Name: Vibrant & brilliant visuals, humanized antagonists, a solid cast & a story that moves forward without filler
Item: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Rating: 80
Author: Kalladry

Waifra

Vibrant & brilliant visuals, humanized antagonists, a solid cast & a story that moves forward without filler · Waifora

Charcoal-seller Tanjiro comes home one day to find his entire family slaughtered by a demon, except his sister Nezuko–sole survivor of the incident, but turned into a demon herself. Tanjiro then joins a secretive society of demon slayers, and begins his quest to help his sister turn human again and avenge the deaths of the rest of his family.

This is, if you don’t follow anime news, the hot thing as I type, with the recently(ish)-completed manga breaking sales records, and a movie that continues the anime’s story breaking Japanese box office records.

Of course, when I started watching last year at my parents’ house (what can I say, I like my once-yearly access to live TV and Toonami), all I knew is it was popular, and one of my friends had been yelling on Facebook about her precious son *insert picture of weird boar-headed guy*

there’s a person under that mask, I promise

And watching, it’s pretty obvious why this is popular! The Taisho-era setting (1912-1926) is interesting and not something I’ve seen a ton about, the art is vibrant, and the plot moves fairly quickly.

First, let’s talk demons, since they make up the basis for the show. One of the things I really liked, and was impressed by, was how many of the demon antagonists were humanized. These aren’t mindless killers–they’re killers, yes, but all former humans who have their own personalities, and while they’ve done heinous things, they’re also pitiable. As we see in Nezuko’s existence, few to none of them would have had a choice in the matter, and staying alive requires human blood.

As the series goes on, you’re drawn to direct anger not necessarily at individual demons, but particularly at the reason behind their existence (which I’m not going to discuss, since it’s spoilery).

I also really enjoyed the art. While a lot of the show takes place at night (demons can be harmed by the sun), it doesn’t seem to me like a particularly dark (-toned) anime overall. (Which is great. Having to adjust my screen settings is annoying.)

Characters are bright and vibrant, there’s what I think is a woodblock–style given to the animated special-attacks (see the gifs above) that I loved, and the series overall seemed to have good quality animation. It was, frankly, something I looked forward to picking back up every time just based on the visuals.

The characters themselves are fine, pretty much what I’d expect from an action/shounen series: Tanjiro is very kind and nice and works hard and I say this with all honesty: I really liked him. Maybe it’s because his kindness is such a contrast to his job, but also because he’s got a very clear goal (turn Nezuko human again), and we get to see the siblings interact fairly frequently.

It’s only after we’re well into the series that the expected companions show up (expected because what shounen show with a kindhearted protagonist doesn’t have a squad?), and they’re the two in the very first gif: panicky Zenitsu and stubborn Inosuke.

They are, um, OK. I mean, I see why someone would like them, even like them a lot, but they also shout. Like, all the time. And I….got very, very tired of the yelling.

(Maybe if just one of them was Shouty McYellingpants I wouldn’t have actually noticed much, but both of them are just. so much. In different ways, but very loud ways.)

Verdict

English dub? Yes, and it’s really good. For a long time it was only available via Adult Swim/Toonami (so, streaming only possible if you already had a cable subscription), but now the dub is also available on Funimation.

Visuals: One of the things I enjoyed the most.

Worth watching? Yes! And, something I thought was really interesting: the anime is only 26 episodes, and doesn’t cover the entire manga. The Mugen Train movie that broke Japanese box office records continues where the anime leaves off, and another TV series has been announced, though not yet released (as of August 2021). The anime series only adapts about a quarter of the manga (complete at 23 volumes), and the movie covers an entire arc right where the series leaves off, but that still leaves a ton of manga currently un-adapted, and considering its popularity (and ability to rake in the cash), it seems a safe bet we’ll have Demon Slayer animation for a while.

If you’re worried about starting a series before it’s complete, know that the anime ends in a good spot–it’s clearly not over, but a story arc has just finished so there’s not really a cliffhanger even as you want more.