By Yasmeen Ali
Staff Writer
“Demon Slayer” has been on the top of everyone’s anime watchlist for a while now. Ever since the anime came out, many were captivated by the beautiful animation Ufotable is creating with Koyoharu Gotouge’s work. Gotouge is the author of the manga better known in Japan as “Kimetsu No Yaiba.”
In the past Gotouge has worked on multiple one-shot anime, however, none of them were able to reach the number of sales they made with their manga, “Kimetsu No Yaiba.” One of her first works was a short manga called “Kagarigari,” a demon-slayer manga that she used as a reference to base “Demon Slayer” off of.
Disclaimer: There are spoilers ahead!
The story begins with thirteen-year-old Kamado Tanjiro living as the main support for his mother and five younger siblings. He goes to a small village below the mountain from his house to sell coal but comes back to find his family slaughtered, with only his younger sister Nezuko still alive, but injured severely. As he tries to look for help, he finds out his sister, Nezuko, has become a man-eating demon.
In this anime, the main characters live in old Japan with the addition of man-eating demons. In order to survive, humans developed a way of breathing that allows them to gain an equal strength set that aligns with certain elements or forms to slay demons and protect people. Tanjiro, along with his demon sister Nezuko, goes on a journey for a cure to turn her back into a human, slaying demons along the way under an organization called the Demon Corps.
“Demon Slayer” portrays the common plot structure of something like a monster or villain of the week. It presents the main villain per chapter or per arc and has Tanjiro focus on defeating this foe. However, what sets this story apart from the others is Tanjiro’s maturity and empathy toward his opponent when defeating them. Rather than fighting for the sake of revenge, Tanjiro’s motive is focused on helping others.
By portraying this empathetic main character, the story is able to show its audience both the adrenaline-raising fight scenes and the heart-touching moments with the characters and demons.
Every time Tanjiro finishes off a demon, we get to view their past life and their regrets as a human and what led them to become the man-eating monster. This ultimately left people in awe and sympathetic for the crumbling villain as they cried in their final moments upon their release into death and our main character comforted them.
Compared to Gotogue’s work in the past, “Demon Slayer” has been able to reach greater heights than their past works. Ufotable’s animation is known for its creative and appealing adaptation of the manga, and its help with “Demon Slayer” has allowed the anime to gain a large fanbase.
Although, without the help of the great animation to help advertise, I believe her story might not have gotten as popular as it has. Because of the hype that Ufotable has created for the anime, many might believe it is popular simply because of the great animation.
On the other hand, although it was well-developed animation that attracted attention, the plot is equally compelling. Many were able to see a heartfelt story about two siblings that are now widely recognized and beloved in the anime community.
Character development in “Demon Slayer” plays a pretty large part in capturing the fan’s attention. I believe it’s also another factor of why the anime is so special.
For example, Zenitsu Agastuma, who is befriended by Tanjiro while on his way to his second mission, displays a unique design that many fans find amusing. The character provides comedic humor to the story but is also the one that gives the most spine chilling scenes for the audience to watch in awe.
The character comes off initially as a perverted crybaby; but, when it comes to his fight scenes which only last around a minute, he leaves the biggest impression.
Overall, I believe Demon Slayer has a great story to tell and is definitely something that deserves the praise it’s getting. Through all these loveable characters and interesting plotlines, it can be safe to say that this anime is something to add on one’s watchlist for anyone into adventure or dark fantasy. You can even just watch it for the animation itself.
The anime has already completed its first season so you can binge-watch it on sites like Crunchyroll or Funimation. However, a couple of days after its completion in September, they released a teaser for a movie.
“Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train,” is supposed to be covering the second season of the manga. It has been gaining a lot of hype over the past months and is anticipated to be released sometime this year of 2020. It’s definitely going to be an important part of the story for those who are watching the anime.
Featured photo (at the top of this post): This is an image from the official trailer for “Kimetsu No Yaiba: Mugen Train.” PHOTO CREDIT: Ufotable
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