Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welp...I'm late to this party! Time to review the most overrated shonen garbage of the last 5 years! Demon Slayer is an anime that absolutely EVERYONE watched last year. Except for me of course, because I was watching bad hentai to make comedy reviews on the internet! I went in with pretty damn high expectations. As of January 2020, DS is rated one of the best anime of all time on MAL and the #1 anime of all time on Kitsu. I'm dead serious! The kids on Kitsu truly think that this is the GOAT. Galactic Heroes? Ping Pong? Lain? Ashita no Joe? No! Fuck ... that shit! Demon Slayer baby!

I went in expecting an action series SO epic that it blows your balls off and shoves them up your ass! I expected the love child of Hellsing Ultimate, Fist of the North Star, and Berserk with maybe some Shigurui and Violence Jack thrown in for good measure! The anime with SO much testosterone that Woody Allen could watch it and go into a Norse Berserker rampage, repeatedly bashing his head against a wall just to calm down!

What did I get? A very average shonen that looks pretty but is horribly written. At least RebelPanda tried to warn me about this. I just didn't listen. He's now made me a sad panda too!

So, what is Demon Slayer about? They certainly don't slay any demons. That's just a shitty translation into English. In Japanese the enemies are called Oni, but they're actually vampires. They're undead, fanged humans with vampire powers that can transform other humans by biting them and are immortal unless exposed to sunlight or decapitated with a holy weapon. They're fucking vampires! I'm going to call them that for the rest of this review.

The story starts off as shonen as possible. The main character is named Tanjiro and he's a young coal miner/charcoal merchant from a small, mountain village. At least he's a country bumkin, so he's not in middle school! One day, an old man randomly warns him that vampires exist! Later that night, his family are slaughtered by vampires. The old man wasn't a vampire BTW, that was pure coincidence because this show is horribly written. However, Tanjiro's adorable little sister Nezuko has survived and turned into a vampire! A vampire hunter immediately shows up to kill Nezuko, but Tanjiro fights against him and desperately tries to save her. While all other vampires immediately turn evil, Nezuko is able to avoid killing her brother and retains her goodness because the power of love. The vampire hunter is very impressed by the strong bond between these siblings, so he spares Nezuko and sends Tanjiro off to train under an incredibly generic kung fu master and become a vampire hunter.

As you would expect, Pai Mei is a hard bastard and puts Tanjiro through the wringer. He trains for a year and gains superhuman strength, speed, and techniques because this is a shonen. Now it's time for the vampire hunter test! The final exam involves surviving for days against hordes of high-level vampires. The test is so EXTREME and BADASS, that only 2 people have survived it in the last 50 years! The vampire hunter test has killed over 100 potential vampire hunters and thus has actually produced more vampires than hunters. Now that's what I call efficiency! Tanjiro survives of course because he's the main character and that gives him the power of plot armor!

Let's stop the plot summary and talk about world building. Something that Demon Slayer forgot to do. I mentioned this in my review of Shiki, but vampires are fucking bullshit! In most vampire fiction, they're immortal and it takes 50 villagers with luck on their side to take down a vampire. The vampires can turn other people into vampires and increase their population exponentially, but somehow there aren't that many vampires and normal people don't believe in them. There's an amazing scene in the Witcher novels in which the comic relief bard talks to a vampire about how they reproduce. The vampire replies, "Of course we can't bite other people and turn them into vampires! Do you comprehend basic math? Let's assume a founding population of just 1,000 vampires that came into existence 500 years ago. Each vampire attacks remote villages and kills only 1 peasant per month. Just 20 percent of those bitten turn into vampires. At the end of the first year, there are just under 2400 vampires assuming a couple fucked up and got killed. At the end of year 5 there are 79,000 vampires. After 500 years, do you really think that vampires would be so rare that you've never seen one?!"

The only way for humans to stand a prayer against vampires would be to design a highly effective weapon that's mass produced to the point that everyone has one and can use it. How about a crossbow that shoots blessed silver bolts? In Demon Slayer, the only thing stopping vampires is the guild of vampire hunters, who designed a test so EXTREME that there are 10-15 vampire hunters at any one time and that's being very generous. In order for the vampires to not overrun Japan, Tanjiro must be putting up INSANE kill numbers. We're talking Soviet state executioner Vasily Blokhin numbers. 7,000 vampires a week! His life is eating, shitting, and killing vampires on an assembly line! In season 2, we're going to be introduced to 3 vampire hunters that by themselves have somehow been running Vampire Treblinka in the middle of Tokyo! Jesus, that rant got dark. I apologize for that highly offensive joke, but I just hate this show so much!

Next, we're introduced to some annoying side characters that add nothing and piss me off. We do get some cool fight scenes though and Tanjiro carries Nezuko around in a basket as an homage to the 1982 B-movie Basket Case. I just wish it had referenced the Toxic Avenger instead. I'm more of Toxie guy!

The art and animation is the only reason this show got a 5 and not a 3 or 4. Demon Slayer followed the My Hero Academia formula to make shonen great again. Rule #1 No filler #2 Fuck character development. Just have non-stop action! #3 SAKUGA!!! MOAR SAKUGA!!!!

The music was a huge letdown for me. An action scene for me lives or dies by its music. If you want to have non-stop ass kicking, you better have a pulse pounding, AMAZING OST. Demon Slayer got the composer of Idol Master and 1/10th of the Tekken 5 OST. What's wrong with you Ufotable?! You're based out of Japan! You could have hired Michiru Yamane, the goddess who wrote all the awesome Castlevania music over her 30 year career at Konami! She made a whole career out of orgasmic, badass music about beating the fuck out of vampires! Even I would probably give this series a 7 if Yamane had been given the OST. Instead, I'm left having to deliver the sad report that the climactic battle scene from Season 2 of Netflix Castlevania was better than any single scene in Demon Slayer. Yes, the Netflix Americanime with that obnoxious Indian director who said he comes from the future. That show is better than Demon Slayer! Because Bloody Tears!

So in conclusion, if you enjoyed Vampire Slayer...that's cool with me! It just wasn't my cup of tea, but I'm glad other people had fun with it. Those guys on Kitsu sure are overly generous though! If they loved Demon Slayer so much, I can't wait to read the praise they wrote about my favorite anime!

(Browses Kitsu) Let's see here...series rank 1,983rd. The top rated review by a longshot simply reads: "u might enjoy this if u re a stupid, horny 12 y/o. LOL!"

(channels George Costanza rage) " You know we're living IN A SOCIETY! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO ACT IN A CIVILIZED WAY!"

I think this is the last time I ever browse Kitsu.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve gone old and crotchety, but I’ve been really disappointed with ufotable lately. Maybe even that is too harsh. I’ve just felt so out of touch with them for the past three and a half to four years since they seem to have completely abandoned their old selves. Whether it be the astronomical success of the Fate/Grand Order mobile game, or the fair success of their own Tales of Symphonia OVA BD sales, ufotable has apparently honed in on game adaptations. All they’ve made for TV following their 2014 re-adaptation of Studio Deen’s Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, has ... been game adaptations. God Eater, Tales of Zestiria the Cross, and Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu, with their only projects outside of TV animation being limited to even more Fate. The ONA series, Today's Menu for the Emiya Family, and the film trilogy, Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel. It just feels like it’s been so long since I’ve seen them put their phenomenal production values towards something other than a glorified advertisement for some game I have no interest in whatsoever. When I heard they were adapting Demon Slayer last year, I was excited for two reasons. For one, the manga itself had been selling big-time on its own rights and was extremely hyped up, and more importantly, because it was finally something I could latch onto as a real, self-contained, genuine story. However, I naively forgot a story itself has to be good enough to latch onto in the first place, no matter whose adapting it into animation.

If I had to describe Demon Slayer in one word, it would be “expected.” Best seller in Shounen Jump? Okay, well it probably has a really bland main character for all the young boys to project themselves onto. Chapters are released weekly? Okay, well the narrative is probably really slow to give the author time to draw it consistently, with overwhelmingly drawn-out action scenes to keep the kids and teens engaged. Author is new to the industry? Okay, well then I’m sure it sells on stellar art design alone, much like its contemporaries who’s visuals obfuscate their aimless writing and vapid theming. I could keep rattling off my judgmental criticism all day, but the point is, no matter how crude I’m being, I’m not wrong. The main character Tanjiro is, indeed, an uninspired and unopinionated self-insert; the narrative is painfully slow, plodding, and directionless, but not in a way which comes across as intriguing or mysterious at all, just boring; the screenwriting can be frankly incompetent at times, like the time it followed up a scene of the main villain graphically murdering a young girl with a scene of Tanjiro boisterously bickering with a street chef about the unreasonable price of his udon bowls; and while the artwork is extremely unique, well-drawn, beautifully colored, and honestly just pretty to look at, the character writing is brain-numbingly insipid and archetypical. Any assumption you could’ve made about its source material translates identically to the adaptation, and while I mean that for both positive and negative points, the negative is quite pronounced.

However, if the show’s blowout success didn’t make it obvious, the positives are very easy to boast, since the issues with this show—much like the issues with any pop-media bestseller which relies on the patronage of the disproportionally large casual masses—are all hidden under the surface, and while it doesn’t take much thought to peel back the layers and see the emptiness inside, it takes even less thought to just sit back, relax, grab yourself some popcorn, and indulge in the mindless spectacle before your eyes. The action sakuga is outstanding, with the likes of Go Kimura, Masayuki Kunihiro, Mitsuru Obunai, and any other ufotable veteran you can name going all out with their ever-impressive animation extravaganza, and the studio even outsourced some even greater talent in a few godly freelancers like Nozomu Abe to deliver on easily the best cuts of the entire season. And I don’t just mean the best cuts of Demon Slayer’s first season, I mean the best cuts of all concurrently airing anime running alongside it. The artwork is utterly gorgeous and fit with the same sharp, crisply digital, deep color design which ufotable has come to define their aesthetic with, only now with the most unique and attractive character designs and downright badass costume design they may’ve ever had the privilege to work with. Set in a magical take on feudal Japan, everyone wears these beautiful kimonos and yukatas with their own characteristic patchwork designs which take complete advantage of the phenomenal coloration aforementioned, and it all looks wonderful.

Outside of action, the characters are unapologetically switched with CG models in tracking shots, and inside the action, the backgrounds are all 3DCG and frankly fail to copy the camerawork of WIT Studio—which they were obviously attempting to do—but the animation overtop was always bombastic enough to distract its desired casual audience from the cost-cutting, so taking issue with it is pointless. The voice acting was competent, with the exception of Hiro Shimono’s ear piercing performance as Zenitsu which sounds nothing like his best of work, and the sound design was at least existent, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say about most of its genre contemporaries who’ve realized how lazy they can be with their young audiences who couldn’t care less about quality sound design. But speaking of the soundscape, it’s time to stop bitching and start gushing, because I must complement the one person behind the production who outshone everyone else on staff despite said staff already bringing their all, the composer who I’m sure many of you love with all your heart even if you don’t know her name, Yuki Kajiura. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, you still probably know her from her iconic gothic soundtracks for some of the most famous anime of the last decade, from Fate/Zero to Magical Girl Madoka★Magica, and while her work on Demon Slayer was a collaboration with Go Shīna, the combination of his brass with her strings was a match made in heaven. Kajiura was a prodigy to begin with and has only continued as a full fledged musical genius for the past decade, and she and Shīna made this show so much more than it could’ve been, even with its already full staff of talent.

Since Demon Slayer supplants its intellectual emptiness with tireless action sequences, she had more than enough room to work as many high-tempo tracks as she wanted, and they all fit their scenes like a glove. For BGM, she went a direction she hasn’t gone since .hack//Sign (if a little less experimental) and integrated traditional Japanese melodies and chants which complemented the feudal setting magnificently. Shīna has made some solid music before working with Ghost Oracle Drive and their insert songs in God Eater, but the insert songs he pulled off in collaboration with Kajiura are seriously something to behold, because everything I’ve discussed up until this point is all factored back in to the visual spectacle to breathtaking effect. The beautiful artwork is made utterly bewitching by the action wherein the characters’ designs and color aesthetics are artistically incorporated into their fighting styles in the most visually memorable ways imaginable, like Tanjiro’s bright blue scarf flowing off his neck like waves only to be enveloped in the tangible waves flowing out of his blade or his best friend’s striking yellow yukata lighting the entire screen up like fireworks in combat when he himself becomes a raving bolt of lightning. The 3DCG environments are shaky, and the action is what carries this otherwise innocuous show, but I personally found the meandering to sometimes be just as engaging as the show’s biggest and best flair thanks to the god tier hand-drawn background art from the art director who’s work with ufotable was so renowned, Production IG themselves reached out to have him do the backgrounds for Psycho-Pass, the highest budget and most ambitious TV animation production of the 2010s.

But I need to make clear the fact this review sounds overwhelmingly positive only because applying critique to something so vacuous is a brief process. It’s boring, even if someone as seasoned and jaded as myself did manage to find some semblance of entertainment in the experience. I mean, its TV rating was R15, so it gets to be super edgy. There’s this one episode where he fights these two guys underwater and shreds them to pieces like they’re in a blender, so I guess that’s pretty fun. The show got a couple of good laughs out of me, if only for the sheer ridiculousness of the silly gore like that time this guy’s head popped like a ballon when he got hit with this weird CG volleyball. But that’s all the personality I have for you. Tanjiro, the main character, is just another Kaneki Ken, Igarashi Ganta, Midoriya Izuku, Kirito stock standard shounen self-insert. Zenitsu, the token secondary, is just another Uchiha Sasuke, Gray Fullbuster, Kuwabara Kazuma, Yukine stock standard shounen best friend and rival. Inosuke, the guy with the boar mask who literally does the Naruto Run everywhere he goes, is just another Excalibur, Albedo, Darkness, Osamu Dazai stock standard shounen one-note-meme character. Nezuko, the cute imouto waifu with a bamboo gag, is just another Kuroyukihime, Moriyama Shiemi, Elizabeth Liones, Lucy (Nyu) stock standard shounen pet girl. And worst of all, Tomioka, the Dutch uncle whose about as much fun as he looks, is just another All Might, Reigen Arataka, Ichinose Guren, Isshiki Satoshi stock standard shounen superficial senpai. If you liked any of the shows I just referenced, I highly recommend Demon Slayer since it’s the same thing, just much prettier. Not bad, not bad by any stretch of the word, but nothing beneath its eye candy.

Thank you for reading.

Ahhh, Demon Slayer. If I were to describe you in very short terms, it would be "a show with decent to mediocre content overshadowed by its own technical achievement."

Firstly, the positives of this show.

Without a doubt, the main intrigue and appeal of this show upon first inspection is the art, and for good reason. Ufotable, the studio previously mentioned, is responsible for this shows adaptation into anime, and has overall done a fantastic job at keeping a consistent and unique artstyle incorporated throughout the show's airtime. Not only ranging from the shows beautifully rendered backgrounds, cool ... ass powers, and character designs, but the translation of each element into animation is executed to great measure. Sure, there are admittedly a handful of scenes in which some CGI is incorporated into the foreground, such as character models and moving objects. However, as the show progresses, the use of it altogether is noticeably reduced, and even so, never looks particularly bad when incorporated either, especially considering how awful other shows can look in comparison when attempting this same fate. This is all encompassed and reflective of the fact that Ufotable has seemingly become masters in their craft of aesthetic presentation. The use of gradients, shadows, and contrasts in colors make many scenes, be it moving or standstill, a visual splendor to behold in this show. Previous examples from the same studio such as the Fate franchise and Kara no Kyoukai series impressed me on all levels with their visual presentation, and it doesn't fail to impress me here either. It all has a certain polish to it that I absolutely dig and can't help but worth mention.

Visual direction, especially amidst action scenes, flow impressively well together. There are a plentiful amount of cool action sequences, ranging from fights with other demons to simple conversation scenes in which we as an audience can get a real feel of our characters' surroundings. Of course, it would be impossible to get away from this review without mentioning the infamous ending of episode 19. Despite the amazingly fitting soundtrack and incredible animation during that final stretch, what pushes it forward is the all impressive visual direction, as we witness a full view and experience of fast-paced movements and a consistent following of our MC flying through the air, swinging at every direction. Speaking about the soundtrack in that scene, the musical score of the entire show couldn't be understated either. Much of the music by Yuki Jajiura and Go Shiina aids to the overall tone of the show. From traditional instruments and vocals to intense orchestras and piano playing, I couldn't be more satisfied with the outcome and overall impression the show's music presents to me. Whether it be in times of a calming relaxed scene, or an actioned packed showdown, the score always seemed to find a way to fit into the mix of it all, enhancing and accompanying the overall atmosphere.

Well, that essentially wraps up the immediate positives I have to praise about the show. Now onto the mediocre and downright awful aspects.

Regarding its mediocrity, its stories main idea of fighting against demons after the sudden entire slaughtermen of your family by one isn't particularly special to me and happens to come off as a bit generic, however, nothing much was to be expected there anyways. The protagonist himself, Tanjirou, isn't necessarily that bad, but just underwhelming in terms of depth and personality, as much of it is lost while dedicated and fixed towards another individual, his sister Nezuko, who is admittedly pretty great. The pacing is decent at best, considering events throughout the story flow in such a way that I at least don't feel like I'm being dragged along certain events for too long. However, it is worth mentioning though that the casual time skip implemented, that being of Tanjiros training period, was executed pretty badly, as powers and techniques weren't capitalized on properly, and felt more or less in the end just poorly explained and brushed over. Other than that, the flow of story events was done at a decent speed, with the exception of some scenes.

Regarding its downright awful aspects, there are a couple of major ones. First and foremost, the comedy. The comedy that makes up this show is genuinely horrible and unfitting and is the biggest offender this show has to offer by far. I'm not sure what the authors intent was of incorporating such childlike and overly annoying immature humor, as I am sure the studio had to translate it one way or another into animation, but it's annoying as hell and I hate it. As I would like to coin it, as incredible as episode 19 was with its action scene, an abomination likewise was met in episode 11 with its introduction of Zenitsu begging a random pedestrian girl to marry him, followed by a rejection. Because of this rejection, what now plagued this show was a continuum of loud, obnoxious, and irritating screaming that ensued throughout the rest of the second half of this series. Secondly, in general, the main supporting cast of characters, that being Zenitsu and Inosuke, are inherently offenders of this show altogether, especially being the main tie in of its comedy. I had actually enjoyed the first half of the show to a decent amount, as there weren't any inherently jarring annoyances and issues that had come up. However, never had I once felt that these characters added anything necessarily positive to the show since their introduction, and instead rubbed off more on me as an annoyance and hindrance to the series than additional entertainment value. They served as failed comedic relief, with some background insight later on Zenitsu in an attempt to develop this already one-dimensional character, but in failure, never gave me any reason to care in the process. The chemistry between the three is unendearing and empty of any real bond. Hell, even the demon lady and boy introduced earlier in the show, with their personal attempts to fit into society and help our main cast with their future endeavors were more interesting and genuine than Inosuke and Zenitsu, but alas they were tossed aside. Thirdly, the whole family aspect never resonated with me, which the show seemed to allude to a lot as well. Callbacks to the family members in times of desperation or despair often occurred, but it always tended to feel like a weak link and a failed attempt of connection with myself as an audience member, since I was never given any experience or personal attachment to this family in the first place.

Overall, I personally find it hard to call Demon Slayer a genuinely good show. Sure, it can be full of beautiful art and animation, with a great soundtrack and some nice action which I did appreciate and enjoy along the way. However, this is all mainly to praise upon, once again, its technical achievements. Beyond that lies a lack of depth and originality. A disconnect with an audience member such as myself was truly apparent because clearly inhabiting mature fight scenes and story elements amidst a constant regurgitation of 5-year-old humor can paint an unbearable and inconsistent experience for me. Its highs in the show can be pretty high, but in contrast, It's lows can be glaringly low too. It would be a lie for me to say that I hadn't been entertained with the show at certain points in time, however, amongst all of it, it would also be inexcusable for me to disregard the personal annoyances and abundance of issues I had along the way.

(SPOILERS:)
And yes this was taken down but now that i've watched 6 Episodes here is my review: If you want the overall here it is: Demon Slayer doesn't do anything new or ground breaking. The characters feel reused from other Shonens and the plot is like if Full Metal Alchemist and Tokyo Ghoul had a baby but that baby lacked drama, subtleties, or nuisanced characters. If you like Shonens, you'll like this show. It is entertaining but there's not much to it here.
If you're tired of the Shonen genre and hoped this show had even a little more depth to it's characters, world building ... and how it's presented you'll be disappointed and my review will consists of these faults.

Some more good (because I'm trying not to be a complete Debbie Downer eh!):
The use of mystery to introduce every monster of the week is entertaining. When Episode 6 began I was getting flashbacks to The Witcher 3 and Claymore and it was genuinely enthralling. Well...it was until it showed how he solves the mystery. Much of it gets boring when Tanjirou constantly says things that are obvious and not needed to be said and it contributes to this anime's over use of narration but at first it was nice.
There is fun action. If you're watching this show just to watch some sword fights, you're golden.
Art is nice. Animation is stellar, not much to complain, you may get a few ugly CG moments but it passes quickly.
With that said and BTW SPOILERSSSSSSSS.....lets go















Episode one wasn't good in my opinion as Demon Slayers is one of the most generic animes I’ve seen in a long time. Everything that it does has been done a thousand times and then some in other shows, some even more competent than this one. However I don’t really downscore an anime on the uniqueness of its story because every story has been told before. Without looking at the story what we are left is the presentation and in my opinion, presentation and execution matters more. You can have a beautiful, poignant story filled with love and anguish but if it’s presented sloppily, the plots don’t hold together, or characters don’t feel believable then….who gives a shit. And well, Demon Slayer is presented rather poorly.
Let’s talk about the good. The art and animation is fairly competent in their style and use of CG. The art direction is genuinely beautiful and subtle. Showering white snow and the faint puffs of warm breathes dissipating from characters really brought to life this fantasy world and it’s themes of the icy cruelty that the world befalls its citizens. Even though we don’t yet see this cruelty aside from the rumors of Demons roaming about, which we don’t even get to see. That’s about the only thing I found good in the first episode. I really wished this subtly was put into EVERYTHING ELSE in the episode.
The protagonist’s family’s sole purpose is to garner pity from the audience. They show how happy Tanjirou’s family is but this is immediately contradicted with Tanjirou narrating “We still are struggling to survive even though we look like a happy family”. This problem doesn’t just stem from this anime but it’s within the anime industry in general: they have the unfortunate habit of telling and not showing. Without Tanjirou’s narration we would have no idea that they are poor and in dire need of income. Most of them seem fine in terms of health. They all wear rather colorful clothing that’s clean and none are starving or seemingly depressed about their situation. We don’t even see a clear divide between how people look in town compared to his family, how am I supposed to believe that they are struggling to live? I know that the reason why they don’t explore this is so that it’d make the audience feel even sadder when they die because it’s much more dramatic in terms of how the situation has now changed. From “look at us, we’re all one big family “ to “look at how horrible and cruel everyone has been massacred, aren't you sad?!!!”. I know I'm not being subtle here but neither is the anime. This does not do well for the believability of this struggling family and above all this doesn’t make me feel anything for them, as this plot device is very predictable, melodramatic, and done to death. What contributes to family’s lack of believability is their on the nose dialogue. Everyone in this story talks straight out and says everything that’s right on their mind. If they’re not doing that they’re narrating it for us, the audience because the writer (whether it’s the original author or the scriptwriter for the episode) doesn’t understand real human communication. Again, it doesn’t have to be real but because this is a story about people, even if they are exaggerated by anime levels they should be believable. People rarely speak what’s on their minds. We have our own goals, hidden agendas, wishes and so on. Because of that we don’t usually just say things straight out. We euphemise, lie, and avoid the truth to spare others or ourselves. When characters start speaking on the nose, it shows a lack of good characterization and demonstrates how lazy the writer is being. All the characters just start sounding the same. We as an audience like to have a sense of discovery about characters and formulate why a character says something. When it’s said straight out, the audience has nothing to hold on to. In essence, it’s BORING. Anyone could write stock characters like the family members of Tanjirou and Nezuko because there is no real character in them. If you don’t believe me, then tell me what each of their personalities are without resorting to vague cliches? You can’t. The mother is motherly and caring, the siblings are sweet and cute and cheer on their big brother, the slightly older but still younger brother to Tanjirou is sort of rebellious but still loves his big brother. They are all stock characters. Nothing more. So? Even if I am right, how does this negatively impact the story you ask? Well, who really gives a damn that they died? We had no attachment to them as they literally were introduced and killed off screen less than 9 minutes later. WHO CARES. And when the audience doesn’t care about one of the main drives that starts the hero’s journey, you’ve clearly done something wrong. We can’t identify with the motivations of Tanjirou (at least emotionally) and so why should we cheer him on. I’m not expressing that more time spent on characters would necessarily make them more developed although there is something to be said about that however how they are presented and established matters most. You can develop and make characters feel believable in a short amount of time but that takes subtly and showing not telling. For example in Star Wars: A New Hope we are introduced to Luke and his family and their deaths would eventually serve a similar purpose for his hero’s journey. However it’s in how they are portrayed that’s the most important. While Luke’s family wasn’t the most developed characters they were written with much more nuisance and conviction than the family in Demon Slayer. For one thing, Luke’s aunt and uncle do have goals and worries for their nephew that they do not express forwardly to him. They worry about him and if he would grow to be like his father. They care so much for him that they make the excuse that he still has work to do on the farm in order to prevent him from enlisting in the Imperial Academy. As I’ve stated they are not the most developed characters but they are good and do have solid believability for their roles. They don’t play up the “we are a happy family trope” in order to set you up for the tragedy. None of the other Kamado family has this nuisance in them. Nothing for us the audience to grasp onto, because if they did, their loss would be much more tragic. Instead they do the cliche thing in which they play up the happy moments in order to create even more of a dramatic shift when shit hits the fan. It’s lazy.
Lack of subtlety isn’t just affecting the character writing but the music as well. The score is very on the nose with the emotions it’s trying to get out of you. If it needs you to feel sad, it plays this high strings sad violin. If it’s intense action it’s this pulsing orchestra. Nothing that really stands out but in fact creates a lot of melodrama within the scenes that’s not needed. The scene where Tanjirou discovers all the mutilated bodies of his loved ones could have been much more effective without music at all because if done well we should have already been feeling sad for him. In fact no music would have set this scene apart and would have made it much more memorable because throughout the rest of the show music plays everywhere. However because the of the poor characterization and pacing they have to play up the music for the feeling to come across. It’s not good storytelling when you have to rely on something as a crutch to tell your story.
Speaking of crutches, the narration is terrible. Narration can be justified and done well such as in Oldboy (2003). Dae-su is captured within the first 10 minutes of the film and as he’s banging on his captor’s door he narrates “If they had told me it was going to be fifteen years, would it have been easier to endure.” What Dae-su says here is justified as throughout the sequence he seems to be losing his mind and contemplating such a thought gives him a false sense of hope, maybe even relief in his situation. We as an audience can participate in this too and even believe the opposite. “Had I’d been in his position and I knew i’d be there 15 years it’d kill me inside”. This narration also serves a purpose in providing exposition that doesn’t feel forced as it’s provided through a conflict in the story. Demon Slayer’s narration is out of control and seems like the only story telling device the author knows how to use. We even get narration from Giyuu who’s introduced in the same episode and starts having this minute long monologue in his head to the audience while he’s fighting Tanjirou. This is problematic for a few reasons. One: we don’t even know Giyuu, he was barely just introduced. WHY ARE WE SWITCHING OUR PERSPECTIVE TO ANOTHER CHARACTER ALREADY WHEN OUR MAIN PROTAGONIST HASN’T YET BEEN ESTABLISHED? Two: why does he care that Nezuko seem human enough to leave alive? This is more of a plot hole but it’s still a valid one. He’s a seasoned, demon hunter he should know how dangerous these things are and by letting Tanjirou have his way he’d be putting more people at risk to Nezuko. He even admitted that most of the time human-turned demons turn on their loved ones in a second’s glance even if they seem docile at first. The reason why he lets Nezuko live isn’t believable for the character that they set him out to be since he’s supposed to be this righteous type that serves the greater good no matter what. It’d make much more sense if maybe he was a crazed morally ambiguous demon hunter who’ve experimented on demons before and grew a fascination toward Nezuko since she seems to have kept some humanity. He let’s her and Tanjirou go because he wishes to see the outcome of their journey or whatever. You may not agree with my version but it’s a stronger reason for him letting them go than just optimism. Three: his monologue becomes a crutch for subtly and nuisance in the character. Maybe we don’t even need a reason why he let them go at first, we can hint at something in his past but not give in to it all the way, like maybe he’s had a similar experience or something but we do this in the moment of when he’s confronting Tanjirou through his interactions NOT INTERNAL MONOLOGUE. Let us see the anguish and horror on his face as he realize that the two survived a family massacre to tell the story and his reluctance to give Tanjirou answers. We can play off his character with these moments and give mystery to him and why he lets them go. This will create tension and internal conflict for his character and promises a character arc for him in the future. Already, by doing this he’d be much more interesting and plot progression won’t feel cheap.
Episodes 2 and 3 doesn’t do much to alleviate the problems with the show, although they are generally better now that we’re out of the beginning and heading towards the “meat” of the show. These episodes are adequate but they still suffer from that constant expositioning and narration. For no reason Tanjirou and other characters just keep saying things that we already know or can infer. The demon that slaughter the family in episode 2 is a prime example of what I mean. In the episode he clashes with Tanjirou and gets hacked in the throat. He states “Oh I can heal this is no time” and it heals. Why would he say that? It brings me out of the supposed tensed moment more than anything when I have to questioned what was gained from that response. A better way to handle it would be this:
(Tanjirou gazes from his fallen position to the demon before him. Its eyes widen with fear and pain as it clutches for its throat, a gaping crimson slit spitting blood everywhere. For a moment a wave of relief washes over him, believing that he had won the fight. The demon’s lips curl upwards into a sadistic snarl and his eyes fill with amusement. He cackles uncontrollably as he releases the grip on his throat. To Tanjirou’s surprise the wound is gone, only remaining is a faint line that keeps disappearing till it’s no more. The demon meets Tanjirou’s quivering eyes once more before pouncing onto him, with beastial force.)
It works better when you don’t treat your audience like idiots.
The fights lack tension. I don’t find the demons particularly threatening as they don’t really seem all that capable. Aside from a strong healing factor, humans seem like they can handle demons pretty well. Tanjirou is still a teenager but he’s managed to grapple with TWO demons without so much of a scratch. He even head-butts the demon and OF COURSE we get narration from the demon which says “ Urggh! His head is really hard!”. HIS HEAD IS REALLY HARD. He literally says that…..(it reminds me of: "Ow! Heat was Hot!" Kudos and cheers if you know the reference ;) )
It hurts the world building when we question the main threat of the whole series. If the author wanted Demons to come off as terrifying beasts he should be very exact in distinguishing the differences in power levels between humans and demons. The line gets pretty blurred in the OP as everyone is unleashing “Bankais” and doing superhuman feats and again later on during training when Makomo says you can become as strong as demons when you just “breathe” a certain way. The anime/manga Claymore does this significantly better by outright stating that humans are nowhere near the level of even a basic Yoma. Killing one would take years of training and understanding Yoma as seen with Raki and even then Yoma still have the added benefit that they are totally undetected by human means, which again puts them at a disadvantage. Even if the first demons they meet are supposed to be “low level” or whatever they should still be a huge threat but the he defeats the Ep 2 demon pretty easily. Later on many of the other Demons he encounter act like third rate Bond villains. They stop their attacks and go on a minute long monologue telling Tanjirou who they are, what they've done, and their plans for eating him. It's silly more than threatening. You remember how menacing Titans were in Attack on Titian? They didn't say or do any of that, it was all in their actions and what they did. Or like in Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress, again the zombies in there were threatening and horrifying without having to go " Roaarr, roarr, I'm gonna eat cha little boy!". I'm not saying they should be mute, but they should be scary because they're doing scary things, not telling it. It also doesn’t help that he’s already got one on his side so every time he’s in even a little trouble she can bail him out. (And this is one of her only 2 purposes, the other is to be MOE as FUUUCCK!)
Also a point that never gets addressed even up to episode 3 is Nezuko. Why does being turned into a Demon apparently make you a mute? I mean she’s human enough not to attack and eat Tanjirou shouldn’t she be able to say something or communicate in some manner if you want to make the argument that the BDSM pole is preventing her? It's not a magic seal or anything, it's literally something Giyuu just shoves in her mouth thinking that she can't just hulk out and rip that thing off. If being turned into a demon makes you a raging animal with no conscious thought then how did that demon in episode 2 talk to him and even seem to have a banter with him? Or any of the other Demons later on. I’m okay with any reason just give us a reason that makes some sense. You’d think that Tanjirou would have tried something, anything, in order to communicate with her as she was the only who survived the massacre. If this is not possible then it’s important that it’s addressed or else it becomes a plot hole. I know it was stated that Nezuko is saving her energy by inducing into a comatose state so she doesn't feed on people but I find this reason faulty and boring in terms of what could have been an alternative exploration into character dynamics of the two. The master says she's inducing this sleep but why hasn't any other demons done this then? I'm sure there have been others who've loved their siblings enough not to want to eat them but I guess their love wasn't as special as Nezuko's love for Tanjirou? I guess other demons didn't love their siblings enough to try this. And this method seems to work flawlessly without any problems because she still saves him whenever the author deems it's necessary and the anime doesn't show any drawbacks aside from her sleeping a lot. It's a bit hard to believe.
When they showed the bodies of the family that was just murdered I thought Tanjirous was going to do the smart thing and hack pieces off to feed Nezuko, maybe even save some for later. It’s brutal but he loves her and it’d SHOW the lengths he be willing to go for her. But that doesn’t happen.
The training montage is not good because we are constantly being pulled out of the moment by Tanjirou’s narration. Tanjirou writes in his journal about every single aspect of his training after he has experienced it already and this creates a disconnect with the audience. We can’t experience the training with him because he’s already done in in the past since he’s recalling everything that happened in the past tense. It’s hard to actually see his growth when he just says he’s getting stronger instead of the anime taking the time to show us that. Again we don’t need narration of the things he’s learning and in fact it’d be much more impactful if we were kept in the present with Tanjirou and learning along with him and his master. We’d be able to create a connection with the master as we would be with Tanjirou learning the ways of Demon Slaying with him as it happens. Such as in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back we are in the moment with Luke as he trains with Yoda. Because we are in the present with him and Luke is not taking a step back to narrate for us we build a connection with Yoda. Everyone remembers Yoda despite being introduced and put into only one movie of the original saga. Can you even imagine if Luke had narrated to the audience and said: “ I told Yoda I wouldn’t be able to lift up the X-Wing even if I tried and then he told me: ‘Do or do not, there is no try’.” We see Luke’s failures throughout the training, and these failures are rooted with his character. I don’t really see an internal connection between Tanjirou and his training and how it relates to one another. Sabito later says that he’s not “man enough” but how does that have anything to do with his character? When was Tanjirou’s arc that he’s not “man enough”? Yeah he didn’t “finish” the demon in episode 2 but he didn’t hesitate to slit its throat with an ax. If this was his arc then shouldn’t the proper conclusion to his arc be that he slains a demon all on his own? But instead he has to split a rock in two. I know he kills Morph Demon but that part isn't part of hid training arc. The master even said that his training is complete and that he's accepted to the Final Night now. I understand the reason why the training was so rushed but because of that it lacks believability. Another example is My Hero Academia the first season. I’m not the biggest fan of MHA but it does Deku’s training a whole lot better than Tanjirou’s. Deku is accepted by All Might as an apprentice and a similar training ensues but the difference here is that Deku rarely exposites for the audience, it’s used scarcely and visual changes of Deku is put at the forefront without a lot of narration. We don’t hear Deku saying “ OMG this fridge is so heavy” and “All Might told me I have to be as swift as the ocean so we’re going swimming”. No it's all shown and we can infer it all. The ending of the montage is a climatic pan of Deku, screaming with all his might, bruised and batter, as he stands tall on top a mountain of collected trash, his tone body against the roaring winds. NICE!
The fight with the Morph Demon was narration galore and it's ridiculous. I'm tired of writing the same thing over again so if you like Shonens you'll be fine with this fight.
Tanjirou's mercy he shows to it is really inconsistent even within the same episode. If it's in his character to show mercy to Demons then what about the others he killed in the same Episode or the Gloop Tripplet Demons in ep 6 where he gets pissed that they told him they like supple young 16 year old girls. He charges at these with no mercy but the Morph Demon was the one who got the soft attention because he missed his brother? I'm fine if this is part of his character but the way it's portrayed is not believable especially when they try to justify it by trying to make you sympathize with the Morph Demon in a cheap flashback, as if he didn't murder and enjoy the fleshy bodies of little kids...seriously...who really feels bad for him. There's a serious disconnect of emotions when you can't identify with what the Protagonist is doing because it makes no sense and you wouldn't ever see yourself doing that same thing. This angelic mercy he has is a contrived trope that has been already done to death in other animes. Sure the opposite reaction is also a cliche, having raging hatred towards them. However one feels justified while the other feel forced in order to make sure you know Tanjirou is such a good guy.
I do agree with the Morph Demon on one thing though:

Yeah, that master literally did send those kids to their deaths...i don't care how "sorry" they make him to be, he still did it. I laughed because they even pointed this out with no self awareness. If the Demon Slayers are truly in control of the Final Nights then they should know exactly what's going on. It's a plot hole when they allow the demons to get that strong without any safeguards. You're Demon Slayers right? Aren't you supposed to be protecting kids? That's like if in My Hero Aca, the entrance exams was to fight a whole city filled with unsupervised super villains, and one in particular had become so powerful he's survived multiple trials for years and if they get killed or whatever it's whatever. Young boys , young girls...whatever right? This actually makes the Demon Slayers Corp outright inept or ruthless with no repercussions. If they're this merciless, shouldn't villager and people outright despise them, why isn't Tanjirou angry at this. His character is that he wants to protect people, SAVE PEOPLE, yet the final nights seem like they're just sending kids to their deaths for no good reason and he doesn't bat his eye? In Full Metal Alchemist Edward is constantly at odds with the State because of shit like this and he's interesting and well fleshed out because of it. Edward seems real, while this seems contrived.
Also I was right, Nezuko is a Deus ex machina. She's cute and I'll admit her character design is very attractive. SUE ME!
Overall, Demon Slayer doesn’t do anything new or particularly well. The characters are dull and overused, the story is riddled with plot holes or just contrivances, and the world doesn’t feel very well- fleshed out. At the heart of all the problems with Demon Slayer is it’s lack of subtlety and overuse of “telling rather than showing” to convey it's story. Like I said if you like Shonen, this anime will be just right for you. For anyone else, it's a flashy trip that unlike the devoured children in the show, lacks any meat or substance.

Welcome to my review of Kimetsu no Yaiba!! Minor spoiler warning!!



The Kamado family lives happily in peace in their seclude cabin high up in the snowy mountains .After the main protagonist Tanjirous father passing away some time ago, he have taken over he's responsibility and providing for he's family .One day after selling some coal in the village nearby and coming home later than expected, he stubble through the door and are met by a gruesome and horrifying sight! He's family have been brutally slaughtered .Hes ... mother and siblings are laying dead in-front of hes feet,but in this tragedy life still existing and breathing, hes beloved sister Nezuko have survived the macabre attack.But as a cruel and terrible twist of fate she is now a demon herself and hunger for humans flesh to devour! Tanjirou refuses to give up and swear to avenges the death of his family! But mostly to restore humanity back to his sister!



The story itself especially early in, may feel extremely simplistic uninspired and boring .Village boy get family or village killed and sets out for seeking revenge.Never heard that one before. But with some good twist drama segment and fast even pacing,Combined with some interesting female characters and great side story's it have some interesting factors as well. And the way it being told is pretty entertaining rather than feeling slow and tedious .Its noting special but it works overall



The animations are just stunning from time to time.The action flows like the mighty river and are a grand spectacle to watch .This anime have gorgeous flashy action scenes with great lightning effect that are really enjoyable to watch, and makes me looking forward to the next fight!



Sadly I think the design on the males in this anime got little attention, and is very dull plain and noting to remember it by.But the demons and females on the other hand have great attention both in details and design, that defiantly are memorable and made a great impacted



When it come to characters this anime total fails again with the males . They are as interesting and deep as a kiddie pool. The main trios are the most uninspired stereotypical predictable and boring set of reused anime characters i have ever seen . Tanjirou is overly good and wants to help, Inosuke wants to be strong and like to fight, and the last one Zenitsu wants to cry and are afraid of fighting or getting seriously injured.But for some odd reason he joins a society that are in war with the demons!,, Doesn't that make sense?,,NO it doesn't. There are no complexity no deeps to be found .Alone they are horribly and boring enough but together they are a irritating deadly force of chaos! That destroys everything I like in this anime . It's like a five-year old was in charge over those so-called humour segments.All they do is run around screaming ans chasing etch other like five years old do. I'm sry but I don't find that very funny. More irritating and infuriating, the Biggest problem is the character Zenitsu nonstop whining and crying .Complaining seems to be that characters main trait, As soon he is in picture the crying and bitching start and never stop! And with a very high-pitched voice which gives me a headache! Don't you just love the things in life that give you a headache? I don't. I want to kill it with fucking fire!



Again the females come to the rescue. They are lifting this anime up and opposite from the male, The female characters are interesting and don't act like misbehaving children all the time .They are beautiful and very alluring. Main character is a little interesting conundrum and I thirst for more information about her.The butterfly girls that get introduce later in is also a huge plus for the story. And with all the good female characters, at-least some enjoyment are to be found in this mess



My experience in the whole was extremely inconsistent .The action was incredible and i love every second of it.But the male trio especially the cry baby make some scene unbearable and they are mains so they get a huge amount of screen time,,Running screaming in your face or crying! In the end its hard to judge. I hate it! I love it! I hate it! I love it! So I give it 5/10



This anime is trash but its kind of shiny and flashy trash that are nice and fun to look at. When it doesn't piss you off with its poorly written humour or infuriating characters



I dedicate this review to every female in Kimetsu no Yaiba, Thank you for making this anime at-least acceptable

Finally we have it, the new anime about loud teenagers with cool swords fighting the ultimate evil. Another shonen jump work which I ultimately like, but have a hard time describing the experience as not frustrating. So let’s get to that.

The animation and presentation are definitely a plus, containing beautiful 3d backgrounds, that are seamlessly implemented (for the most part). The composition and usage of color are great, setting the mood really well, making for a good ominous spooky atmosphere, which in turn, really brings to life the more melancholic tragic aspects of the story. Those only come into play when we finally see the ... demons dying, sadly. The lament for these wretched creatures, lost to all love and humanity becoming really touching. More importantly the animation is fluid where it matters, the action scenes, the audience can always follow what is happening; feel the strikes and impacts of every blow, in those. So basically this looks sex.

Oh yeah, it also sounds sex. The music is phenomenal, impossible to find a mistake with. Every track seems to have a purpose, melody, also allowing for an entire new layer when added. You can get the gist of a scene, the danger, peril, sadness excitement of moments, or whole sequences with the soundtrack alone. I would argue sometimes in terms of emotions, those are actually doing most of the job. Try and imagine episode 19 without the incredible track in the flashback, or the rush for the final strike. You would have a completely different fight (and a way more boring one). In terms of translating the Kimetsu no Yaiba’s story into anime, there is definitely a lot of work in crafting this show, which is shown in every episode (not mob psycho levels, but it sure is up there with the best).

In terms of narrative, it also contains some cool stuff. It understands the appeal of modern shonen, those are usually short and direct to the point. Borrowing a lot of elements and inspiration from classics in the genre, but making for a breezier, better-paced viewing. Which I would argue is great in a genre where pulpy action and excitement are 90% of the appeal (though Yaiba moves way too fast a lot of the time). Also, there is always a good sense of progression, getting slowly larger in scope, the story allowing for constantly bigger threats and enemies. I do think the show handles the whole slowly developing for a larger narrative with dozen characters, and world ending stakes somewhat neatly.

Unfortunately, there was a lot that stopped me from completely buying to the emotions of this melodramatic and exciting tale. The characters were the issue for the most part, needing a more elaborate development in several key moments. The first episode is infamous in that regard, for killing the protagonist family in the middle of its run, while giving our main 3 scenes interacting with them. On this specific situation we find the protagonist motivation, the fact he lost everything of value, while gaining determination to save his sister and fight demons. But it feels like more of an afterthought, irrelevant, because we barely know this character, or have any grasp on the relations displayed, and bam, they die. Understanding the protagonist is essential, we need to see what he loves, get true action and moments with those people, see that family and discover why they were something to die for. The entire basis of the series relies on the Nezuko – Tanjirou bond, the thing it needs to nail more than anything. However, the introduction blows it pretty well.

The issue of never managing to land, the big importance character moments and interaction, is prevalent. There are some obvious shortcuts attempted, like both Zenitsu and Tanjirou’s main fight in the anime, rely on a memory of an important father figure. Detail, we were not aware those characters even existed before the conflict of the episode started, and their whole appearance in the narrative is through flashbacks where they say important information. These interactions and supposedly super important people have no weight, or purpose, only serving for exposition. The lack of development is almost disturbing, just try and give such appearances relevance before putting them as devices to move plot. Try and think of episode 19 without the music, suddenly there is not much to care.
Narratives inevitably become more complicated, entangled plotlines more common, complexity only tends to rise with progression. In turn this makes the need for a strong foundation really pressing, especially in the shonen genre, one infamous for introducing dozens of new characters per arc. Yaiba is giving strong signs of branching off, as lots of new super relevant people have been introduced. Nevertheless, I cannot trust our main party to hold interest at the center stage.

My boy, Tanjirou, is probably the best of a character this show has, and even him does not hold that well on his own. Sure I may love way too good for this world boys, filled with kindness, comprehension, focus on always attempting to do what is best for the world, with everything he’s got. It may be impossible to not grow attached with the guy, seeing the lengths of effort displayed, the entire journey revolving around saving loved ones, and even more surprisingly, the own demons he uses that blade against. Goodness just comes so naturally for him, acts of helping, trying to understand, while also putting everything on the line for others, they just hit me right in the feels.

Nevertheless, no matter how much I love his nature, there is something lacking, which comes in the almost nonexistent challenges. The ideals and what Tanjirou represents are never meaningfully contradicted, and he never experiences much in terms of failure. The ideals are too perfect, and come pretty much unscathed through the course of the story. This means he is not given much to react to, and learn from the world, or adversaries presented. Conflict mostly comes from external, physical barriers only there to be surpassed, but are not really that meaningful or memorable. While somehow everyone else features way worst when hold to scrutiny.

Another issue comes from how Kimetsu no Yaiba is not really developing most of the concepts presented. The anime wants to have this tragic depressing side, where the demons are representations to some of humanity deepest anxieties, and desires, perverted on these loveless creatures. All the while denying to develop, and add human characteristics for the demons through most of their appearances. Giving the whole weight of characterization, humanity through flashbacks is a really roundabout way of adding the idea. Especially when they happen just when the character is dying, i.e., there is no more conflict, i.e., they do not matter anymore. The contrast, between the man eating monster at the surface, and human nature in the core, is barely allowed time, proper position, to shine, and make room for conflicted feelings towards the adversaries. The fact those are inflicted souls suffering is here, but portrayed in an addendum like manner, which feels related to nothing.

The same wasted potential can be seen on the emphasis the show gives to the importance of empathy. Shown in the signs of it wanting us to understand and care for these creatures, their humanity and existences are not objects of pity, indifference, rage, but are of worth, deserve to be respected, and ultimately acknowledged. Humans and demons alike deserve compassion, someone who will attempt to understand their pains, try and help, Tanjirou being in the role of always doing this. Nevertheless, the concept is never given relevance in the narrative, our characters never win because of understanding the demon, the knowledge of who they were as people is in effect, made practically useless. Despite the importance of bounds, helping the weak and afflicted, being something hard to deny, Kimetsu no Yaiba does not have a particularly meaningful thing to say, or topic to explore, regarding such point

Concluding, Kimetsu no Yaiba might be an action spectacle at times, with plenty of fun moments and interactions, which I would overall recommend. There were some reasons I could never completely embark in this mostly comfy show, about an impossibly good natured kid. Go for Mob Psycho for a way more interesting version of such, but you are probably going to have a better experience than me.

First let me say, Kimetsu no Yaiba has great animation. I honestly don't mind the CG use too much but besides that I thought it was very unique and something I haven't seen before. The fight scenes are enjoyable and I like to see the solutions that Tanjiro comes up with to defeat his enemies. The music and sound design are also pretty good, however, I'm not a huge fan of the music.

Unfortunately, that's about it for the good parts of this show. The storyline is super generic, guy wants revenge and to save his sister, so he joins a group of Demon Slayers to ... fight evil. Wow. The demon concept is interesting, but I think sometimes it can be awkward to fit in decapitations of human eating demons with scenes of wacky characters, right after a death.

That's probably my least favorite thing about this show actually. The characters just don't fit, at least in my opinion. Tanjiro the protagonist seems very cookie cutter and the yellow haired kid is annoying to say the least. You would think a show with a generic plot would make up for it with good characters that don't get on your nerves too much, but watching their conversations and interactions was very boring and I could pretty much tell exactly what each character was going to say before they said it.

Kimetsu no Yaiba is very.... okay. I'll continue to skip the boring parts and try to see what direction the anime goes but after all, this could of had so much potential. 6/10

Kimetsu no Yaiba´s strong side is without a doubt the production value of Ufotable. It can shine with good music, fluid animations, decent artwork and nice character design.

The problems seem to lay just under the highly polished surface. Especially the story, worldbuilding and characters are sadly quite lacking.
Before i go in deeper in my reasoning i would like to make a comparison to make my problems with the series so far a bit more clear.

KnY is basicly Claymore, just with the problems inverted. Instead of a focus on the character and world building, Kimetsu is showing of spectacle.
Both anime are about a child ... that loses it´s family to dangerous humanoid monsters, joins a shadowy organisation, is given a special sword and is send to take out said monsters. The similarities don´t stop there, but the rest isn´t realy necassary for my comparisson.
The main reason i even make this comparision is that i can see how amazing KnY could have been.

I was wondering about the way this world, this organisation or even the skills work, why the characters even do what they do and so on. Are ghosts normal in this universe? Why does Tanjirou think he should spend over 6 month training in the mountains instead of searching a cure for his sister? Why did his scar change and why didn´t anyone in universe reacted to it? How can it be that the people of the land don´t believe in demons anymore, when our MC can´t even make two steps without finding one? How can a demon slayer afford food, medicine or an inn if the organisation doesn´t even pay them? Why would anyone even listen to them after reciving his/her special sword? How does the magic work?
These problems and questions aren´t present in Claymore and other anime like it and it is so disappointing for me to see such a good looking take on the historical dark fantasy setting, falling over problems that were already solved over a decade ago.


It is sadly not the masterpiece i was hoping for, but it´s entertaining enough for anyone who is solely looking for eye-candy and spectacle.

While the show is certainly a visual treat, it lacks originality and depth of character.
While the show began slow, it's worldbuilding and atmosphere were two great points going for it. But the atmosphere slowly morphed as we piled on more characters, and the show slid into a more traditional, and uninspired, battle shonen. The interesting characters are few and far between, with standout annoying performances (the two sidekicks especially, are walking tropes taken to extremes) which completely destroyed the earlier feel of the show.
Kimetsu no Yaiba is a decent, if unoriginal, battle shonen. If you like these kinds of animes, the visuals alone should keep ... you entertained as it is by far its strong suit. The animations are normally great and sometimes downright gorgeous with effective use of colors and CGI to create some scenes that truly stand out from more mundane shonen scenes.
It's a technical achievement if anything. I can hope for bigger and better battles in the future of the show, even if I now know what to expect from its mediocre at best storytelling.

spoiler warning for the weak minded

Just about anyone who has had any interest in the action and adventure genre may have come across the monomyth aka the hero’s journey. A term popularized by Joseph Campbell about a common narrative template that has been used through many ages and cultures of stories about heroes and adventures. While it has been argued that the monomyth and it’s details are considered too broad and general that it can fit the description of almost every story. It didn’t stop people from accepting the idea of the hero’s journey and integrating them into their own works. In some way the ... popularized use of the hero’s journey in modern writing helped retroactively legitimize the hero’s journey, if it hadn’t been already. Now comes Demon Slayer which is the latest to follow the template of the hero’s journey and does it to a t.

Demon Slayer doesn’t wear the hero’s journey on its sleeve but more so is the sleeve itself. By just grabbing an image from any search engine about the hero’s journey will provide a good road map of where the show will go. As the show follows a young man named Tanjirou living a normal in the woods with his family. However one day when he returns home he finds his family slaughtered and the only survivor being her sister, Nezuko, who became a demon. Despite being a demon she still retains some of her humanity that stops her from attacking her brother, and it’s that humanity that gives Tanjirou hope that he can cure his sister which becomes his call to adventure. He is given supernatural aid by a man who is in the Demon Slayer corps who is initially met with hostility as he tries to kill Nezuko, but then relents due to Tanjirou’s perseverance and gives them a chance by directing them to a man who can help them. As they go to meet the man they are faced with a moment where Tanjirou refuses the call, because in order to continue the adventure he must become a demon slayer. This becomes a problem due to Tanjirou’s nature as he finds it difficult to kill another being, even if they are a demon, nonetheless he decides to join for his sister's sake. The man they were meant to meet becomes the mentor figure for Tanjirou and puts him through many trials and training in order to prepare him for his adventure. With the Selection exam finally allowing him to cross the threshold and become a demon slayer, allowing him to journey deeper into the supernatural world. And that’s all the narrow examination i’m going to do as the point has hopefully been made, which leads to the grander narrative.

Despite following the classic hero’s journey story, Demon slayer is still a Shounen Manga and like most shounen manga it is long running. Demon Slayer is in the more moderately long side when compared to other manga in it's demographic, and it's only halfway through the first triple digit of chapters. With such a long form of storytelling in order to not stagnate to long on a certain point in the journey, stories such as these tend to do repeat certain points of the journey again in a different form or adding new parts that they didn’t use before. It makes the journey less of a complete circle but more so arcs of varying degrees. Story arcs that have as well been a main aspect of many long formed series especially in shounen series. Demon slayer for the most part has two major arcs. The first one stretching from episodes 1 through 10, and the second arc for the remainder of the season with a bit of the 3 arc at the tail end. While having story arcs aren’t a bad thing in capable hands, they sometimes tend to feel disjointed with the tiniest threads connecting them together or worse, being detours and a waste of time if they offer nothing of substance. Demon Slayer does fall into one of these categories, but luckily it’s more the former than the latter. Thanks to the magical bird of plot convenience taking them not only from one arc to the next, but also from one location to the next. With each one conveniently being more tied to the plot then the next. Anything else about the story is standard action shounen fare with a couple of hiccups. It has an evil group/organization with a x group of members that are fought in more or less ascending orders, It has a group of well trained warriors who help the protagonist along the way, and so on and so forth. None of it helps or hinder the show, which is something I can't say for the characters.

Tanjirou basically carries this show for most of the season. He serves as a good main protagonist for the show and is better than most shounen oriented protagonists in general. He still shares traits with many of them by being a bit loud and hot headed, but it doesn’t come as annoying due to it not being his defining characteristic. The same goes for his intelligence as he isn’t portrayed as too smart where he over analyzes everything but he isn’t dumb back of rocks either. What defines him the most is his level of compassion towards others, even his enemy. He’s still able to fight and kill demons like any slayer but that doesn’t stop him from feeling sorry about them, which is usually missed by other slayers. Tanjirou certainly isn’t a complex, nuanced, or even iconic character, but what he does have makes him endearing. His sister Nezuko however could have used better treatment for her character. Anything that could have made her interesting is neutered. Dialogue? Put a bamboo in it. Personality and internal conflict? Hypnosis. Screen time? In the box she goes. It’s truly a shame especially in the moments when the show tries to reinforce this idea of their sibling bond, but their lack of having much character dynamic holds back those moments that could have had a lot of impact.

Then there is Inosuke and Zenitsu two other demon slayers that the main character meets along the way. Inosuke is a belligerent bi-shounen boar boy and is the more tolerable of the main duo mostly due to the fact that he gets some development. Going from a loud very aggressive person who does things by himself, to being less aggressive and is willing to help out with others. He also doesn’t scream as much, but i guess that’s due to the fact that someone squeezed his neck once really hard. Zenitsu on the other hand is harder to warm up to. He is a coward but that’s not the problem but more so what branches off of it. 1st is that Zenitsu’s coward personality serves as much of the comedy for the show as he is sort of a comedic relief character but it’s less funny and more annoying. 2nd is that he doesn’t develop much as a character or at least it’s aligned with the fact that his development is inside him the whole time and he has to go to sleep to unlock it.

As for the other characters. It’s hard to say. The other demon slayers that have any relevance are the pillars, the veteran warriors, who are like the captains and commanders you would see in other shows. They are the most tropey of all the characters but that’s mostly on their character designs and limited screen time and dialogue. The demons also get little characterization, only a tragic backstory to make them somewhat sympathetic. The only one that gets a bit more than the rest is the final antagonist of the season, but it’s really not much.

Demon slayer also boasts great production value all around. The soundtrack is great and it accompanies the show very well. Sporting both orchestral and traditional Japanese music that range from the slow and sad, to the loud and triumphant. And at times both intertwine to create a beautiful symphony. There’s also the choral singing that brings a mysterious and supernatural feeling to the show. Not to mention the mention the abundant use wind instrument music that along with the singing compliment the show which focuses on the character having breathing control in order to fight properly. Of course some tracks do fall to the wayside,but it doesn’t detract from how great it is overall.The art for the show is really good with striking character designs, use of color, and thick use of lines that lends to the visual appeal. Also the fact that it’s done by ufotable that gives their shows a certain polish that adds a beautiful flare to the animation and action scenes. However it still has some moments that bother me to some extent. While it’s true that the CGI is better than most other shows due to how it’s used, it still has a few blemishes here and there. This also carries on to the metaphysical attacks that the demon slayers use with their attribute appearing from thin air. They do look great and it gives them a nice visual flair but sometimes they look weird especially with tanjirou’s water version as the “foam” still lingers on screen for a bit more and just looks weird. Finally i’m not a fan of shows changing visual styles for the sake of comedy or at least very few do them right and demon slayer isn’t one of them. Nonetheless, the combination of its sound and arts is a sight to behold as it sweeps you off your feet and makes it easier to forgive the bullshit power ups this show has.

Demon Slayer is one of the more decent shounen oriented series to come out in a while. While it does play safe in terms of storytelling, it’s still serviceable for the average viewer. I just wished it was as beautifully done to the same level as the visuals and audio of the show. This is a show that I would happily like to see a continuation of, with the hopes of improvement. Maybe then the show can ascend to greatness that the show wants to be.

I should literally be giving this show a 9 or 10 rating but I'll explain why not in a bit.
This show at first didn't look very exciting, typical hyped new show...damn was i wrong. Off the bat the shows hits you with deep feels, some great combat and a good sense of what you can expect. The story literally puts you in an emotional ride, seeing both the struggle of the main and those before him.
Combat is great, alot of neat and omg moments, and we get one of animes cutest character. Now THE MAIN REASON WHY I GAVE IT A LOW SCORE...
We ... are introduced to one of the most annoying, stupidest support character thus far. For a show about literally survival of the strongest and power beyond those of demons...why is Zenitsu here???
I really hate shows that contradict what one must be, you have those that are strong, mean yet mysterious, calm yet deadly...then you get this...personally i despise it, was bloody tough jus getting through the show without me dropping it. Really wish they drop that trend and not put annoying supports there...again just my opinion. Great show thhough.

Oh my god in heaven is this show a breath of fresh air!! It’s been a long while since an anime has evoked such a unique set of emotions from me. This is a one in a million series, so let me break down what’s so amazing about it as accurately as I can.

The characters. They are the heart and soul of Demon Slayer, and their complete lack of depth past simple caricatures is what will eventually bring you to tears. You truly feel for their sadness as well as their happiness, and you won’t be able to help rooting for them as this show ... shamelessly condescends to you by using cheap tactics like psychological trauma and post-mortem backstories to manipulate the target demographic into wetting their diapers. When Tanjiro makes his fifth monologue about his determination to protect his sister in the middle of what’s supposed to be an intense action scene, you WILL feel his emotions, because the show might as well have put the words “FEEL THIS” on the screen like some kind of sitcom with a studio audience. And let’s not forget the villains, whose motives and personalities don’t even exist until the climax of their arc. This writing ability could only come from the most inspired of individuals. The nuance in character development truly makes me believe the author himself has an albino cannibalistic sister whom he carries around in a box to protect her from the sunlight and from people who don’t like albinos.

The story. This isn’t your typical shounen plot, no sir. In what other shows can you watch a young optimistic boy lose his loved ones to evildoers then embark on a journey to seek justice while gathering strength at a pace unheard of to his teachers and peers? In what other shows will you see an older brother go to great lengths within an organization to seek a cure for his younger sibling, who also fights along his side? No others, that’s for sure. The visceral gratification you get from self-inserting as the protagonist while he excels at everything and overcomes obstacles to defeat bad guys who commit violent murders is one of the greatest feelings ever, and Demon Slayer delivers. After the first twenty expositional segments, you’ll be completely immersed in the story and world of Kimetsu no Yaiba.

The production. While the animation is kind of meh (it switches to CG sometimes which is just ew!), the music conveys emotion almost as poignantly as the dialogue itself. The eerie feudal-era soundscape perfectly complements the orchestra as the strings and piano whisk you away to Feels Land whenever a character’s inner-monologue gets particularly epic. Even after finishing the show, the soundtrack sticks with you and chokes you up every time you hear it. That’s how powerful it is. I think I can credit the main theme for at least ten of the dozen times I cried while watching Demon Slayer.

If I haven’t already expressed how much I love this show, I don’t know what else to do except watch it a hundred more times. Every smile, every tear, and every soft loli grunt is an adventure on its own. I can’t say much else about it without getting into spoilers about the amazing villain or about the greatest anime episode of all time (you know the one), so I’ll just stop here. Kimetsu no Yaiba is the one thing we’ve all been waiting for, and we’d be crazy not to bring it to the highest esteem.

Absolute 10/10 overall, but actually 5/10 for making me feel like as infantile and stupid as shrunken Nezuko.

As of this review, I've just started episode 15.

First of all, I'd like to get this out of the way first. This review is mostly just me venting so if I'm being a little unfair to this show, that's probably the reason why.

Also, Ufotable did a great job in the art department. This anime is a feast for the eyes. Visually, I'd easily give this anime an 8 or above rating.

Here's what I do have a problem with: The direction of scenes and the characters.

So many things go into directing that it's very difficult to pin down what's exactly wrong with it but I'm ... gonna' try anyway.

It feels like there are too many moments that pad out the run time. Tanjiro often just stands there in shock because he can't believe his eyes that an event is unfolding. Maybe I've just watched too many shows now but I just want it to get to the point.

I'll try to be as vague as possible with the story beats that annoyed me.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

When Tanjiro encounters a very important demon in public, I don't understand why he just doesn't yell out that he's a demon. Tanjiro hesitates because the demon is posing as a human and has a family with humans. If there was room for doubt that this demon might be just trying to live a normal life I can see why he hesitates but he KNOWS he's evil. The demon even slashes at a man's neck during their encounter.

It feels very annoying when the main character is the one breaking the momentum of the moment when he let that demon get away.

*** END OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

It's also the same when he encounters new friends into the party. It takes a really long time for him to explain that his sister is the demonic presence in his backpack. Everybody is already aware that there's a demonic presence so why doesn't he just explain himself and that he's trying to find a cure?

Even her reveal to the other characters (which takes a full day later) feels like time padding. It has to go through this stupid gag where someone misunderstands that they're not in an intimate relationship. I've seen my fair share of anime and I feel like a have a good sense of what comedic timing is like and this anime just does not have it.

What might have been a funny moment outstays it's welcome with the characters screaming nonsense at each other.

Here is lies the second problem. The characters.

All 3 of the male protagonists who are traveling together are just variants of screams made into characters.

There's the overly kind screaming one.
The cowardly screaming one.
And the wild screaming one.

It's like they're trying to make up for the fact that the only girl in the party can't/won't talk at all.

It ties in with the problem with directing. I get that overreacting is a form of comedy but if the characters overreact to everything, wouldn't that just become regular old reacting?

So in the end, who could I see enjoying this anime? I think that this anime is great for young and new anime fans.

For people who've been watching for a long time, unless visuals are all you care about in an anime, this show will wear down your patience as it goes on.

A typical shounen anime, nothing more nothing less.
First the good parts about the show:
Amazing animation, maybe the best I’ve ever seen, the fights are very well executed.
Sound track is good but nothing amazing.
And that’s it basically.
The story starts very typically with a young protagonist whose family gets slaughtered by demons, and his sister turning into one. He now must slay all demons to avenge his family and heal his sister.
What drew me into the show initially was the dark tone the show seemed to have, darker than your average shounen that is, I mean his family was killed in episode 1, and literally all the ... fights are at night, so you can imagine my shock when literally 1 episode later our protagonist Tanjiro was already cracking dumb jokes. Seriously if you start watching the show from episode 2 or 3 you’d never guess this was a boy whose entire family was killed, it was such a tonal whiplash. And to make things much worse, the humor is awkward, cringy and very misplaced.
The characters are definitely the biggest weakness, our main boy Tanjiro is such a good natured, determined boy to the point where it’s just boring and incredibly unrealistic. “My whole family was killed by demons? Well I’ll just train hard and do my best to become a demon slayer!! My sister is now a demon with no apparent cure in sight and could potentially eat humans? Well I’ll just have to defeat literally the strongest demons in the world to heal her and end a conflict that lasted centuries all on my own, while carrying my waifu-bait sister on my back, yeah that’s not impractical or stupid or endangering to her at all, I mean every time he runs into demons or demon slayers they both obviously try to kill her, but it’s ok because she’s both strong enough to face demons and composed enough to not eat humans, because yeah she was brainwashed by my new grandpa to protect humans instead of killing them, awesome! I don’t know kid, don’t you sometimes want to just cry underneath the crushing weight of the misery you’re living in? Don’t you at least want to consider cowering away from this terrifying fight and just live peacefully with your zombie sister before you eventually realize that you have to fight? Don't you remember any of your dead family members outside of when you want to get a sudden unexplained power up in a fight? Don’t you face any problems when you always have to kill the same demons that you’re so empathetic towards now that your sister is one of them? No psychological or emotional scars at all? No? You’re just perfect in every way? OK.
Art 9/10
Sound 7/10
Plot 5/10
Characters 3/10
Enjoyment 6/10
Overall 6/10

This series was especially conflicting for me, it has probably the best animation we'll ever see, but on the other hand, the show is unbearable most of the times.

[Very Mild spoilers, considerably none]

I've had to drag myself every single time to finish an episode, and as much as I'd like myself to enjoy this show. It's just God awful in every other factor apart from animation.

First, starting with the good elements:

The Animation, done by UFOTable, is beyond God-tier. Every frame of this show is wallpaper worthy. The bold art style and the CGI fits in perfectly with my taste and is done by the ... most talented people in animation. The atmosphere and the music go wonderfully with the theme of the show. Before this, I'd consider with just those factors alone, that a series would be worth every minute.

But, and here it comes, this show is hot flaming garbage. I am somebody that enjoys mindless Shonen, even the acclaimed shitty/mediocre ones. Naruto, Dragonball, etc. Even if they're cliched to death, at least they bring something interesting to the table character/plot-wise. This show, on the other hand, adds absolutely nothing. It makes things worse.

This show is a step down from a shitty shonen linear story formula. Which is very hard to do. Awful comedy, cringe-inducing characters, and the worst pacing I've ever witnessed. It was honestly the hardest thing to watch. It's sad, and all in all just plain stupid. The show is dumbed down to a point where there's nothing left. Watch any episode and you'll realize 90% of it is filler. In a 25 minute episode, almost all of it is spent on unnecessary monologues, life stories, and flashbacks. The fights, which I have to agree, are the pinnacle of Animation as of now, last at the most for 2 minutes. Even, in these 2 minutes the characters most of the time ruin it with offhand "jokes" and monologues. Just how much BS can you tact on a 26 episode series? It's painfully obvious the show is nothing more than it's animation.

The characters in this show are the definition of annoying and uninspired. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke are the main characters. They're also the most annoying. Especially Zenitsu. His specialty is that he sleeps in the middle of his fights? sent off as a joke? Yes, a great idea. Even the side characters apart from a few are very linear and uninteresting. The demons hardly have any impact on the story. The character development is non-existent after the first 3 episodes.

Honestly, If I were to go on, It'd take me a few days to finish this. I'd also spoil a lot, so I am going to leave it here.

All in all, I feel like the community for the show has 2 sides. They either enjoy it or absolutely hate it for the writing. Like me. This show is very much overrated, but it's understandable why. I just wouldn't, in any state of mind give this show anything above 5/10. Would be an insult to every other show rated lower.

If you're considering watching this. Don't. Just go watch the fight scenes on youtube and read the summary of the story. The same thing either way. For this, this show is gold-plated dogshit.

Tl;dr
[Story] - 4/10 - Generic, almost no substance
[Pacing] - 1/10 - Just bad. Really, really bad
[Art] - 10/10 - Probably the best Animation on any show, ever.
[Sound] - 9/10 - Every atmospheric and fits in perfectly with the theme
[Characters] - 2/10 - Dreadful, uninspired, and annoying
[Enjoyment] - 3/10 - Had to drag myself to finish it.
[Overall] - 5/10 - The animation saved it from 2/10. this show is utter garbage in every other element.

- The story is average like your generall action/monster hunting anime with a theme about family bonding and etc. Nothing outstanding.

- The art style is fine. Except for episode 19's Epic fight scene.

-The sound is again fine.

-Characters. In my opinion, the main characters are boring. None of them stand out to me. Tanjiro is just another average protagonist that wants to protect everyone, and get his sister to turn back into a human. Inosuke is a hot-headed person that tries to be cool and all but can be genuine to people around him. Zenitsu is one of those annoying protagonists that happens to be ... super powerful. (Again, very mediocre). Finally, Nezuko is the main protagonist sister that happens to be very cute to grab the viewer's attention whenever she is on screen. AND She is a badass.

-My enjoyment before episode 19 was fine. I didn't like it or hate it. When Episode 19 came out, I thought I was starting to like the show. The episode had incredible music, art, fight scene and message behind it. However, after episode 19, the anime sucked (for me at least). From episode 20 to 26, all we got is a bunch of pillars and the main characters' training/recovering from episode 19 fights. It was so cheap. None of the pillars got significant screen time from those episodes. The anime even spent a whole episode on Tanjiro and Pillars talking/fighting (barely fighting) in front of Pillars's mansion! What a waste of money.

- My point is that this anime does not deserve the praise its been getting. If you like this anime, good for you. If you hate it or don't like it and you think this anime is overhyped, I agree with you.

Shounen is a tried and true genre that has grown through generations of stories building off the predecessors that inspired them. For the most part, audiences and creators alike know what works and what doesn't by now. There are story beats, character archetypes, good-guy power-ups and bad-guy boasts that we've come to expect - and it would be a mistake to think otherwise. Though these tropes are not inherently bad - they are merely another way for us to scratch our unending desire to endlessly categorize and file familiar things in media. It does not matter if the same trope is used a thousand times ... in a thousand different stories - what matters is that they have a purpose, and if that purpose resonates with both the characters and the audience.

Demon Slayer is not a story that takes a lot of risks. For a seasoned anime fan, Demon Slayer doesn't waste any time checking off every shounen trope in the book. Yet at every familiar turn, there's a light ahead that keeps you captive to the journey: A lingering mystery, a cliffhanger, the prelude to a thrilling battle. After coming down from those highs there are times your patience might wear thin, but then it pulls you back in again. This process can be frustrating, but despite the ups and downs that come with shounen series, the elements that Demon Slayer excels in make it easy to forgive its shortcomings. For someone new to anime, Demon Slayer would be a fortunate first entry into the world of shounen anime, with an easily digestable episode count. For anime veterans, you'll see echoes of characters and arcs from series past that you've loved and hated, willing and reluctant at the same time to take those familiar journeys again.

STORY (6/10)

+ Straightforward story with clear goals
+ Solid setting & timepieces
+ Compelling story arcs and worldbuilding with potential for larger stakes
~ Power system is very simplistic, lacks logical structure
- Tonally jarring and overbearing humor, jokes don't always land, some drag on too long
- Foreshadowing could be utilized better

The story of Demon Slayer is laid out simply. Our main character Tanjirou's family is slaughtered by demons - save for his sister Nezuko, who has been transformed into a demon, who thirst for the blood of humans. He vows to avenge his family and to restore Nezuko's humanity. And so his journey begins by training to become part of the Demon Slayer Corps, to find the demon responsible for slaying his family, and for discovering how to save his sister.

I would say the story of Demon Slayer is where the anime has its most glaring strengths and weaknesses. It's only speculation, but I believe Demon Slayer must be an ambitious learning experience for its creator, mangaka Koyoharu Gotouge, as this is their first published manga that has run for more than a single chapter. And when you look at it that way, it's easier to understand why Demon Slayer sometimes clumsily handles shounen pitfalls, while later handling the same scenarios better.

Ufotable's adaptation thus far has been absent of wasteful filler with brisk pacing, so this first season is packed generously with content. Because of this, I could talk about the story forever - but to keep it short I'll share my thoughts on some things it does well, and others it doesn't.

As far as strengths goes - Demon Slayer's world is full of compelling mysteries and conflict. It is the early 20th century in the Taisho period of Japan - while the advent of an industrialized Japan is on the horizon, the rural settings and traditional Japanese aesthetic is still dominant. And so the presence of demons plaguing their world blends perfectly with the almost mythical status of those who fight them, and the techniques and weapons they use. The story shines its brightest when the fights between humans and demons transcend beyond characters loudly announcing their next attack or technique - something that is largely trivial to the story - and instead give the audience a conflict deeper than blood and swords. While many demons that Tanjirou and his friends face end up being "monster of the week" fodder, we'll see a side of them that gives them humanity, and begins to blur the black and white line the story presents at the beginning. By the end of the first season, you really begin to question what larger meanings are stirring in the world of humans and demons, or even if they could possibly coexist. The best shounen are known for making you question what you believe to know as good and evil, and Demon Slayer begins to tap in to that, which I hope it will continue to build on in its coming seasons - and judging by the spectacular sales of the manga and the anime I have no doubt will come. Demon Slayer raises the stakes with each passing arc, and it's easy to see how a 2nd season could build on what the first establishes, as the true powers that be have not shown their hands yet.

While Demon Slayer is a fairly serious story, there are plenty of moments of humor, and it felt more miss than hit here. There is a lot of yelling and screaming used to deliver comedy (more on that later), with plenty of 'reaction faces' and chibi moments to boot. If I had to describe these moments in one word, it would be hyper. We're talking sugar-high, kids running around with permanent marker and no parental supervision hyper. It can clash with the tone of the episode sometimes, especially during battle scenes. Whether you enjoy this kind of humor depends on you, but how quickly you tire of it will probably depend on your age. Personally, I never laughed at any of these scenes, and many of them physically hurt me to watch as some drag on for far too long. But then there are moments when you're caught by surprise, and a snide offhand comment or quick visual gag will be thrown in, and make you laugh when you weren't expecting it. It was relieving to laugh out loud at Demon Slayer when it wanted you to, and I think the comedic timing by the animators at Ufotable helped a lot in delivering these moments. Humor can really help tie together a story with a lot of violence, tragedy and death, because you can't bum out your audience forever. The author certainly knows this, but are going overboard at times.

Yes, Demon Slayer is not without its moments of weakness - and while the story is ripe with potential and fascinating questions for the audience to ponder, it sometimes immediately smothers those opportunities. Easily the best example I can give is that at one point, a demon mentions his craving for a special kind of blood that only certain humans have. Immediately your mind starts to flood with possibilities - who has this cursed blood? Why do they have it? Why do demons want it? Well, worry not - because quite literally right after this blood is mentioned, Tanjirou's familiar appears out of absolutely nowhere to explain away everything about it, instantly dissolving the tension and creating a pointless distraction for an awkwardly placed bit of trivia. These are rookie story mistakes that hearken back to early days of shounen where authors couldn't hold back anything longer than 5 seconds, or assumed audiences wouldn't remember something being foreshadowed for longer than 5 seconds. It can do a story a lot of good to withhold information from the characters and the audience until a time when it needs to be known.

And whether this is a negative or neutral point to you, it's important to mention this: Demon Slayer does not present its audience a power system or set of rules for how powers really work beyond what a character needs to do to make them work - which usually involves some kind of special breathing. As far as you should be concerned, the techniques and powers characters can utilize are more or less elemental magic. If you're looking for Hunter X Hunter levels of structure within shounen battling here, you will not find it. If that bothers you, you may have a very hard time watching Demon Slayer. As to whether the story will address these things later on in serious depth (as Hunter X Hunter did not introduce its power system rules by this point in the series either) I cannot comment. I am judging this series as a 26-episode anime, and what is contained within it.

Overall, Demon Slayer is solid in concept while clumsy, but formidable in execution. While it rushes out the gate and stumbles a bit, I feel the author earnestly learning how to tell a better story along the way, and it's rewarded by sticking the landing after a couple worrying stumbles on the way there. Hopefully in future entries, the weak elements of Demon Slayer's writing will be ironed out. There's more good here than bad, but there's plenty of room for improvement. While Demon Slayer has lots of potential, it will be tough to live up to it, but it's hard not to cheer on the author when you're riding the high of a fantastic arc with a satisfying payoff only to realize the first season is winding down for an ending.

CHARACTERS (7/10)

+ Bond between main characters is strong
+ Demon Slayer corps supporting cast are eccentric and compelling, leave you wanting more
+ Cast helps the story blur the line between good and evil
~ MC can feel too powerful at times
~ Demons can feel like "monster of the week" throwaway characters
- Zenitsu's personality is overbearing to the point of being obnoxious

There are a lot of characters in Demon Slayer, too many to go over here. Because of that, I will keep it to a few groups of people, and my thoughts on each.

TANJIROU & NEZUKO - a very strong sibling relationship, but not creepy or sexualized in any way. Tanjirou is honorable to a fault, as one would expect of a young, capable shounen hero. He is also incredibly powerful, sometimes to the point where he may as well be impervious to injury. Despite this, he does have his limits, and is not always victorious in battle. In fact, he fails a lot, though he often surprises his enemies or sparring partners with his natural talent. Overpowered? Probably, but within reason - as ridiculous as that sounds.

Nezuko is adorable, but sometimes felt more like a pet companion rather than a real character. It doesn't help that she can't really speak, but at times it's obnoxiously cute. Speaking of obnoxious...

ZENITSU & INOSUKE - Tanjirou's eventual travelling companions. Inosuke is a stubborn, short-tempered fighter overflowing with pride. Zenitsu is, well.. mostly a whiny, blubbering coward who is almost constantly screaming.

Zenitsu has his moments. Brief moments. Moments of pause, introspection and gorgeous fight scenes. And maybe this is one of those characters that is better seen through the scope of a manga, because then you wouldn't be able to *hear* him. I began to dread episodes with Zenitsu in the preview because of how obnoxious he is. If you're supposed to like this character and root for him, it's a hard sell. While he does get a sympathetic angle and a bit of backstory to explain why he is the way that he is, he's also a bit of a degenerate pervert that is played off for cheap laughs, and you always have that in the back of your mind. Overall, I don't have a very positive impression of Zenitsu. He's fairly selfish and genuinely unlikeable. If he "gets better" as the saying goes, it didn't happen much here. Again, he does have maybe 5 collective minutes worth of screentime where you can come to an understanding with his repulsive personality, but he's so overly exaggerated that you just want to see him grow up as fast as possible - and we know that's not happening.

Inosuke is also very loud, but in a more tolerable way. He is the type that refuses to run from a fight, and must always prove himself. He clashes with Tanjirou's personality to make for a great rival, and when he has vulnerable moments you can really feel how hard it is for him to express his feelings as someone who spent most of his life disconnected from society. As far as the travelling shounen trio goes, his chemistry is far more compatible than Zenitsu. You just know they are going to become great friends and want to see that relationship develop.

THE DEMON CORPS - There are so many characters within the demon corps that you will meet. They are all an eccentric bunch, but the one that struck a chord with audiences the most was almost certainly a hunter named Shinobu. Soft-spoken and elegant, yet terrifyingly powerful and overflowing with conviction, Shinobu meets Tanjirou and his company about halfway through the series. As far as I am concerned, she is a supporting cast member that has such a great story you wish she was a main character - and a character that leaves you wanting more is always a good thing. For the most part, many of the demon corps characters you will meet don't get as much attention as she does, but it is implied that they'll have much more screen time in the future. If any of them are half as captivating as Shinobu, good things are in store for Demon Slayer fans.

THE DEMONS - Again, a large cast, but mostly throwaways. Demons are introduced and then promptly killed in their respective episodes or mini-arcs for the most part until the second half of the series. Some get little backstories, but they are fleeting epilogues when someone you just met is about to die. But they are there to serve part of a larger narrative - that demons are often a product of their tragic past. The more it happens, the more you start to feel that there may be some grand misunderstanding of demonkind, that their circumstances in another life were taken advantage of by a greater evil. And in fact it is part of the implication based on the limited information the series gives us about the story's overarching villain, who leaves the limelight as mysteriously as he appears. Again, most demons come and go, but as part of a bigger story and concept of the Demon Slayer universe, there is a lot of potential and it's beginning to bare fruit already.

ART (10/10)

+ Excellent animation
+ Consistent quality
+ Solid direction that matches the source material
+ Elevates its source material

This may actually be the best thing about Demon Slayer. And I don't mean that in a negative way, but the staff at Ufotable did such an insanely good job elevating the source material for animation that its significance is hard to overstate. From front to back, Demon Slayer is consistently well animated, masterfully directed and is visually coherent and compelling. I would recommend reading the Sakugabooru blog "DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA – THE POWER OF UFOTABLE’S HARMONY" (ep 19 spoilers) if you'd like to know more about the inner workings of Ufotable and the massive amount of industry experience and skill that came together to make Demon Slayer happen. Almost all of the fights in Demon Slayer are breathtaking spectacles that raise the stakes through the sheer power of what magic only 2D animation can bring. Demon Slayer is full of cuts that demonstrate what truly makes anime special and a worldwide phenomenon. What's happening on the screen is sometimes more spectacular than what is actually taking place in the story, but what matters is that not only can you feel the passion of those working on the series and that they truly care about making it the best they can be, but that Ufotable gives their staff a schedule that allows them to create a series like this and give it the attention they felt it deserved.

I could nitpick some 3D/2D hybrid scenes and moments of awkward pacing, but when it comes to TV animation, to ask for more than what was delivered here is silly. Demon Slayer is an anime series any studio would be more than proud to have in their portfolio, and meets a standard of excellence rarely seen in a world of overworked and underpaid animators.


SOUND (9/10)

+ Music is tonally appropriate
+ Sound design elevates the scenes

The music of Demon Slayer is very appropriate for the time period and helps immerse you into the world. There's a few standout themes, but as far as earbugs go Demon Slayer is mostly inoffensive, for better or worse. The sound design and effects also bring more energy to fights and the atmosphere. Overall though, there is nothing here that detracts from the production of the series. The music always plays to the tone of the scene, and the sound is always on point.


ENJOYMENT (6/10)

+ Made with intent to be as good as they could make it
~ Mixed feelings in the first half
~ Many memorable "good" and "bad" moments, but good outweighs the bad
~ May be harder to watch for long-time anime fans used to shounen

My mind races trying to piece together all my thoughts about Demon Slayer, and subsequently breaks trying to condense it into a "yes" or "no" to the question "did you enjoy Demon Slayer?" There were times I was excitedly speechless, times I wanted to turn it off in annoyance, and everything in-between. However, The times where I had negative reactions began to wane as the series went on, and I found myself - to my own disbelief - anxiously waiting for the next episode more and more. And now? I think I "get it" - I get what Ufotable staff see in Demon Slayer, and why they put every ounce of effort into making the anime as fantastic as they could have. I get why the fans of the manga assure me that my qualms with this and that will be resolved. I get that the mangaka is learning how to write a story with this many layers and this many characters, and I see that growth throughout the series. As cynical and jaded as I can be, and as much as I may have even subconciously wanted to say that I didn't enjoy Demon Slayer... I can't say I didn't.


OVERALL (6/10)
All that being said, I have to give Demon Slayer a final score with a nice round number. I'm not going to lie, it took me a long time to come around to Demon Slayer, but at the end of the day, I kept watching it - and I'm glad that I did. But I still have to keep all my feelings in mind about it through the weeks. There were times I wanted to drop it, times I didn't believe I was going to like it, but rather reluctantly sit through it. I'm relieved to say that in the end, despite my gripes, that I want to see more and eagerly await a second season. My entire thought process on Demon Slayer is usually "well, bad thing, but also good thing", and I like the good things more than i dislike the bad things. At the risk of continuing to repeat myself, i'll just give a few other scores to sum up my review.

FIRST HALF: 5/10
SECOND HALF: 8/10
ZENITSU: 3/10 - this is a failing grade, see me after class
SHINOBU: 10/10 - tfw she will never ask to see me after class
OVERALL: 6/10
EXPECTATIONS: HOPEFUL/10

Battle shounen, a genre designed to attract a large audience with the least amount of effort, it doesn't require any research or studying, only basic knowledge of what people would like, and this pretty much sums up what Kimetsu no Yaiba is all about, since it's one of the most basic shounen anime I've ever seen.

-The story: it's nothing new, a young boy named Tanjirou has his family massacred by a demon and then trains to become a demon slayer.
The story could've been interesting but it suffers from laziness, the writer tries to avoid any complicated conflicts that would require effort to solve.
For example, the ... most interesting part about the story was how Tanjirou had to protect and tame his sister Nezuko who turned into a demon...
[Spoiler]
She gets brainwashed early on by Tanjirou's mentor to be friendly with humans (if he could do that, then why not brainwash more demons?), and she turns out to be strong enough to protect herself and others and even fight other demons (even though she doesn't eat humans, which was established to be the way demons get stronger).
[/Spoiler]
The writing is also too lazy, the characters narrate their own stories, nothing is shown in an interesting way, the writer spoon-feeds you everything.
Even simple moments such as Tanjirou talking to a girl in early episodes, he literally narrates their conversation instead of showing it to us.

-The characters: nothing about them stands out, Tanjirou is a copy/paste from Midoriya Izuku (My Hero Academia), he's too nice and perfect.
Nezuko is not a proper character since she acts like an animal, she nods and listens to Tanjirou's instructions which means she understands human language, but she can't speak for some reason (she used to speak normally as a human, and all demons so far can speak except for her, so it doesn't make sense, but I guess the writer thinks it's cute).
Urokodaki, Tanjirou's mentor, a strict oldman that becomes a father figure for Tanjirou, he's an interesting character but we don't know much about him.
Zenitsu, it's early to judge him, but so far he's one of the most annoying comic relief characters ever.

-The world building: the lack of it is confusing, at first it gives you the impression that demons' existance is not commonly known among people, but later on you notice that they are everywhere.
Maybe it's early to tell if there's going to be anything interesting about the world, but so far it's too basic, it's Japan in the 20th century (not sure which decade) and it has demons, that's basically it.

-The action: this is the best part about the show, I give credit to studio ufotable, it's known for having high quality animations, also the writer came up with creative superpowers that made some cool fights.
The only problem is that due to the fast pacing most fights have no build up and end very quickly which makes them forgettable, the only exception was a fight in the early episodes when Tanjirou was trying to learn how to use his superpower.

-The pacing: it feels like modern shounen anime are trying to avoid the slow pacing that Naruto and One Piece are infamous for, but the problem is that they end up too fast paced that you have no time to care about anything.
Tanjirou met a demon slayer and then started training to become one, right after the death of his family, he didn't have time to grieve which took away the shock and sadness of his loss.
And there are many other examples of this problem but I guess you get the point.

Overall this show is worth watching if you want to see cool action (at least it doesn't try to be more than that) but don't expect much from it.

A typical but watchable shonen mostly carried by some great animation and music. Nothing particularly new or creative about this world, this story, these characters. Most of the characters are under-established, quite generic and aren't really that interesting beyond their design, Backstories whenever featured feel sluggish and forgettable. I wasn't able to connect with a lot of the emotion in this anime, mainly because of how blunt it can be in it's execution, with extremely theatrical and unnatural dialogue. The humorous scenes are also a hit or miss but it did have it's moments and offered some good laughs along the way. One thing I ... really liked though were the villains, not as characters but I felt most of them had very interesting and especially creative powers, which worked very well with some great animation and choreography for it's action sequences. Despite all its flaws however, it still does manage to be just about entertaining enough for me to allot twenty minutes of my time every week for it, and wouldn't mind it getting renewed for another season, in fact I think it has potential, even if it unlikely will, to break it's generic shell. Also a shout out to the OP and ED, great songs complimented by great visuals.

6/10

An extremely mediocre story with good animations. That would be a fair description of Kimetsu no Yaiba. This anime blew up for the amazing artwork it has and a good soundtrack to go with it. But the story and the characters are pretty poor if I'm completely honest.

Story (4/10): A very basic story about a man called Tanjiro who wants to make his little sister human again after she became a demon in ep 1. The story from that point onwards was pretty predictable and flat. Some minor fights that didn't add anything in particular to the story and some comedic moments that were ... mediocre at best.

Art (10/10): Ufotable did an outstanding job in animating and adapting the manga based story. The fights are beautiful and is the main reason why this anime blew up out of proportions. The dark background with strong colors to contrast, the fights are truly something you don't see in other animes.

Sound (8/10): A very good soundtrack that gives the audience a lot of emotions. Especially during fights, the OST makes it so much better and is above average compared to a lot of other anime.

Character (5/10): The main character Tanjiro is probably one of the most boring characters that you will see during the course of the show. His two support characters though are funny and I think everyone agrees that Zenitsu is the best character in the show. He is well written and funny, with an annoying voice. Inosuke is a very clumsy and intense, which makes some good scenes with him as well. But for Tanjiro, he is nothing special. Just the typical shounen anime protagonist that cares for his friends and family. There is not much depth to his motives and I think that even the smallest of villains are way more interesting than Tanjiro. I tried to give him time, but his character just didn't impress me at all.

Enjoyment (6/10): With a predictable storyline and a boring protagonist, I can not, unfortunately, give this a higher rating. I did enjoy the show, mostly because of the amazing animation by ufotable, however as I said, there was not much to it.

Overall (6/10): Give it a try, it is only 26 episodes as of now and is worth a watch. But dont go into it with too high expectations as many of us did.