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Demon Slayer: A Promising Start but Let Down by the Name
By Yung Namahage • 4 years ago

I was looking forward to checking out the anime adaptation of Demon Slayer, which debuted earlier this week. After beginning serialization in the lofty Shonen Jump in 2016, I've heard a lot of praise regarding the manga's art, plot and characters that subvert the usual shonen tropes. But its title is undeniably weak. 


It's a perfectly indicative name for the series. Yes, there are demons and they do indeed get slain, but that doesn't stop it from being so generic that most people probably won't give it a second look. After all, it's not like there's a shortage of anime about slaying demons. Fortunately the anime uses its Japanese name, Kimetsu no Yaiba, as a subtitle, which does make it stand out a little even if it translates to the same thing as the English title. Redundancy aside, you might be wondering why I haven't called out Goblin Slayer for having an almost identical title, but goblins are an almost uniquely western creature and, to my knowledge, aren't nearly as well-represented in anime and manga as the more universal demons.


Anyway, back to the anime. Set in early 20th century Japan, Tanjiro is a kindhearted boy with a keen sense of smell who lives with his family on a mountain. One snowy day, he goes into town to make money selling charcoal but doesn't return until the next day. When he does get home, he notices the strong scent of blood in the air, and finds his life has been changed forever. After finding his sister Nezuko is still alive but has undergone some drastic changes he meets an actual demon slayer, and begins his quest to hunt down the demons that killed his family and cure his sister.


The premise is definitely solid, the characters so far are believable and the animation is certainly fluid. There isn't a whole lot of action in the first episode, but if the rest of the series is anywhere near as hype as what the OP promises then mark me as interested. Weirdly, the demons in the series seem to have more in common with vampires than with your usual demons, e.g. infecting victims through their wounds and being averse to sunlight, but hey, at least the demons in the series aren't as generic as the name of said series.


Catch the first episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba on Crunchyroll. Have you read the manga? Will you be keeping up with this series? Drop your thoughts in the comments.