Once upon a time I stumbled across this take a few weeks ago. I believe it was one of those weird YouTube community posts they recommended you now on your home page. “Damn that’s crazy”, I thought, thinking this to be an isolated incident. However as time flew by and we delved deeper into the season, I’ve actually heard the sentiment among a good number of people that Demon Slayer’s writing has become completely stale, formulaic, and bland, and the only reason people give a fuck about the show is due to the fantastic animation quality. Let’s dive into that. 

First I have to give the argument the credit it’s due. Sadly, Demon Slayer HAS become a completely predictable story with no major twists or turns in a long time. Each arc is the same format. Tanjiro goes to a new location. We introduce a new Hashira and Demon. They fight. Hashira struggles, and then receives backstory. After more fighting the Demon struggles. We learn why this Demon wasn’t actually that bad back when they were a human. Tanjiro and the boys win the fight, and the Hashira possibly survives or not. On the surface there’s nothing wrong with this in theory. It’s great that the anime humanizes its villains and shows that even the super tough heroes get their asses beat. The problem is that it’s completely formulaic. The overall plot of Demon Slayer is already about as generic shounen as it could possibly be, but then tack on some stereotypes and repeated plot devices and the audience can get bored quickly. For me personally, Demon Slayer is still about an 8/10 show overall due to the fantastic spectacle it provides. Whenever a fight starts I know I’m gonna witness a cinematic experience, whether it’s a movie or just a damn weekly episode. While it’s a basic formula, Demon Slayer still manages to check the main boxes to provide a fun watch in my eyes. Though I can understand why those who want a more thought provoking experience would be disappointed. Then again… why are you looking for that in Demon Slayer at this point my guy? I think the main people who are disappointed are fans that didn’t quite see the formula at first, but then got the curtain peeled back after a few arcs.

Thank you girl, at least shield Baby Nezuko from the criticism.

No matter what the Internet crowd ends up deciding, I know I’m still tuning in to see this series finished. Too much time is invested to give up now baby (my favorite fallacy) and I don’t have any problem shutting my brain off to see some ridiculously well animated combat each week. Are you watching Demon Slayer? Have you seen this argument floating around? Do you think it has some merit, or are people looking for the wrong things in a shounen anime? Forge a sword, control your breathing, and slice through the demons in the comments below!