Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Anime Review: A Crowd Pleaser
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba is a 2019 anime that is set in Taisho era Japan and filled with adventure, monsters, and really pretty animation. A young boy named Tanjiro Kamada becomes a sword-fighting demon slayer in order to protect his half-demon sister and find a way to turn her back into a human. What really strikes me about this anime is how gorgeously animated it is, a credit to Ufotable, the animation studio. The very first episode showcased gorgeous mountain scenery and beautifully designed characters, enough to capture the imagination of any viewer. The story follows classic shounen anime tropes of a hero undergoing an early tragedy and working his way through trials and tribulations to become stronger. I wouldn’t say that I was gripped from beginning to end, which might be shocking because I know this anime is a fan favorite and super well-loved. But I will say that I think this story has so much potential to become more and more epic. The set-up of the characters, and especially the villains, leave so much room to explore, so I look forward to this becoming an epic saga for a new generation.
Demon Slayer creates a fantastical world of human versus demon, where the humans have various interesting fighting techniques (utilizing elements like water, fire, and…insects?) and the demons have specialized skills of their own as well. There’s a secret society called the Demon Slayer Corps that hunts down demons and protects humans, which is an alliance that Tanjiro trains up to join. There are various levels of skill both on the human side and the demon side, with the strongest of each group hinted at in this first season, but not fully revealed. That’s why I think this series is being set up for a very long run, because each fight sequence and enemy can take multiple episodes. I think the story flows well because there is a large goal that Tanjiro and Nezuko are aiming towards - to turn Nezuko back into a human and exact revenge on the demon that killed their family. I like when shounen series have an ultimate and pressing goal that is being worked towards instead of endless missions to drag it out as long as possible (I’m looking at you Naruto).
The main characters are very weak in terms of fighting demons right now, so there’s still a lot of room to grow. The main character, Tanjiro, is almost angelic in how likable he is. Luckily he’s not boring to watch because he seems to have a huge reserve of hidden talent that keeps audiences wondering how he’ll “level up.” Nezuko is a very interesting character because she’s unpredictable and there’s so little known about her ability and personality. The few scenes of when she was human says very little about her character, other than the fact that she was beautiful and sweet. The sidekicks, Inosuke and Zenitsu, are both kind of meh because they’re both so extreme that it’ll take some time for them to grow on me. Zenitsu is especially annoying because he’s constantly screaming, crying, and/or whining. I will say that one of the best parts of season 1 was meeting the Hashiras, or the OG demon slayer fighters. I love Giyu and Shinobu already, and I look forward to knowing more about the backstory and skillset of each Hashira.
In conclusion…
Demon Slayer is one of those shows that is super hyped up and a crowd-pleaser. It’s gorgeous to look at, the story flows fairly well, and the set-up gets you excited for subsequent seasons. I thought it was fun for me to watch in moderation, but not binge-worthy. I think that some of the missions were more boring than others, but not boring enough to quit altogether. To end this review, I wanted to call out that the opening song of this series, Gurenge by LiSA, is absolutely fantastic. Even people who have never watched Demon Slayer before have probably heard this song because it’s just so good. Definitely check it out below if you haven’t!