Kimetsu no Yaiba

The anime was only good from episode 1-10 with the dark and serious mood with a little touch of thriller (which i loved)... until the following episodes got f****d up. The episodes after that began to be annoying and dragging.

Pros
1. It has good a combination of animation and use of cgi.
2. The art gives "fresh" look in the eyes of viewers.
3. Nezuko's character is cute and badass, well done.

Cons
1. It has 2 VERY ANNOYING characters: Zenitsu (noisy, crybaby, have creepy way of liking girls) and Inosuke (crazy, typical hot tempered boy)
2. This anime doesn't know its real target audience because the fight scenes are for ... matured, but the humor is for 12-year olds. Which makes it very unbearable to watch and inconsistent. (No offense)

Story is 6
Art is 10
Sound is 7
Character is 6
Enjoyment is 6
Overall is 7

PS. I based my score due to how the anime delivered the first 17 episodes. It was unbiased and I didn't put the consideration of what my tastes or preferences are. I hope they improve the later episodes though.

Demon Slayer is a prime example of a bad manga, being turned into a better anime.

As someone who enjoys shounen's, one that I haven't been able to get behind is Kimetsu no Yaiba. Here's why (without spoilers).

Story (5): Kimetsu no Yaiba follows the basic shounen formula that we've all seen before, the whole "MC has an at the time unreasonable goal, so they work up to this goal, through life or death situations" oh, and sprinkle in some plot armor as well. While the story of Kimetsu no Yaiba is easy to follow, it isn't the most original, however it is enjoyable on a ... first-time viewing. I'd say that that is the main theme with this show, it's not a bad experience, it's just one of those ones where you watch it again, and you wonder what you actually liked about it.

Art (10): The art of this anime is its saving grace, it's just, wow. The art while simplistic, brings this whole anime to another level, making every scene that much enjoyable to watch.

Sound (8): the anime has no issues with sound, and the VA's are pretty good.

Character (5): The characters of Demon Slayer aren't the worst I've ever seen. They just don't seem to stand out to me.

Enjoyment (7): It is overall an enjoyable experience, I understand why people like the show, it's just plain and basic when you actually take a moment to digest the plot.

Overall: In the end, I would say that it's up to you if you want to watch this show, it really depends on the person. I would just be prepared for another basic shounen though. But whatever floats your boat.

The following review contains spoilers...
Kimetsu no Yaiba was probably the most hyped anime of 2019 and people loved it to the extent that they were able to call it THE ANIME OF THE DECADE.After listening to all the good things about the anime I decided to give it a shot and tbh I expected alot from the anime after listening to all the praise it gets but after watching it all I felt was disappointment...Maybe the anime was not for me but even if it isnt there are some issues with the anime...

Story:
The story is very generic and revolves around a boy named Tanjiro ... whose family gets brutally murdered by demons and her sister somehow gets turned into a demon so Tanjiro start his journey to become a demon slayer to take in order to avenge his family and also find a way to turn his sister back into a human.There were many things that were questionable regarding the plot and there were some events that were completely illogical like Tanjiro not fighting Muzan even though he was close to him and after the encounter and the fight with Temari and Arrow demon he just continues on his path instead of finding Muzan.I know its too early for them to fight but why did the writer make them cross paths?For Tanjiro to not fight Muzan was completely illogical for his personality.
The anime also skips the entire training arc and only shows glimpses of Tanjiro climbing down a mountain and doesnt even show the events that took place when Tanjiro tried to learn breathing techniques.
Apart from that Orokudaki,the man who trains Tanjiro points out that he has hypnotized Nezuko to think of demons as enemies and humans as friends...Why did he not do this with other demons?
Moreover why is the demon slayer core not recognized by the government?I mean no one in the world would be safe until each village has at least one demon slayer responsible for its protection.
The show also introduces main characters very late and this gives rise to the question that why couldnt they form an alliance to fight demons instead of going solo.Wouldnt it have been better that way?
And in ep 19 how does Tanjiro out of nowhere changes breathing styles and from water breathing instantly shifts to fire breathing?
The comedy of the show is also very forced and ruins serious moments and is very annoying at times.
These are just some of the questions that are left unanswered by the anime and the transaction from one arc to the other was terrible as it was just Tanjiro's crow pointing out a demon.Tanjioro then follows the directions and kills the demon...thats the summary of the entire show...

Animation:
As much as I am not a big fan of the story I really like the animation quality.The animation when Tanjiro uses breathing forms is a feast to the eye.I think Ufotable did a marvelous job with the animation of the show and I think that was the main reason for the show to get alot of hype and high ratings.I really have no issue with Ufotable as they brilliantly animated a mediocre story and made the show look beautiful.But just imagine the show without Ufotable.It would be lifeless and because of the mediocre story and annoying characters people wont like it at all.

Characters:
The main issue I had while watching the anime was being annoyed by the immensely annoying cast of the show.
Tanjiro:
I have no issue with the mc but he is nothing special and he does not develop much throughout the show.He pretty much remains the same guy the 26 episodes of the anime.He is a typical nice guy and his personality isnt complex so he is an average mc imo.He is nothing special but he is better than most of the characters of the show.
Nezuko:
Nezuko is cute and she remains quiet throughout the show wso there isnt much to say about her.She is a cutie and isnt annoying so she was one of the bearable characters of the show.
Zenitsu:
The most annoying character was Zenitsu.He had the post pathetic back story and cried like a baby throughout the entire show and he becoming a badass after falling asleep was a completely illogical phenomenon.The show would have been way better without him imo.
Inosuke:
Inosuke is another annoying character and he is always acting abnormal.All we know about his back story is that his mother left him in a forest and how he grew up is a mystery.
Apart from these all the other characters were either mediocre or typical and even the villain Muzan was stupid and killed many characters for no particular reason.The only character I liked was Rui an tbh I thought the demons were better characters than the main cast.

I wont say that the show is bad as some of you might love it for its animation and fight scenes but when it comes to writing this show is mediocre.It was just not for me because I am a person who is more interested in well written,complex anime with well written and well developed character.Personally I wasnt able to enjoy the anime but that does not mean that its bad.It justt depends on what type of viewer you are.
Story: 6.5/10
Characters: 4/10
Animation: 10/10
Enjoyment: 7/10

Overall: 6.5/10

Kimetsu no Yaiba is a difficult anime to review, skipping between highs and lows with such rapidity it's really hard to decide what the true average is. For each incredibly fluidly animated fight and drop-dead gorgeous special move, there's half an hour of irredeemable trash 'humor' and one-dimensional characters forced in your face. Some of the plot hooks sink deep, others go nowhere. Entire episodes are completely wasted time that do nothing to push the plot forward, while others are seat of your pants exciting from start to finish.

In the end, it's a very mediocre shonen with even less depth than most, but far prettier ... and better animated than most due to Ufotable's obvious influence - obviously amateur writing that fails to keep the initial sense of mystery and beauty intact. The main character initially seems like a departure from tired shonen tropes, but soon reveals himself as the most one-dimensional and unchanging Gary Stu of them all, pulling superpowers out of his ass with no explanation exactly when it's most convenient.

Nezuko starts off interesting - and then is completely forgotten about for most of the anime, offscreen for multiple episodes at a time, usually with minimal or no explanation, and then trotted back in when we need a cute scene or random ass-saving for Tanjiro. Probably the biggest instance of blatantly wasted potential in the anime and the incredibly poor writing sidelining her for long stretches of time so Tanjiro can be the star.

The two secondary characters introduced a fair chunk through are absolute irredeemable trash on a level I'm honestly surprised they even exist - the blonde one's only purpose is to be a gigantic pussy 24/7 while screaming loudly enough to give a headache (but it's ok, sometimes he hits on women as his only character depth) and the other bull-headed dude's only depth is running around trying to kick people's asses and yelling, which to be fair is less annoying than screaming, but only marginally. Neither of them develop in any meaningful way throughout the anime and come off as incredibly shallow and annoying caricatures, and none of the 'humor' involving them is the least bit funny.

In the end, KnY is just another mediocre shonen, with its main saving grace being the phenomenal presentation - it LOOKS gorgeous, and (no spoilers!) a few fights are an absolute joy to watch, but look past the gorgeous visuals and the show as a whole is a rotting corpse uglier than any of the titular demons that need slaying.

I absolutely hate this anime. It is the most overhyped thing I’ve ever seen. When I watched it, it was actually somewhat enjoyable since it’s so basic, but seeing everyone rave over it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread has soured any enjoyment I have for it because I am constantly faced with the fact that people ignore some masterpieces for average shows like this.
Im all for letting people do whatever they want and being happy but we don’t need more people arguing at me and trying to cancel me online because I don’t like Demon Slayer. The fans are rabid.
The ... characters are all tropes. The mc is nice and polite and hardworking. Zenitsu is the timid incompetent one with a hidden power. Inosuke is the loud angry one. Literally where else have we seen this before? Everywhere. They’re not specifically BAD, just boring. The other ones like the pillars weren’t really introduced much, but they are ugly. Mitsuri’s design drives me insane and people can’t take my opinion when I tell them I hate it.
Some spoilers for the anime (I think episode 19 or so): The random savior abilities introduced with no prior mention is so terrible. Tanjiro is one second away from death but oh thank god he suddenly remembered a special power from his dead dad that has never been mentioned before until this point. It would’ve been more acceptable if he had like mentioned it at all or foreshadowed it but it really looks like it was just brought in to save him from death.
And by the way, the characters never develop. At the end of the series we see Inosuke feeling bad that he lost and realizing he’s not the best…. For a few episodes until he completely reverts back to how he was before. It would’ve been amazing for him to reflect on it and respect his fellow ‘slayers a little more because of it, but no, he’s just silly little Inosuke again.
And you fans need to stop telling me to read the manga. I won’t waste my time. The only thing that saves this is the animation so why would I read something that has no strong point. If it’s “sad” I don’t care, how could I feel sad over poorly done characters. If it “gets better” I don’t care, it shouldn’t take 25 episodes to get good at all no matter how much it progresses.
Not to be that person but Attack on Titan is a good example. The first season is nothing like the rest of the show and it’s basic in comparison, but it’s still interesting. It’s exciting and unique. Demon slayer’s first season may just be a prologue but it needs to be an interesting one to keep people actually going back for the next seasons.
If you catch me watching demon slayer’s sequels it will ONLY be so that I can slander them with actual basis and not be uninformed with my hatred.
TLDR: don’t worship mediocre shows.

A generic battle Shounen anime reskin. If you're into such things go ahead and watch it, but don't make the mistake of hoping for a well thought out story or characters with any depth.

The story in itself is simplistic and it could come out as a positive but unfortunately it doesn't. The script for each episode in its core is the same. Tanjiro gets a mission from a crow to eliminate a demon in a city, he goes there and kills them. There should really be something in between all of that but to call it something or to even mention it would be too ... much praise, alas I will.

There is a pathetic attempt to try to make you sympathize with the demons being slain, and honestly, if you do sympathize with the demons, great... I guess. If you don't, no worries you're perfectly sane and not easily taken advantage of.

To give some credit, Tanjiro's training was interesting in itself and had more depth than any other moment in the series.

The art and music in this series is phenomenal and all credit goes to Ufotable and their amazing staff, hoping their next project delivers the same quality as they have in the past.

Characters get a five out of ten and that's what they feel like most of the time, characters with questionable design (particularly the pillars) and with one dimensional personalities. The main trios humour scenes are basically the same joke over and over again, Zenitsu being a borderline perv, Tanjirou shunning him and boar head guy being clueless, much like the fans of this show.

All that aside I'm rating the anime a five out of then thanks to its animation and... eh. Thanks to its animation.

PS. If someone hypes up episode 19 to you, ill give you a spoiler free summary of the episode, so you don't get dissapointed. It's the same as the other episodes, with higher animation quality, and well inserted music and a classic shounen power escalation.

This anime is bad (slight spoilers but wont affect ur enjoyment at all)

like.. really bad. If you have any interest in compelling characters or story stay far away from this one, however if you're into jaw dropping animation and gorgeous line work and fantastic fight scenes with wonderful choreography this is the perfect anime to watch.

The main character is a bland and boring slate the writers choose to do nothing with and Nezuko is cute but just as bland. It's a running theme that each and every character is more annoying and unbearable than the last and i found it not just boring but ... maddening to get through some of the episodes with Zenitsu. Innosuke is slightly better with probably the best characterization in the show (which isn't saying a lot) being a braggadocious idiot who is a secret sweetheart. The show struggles a lot with its characters and is easily the weakest point.

The story however is just boring, we're beating demons up because they are bad and are killing humans. there's no plot twists with this, it's literally just that, which is completely fine for an anime like this. There's some interesting parts where Nezuko is a demon and doesnt kill humans but it wasn't explored at all either.

The best part of this show is the animation which is actually really lovely. If nothing else, the anime has stunning fight scenes which will captivate anyone who appreciates it. It's just a shame it was wasted on an anime that doesn't know how to write a character let alone a compelling one.

History-4/10
There is nothing new here. Protagonist who had his whole family murdered, needs to get from A to B to defeat and save someone, and so follows that whole script ready for the hero's journey. What compromised the note is the fact that there are precedents (other animes) that take all the elements that Kimetsu no Yaiba proposes, and work in a much better and cohesive way than he himself. The construction of universe and society is very weak, containing a limited collection of information about the limited past and culture of the Demon Slayer universe.

Art-10/10
After Ufotable got sick of animating the inexpressive Fate series, ... she decided to work with the adaptation of the Demon Slayer manga. Ufotable is known for being, today, one of the best Japanese animation studios, whose work is, most of the time, impeccable, resulting in a visually fluid, beautiful and clear animation. Along with this, the studio used Nihonga (Japanese art), which reminds me of woodcuts, to increase the fight scenes and elements (fire, water, thunder, etc.), which did not damage the animation at all and added originality to the art of Demon Slayer. In addition, it also contributes narratively as it changes to adapt to the most comical, neutral and serious scenes.

Sound / Soundtrack-7
Demon Slayer is an audiovisual work. The audio alone would be ruined by these horrible dialogues, but luckily it was saved by sound engineering and the studio that had the technical job of making a soundtrack, not excellent, but good enough to fuse the viewer's mind with the setting and to the fight scenes. As with the artistic issue, the soundtrack draws on ancient Japanese styles and authenticates Kimetsu no Yaiba's sound identity. From what I read, this work also had a little finger from Yuki Kajiura, who has saved a lot of bad animes (like Sword Art Online and Fate / Zero) just composing their soundtrack.

Characters-3
Demon Slayer is an anime that uses several archetypes to create its characters. It is as if the author had gone to a shelf and picked up the archetype that pleased her the most, and gave them a name, for example: the archetype of the good boy and the vigilante, this one will be called Tanjirou, and the one there, the archetype of the dumb will be called Zenitsu, and that's how she created the characters. This only demonstrates the laziness in creating something original. All the characters are poorly developed, the comic reliefs that enter a certain moment in history take the heavy atmosphere out of the anime alone, only serve to make noise and slow down the rhythm of the anime. The villain, who is such an important element, doesn't frighten anyone, has generic motivations, and it only gets worse when you continue the story reading the manga, but here I am specifically evaluating the anime. The protagonist is a joke and sickening to watch. Kimetsu no Yaiba has weak, poorly developed characters, and you will often be caught hoping that the demons will soon kill the quartet of protagonists for being too boring.

Conclusion
Demon Slayer is a mediocre anime, ruined by the script and saved by the technical qualities of the direction.

Final Grade (Arithmetic Average)-6

Kimetsu no Yaiba is the perfect example of "JUDGING PEOPLE BY APPEARANCE".It also fits in the example of a foolish act of exchanging gold for bronze.
When the anime was released in 2019 , no one even noticed it despite having such an outstanding animation. Thanks to a very toxic place called TWITTER which hyped it's episode 19.

Story:3
Now let us talk about the story, this could have been a pretty decent storyline, but looks like author has made a huge blunder in story presentation by revealing the main antagonist in very few episodes.You have seen many shows, where the antagonists make their appearance in the ... climax of arc or during final few episodes. I appreciate author for trying something new but in SHOUNEN stories, that won't work.

Art:10
AMAZING, SUUUPER , GOLD and the credit and money shall only go to UFOTABLE.

Sound:9
Again, super,amazing. It is one of those animes which benefited from a good opening songs like NORAGAMI ,TOKYO GHOUL. The director of episodes deserves a major credit for choosing such epic OSTs.

Character:4
Poor,super disgraceful. A crybaby protagonist , a loud mouth simp who gets serious sometimes and a good boar. At first trying to show that MC has trained a lot but still failed,tries harder and then give him a super power because of few tears he shed for his sister. No proper power division.Concept of HASHIRA is fine , we see that in every shounens. Any way talking about the form of superpowers, they are just for the sake of visuals. I understand that author wanted some sort of HAMON thing , breathe and get power but in this show it is so absurd.But it definitely helped for visuals so credit for that.

Enjoyment:6
Only during fight scenes, that's it. Though there are some sad scenes but don’t hit you much.Though you remain stunned by the visuals, there are other factors that lack here.You are not watching a superhero movie from MARVEL as a child that you will only love visuals and be happy. The demon backstories are like- I was a human,sad, unhappy and now I am a demon.I think it lacks a bit depth.If the author could have fixed this, demons could have been amazing, but they are just henchmen and they do not need back stories.But sadly, the anime wants you to take these backstories as an important part of storyline, gives quite good screen time to grab your attention but you know , I just don’t feel that.

Overall:5
There was a saying "Only those who knows, has seen the BEST can judge.That’s why you are evaluated by a professor in schools, universities.Not by a student.That’s why you are judged by a coach, not your teammates.
.Same goes to this anime.
As for one who have just started watching animes like Naruto, MHA find it super good.Many webs might love it for visuals, but as for me , who watches Japanese anime for powerful storytellings it is disappointing
As seen many good shounen animes, old generation animes,I don’t find this anime intriguing(actually I find concept of MAL useless because it brainwashes people.You find a show good, find bad comments about it, now you don’t feel the same.You feel a show is bad , find good comments about it , you start thinking it was a good show despite you really not feeling that.So it is completely your opinion about any shows, I just wanted some attention so I wrote my feelings about this show, but this is completely your choice whether to like a show or dislike it.Actually reviews in Mal shall be stopped right? It completely changes your opinion regarding a show, and that’s bad.)
Just getting amazed at some animations and neglecting how badly the story had been presented.I don't mind it being a generic shounen. Judge an anime by it's story, we just need smooth animations, that's it.
Overall : (animation-author's way of presenting story)= could have been GOOD SHOW

Demon Slayer é um anime extremamente interessante, não é sem razão que grande parte da comunidade ama esse anime, todavia, há alguns pontos de crítica que podem se fazer em relação a este anime.
Em primeiro lugar, quando vou assistir animes tipo Kimetsu não costumo ir esperando nada em termos de conteúdo, a minha análise sempre se dá por conta do quanto o anime em si é divertido de se assistir, sendo assim, nesse ponto o anime consegue acertar muito bem, as cenas de ação são em sua maioria impecáveis, animações de extrema qualidade acabam trabalhando ao favor do anime nesse quesito, transformando cenas de ... luta em incríveis momentos que prendem total atenção de quem está assistindo.
Por outro lado, nem tudo no anime são pontos positivos, apesar de todos os elogios feitos as cenas de luta no anime isso também acaba promovendo uma das minhas decepções com esse anime. Existe um claro desbalanceamento de cenas de ação para cenas mais pessoais entre os personagens, isso faz a história fluir de maneira extremamente arrastada. As únicas partes que eu sinto que o anime é realmente interessante de se assistir são durante as lutas, parece que toda a história foi deixada de lado e isso faz o anime no geral fluir de maneira bem desagradável. Isso pesa muito para o desempenho do anime no geral, devido a essa discrepância de trabalho investido pra cenas diferentes, sinto que não consigo sentir nenhuma sensação de empatia por nenhum dos personagens, e isso, na minha opinião, acaba estranhando a minha experiencia com o anime.

Demon Slayer (2019), i was right from what i am expecting from the series, all i've seen is praise and adoration towards this series, and so i gave it a watch, and i'm rather mixed, i hate to say this show is overhyped, but it came out to me unfortunately that way, this is my review for the series:

Positives:
- I Love Tanjiro as a protagonist, he really stood out for that kind of protagonist in any other anime that i have watched, he is that overused righteous kind of character that is pretty much all of anime protagonists acts like him, but Tanjiro gave it ... a different light, he has personality and he is cherishable and compelling, and he is one of the sole reason i kept on watching the series as for him being a great protagonist.

- The Animation is one of the best that i have ever seen in any other anime that i have ever watched, the Action is awesome it is fluid and fast phase, with High Definition its like i'm watching an Art Piece move, also the Art Style is unique, their good to look at, pretty great character deisgn per se, the 3D blends in well and the aesthetic and the Background is really well done, i like the setting of the late 1800s japan too as it cements itself as one of the those shows who sets itself in a time period where it is not that used anymore.

- The Fights is Creative and Clever.

- the Soundtrack is pretty good, rather, the soundtrack is a little bit too grand and prestige for me, but it serves its purpose to the show, The Opening not gonna lie even tho it is recommended to death is a banger, i love the opening theme and the ending theme too.

- Some Characters are pretty well written like the side villains, they have a pretty good backstory espcially Rui (Rui so far is the best written character in the show), and some characters that i loved is Inosuke espcially and the "Pillar Men" and i love that some minor characters has character too, like those that gonna die has a humanity in them too.

- some of the Character Interactions is pretty well done and some of the gags really did made me chuckle a bit.

The Cons:

- The Story is a bit Average at best, its pretty cliched it definetly slates itself on the generic shonen setting, the story is not that interesting, it didn't show anything new, the world building is not that great, the concept of Demons is not that much new, and some of the plot for instance is just too fast to bear, epscially in the early episodes, little known information has been given to the characters before they move the story, and some came just out of nowhere, and some of the action is taking too long, all in all the Story is not that Great, nothing new nothing less.

- The Lack of Emotion and Drama, in the first episode i was hooked for its drama and emotion that evoked through that episode, but that drama suddenly faded in the 2nd episode, some scenes could've done better with serious moments but it gets overshadowed by its comedy and over the top expressions, though they are some great dramatic moments in the show, but it didn't get that much and not that well executed making it feel unearned.

- The Comedy and Gags is not that Earned and Forced, my biggest gripes to this show is the Forced Comedy and Gags that runs through the show, espcially that Chummy Interaction of the characters, sometimes it came out as Abnoxious to watch, making a little bit annoying, and it designates itself to the serious moments, i'm not saying this show should be serious, but they should atleast tone down a little bit, some of it works as it gave me a little chuckle but most of it its just over the top, with this the case it tarnishes that impactful and emotional beat the first epsisode establishes and show.

- Zenitsu, i hate this annoying mf ever since i saw him, he is so obnoxious and loud, and forceful as hell, not even his serious moments can make me love this character, as what i said about what i don't like the story, it moves fast, Zenitsu could've been a good character for me if it wasn't for the obnoxious characterization he has.

In Conclusion:
The Show is unfortunately underwelhming, i expect great things about this show as i heard great things about it, this show could've been better if they have taken it a little serious, and lessen the Forced Gags and Comedy, and also make the story polished, for it atleast to have met my expectations in a good way.

All in All:
"It is a Good Looking Album, but the Music is Generic and Soulless"

6/10

To sum it all up, yes the show is overhyped.

The writing is hilariously bad, immature, and the MC has to be one of the most annoyingly stupid characters in all of anime. He also doesn't stfu during the fights, thus ruining what could be epic fight scenes. Here is your typical fight scene:

Tanjiro attacks with sword
Attack misses
Tanjiro: "Darn! My 9th configuration water wheel katsumizu failed to connect. Darn! I need to focus. Wait... Where is Nezuko! Darn! How could I leave her alone! I'm so useless and I failed as a big brother. No wait. Nezuko is a demon, she can handle herself just fine! ...
Nezuko comes in and kicks antagonist.
Tanjiro: "That's right! Nezuko is a demon. I knew it! She is strong and capable the same way I am!"
Nezuko gets scratched.
Tanjiro: "No! Darn! She was hurt because I was too weak to protect her. Too weak to protect everyone! I'm so useless. Wait... I need to remember my training. *45 second flashback reminding viewers something that was said just last episode* I just need to focus on my final attack... *30 sec breathing animation totally not thrown in as filler* 7th configuration waterfall takoyaki!"
Chops head off antagonist
Fight is over.
Everyone hugs each other.
Nezuko does something cute as she crawls into box.
Tanjiro smiles and waives as the sun rises and background characters come to groundbreaking realizations like "was that really a demon???" after they were nearly killed by a a red eyed veiny dark monster that came out of the walls.
Wash-rinse-repeat.

Credit where it's due though, Nezuko rules, and the animation is nice in some parts (laughably bad in others). Also episode 19 is overrated and very much cheap deus es machina, but that is some truly incredible animation.

Like other people have written already, a shounen does not need to necessarily have to be complex to be good. That being said, I felt that this first season of Demon Slayer (or Kimetsu no Yaiba) was too simple and beyond the art style and animation most of the show just felt pretty bland to me, or at least didn't really make me feel much of anything. I apologize for how negative this review comes off as, but the more I thought about it, I kept coming up with negatives rather than positives.

I think that the one area where Demon Slayer really did well with ... the "less is more" idea was the animation and art style. Compared to other Ufotable works I think the designs and animation were much simpler and stylistic which had a very clean look and allowed for fluid more animation. However, as Ufotable has struggled with in the past, they really need to do better with their 3D animation if they are going to keep using it this much. Early on it actually looked really good and they mixed it in with their regular animation very well, but later on (I think in the Spider Demons arc?) they had multiple scenes in a short timeframe which were obviously 3D, I remember it seemed pretty bad while I was watching.

The voice acting was surprisingly good. I feel like they basically had every staple in the industry voicing someone even if they were only getting 2 lines (I had to keep looking people up since I was sure they wouldn't be doing such minor roles), and they all did their parts well.

As for the characters: I generally liked the cast of characters and I seem to have enjoyed the humor more than other people, the characters were also... pretty cliche, and it feels like they have the same conversations at least once every episode. The first half of the show also got pretty slow at certain points (despite how much action there was) because Tanjiro was basically the only important character who got speaking lines for episodes at a time, which made it feel a bit redundant and slow at times. Muzan is a kind of disappointing villain so far. I found him more interesting when I didn't know anything about him, and he has not really influenced the story in any meaningful way after the first episode.

Story-wise, there's not much to say. After the first episode, Tanjiro goes to become a demon slayer, look for a cure for his sister, meets the villain of the series, then he does bunch of random missions for 15 episodes until he meets the big boys and girls in the last few episodes.

A psuedo-complaint is that Demon Slayer feels like a rehashing of things you'd find in other series. I believe my personal description of the series early on was "Deku Jaeger meets Claymore meets Golden Kamuy". This is not necessarily a bad thing as series copy each other all the time, but I also feel like Demon Slayer did nothing to really make itself stand out.

My last grievance with the show is that I was not really impressed with any of the fights besides the one in episode 19. Although there was a lot of stuff going on and a lot of eye candy animation, the fights somehow felt super slow and dragged out for the most part. Honestly, there's nothing particularly wrong with any of the fights, they just fell flat for me.

Despite all the stuff I said, I did binge the show in two days and I didn't feel inclined to stop watching during that time, so there is something here, but when I really think about it: Demon Slayer is a good looking show with very little story that didn't really make me feel any sort of way while I was watching it.

[Spoiler Warning]

So, this is one of those animes that does some things really well, but does other things terribly. So to start off with the good. The art, the art is some of the best you'll see, everything looks super clean, especially in fights. There are some interesting characters like Inosuke, Tomioka, and Shinobu. And there are some pretty interesting fights such as when they enter into a demon's house, and realise he can control it like a rubix cube.

So, the bad, and my god there's a lot of it. Characters, many of them are completely stuck into their gimmick in every scene. Yes, ... many characters get a gimmick, and it's their only feature it seems. Zenitsu's is that he's the screaming coward, so in almost every single scene, he's screaming about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. It really made me hate him the more he was on the screen, just bloody yelling non-stop. Then in the last few episodes we meet a guy with an empathy/crying gimmick, so guess what? He's crying every time he has lines. We meet another guy who constantly says "flamboyantly" so, he just says it, all the time, out of context or not, just every sentence he fits in, "flamboyantly". We have another guy whose gimmick is to be not paying attention, this guy feels like a rip-off on the comedy of Gintama when characters don't pay attention during dialogue, but they've done it pretty badly and none of it's funny. We have some girl who constantly thinks everything is cute/cool, so during dialogue they constantly cut to her just so she can think to herself "they look so cute/cool!", it adds nothing at all.

Another big issue with KnY is the way they portray characters, as well as the gimmicks. The main character has his whole family slaughtered in the first episode, but it seems like he's a sociopath, because he acts shocked for about all of 20 seconds before returning to his normal self. It's such a cheap way to build a character, to kill off almost their entire family, and have it mean almost nothing to the character beyond him intermittently saying "the bad guys killed my family!" when they want to remind the audience of why you should care about him. The second main character who's the only other person that's in every episode, Nezuko, is essentially a dog. She has no dialogue, which makes no sense as other demons can speak? (Also don't understand why she has to wear a muzzle) She randomly fights sometimes but then is written to be sleeping every other time (not weak storytelling at all), and people talk about her like she's a pet most of the time.

As a small note, they need to stop with the cliche of "we're going to have a conversation in the middle of a fight, and the enemy will move at 1 tenth of their usual speed until we finish talking, or better yet, they won't move at all and just stare at us talking the entire time".

This is one of those anime, that I genuinely don't understand how it's so popular. I think there's a lot of potential for it to get pretty good next season/movie, but they have got to let up on spamming these gimmicked characters who offer nothing beyond their catchphrase/signature. Also, as a side-note, they need to work on the comedy, because it's really not funny at all, and sometimes they try to make jokes in what they want you to believe is a serious situation.

Oh, and I forgot another thing they love to do. Every time the bad guy is killed they give them flashbacks of someone being mean to them, that is stupid as shit. Why should we feel bad for someone who has eaten humans, just because someone said that their writing sucked, and that they're a loser?

Demon Slayer: Kimestu no Yaiba is a typical shounen. It dutifully follows the formula
[lead + troubled past + hard work*determination = warrior who will exceed expectations],
which, in itself, is fine. However, when the characters lack depth, the story is too predictable, and developments in either have no explanation, it becomes problematic.

Before getting to the meat of this review, the art and graphics must definitely be commended. Personally, I'm not a fan of the character style, but the effort and details put into the animation, most especially every fight, were awesome. Action scenes were very dynamic and great, with every breathing technique, cut, or slash. ... Likewise, the backgrounds were unquestionably something to behold.

Unfortunately, beautifully-made clips do not compensate for a lack of proper story telling and plot.

Please do note that there are some SPOILERS present throughout this review. They are not too important on how the tale unfolds, but are there to illustrate some points.

As mentioned, the anime has all ingredients that would fit the young boy genre: there's the main character, Tanjiro, whose family was massacred, save his sister, Nezuko, who was turned into a man-eating demon. He then becomes a Demon Slayer to protect/save his sibling and avenge his family. The overall plot is fine, but the predictability and troublesome narration were already apparent at the very start.

When it began with Tanjiro running through the snow with his bloodied sister on piggyback, those watching would already know that there was unrest. Then comes a flashback of his happy family - smiles and hugs, yay! The MC has to travel far to the town to earn money for supper. As he departed, his voice over goes, "But life could change suddenly like the weather... and whenever happiness is destroyed, there's always the smell of blood." W-O-W. This could be somewhat excusable. Fine, the writers want to emphasize that something will go wrong (even when viewers already know that). However, whilst Tanjiro returns to his home, he again utters, "whenever happiness is destroyed, there's always the smell of blood." And surprise, all suspense and impact gone, he finds his family dead. This is an example the kind of story telling is evident throughout the whole series.

The characters could have been fairly interesting. There are a variety of quirky personalities that have the potential to stir up the plot, which can hopefully be done in the upcoming movie or season.

Based on who were most recently introduced, the audience has to consider the likes of the lead. Tanjiro is the eldest and breadwinner of a paternally orphaned family. Having to be accountable for 6 other mouths, he is straightforward, has a high sense of responsibility and diligence. What sets him apart is his unadulterated kindness and his superior sense of smell. Tanjiro is fairly likable, though many other MCs have similar characteristics. While it is difficult to empathize that he lost his family because of how the scene unfolded, one can still invest in the idea of his being hardworking towards his goals.
As fate would have it, he is steered to a Demon Slayer trainer and undergoes life-on-the-line exercises. During which, the "Total Concentration Breathing Technique" is mentioned very briefly. Emphasis is made on how he improved sitting under a waterfall, as well as going up and down a mountain without dying. Later on, during the Final Selection (Demon Slayer exam), we find out all of a sudden that he is a master of the breathing technique and that water spews out while he does this. Again, the animation for this is breathtaking, but does not satisfy the lingering inquiry on how his expertise and technique came about. This is one of the inexplicable instances that did not allow the audience to fully appreciate developments in character and plot.

Nevertheless, kudos must be given to the fact that villains are given backstories. It helps the viewers relate more to the experiences of the characters. It's easier to empathize with Tanjiro's kindness and with the feelings of the demons.

It was a combination of overlapping inconsistencies, predictabilities, and magical happenings (no explanations given) that curtailed the entertainment of the show. On a random note, something that could be deemed enjoyable was the use of traditional Japanese items, like the temari and the tsuzumi as weapons. These are such small details that need to be pointed out to increase its likability.

Overall, Kimestu no Yaiba was just okay, nothing new, really.

It is not necessarily a bad thing if I take a bit of a break from watching an anime, but the reason why I do so may give some insight into the quality of anime itself. I fell behind watching Demon Slayer with my anime club, and definitely did not have the desire to finish it before first catching up on Fire Force, that was obvious.

It seemed like such a slog to get back into the slow pace and coming close to over-explaining certain points. And finding out about the annoying comedy as a balance to the flat overall tone of the show was not ... exciting for me as I got into the middle of the series. There is a lot to work on. The pacing of the show can be so slow without really explaining anything new about what is actually going on. The characters and structure of the show are also not aligned. I really enjoyed the moments with Tanjiro and Zenitsu's histories with their masters, and thought they could have been a nice parallel to start the show off before they cross paths, but in both cases they are thrown aside about as quickly as possible. It's like the show only wants to be in the fight monster-learn tragedy about it-kill monster-break structure as quickly as possible and it only remains in that gear for the whole show.

There is enough variety on display to at least make it work. Tanjiro is determined to cure his sister, but it is not his only personality trait or paired with a self-righteousness about how great he is. So he works as the main character, and the monsters and situations are interesting given how Tanjiro learns to overcome obstacles. And the art and animation during the Breathing techniques is always a real treat to see. Enough goes on to keep me interested to the end of the anime, but it all becomes so predictable.

Let me start this off by saying this is my opinion, as well as my first review, I'm not at all experienced in reviewing things however my opinion on Demon Slayer is definitely one important to me that I'd like to share. I have Demon Slayer as a 5/10, but there are many issues I have with not the anime, but the community that surrounds it, which doesn't effect my score. I'll start with the actual anime and my final word on Demon Slayer will be my opinion on the majority of people who watch it. This will spoil the first few episodes and some ... minor and major events

Story: 4/10
Demon Slayer's story is as decent (or indecent) as the hentai you watched last night. We start off with our protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, who's family is hard working and happy. He goes to town to get some work done and when he gets home he finds his entire family has been massacred by demons. After that, he discovers his sister is alive yet has been turned into a demon. He decides to set out on a journey with her to fight the leader of the demons to turn his sister back to a human. That sounds unique, right? Well, while the premise might seem even slightly bearable, it soon turns into any other cliche monster of the week anime, and brings in demons every few episodes for our protagonists to fight for an episode or two. Soon Tanjiro finds some friends to travel with and the story progresses on as it has for the entire 26 episode run, kill demons, recover and train, kill demons, recover and train, and so on. It really isn't too special after the first few episodes in terms of story, and very rarely gets exciting. It literally spends its last like 5 episodes of footage comprising exclusively of the crew recovering. Who wants to spend almost 2 hours of their life watching that?

Art: 10/10
Ufotable as usual has graced Demon Slayer with a top of the line adaptation, with their beautiful and vibrant animation that really puts itself out there. The fluidity of the fights and the bold character designs are a highlight of the story and is definitely one of the only good things this anime has going for it, and one of the only things that deserves the praise its been getting.

Sound: 10/10
Just like the art, the sound really is amazing. The opening is great, the ending is great, the soundtrack is great. The OST really brings out even more feeling and excitement for certain fights, especially when Tanjiro is fighting Rui. Kamado Tanjirou no Uta was the perfect song to play during Tanjiro's likely triumph over Rui, and really brought out both emotion and excitement from me.

Character: 3/10
The characters in Demon Slayer are repetitive and disgustingly bland and predictable. Tanjiro is your usual Shounen protagonist, he's powerful and has an optimistic personality and won't stop fighting for the people he believes in, but that's it. Inosuke and Zenitsu aren't really different, they each have a few traits that become super repetitive and predictable that it almost becomes annoying. Inosuke's thing is not to listen to anyone and to basically be a total meathead that does what he wants. Zenitsu's thing is being the usual crybaby that has exceptional power in a fight, but what's unique about that? He can only access that power when he's asleep. And Nezuko doesn't really have anything to her, she just helps out in some fights and makes the entire community squeal because of how cute she is. To me, Zenitsu is the only character I even slightly enjoy seeing on screen.

Enjoyment: 6/10
This show is fairly enjoyable, although it has more flaws than my ability to score anime, it was enough to keep me coming back every week to watch a new episode. Some parts got me really pumped up and some got me really sad, it's very good at bringing out emotions and I personally think that's one of its only good traits, though a very good one to have.

Before my overall grade, let me say something about MOST Demon Slayer fans and its community. It's not as good as they say it is. I like Demon Slayer, I like Demon Slayer a lot, it was really fun to watch, and I really did enjoy it. However, most fans of the show are unbearable, saying it's "anime of the decade" or "the best anime ever", but it really isn't that. They say everything is perfect about it, but it really isn't that. They say it's a completely unique show that really stands out, but it really isn't that. They say everyone should watch it because everyone will like it, but not everyone will. The bottom line is, I do have a lot of issues regarding the show's community and it's critically overrated. This is only my opinion, and that's all.

Now, Overall: 5/10
Demon Slayer is the very meaning of the word mediocre. Though I enjoyed a fair amount of it, I was really only immersed in it due to Ufotable's exceptional animation and art. However, the soundtrack was just as good as the animation, and most of the time the dreadful characters and completely abysmal story take the anime to a new low. Take this review as a grain of salt, as it's my first review, and is slightly driven by my feelings towards the community. But dismissing everything else, Demon Slayer is a pretty OK anime at best and has no business near the best of 2019. But, ask it to someone who's only watched Naruto and 8 episodes of that corny love drama that aired last year and they'll probably tell you Demon Slayer is one of the greatest anime of all time.

Preliminary review after drop on ep 10/26:
The dialogue and story were the weakest part followed by the music. Pacing and humor was odd, transitions were jarring, flashbacks were mishandled and it doesn't know how to handle multiple characters during a fight scene. World building was weak, there wasn't any explanation made for the skills and reasoning for why things happen as they do. It sometimes rushes to catch up explaining why some things occur and feels poorly conceptualized. The demons in the story could've been effectively menacing if only they used more mystery and gore. I couldn't empathize or care for the characters enough to ... be affected by each and everyone of them even with the back stories portrayed.

On the other hand, animation was really good especially in shots where a character was moving smoothly down a mountain path, depiction of flame under a pot, rapidly slicing through multiple objects, water flowing from the blade or when the screen quickly moves through alleyways and in the small elements here and there but sometimes it feels overused. There are old anime out there with not enough of a budget in animation as this but is able to deliver a dose so potent it manages to be mind-blowingly good.

This anime missed its mark and manages to be bland amidst the good animation.


Final review after continuing and reaching ep 26/26:
I admit I was swayed by some of the reviews but because the animation was quite good I just had to go back and see for myself.
The animation gets even better: the scene where a kagura dance is performed, a tree falling on the river followed by water getting displaced, looking at leaves on the trees from the forest floor in the evening, transitions in a world of relativity, fight scenes, and a moving train were particularly outstanding.
The music, transitions and flashbacks have improved too especially when they reach Mount Natagumo at episode 15. Humor is still odd but thankfully tolerable at times. The pacing has gotten decent although scenes in the final episodes have been extended. The dialogue has improved slightly but I find myself fast forwarding as some scenes were bland or repetitive. World building and story telling had so many missed opportunities in turning Kimetsu no Yaiba one of the best anime's this year.
I still couldn't care enough for the characters; the only part where this anime almost had depth was when Tanjiro would empathize with the demons he's slayed or fought. This story had so much potential and was almost lukewarm and forgettable until the splendid animation by ufotable dragged it by its neck towards being watchable.

Demon Slayer is the defintion of great visuals with no substance. The story plays out like your typical fighting shounen formula, except in this case, the writing is subpar and terribly predictable. The formula is as follows:

1) Something bad happens to the protagonist: In this show, there was absolutely no build up for the tragedy. His entire family gets slaughtered right away in the first episode.

2) Protagonist sets out on a quest to avenge his family: This pretty much defines the goal of the entire series, even though the ending of the series as a whole can already be pictured: Tanjirou, the Main character, kills ... the Bad guy™. But in Demon Slayer, you need to be constantly reminded of the goal by Tanjirou through his inner dialogues. Not only is it frustrating to the viewer, but it also diminishes any form of story and character development. The story has only one objective, and its main character has only one personality that he constantly boasts about.

3) Obligatory training arc: Instead of having the main character immediately fight battles which gradually become more challenging and interesting, while he slowly learns from his past mistakes, overcome his weaknesses and become a bit stronger after each battle, the series decides to slap you with a boring training arc instead. Said arc won't matter in the long run since Tanjirou pulls out completely different techniques out of his ass that weren't explored even the slightest in the training.

4) Episodic battles. Nothing can be said here other than its the selling point of the series, pretty much. It's solely the visuals, the choreography, the cool special effects applied in the fighting sequences that got everyone's attention. Yes, the battles are cool. They are entertaining to some extent, but can also become quite predictable and sometimes inexplicable, but we'll get to that point later.

So the story isn't something special, but isn't bad or unbearable either. It's pretty generic and straightforward, and any shonen fan can quickly pick up where the story is going at, what is it aiming for and why. The issues lie with the characters and the writing, or should I say the lack of it.

Tanjirou is presented as a typical scout boy, always wanting to do the right thing, regardless if it backfires on him. This makes him relatable and consequently, easy to root for. On the other hand, the supporting character are downright annoying and completely unnecessary. I think everyone can agree that Zenitsu shouldn't even exist. I heard that many people dropped the series because of his unbearable characterization. And to be honest, they were not wrong. Zenitsu does absolutely nothing in the series, and doesn't bring anything special to the table. Instead, he constantly fulminates and cries out of fear before someone manages to save him. I remember a peculiar scene which I found pretty bizarre and rather funny. Zenitsu was accompanying a kid (and not the other way around) and at some point the kid becomes annoyed of Zenitsu's childish and scaredy-cat personality. So I guess the series is self-ware of the issue in having this character in the first place, but proceeds nonetheless just to have a pointless comic relief device and fill some unnecessary screen times here and there so it can drag the story even further. But here's the thing: having a comic relief character in this series plummets the seriousness of the whole plot, not to mention its tragic nature. We're talking about people getting brutally slaughtered and teared apart at one end, and watching Zenitsu make a move on the protagonist's sister who is a demon at the other end. And Zenitsu cannot stand demons, let alone look them in the eye! Even if the story somehow requires a form of comedy to ease the tension, having a character whining and complaining at everything that moves doesn't equate comedy.

Some scenes honestly don't make any sense. I'm not talking about the fighting scenes, because by definition they shouldn't make any sense in this context since the fighting system was not completely fleshed out and fully explained. I'm talking about a memorable scene where the characters left Zenitsu and went inside the forest like it's a normal, everyday-thing to do. They left a scary, good-for-nothing character by himself because he didn't want to accompany them in the suspicious forest. Later on, he decides to join them, not because he suddenly felt the urge to save them or act bravely. But because he suddenly felt like he wanted to save Nezuko, the protagonist's sister... The scene is absurd, almost funny in bad way, since Nezuko doesn't need saving!

Speaking of Nezuko, she acts more like a weapon than a character. She doesn't speak, doesn't protest, and conveniently saves his brother whenever needed, almost like she's a plot device or something. Now you may be wondering, how is it possible for a demon to be tamed and not attack anyone, even though the premise first states that it's impossible to do so and there's no turning back for them. Turns out, there is: just have an old man BRAINWASH Nezuko into thinking humans are good, off screen, while Tanjirou is training outside, without his consent of anything. I mean, who knows what else the old man "forced" Nezuko to do and not to do. This alone proves the poor writing aspect of the show. Since demons can be saved after all, why the hell are you trying to kill them?

Moreover, demons are first presented as monsters who needs human blood to survive. NEEDS. It's a necessity. But somehow, Nezuko doesn't. She only needs a bit of sleep and it's all good. Now I can think of many ways to make this more plausible, say having Nezuko drink animal blood, or drink Tanjirou's (this in turn can somewhat explain the natural and non-hostile connection they have by drinking a blood from a kin instead of brainwashing her off-screen!).

I almost forgot the other supporting character: Inosuke. He comes second in the most unbearable character in this show after Zenitsu. He is constantly shouting at everything and everyone and acts in a rude and animalistic way. There's a scene where the characters are having a funeral and Inosuke refuses to help them bury the corpses, highlighting the fact that he doesn't respect the dead, so they resort to convincing him to do so!

Delete the supporting characters and Demon Slayer would have been twice as better at least, since the poor writing is mostly related to those characters.

Then comes Muzan, the villain of the story. The following part contain a minor spoiler so feel free to skip it:

*SPOILER*
Muzan is one-dimensionally evil, killing innocent people so he can drink their blood and gain powers, but at the same time extremely weak and fails as a leader who has a good sense of strategy and thinking. In the final episodes, he slaughters all his soldiers due to their incompetence of defeating the main character and leaves only one guy, simply because he liked his way of thinking. At first, the show heavily emphasized on the "12 Demon Moons", basically stronger demons who work directly under Muzan. So one would think that as the story progresses, the demon moons will get defeated one by one before arriving at Muzan himself. The writer realizes this troublesome issue himself: he needs to write at least 12 arcs, much like popular shonen shows are doing, one arc for each villain. So instead, he forces Muzan to kill his OWN ARMY, leaving only one Demon Moon. Not only is it lame and out-of-character for any reasonable villain, but it also makes said villain appear extremely weak and nonthreatening. I mean he pretty much did Tanjirou's work himself. This does not prove his ruthlessness and cunning character, it's the quite the opposite: it makes him look stupid since he's unable to manage his "resources" efficiently.

So now, instead of having a proper build up for the villain in a form of ladder, each step revolving around defeating a Demon Moon, you now have a ladder for toddlers with only one step. And the villain is also a toddler himself.
*END*

Despite all of those glaring issues (obviously, I can give more examples regarding more plot inconsistencies but I believe the ones that I gave are more than enough to give you a general idea of the poor writing and characterization), the show still manages to be entertaining at some point. This is mainly due to the animation aspect: the fighting sequences are smooth, with many special effects applied almost like fireworks, especially during the cool fighting techniques used by the characters. Even the CGI doesn't look that bad to be honest. As for the sound, the OP is good and fits the nature of the show quite well. I don't really remember the ED. The voice acting and background music are also decent, nothing memorable or outstanding by any means.

So should you check out Demon Slayer after all? Sure, if you want to watch some cool but predicate battles with amazing visuals. But don't get your hopes up expecting an excellent story, unforgettable characters and threatening villain. In short, the TL;DR is as follows:

(+) GOOD
- Acceptable protagonist with a clear motive
- Amazing visuals and animation
- Fitting BGM, decent voice acting

(~) MIXED
- Battles are entertaining but predictable
- Protagonist can become annoying sometimes

(-)
- Terrible supporting characters
- Writing is subpar
- Boring one-dimensional villain who doesn't act like a proper one

I started watching it because of the episode 19 hype. And yeah, episode 19 does live up to the hype, one of the best fights I've ever seen in my life. The rest of the anime is basically alright. Spoilers follow.

The plot is incredibly standard. You've got your teen shonen protagonist who's hardworking and indicates how hardworking he is by yelling a lot. (The vast majority of the show's comedy involves yelling of some sort by the main trio.) He's a kind and sweet kid, and the nice thing is that this really does come off as genuine in the show. He's a good boy. ... He's also strongly moral and gets righteously pissed off at various evils. He's got an imouto to protect and has some lofty goals, his family got killed by demons, he's got a hardass sensei who's full of tough love and fatherly affection, etc. etc. Basically, there's nothing new here. As for the actual plot, he mostly goes on monster-of-the-week adventures with his buddies with a halfhearted overarching quest of maybe eventually running into some special demons and collecting blood from them to find a cure for Nezuko. It doesn't have a strong direction other than completing a series of quests that other demonslayers give to him. It's honestly not super clear why he wants to un-demon Nezuko so badly because she seems to be doing fine, to be honest.

The characters are ok, usually pretty standard but most of them are sweet decent people. The main character's little sister doesn't speak and barely does anything other than be cute or be useful or be a victim for the main character to save which... I guess works fine. It's not like imouto characters in other shows really need to talk either since they're not really human beings or characters, just props and useful tools to support the story. It does make the claims of a 2-way mutual sibling bond between them a little weird but after episode 19 it looks like Nezuko might actually be allowed talk and gain a personality, so I'm optimistic. The lightning guy has a really annoying personality where he basically screams constantly and has this over-the-top coward act. You can have a cowardly character without having him shout about his cowardice 24/7. I like the boar masked guy. The demons usually have a sad past which isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's nice to see them have their moments of forgiveness and absolution right before they die.

The art and animation are the real winners here. The whole show is strongly influenced by traditional Japanese mythology, symbolism, etc. which is really lovely. Character designs are beautiful and the kimonos look very nice. The sword water effects in particular are just gorgeous. Fight scenes are straight up beautifully done, with great camera movement, and they look both dynamic and flow well. They almost always have one frame in the sequence that has breathtaking fine-art level composition (zenitsu and the moon, blessed rain after the drought, episode 19). Actual fight choreography is great too (hand to hand fight between inosuke and tanjiro). Episode 19's conclusion is absolutely perfect and honestly, I felt like I was having a religious experience watching the conclusion of that fight sequence. Wow. The entire spiders arc was shockingly good, and I was unprepared for it going in because I figured it was just going to be another monster of the week extermination job. On top of stunning animation most of the main cast's development/fleshing out happened during this arc which helped make the payoff even more satisfying.

I kind of wish I'd stopped at 19 though because the next episode immediately started off with a "oops none of that meant anything, the spider boy actually beheaded himself with his own string riiight before tanjiro slashed him!" despite it being stated earlier that spider boy's neck was stronger than his threads... I felt cheated by that. I think the issue is that the author didn't want it to be that easy to kill one of the 12 kizuki, who are supposed to be the series's end bosses, but she could have accomplished that by just not making the spider boy one of the 12... at least we got the consolation prize of getting to see the water breathing 11th form, which was beautiful.