Overview
Before I began the journey of getting into anime again this year, there were a handful of shows everyone was telling me about. One anime mentioned in every single list from friends was Demon Slayer. Probably one of the biggest anime to release in 2019, the show is quintessential Shounen, almost to a fault at times.
The Main Points
Demon Slayer follows the story of Tanjiro, a young fella looking to save his sister Nezuko from demon-dom. To do this, he has to become a demon slayer, both learning and eventually wielding the power needed to fight and defeat demons he will encounter in his journey.
These demons are a nasty bunch too - they need to kill and feast on human blood to survive, which can certainly cause issues in a human-ridden world. So, it's down to Tanjiro and a handful of others to ensure the demons are eliminated and no longer a threat to humankind.
The story itself is pretty standard; young person looks to fight against the monsters to save the planet, with a few bells and whistles. The anime is a standard 26-episode season and is an absolute spectacle of animation quality. I don't think I've watched many shows that top the quality of animation Demon Slayer presents; everything from it's rather standard backdrops, to the characters themselves, the fight scenes and the more subtle particle effects all look stunning.
I was also a fan of the backing music for Demon Slayer - it isn't memorable but it adds to the theming of the show, opting for a lot of chanting and almost religiously-driven sounds over a more orchestral selection. In a show about demons, curses, spirits and the like, it makes a lot of sense!
The fight scenes specifically are breathtaking. The animation and choreography of these battles are truly wonderful to watch, and really does give you a strong pay-off for the episode build previous to it. The show pacing is strong, and doesn't give you too much to digest between larger plot-points, something that, as a viewer, I'm incredibly grateful for. There are anime that can definitely pile on a little too many plots and stories, but Demon Slayer is very clear with its path and who is taking it. Because of this central focus, it's hard to get muddled and confused whilst watching, and makes the experience much more enjoyable.
!Tanjiro using his Water-breathing sword techniques
Our main protagonist, Tanjiro, is definitely hit and miss throughout this season. On one hand, I do appreciate how he is written as more of a kind soul rather than a cookie-cutter sword-swinging badass - the amount of empathy he has to demons and their human origin is a really nice writing tool, but at the same time, he's just a little too nice. It's something I've seen in a few shows where the character is just a tad too perfect, and there's a real lack of relatability to his plight because he just doesn't approach it realistically!
Unfortunately, Tanjiro is one of the only characters fleshed out in this show. Nezuko is mostly reduced to a payload that can grunt and fight at times. Other characters are fleetingly introduced and exited until much later into the season. It really hurts the show because a lot of the dialog is happening in Tanjiro's head, meaning there's barely any enticing character interactions happening throughout episodes, especially during fights.
!Tomioka making one of few appearances, unfortunately
The issue of character interaction is something that is solved in later episodes of Demon Slayer, as Tanjiro does eventually find compatriots that accompany him for longer than a couple of episodes. When this happens, the show becomes infinitely more enjoyable, as we get to see Tanjiro building relationships and becoming much more endearing as a character.
The demons themselves look incredible, and their designs are truly horrifying (in the best way possible!). I do think their writing is a little ham-handed at times, as Demon Slayer falls into the trap of adding in a lot of flashback backstories to temporary characters. Again, I can appreciate the reasoning for this, as we, as viewers, need to share the perspective Tanjiro has, in that these demons were people in the past. I just wish it was done a little more elegantly.
There are definitely some questions I had watching this show, like the lack of common knowledge between the general population around demons, government involvement, but I do think that the latter could be a build to something bigger. Maybe small acknowledgements of "why isn't the president DOING something about this?!" would be fun.
How to improve - 3 steps
One thing I'd like to do in my anime reviews is to suggest three (3) improvements I would've liked to see in the show. I'm not an animator or writer, so do take this all with a pinch of salt!
!Tanjiro thinking really hard, probably
Final Thoughts
Look, I know it seems like there's a lot wrong with Demon Slayer, but it is genuinely a very enjoyable anime to watch. It looks gorgeous, the soundtrack is great, the writing and plot is very solid. There are just those small intricacies that detract from the overall quality of the show.
I'd still say it's very, very good, but definitely has a few things to improve. However, as the show progresses, a lot of the issues are addressed with the introduction of more characters and more development. Who knows, season 2 might be a masterpiece! In any case, I'll still be watching as I really did like Demon Slayer, and I will 100% recommend it to those who are new to anime or want to watch a typical Shounen show.
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