October 2021.

Source: Otakomu, MyJitsu, Mantan Web