While there is nothing bad about liking a "mainstream" anime, and it is definitely good to see the anime community growing, and to have anime for the less hardcore of fans, it does not really mean that the anime is altogether good just because it is popular, for example, FMAB is considered the top anime and is definitely one of my favorites, however, it is not without its own flaws.
So where does KnY fall into this rant? Well, "mainstream" and art can only get you so far, or should only get you so far, in my opinion. KnY does indeed look pretty and is a good shy-away from this one style fits all base art style that every anime these days has been using, that's about the only one of two things this anime has going for it. The anime is a shounen and as such is very closely follows the shounen story plot elements and development to a T, it does not shy away at all. From the training arc going not as planned, to the power of love and friendship, or in this case sibling-bond. There is nothing unique about this anime.
Its plot is not the only place where I really see this anime falling flat either, my biggest issue is honestly with its characters. Ranging from just plain annoying to tiresome, I couldn't get attached to, feel for, or generally, even like any of the main characters. There were some points throughout the story that took me as a surprise with the main character, such as his willingness to attack his archrival in the middle of the street, in the crowd, which truly did show his anger at his circumstances, but that's about it. The main character of the show is the exact same as any other modern shounen character, he's forced into the world one way or another, starts off as a crybaby, and then throughout the story toughens up and starts acting more like a hero, the character development is as basic as it can be. They tried throwing the characters up by having a dude wear a boar mask and another only fight while he's asleep but at the end of the day it's just the exact same as the generic angry character and the perverted character, the Bakugo and Minoru combo. Nezuko is just the Baby Yoda of the show, everywhere and annoying.
Earlier in my review, I did say there was one more element in the show I enjoyed and there was but to be honest; it was simply a single line of dialogue that got me intrigued. The world-building of KnY is simply okay, there was one line a character said along the lines of "Slayers are a dying profession and are not really considered an actual respected profession now, most people don't even believe in Demons". This one line interested me more than the entire anime and I believe that if they did more with this one line, the anime would have been a lot more interesting to me. If they had gone for a more mature overall theme and played on this line, I feel as if the anime could have been something special if done right.
At the end of the day, KnY was enjoyable and not really that bad but it is far from anything special. The hype and popularity around this anime really astounds me, especially people who say it's the best thing ever and unique, when everything in it has been done countless times before. If you want to watch it go ahead, it's worth its weight in hours but it's far from something that I would say has rewatch potential.
5/10, just okay,
