Reviews

Though quite aware of the fact that it’s not exactly a 10 out of 10 anime, the enjoyment unrolled as such. I’ve managed to avoid watching Kimetsu No Yaiba so far because I was certain I would dislike it. If anything, I have also restrained from reading reviews about it, but there was something about it that made me stay away. As well as with a rather too strong superficial hype about it at some point, all these things made me think it’s just not for me. And, boy, was I mistaken. It was just one of those nights when I couldn’t settle to do anything and I just clicked with Kimetsu no Yaiba by mistake. I just thought, meh, I’ll just give it a try –how bad can it be? I was immersed in the incredibly good opening song, but I was also taken aback by the strong opening scene. Of course, I know it’s a bait, I recognized it as such —but I thought that, as far as opening baiting scenes go, it wasn’t half bad. It was interesting, overly dramatic and it had potential. In short, it got me interested. Even though the first episodes are a bit slow, I found myself watching it with a right amount of curiosity and, when I came to it, I was loving it already. To be honest, I am not unaware of its faults and holes in plot or the fact that some things just revolve too fast. Rather than fast paced, there might be a need of substance here and there and, if you don’t get into the anime, these things tend to get really annoying as you progress.

However, as far as I’m concerned, I got so much into the anime, that I simply didn’t care about any of its misgivings. And I guess that’s what makes the difference between a well done anime and something mediocre. For me, Kimetsu No Yaiba has all the ingredients for success and I finally get why some people love it so much —I also try my best to understand why some people think it’s lousy. I mean, it has its cliches and, if you dig too much into it, a lot of nasty stuff might come up. I really don’t know. What I know is that I love the art and audiowork and I love the character building, the fights, the story with all its shortcomings and the main character. Yes, that did lots for me.

I’ll just go ahead and say it. I love it that Tanjiro isn’t your usual dumb strong main character as it happens often in mainstream shounen anime. Obviously, I’m thinking of characters like Naruto —whom I’ve loved, but dude, Kishimoto Masashi made him just a teeny tiny bit too dumb at times. Tanjiro might be a country bumpkin and he’s kind to a fault, but he’s also the right amount of smart. He tries to encourage himself even when he’s in battle, he thinks up solutions and acts upon it. I like the fact that, though it doesn’t happen often (and that’s actually an advantageous detail if you ask me), he reflects upon things. And not exactly in a “I will make everything alright” kind of way. He takes in the pain, but he also tries to come up with solutions. He gets frustrated, and then gets back to work. As any good main character ought to, I suppose, but I just like the fact that the author didn’t make him excessively naive and plainly dumb. He’s strong willed and, so far, he has reason to hold on his will. Kudos to that, though otherwise I can say he’s just as mainstream and I love him for that too. Because he’s a good main character and my one whole complaint is that they never show him with his hair in a knot at the back. I mean. He would be sooo nice looking and it would be a nice sight from time to time *sigh* I suppose you can’t have everything.

I love lots of things about this anime, but suffice to say that I liked it so much, I’m going to try the manga now.