Demon Slayer is a series that I was skeptical going into because of the amount of negative things I've heard from it. I had watched the anime, which I though was pretty good, and the Mugen Train movie, which became one of my favorite movies ever. It was after the movie that I decided that I could not wait for season 2 of the show and began reading the manga. It was an amazing experience from beginning to end with some of my favorite moments in animanga. Here are my thoughts on the different aspects of the series
The main plot is a very simple one, as there is nothing truly exceptional about it. Tanjiro Kamado's family has been killed and his sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. He trains to become a demon slayer and goes on a quest to find the strongest demon, Muzan Kibutsuji, who was also the one who killed his family, so that he may find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human.
This is Tanjiro's main goal for the entire series, as he fights the many demons in his way until he could encounter Muzan. Despite me being okay with the plot, it definitely could have been better and I can see why people dislike it.
I do wish that he survived longer so that I could see more of him, but his death in the Mugen Train arc was satisfying nonetheless
To be honest, I enjoyed Akaza as a villain more than Muzan. Both of his fights with Rengoku and Tanjiro + Giyu were phenomonal. His backstory is also one of my favorites in any series. The way that he could have defeated Tanjiro and Giyu but chose to pass on towards his wife and sensei was an amazing sequence. Easily an A tier antagonist
I have a soft spot for crazy, unhinged characters so Sanemi was a good fit for me. One of my favorite things about him however, is his character development on his attitude towards his brother, Genya. At first, he's cold, violent, and says that Genya is an excuse for a brother and should quit the demon slayers for his lack of breathing forms. But he later shows that he always has cared for his brother and wants him to quit so that he could live a normal life.
While there are a bunch of good characters in the series, there are a few that I feel could have either had more development or could have been rewritten.
While I did like some of the things that she does, Nezuko was used more like a plot device than an actual character. She had to be kept alive or the whole plot would have been for nothing.
What I also did not like was how Nezuko eventually was able to stand in sunlight despite still being a demon. The series could have ended right there as she would not need to be a human anymore as she is no longer under any real danger from the sun.
While I do like how the mark on his forehead was passed down from Yoriichi, what I did not like from him was that he had a good sense of smell for no reason. If that had been explained from maybe an accident as a child and not a plot armor device, I would have enjoyed Tanjiro way more.
What I also did not like was that in his fight with Rui, he just so happened to remember his father doing the Hinokami Kagura dance, which somehow allowed him to use it in that moment. If he had attempted to use the Kagura in earlier fights, perhaps it would not have been so underwhelming.
The majority of demon slayer characters are ones that I found very interesting. The most interesting characters were easily the hashira, each with different personalities, backstories, and diverse character designs. I will say, however, that most characters, like Iguro, Mitsuri, and Himejima, all felt underdeveloped and I wish I could have seen more of the three before they eventually died.
The action is easily the best part of the series. All of the fights seen in the manga, especially during the Infinity Castle arc, have been some of my favorites fights in animanga. The different uses of breathing styles and blood demon arts make each fight uniquely amazing. These fights are then further enhanced with the anime visuals, as the amazing animation done by Ufotable has done great justice to scenes such as Thunderclap and Flash sixfold, Hinokami Kagura Dance, and Ninth form: Rengoku. It all makes me excited for the rest of the manga to be adapted.
I remember twitter saying quite a few words over the final chapter of Demon Slayer. While it was revised later on, the original ending sparked a ton of controversy over it.
The ending depicted the descendants of all of the characters in modern day Tokyo, with the descendants of the main cast as children in school. The descendants of the hashira were shown with different careers such as athletes, teachers, and police officers. The final page shows all of the surviving main cast characters in a group photo.
While I am personally satisfied with the ending, I can see why other could not be. It shows a timeskip with a modern day, unneccessary scene of the descendants. I tries to put focus on the descendants of the main cast when they have no relevance to the main story at all.
The revised final chapter was definitely better and more satisfying, but I would not complain if they had never changed it.
Overall, Demon Slayer definitely caught me by surprise with amazing action and well-written characters. I thought it was good from the anime and movie alone. But reading the whole manga definitely made me excited to see the later arcs be adapted into the anime. The Infinity Castle adaptation will most definitely be a candidate for anime of the year. So if you too enjoyed the anime, I suggest to not wait for the entire manga to be adapted and to go ahead read this amazing story.