Copy pasted from MAL since I didn't have time to write more stuff unfortuantely.
Finally.
We have reached cinema.
Acme.
Apex.
Kino.
Peak.
Pinnacle.
Zenith.
THE GOAT.
Demon Slayer is the undisputed impeccable face of shounen. Everything about Demon Slayer is of ultimate quality. Despite the common horde of "criticism" the anime gets, Demon Slayer is the anime that has left a name for itself. It will be on countless top 10s, it will be the classic of the future, it will live as eternal memory in the anime timeline. Anime so good I can assure you Japan is never going back into recession with this goat's existence. But anyway, before I get into the actual review, I'd like to do some talk on the community as a whole with fiction such as Demon Slayer.
It is clear to just about anyone who uses forums, reads reviews, or just chat with friends, will find that people will be on one of two sides. The first group will see any piece of animation ("art" works too) and call it the best thing in the world, the second will see said art and slander it by calling these works "overrated" and "overhyped" and literally any other words of criticism frowned upon via hidden reviewer rules as being lazy to use. I've explained this before in another review of mine, however, I am going to be on a different side this time, and if you couldn't already tell from my score, the anime captivated me enough such that I do believe Demon Slayer is a work of art worthy of all the praise in the world. But. I'd like to stress something, which I will do very soon. Sure, Demon Slayer is lucky and all. It managed to get in the hands of a nice studio. Though something about Demon Slayer is still very striking and very honest that regardless of what you may think of the writing side, you have to admit that it has some masterpiece or at the very minimum, good qualities.
The story of Demon Slayer is nothing grand, but it is honest. Really, that is all that matters. Not just that it is honest, but it also goes to no lengths to stretch anything out into absurdity. It plays its cards nicely, doesn't overstay its welcome with any lopsided tactics in a desperate attempt to engage the audience, because it is already amazing in itself. I feel as if simplicity is often overlooked in media these days, something simple cannot somehow be appreciated equally as other more sophisticated titles out there. I'd argue against it for sure. It's even more concerning to know that many people will be very quick to call Demon Slayer "generic", and honestly, that is "true", but what the hell does that word even mean in an honest sense? Generic relative to what standard? Why is X considered generic and not just a plot device made to make the story go forward, because you know, plots need plot devices? When you say "generic", isn't that just a broad term taking in everything rather than looking at Demon Slayer as a shounen anime? Which it so happens to be one. People will throw around terms like the aforementioned but it is bizarre to me that it can be used so carefree in an anime that is also not trying to present itself in a genre with different motifs and themes running behind them irrelevant to the common ones seen in the genre it actually is inside of. It's unfortunate really that the story of this show will get overshadowed by standards it does not need to meet. But let's go over why the story isn't even bad in the first place rather than saying that it doesn't need to do X and Y.
For this particular season, Demon Slayer focuses on the chapter on Uzui Tengen and the three musketeers infiltrating the Entertainment District in search of Uzui's wives. Nothing in this particular season stands out for what currently exists, and I would imagine that the quality would stay this way for future seasons to come for the anime (as well as from what I read, I can kinda confirm). But, as mentioned beforehand, this is all a very honest story. What we are met within this arc is none other than typical shounen tropes with exemplary performances attached to their name. There are multiple moments in this arc where characters would be pulled under situations where seemingly all hope is lost and countless lives are placed in peril. Doesn't sound like a lot, but for a story of its kind, with the amazing execution in art and writing, you can truly grasp the situation. It is like a "feels" effect but for shounen anime. The stakes are real here and the characters' emotions follow through with zero losses in the system. I wouldn't go around dismissing stuff like this as low-quality effortless works that exist simply to hold the story together. It seems to me that people are forgetting the target audience needs, or if you don't want to be cynical, they are not respecting the high-quality aspects usually found when evaluating anime as its kind. All unfortunate stuff, but it is understandable why one may think like that, but it also kinda strikes me as a little dishonest to say that the quality of these shows are some level of objectively (lol) bad because they are using tropes seen everywhere. As explained, it isn't as if Demon Slayer is being half-hearted with these tropes. Hell, our characters are not even in their endgame yet, they are also recalling vital memories of the past as a means to grow themselves into the ideal state they wish to become. The writing here doesn't suck, I'd vehemently disagree, and it would be nice if people could understand my perspective on the story as to why the writing isn't as bad as people make it out to be.
Honestly, though, I will say one thing, and that is speed. I don't mean pacing is bad—issues exist there, however. What I mean is that you have moments of intense action followed up with talking that can last a little while long enough to take up more time than necessary. In an anime that is heavily focused on action and the likes, I see this as a distorted fit, something that doesn't work as well as people may hope it should. It's something I went over in another review (might as well check out all my reviews at this point), but being too critical of the matter isn't something I'd say is necessary. Sure, it is slow at times, but it should also come to clear notice as to how this is a TV anime, which has different fundamentals than compared to, let's say, a movie. You should expect to find that there are moments here that might kill the tension, but in this fault, there are consequences that follow up with something impressive, to say the least. Moments in this TV anime that have low retention to action isn't something that is consistent in the viewing experience. Only a few times does that even happen? Something that might as well be insufficient depending on who you are talking to, but it is something that I wanted to note. Even in this review basically praising Demon Slayer for just about every matter that has been drawn, the fault is still around these corners. Nothing too devastating though. Would imagine most would enjoy such. Most of the aforementioned is a stereotype enforced onto shounen anime anyway. A little bit about the pacing too. For the most part, it was liveable, most of the moments were correctly allocated to the correct episodes. One thing I didn't like however is how each episode would get cut short but some cliffhanger relative to each individual episode. It wasn't due to me disliking the tension being carried forward, rather, the abrupt endings to everything that was happening. I suppose that too is common in shounen anime, but it was something that I didn't find to be the most appealing in my viewing experience. Some decent closure in each episode would have been nice.
Aside from all I have rambled on about. The writing aspect of Demon Slayer is generally underrated for the most part. Again, I will hands down admit that it isn't Evangelion or Tatami Galaxy or whatever kind of obscure pre-2010 avant-garde title you can throw at me. But I will be there fighting for this anime's side in its writing quality. No development? Literal training scenes. Nothing to draw attention to? Recollection of the past and everything that has happened thus far AND how that impacts the characters in the anime currently. It's boring? Subjectivity issue. I'd hope more people would recognise the story as something a little more than it is "generic". I could go on but I'd like to write some more down on other aspects. Demon Slayer often gets the cynical side of criticism very easily and I just wanted to relay something to support what it had going for itself.
The characters of the story here are one of the best points here too. Following on from the Mugen Train arc, everyone here is still amidst the long journey they brought for themselves and it comes across as something that still will be something of a grand trek. Again, these characters are training, these characters are reflecting, these characters still have a lot on their shoulders. This isn't some rubbish out of nowhere. It was something of a well-crafted or at minima, something that had thought behind it. These guys are very easy to attach to with their goals set in stone, doing everything in their power to make sure that such becomes a reality.
Tanjiro. The wholehearted wholesome guy. You can actually tell he cares about his job as a Demon Slayer, keeping up the morale and having the motivation required for him to truly fit the role of the main character of the story. The aspiration everyone would like to take the path of in bettering themselves. He is the embodiment of a world-class shounen character.
Zenitsu and Inosuke. Here, they may seem the same as it was when this first aired, however, I do believe that they have changed for the better even if in minuscule segments. With all that training and lessons along the way, they take up their swords to strike down the enemy ahead of them in a way that was not like the past. I mean shoutout to Zenitsu for that exemplary commanding skill even in sleep.
Nezuko. Doesn't really have the best development, which I would agree with. Although she isn't some dead weight (never really was), managed to improve herself and come to some terms that may be of future reference in the future arcs.
Uzui. The flashing legend. Although he is no Rengoatku, the dude is still a loveable Hashira that has managed to sway the hearts of many as he did his three wives. He's not all fun and games though. Along with his flashy style, he has still had a past that is deep enough to make you understand that the guy has been through a lot already, it only stacks atop one another with stakes with episodes of this season.
A solid cast of characters all around for this season really. Everyone had a role here and all were executed to masterful status. It is amazing how far they made the anime so enjoyable. Nothing here has led me to believe this is low quality or anything. Played their roles well and I would imagine most of the audience would agree.
Now. The animation. No words can describe how amazing it was. Ufotable is truly pulling out mad ones and was not messing around this season. Literally, everything here was to some quality that doesn't come around every so often in such a very very very good way. Fluid animation, literally every sequence of frames was something of a magical experience. You could feel the literal action, the fights, the sword swings, whatever, they were all performed to such a high standard it is genuinely incredible. So much stuff got the detail it deserved, so many more stuff got the vibrant nature is dreaded for. Ufotable delivered, and that is all that was needed to make everything work.
The thing is with art is that it is powerful enough to make people obscure thoughts that don't correlate to 100% of everything they are talking about. Happens with anything that has good art. Violet Evergarden, Your Name, Silent Voice, Solo Leveling, Ousama Ranking, the list goes on ad infinitum. But Demon Slayer's art and story worked well so much together that I don't believe it is something of a misinterpretation to say that the art here obscures the value of the anime. Sure, as pointed out, the faults are there. But there are glory points people seem to be forgetting as well. Demon Slayer is a lucky fiction to get the attention it has, but I will also stand by it and defend it where it should because people think the criticism it gets is something that is quite unfortunate, which it certainly is. I love this art and it helped out everything, yeah, but I also love the works beneath it. I am not so cynical to hate this for it being flashy. I mean, Uzui would love for it to be too.
Now for some flashy content to prove my point:
Honestly, everything here could be used as wallpaper. Anime like that is certified peak animation, and it is amazing how ufotable was able to achieve such a feat.
I used to be very myopic with Demon Slayer. I have to admit, I at one point in life, would not hesitate to say "oh, this anime bad!! it just got good animation, it's not actually good" but then I came to terms with myself and understood that not everything needs to have criticism in a way that may make an individual seem unique. It is really okay to love anime like Demon Slayer, it seems we have forgotten mutual respect out of the stuff like so that come out, but where the nail hits seem to be for big shounen. It's quite sad, people can have the opinions they want, but it is also disappointing that a distaste for real good shows that are indeed simple pieces of elaborate work exist out there. Nothing wrong with that, and that's all I need for a 10.
ufotable has achieved cinema, and it is only going to be wild from thereon. I'll see you all in the next chapter.
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