Story:
If you have seen the first season and the movie, you technically know the story by now: Tanjiro quests to save his demon sister and help her become human again with the help of his wacky companions and fight the demons that turned her. This time, the gang are given an order to fight demons within the Entertainment District with the help of the Sound Pillar Mr. Flashy Flash with his harem who have minimal screentime. Will they make it out alive to see another day? Yes. With the summary out of the way, the story of this season is mostly fine. Exploring the streets of an entertainment district with a demon hiding amongst the occupants is a neat idea, but doesn’t feel as well explored as it could have been. This may have been for the best as the pacing for this season was pretty slow at the beginning, especially with the hour long first episode which compacts both setup for this season’s plot and filler. Yet again, once it does get to the fight sequences, it does make the wait somewhat bearable even though it’s just flashing lights and special effects. Speaking of the fights…
Art & Sound:
This part of the review needs no further explanation. The animation, music, and sound design are impeccable, wonderfully energetic, and impactful. Even if most of the fights don’t make much logical sense and feels like kids fighting in the sandbox coming up with random powers to win over the other, you still can’t help but get a little bit hyped when shit goes down. I’m more appreciative of the soundtrack and it is quite fitting for the series.
Characters:
This is my least favorite component of the series, and I am probably in the minority when it comes to disliking some of these characters. Not all of them are bad, but usually stem from bland and forgettable, to one-note gag characters, to interesting but underdeveloped characters that are rushed into having a tragic backstory for dramatic effect. The main cast is mostly the same as they have been. Tanjirou is your typical shounen MC with the hearty attitude and a tragic backstory. His sister, Nezuko (aka the lovable brick), who’s been turned into a demon from the big bad and motivation for Tanjirou. She will also bullshit her way into new abilities even though she should be weaker than other demons since she doesn’t consume blood, but she’s just special that way. Zenitsu and Inosuke, Tanjirou’s funny and wacky companions who accompany him, except one of them is actually funny and the other is just an annoying incel that constantly screams and is only cool when he’s passed out. Then, there is the sound pillar Tengen Uzui who joins in with his many death flags, but he actually forgets to die. Uzui is definitely the most fun member of the cast and, while his obsession with being “flashy” would be pretty annoying at times, he can be pretty endearing to watch. And he smacks ass, so that’s a plus. He also has three wives, but again they have very little screentime and are pretty one-note to actually be interesting. And then there’s the villain of this season, Daki, who was too weak that she had to ass pull her way into getting her brother out of her back to tap in. While Daki was mostly annoying and constantly screaming how beautiful she was and how ugly everyone else was, her brother, Gyuutarou, is actually kinda interesting and the series compares his relationship with Daki to Tanjirou’s relationship to Nezuko. This does add an interesting connection to both the protagonist and antagonist that we haven’t seen before in the show. And once they’re defeated, they actually have a pretty sad backstory that I wish was more properly fleshed out than given a quick summary as they are slowly dying.
Enjoyment:
This season was equal parts entertaining and equal parts frustrating. While the big spectacle fights were happening, I couldn’t help but hear the nagging voice in my head that was screaming “this doesn’t make any sense!” While I can lay back and look at the pretty pictures, I can’t ignore its slow pacing, overall weak characters, and all-over-the-place power system.
Conclusion:
People will either love or hate Demon Slayer, and each side has it’s valid points for why they love it. But if you are in that place where you enjoy Demon Slayer for it’s slick animation and soundtrack but also despise it for it’s somewhat lazy storytelling, then you are not alone.
