Ah ufotable, the studio that keeps on giving. Before Kimetsu no Yaiba aired, news broke out that we’d get them animating the show. And to my delight, it’s a studio that earned its praise for its high caliber animation and consistently delivering quality content. Being their first 2-cour show (without a split cour break), Kimetsu no Yaiba is a special gift not just for the manga fans but anyone ready to experience a world of demons and dark fantasy.
With over 170 chapters and counting, manga artist Koyoharu Gotouge made this series as a dark fantasy-adventure about demons. With 26 episodes, there are some concerns about ... how much content we’d actually get adapted. For statistical references, each episode adapts about 3 chapters. Most of the episodes follows these chapters by the letter and to manga fans, I think this is a special treat. Not too manga series follows this trend and some unfortunately decides to jump off the rail and follow its own path. With that being said, Kimetsu no Yaiba is a series that I recommend and there’s plenty reasons to see why.
The experience of watching this show goes beyond the realm of its visual quality. Ufotabe applied their cinematic style to bring the characters and story to life but it’s important to realize what the author wanted to bring from his work. From the start, the show had a vision. It sets up a state of tragedy that deals with life and death. The demons in this show are devices created with the purpose to generate fear, the type of feeling that viewers needs to experience when watching a dark fantasy. Often these days, I find myself feeling bored when watching dark fantasies when it relies too much on relationship developments. Instead, Kimetsu no Yaiba elegantly tells a story that’s straightforward yet meaningful to deliver its premise. We meet main protagonist Tanjiro Kamado, a determined demon slayer who stops at nothing to help find a cure for his sister, Nezuko. The first few episodes establishes their important character relationship as even with Nezuko being a demon, he refuse to kill her. In return, Nezuko uses her own skills to help Tanjiro when he is in trouble fighting demons on his own. Early episodes also shows Tanjiro learning the ropes as a demon slayer. The anime makes it clear about the reality of their world where death is common and can happen in the brink of an eye. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at what happens to Tanjiro’s family. With such a tragic setup, the anime seeks to bring hope for Tanjiro and his journey to make things better for his only remaining family.
In remembering the past, Kimetsu no Yaiba is known for showing the importance of family. Known for showing rather than telling, it should be easy to see the close relationship Tanjiro has with his sister, mother, and father. Throughout the show, Tanjiro is also known for his duty to eliminate demons although he doesn’t truly hate all of them. Rather than having a black and white philosophy, he also feels sympathy for some of the demons he faces. However, there is one demon he both fears and despises – the mysterious and powerful Kibutsuji Muzan. As the primary antagonist of the show, he is also the catalyst of tragic events in Tanjiro’s life. Let’s face the reality here: he killed Tanjiro’s family and is responsible in making Nezuko into a demon. How can Tanjiro not hate this demon? As a cold-hearted and manipulative personality, Kibutsuji is one of Tanjiro’s main obstacles to overcome during this dark fantasy adventure. Unfortunately, we don’t get too much inside scoop on Kibutsuji’s character besides what he shows on the surface. The anime limited itself with adapting his story but it’s still shown that he is one, if not the most dangerous antagonist in this show.
With the premise of demon slaying, there’s plenty of room for other characters to get their own spotlights. Some of the more prominent names include Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, and Genya Shinazugawa. The author made these characters with conflicting personalities to bring more value to their roles. For instance, Zenitsu is initially portrayed as a coward but over time, he conquers his fears and learns to accept his role as a demon slayer. Inosuke is known for his fierce personality and competitive persona. While the show doesn’t develop his character as much as the others, he brings a unique form of fighting and charisma. And we shouldn’t forget about Genya since he first appeared in the show. Known for its foul mouth and killing desire, one should wonder how much he can really fit the role as a demon slayer. It helps that Kimetsu no Yaiba features a diverse cast of characters who are all unique on their own. On the other hand, the same principle may not apply entirely for the demons. Truth to be told, most of the demons in the show has a rather one sided personality. Most of them are known for their bloodlust and urge to kill. It’s a primary factor that can make the demons more forgettable compared to the human characters. Outside of Kibutsuji, it’s really hard to say any of these demons are actually worth remembering for this adaptation. If in the future when this gets more animated episodes, they could be worth mentioning.
Yet, ufotable is well worth mentioning again for their stellar animation and character work. It seems throughout the show, there isn’t one instance where an episode suffered quality. It manages to consistently adapt battle scenes with stylistic and cinematic choreography. Character movements aren’t wasted but instead used to showcase the different fighting styles of the cast. The show also uses a realistic environment of snow and mountains to show the harsh conditions of surviving in the wilderness. The demon designs are made with menacing elements from their aggressive nature to their killing expressions. At the same time, the anime also has room for humor with over the top character emotive performances especially from Zenitsu. Even Tanjiro himself has moments where you can’t easily forget. If there’s something to take away from this show, it’s ufotable and the director’s impressive work. They earned this praise. If you don't believe me, watch episode 19 and see for yourself.
And it’s not only that either. Music and the soundtrack used in this show creates a thrilling atmosphere. In early episodes, I could feel the show being able to tell its story by its melancholic soundtrack alone. When you take the fact of the cast being able to make the characters into life, it really sends a strong impression. The OP song “Gurenge” by LISA carries a sensational aura with its visual storytelling while the ED theme “from the edge” contains a feeling of serenity and loneliness.
Kimetsu no Yaiba is like a love letter to dark fantasy adventure fans. Based on financial reports, the first week had sold over 11k copies while the manga also enjoys a decent success. It’s not too often to see this type of series succeed but I’m so glad it’s on this road. With ufotable behind the wheels as its studio, this is no pushover when it comes to technical quality. The characters and storytelling are meaningful to its premise while maintain an aura of mystique. We really need more adaptations like Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Alternative Titles Synonyms: Blade of Demon Destruction Japanese: 鬼滅の刃 Information Type: TV Episodes: 26 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Apr 6, 2019 to Sep 28, 2019 Premiered: Spring 2019 Broadcast: Saturdays at 23:30 (JST) Licensors: Aniplex of America Studios: ufotable Source: Manga Theme: Historical Demographic: Shounen Duration: 23 min. per ep. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) Statistics Score: 8.471 (scored by 2,090,701 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #1442 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #6 Members: 3,025,442 Favorites: 91,251 Available AtResources | ReviewsSep 28, 2019 Ah ufotable, the studio that keeps on giving. Before Kimetsu no Yaiba aired, news broke out that we’d get them animating the show. And to my delight, it’s a studio that earned its praise for its high caliber animation and consistently delivering quality content. Being their first 2-cour show (without a split cour break), Kimetsu no Yaiba is a special gift not just for the manga fans but anyone ready to experience a world of demons and dark fantasy. With over 170 chapters and counting, manga artist Koyoharu Gotouge made this series as a dark fantasy-adventure about demons. With 26 episodes, there are some concerns about ... May 11, 2019 This is your typical Shounen anime but done damn right. The story is somewhat new in a sense and character location or setting I would say is also kind of new to me in shounen anime, I am saying this because now days shounen anime always start in a city or suburb areas. Its nice to see this anime start the story from middle of nowhere kind of setting (given this anime takes place in past, its not new but different in my opinion). The action scenes are jaw dropping and are something you would rewind the few seconds of that scene to see again. Tanijro as ... May 11, 2019 I've just watch 6 episodes but I think it's necessary to do a review of this. Kimetsu no Yaiba has a great story. In a nutshell, it's about a guy named Tanjirou with a sister who was the unique survivor to a massacre of a demon to their family but she turned into one and it's Tanjirou's mission find a way to return humanity to his sister. The art is really AWESOME, we can see this in every episode with the detailed desing of the characters, the background and landscapes. The draw style is outstanding even in the little bonus at the end of every chapter. It ... Sep 28, 2019 Only cynical criticism can save us from the gooey sentimentality and naivete, but sometimes rarely a series too precious to deserve this treatment appears, offering nothing but genuine entertainment to a point where its own shortcomings start to seem very insignificant compared to its strongest merits. I may have a soft spot in my heart for this series, but all the things I found to be problematic within the work are still covered here in this review and explained why I think they can be forgiven, because even with all of its problems, this is -in its own way- one of the greatest series seen ... May 11, 2019 From the studio that brought you “Fate/Zero” (Ufotable, Inc.), comes another visually stunning ‘eye-gasm’ of epic proportions. In an age where shoddy 3D animation has run amok, it’s refreshing to see a studio get it ‘right.’ With its unique character designs, fluid action sequences, and gorgeous landscapes. Weaving a tapestry of eye-gasmic beauty! Where “Kimetsu no Yaiba” excels in the animation department, it lacks in its unoriginal story and dearth character developments. While the former shortcoming can be overlooked due to the exhilarating, well executed plot points, the latter cannot. Tanjirou Kamado, a trained Demon Hunter set to hunt down the ... Aug 10, 2019 HOLY SHRIMP THIS ANIME IS GOOD. To be completely honest, even though this anime has been doing really well, I still think its under-rated. Let's break down the quality of each aspect of the show shall we? I'll keep this relatively short and summarize the quality of each aspect without spoiling anything! Story (10/10) : Not only is this anime setting and story line a relatively unique idea, it's also paced masterfully. Some may say the beginning is slightly slow, but if you continue to watch past those parts, it only adds to the experience. It allows you to understand what all those slow paced parts were ... May 11, 2019 This is going to be a shorter review compared to some other ones that I've written since I didn't write this one in advance as compared to my other two reviews, so this is probably much more disorganized but nevertheless, I wanted to share my opinion on this so far. Story - 8/10 The story starts off with our main protagonist Tanjiro, who one day finds his entire family killed, with his sister, Nezuko being turned into a demon. Some other stuff happens, which eventually leads to him becoming a part of the Demon Slayer Corps. This immediately establishes a goal, and kind of makes the goal ... Aug 10, 2019 I’ve been obsessed with Japanese anime for more than 20 years. I’m such an otaku that I’ve watched (or heard of) almost every anime out there. But never have I been as moved or awed by any anime, as I have by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. I rarely write reviews, but I’m making an exception here because this anime is just too remarkable. Watching this anime, from Ep 1, has been an exceedingly emotional journey. The combination of flawless animation, gorgeous music and magnificent storytelling puts Kimetsu no Yaiba right at the top. Have I mentioned the animation? Have I? It’s bloody fantastic, pun intended. Obviously, ... Sep 28, 2019 Once upon a time, the anime industry came up with the perfect formula to create highly acclaimed shounen one after the other; however, as time passed, this pattern became repetitive and, while a few next-gen shounen have been able to achieve their objective following this predetermined path, most of them have faltered along the way. Kimetsu no Yaiba is not your typical shonen anime but at the same time it is. It does not have your archetypical main character that accomplishes all his goals through the power of friendship and/or by activating his hidden power -which is never revealed until the plot armour established is not ... Sep 28, 2019 It's the heart that drives people. So grow yours to as strong as it can be. That's beautiful, sums up to me what the message of Kimetsu no Yaiba Demon Slayer really is. Follow your heart, listen to it, if your heart is strong you can do anything. The story of Tanjiro and Nezuko is a tragedy there is no doubt but it never feels hopeless. Even at his lowest Tanjiro never gives up, as cliche as that sounds it matters to hear. Some famous words of "Don't give up, don't ever give up". Tanjiro and his heart are the embodiment of that ideal. Striving ... Aug 1, 2020 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese dark fantasy, adventure manga series by Koyoharu Gotōge with an anime adaptation by Ufotable, directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by Hikaru Kondo. Season 1 began airing on April 6th, 2019 with the final episode of the season airing on September 28th, 2019. Here’s the basic plot: Our protagonist is Tanjirou Kamado (Voiced by Natsuki Hanae). Following his father’s death, Tanjirou supports his family by selling charcoal. Despite their hardships, his family lives a content, happy life. That is, until demons attack and slaughter his family, save for his sister, Nezuko (Voiced by Akari Kitō). It’s not as simple ... Nov 16, 2020 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a historical, action-shōnen, supernatural manga written and illustrated by Gotouge Koyoharu. Adapted into an anime series by the immensely talented Studio Ufotable. The studio behind the successful anime adaptions of Type Moon's series: Fate and Kara no Kyoukai. Demon Slayer has taken the world by storm, the series has exploded in popularity, with manga sales exceeding 100+ million within a year's time. While the anime is being recognized as a classic. Set within the Taishō period of Japan, young Kamado Tanjiro inspires to become a "Demon Slayer", pursuing a path of vengeance for the murder of his family committed by a ... Sep 10, 2021 (CONTAINS SPOILERS) Demon Slayer is an anime about a kid named Tanjiro that had his family killed by a demon but only one of his family members lived and that was his sister Nezuko. Tanjiro is out with revenge to kill the person who killed almost all of his family by passing any obstacle that comes his way like getting his sister bitten to a bloody nightmare or fighting to survive. The narrative isn't the best thing in the world but at least its something enjoyable. . Animation: When it comes to animation the show has a lot to offer. I swear to you every frame is a ... Jun 1, 2021 I rarely like shounen protagonists. They're usually "dumb", noisy, self-centered, ambitious, somehow inapt, don't seem to know how to deal with feelings... which is boring to me. Tanjiro's different. He's sweet, caring, and is not after some big thing for himself. He reminds me a bit of Kenshin, from Rurouni Kenshin. And it's not only him! Other characters in Demon Slayer have been/are being developed this wayl: Urokodaki, the leader of the Demon Slayers, Tomioka in his own way... To me this is a plus. I love to see male and female characters go out of their traditional roles, because this way I can ... Sep 28, 2019 Demon Slayer had me shooked from the very first episode. Tanjirou went home to find out that his whole family had been slaugtered, and the sole survivor, his little sister Nezuko, had became a demon. What is worse is that Tomioka caught on that there was a new demon on the loose so he tried to kill her. But of course, we were given a VERY epic scene where Tanjirou used his smarts to defeat Tomioka. Ever since that first episode, I was hooked. Demon Slayer is not the typical shounen/action anime. Yes, there's going to be a new demon that Tanjirou. or another demon slayer. ... Aug 22, 2021 Kimetsu no Yaiba is definitely one of the most popular titles to be released in the anime industry in the recent years, especially due to its beautiful animations and visuals. However, just like with every anime, such popularity also comes with high expectations from viewers who pick up the anime based on this fact - they expect to see an anime that is near perfection in all of its aspects and one could never raise a finger about any of the discrepancies. What I'm referring to is the amount of unnecessary hate Kimetsu no Yaiba has received for having seemingly lackluster story and/or bad writing. ... Mar 18, 2021 *Spoilers ahead* Kimetsu no Yaiba or Demon Slayer is probably what you would think it is People slaying demons. I am kinda new to this reviewing thing so go easy on me hehe. Demon Slayer is what it was hyped up to be and I am glad I got what I wanted out of this anime. Going into the anime I recognized most of the characters as I got spoiled on social media a bit but it didn't matter. All that matters to me is the story behind the anime and the characters if you get my jist. The tales of Tanjiro Kamado, Nezuko Kamado, Inosuke ... Aug 24, 2020 This anime is TBH one of the best action anime i've ever seen. Demon Slayer has quite a good plot and basically i will say the success behind this anime is it's artstyle and the OST and Opening song. Like when they gave the opening song as BG song in ep 19 and even in the last episode. They almost made an AMV in ep 26 :3 Demon Slayer is an anime where it is the timeline of Demons and the master of all the demon is Kibutsuji Muzan. Kamado Tanjiro is the Main protagonist of this anime who has lost his whole family at ... Jan 5, 2021 (MINOR SPOILERS [I guess]) Kimetsu no Yaiba or better known as Demon Slayer... This anime has been one of the best I have ever seen. Woah, hold it! Don't criticize me just yet! Let me explain. The Story - The story is pretty simple. As you all know, Tanjiro's family is murdered by a demon and his sister is turned into one and all that kind of stuff. The story throughout is simple. Does that mean it is bad? NO! Just because it is simple doesn't make it BAD! I have seen many shows and movies (not all them anime by the way) that tried to be ... Aug 18, 2020 this review is simply for my enjoyment i am analyzing nothing and nothing is that serious. if you are considering watching this because there is a lot of hype around it, you should simply believe the hype. this anime has it all, flamboyant character design, tear jerking back stories, and children displaying a level of skill and art in combat that is unbelievable. my fave sub plot is when the characters start to learn more about themselves and how to act because tanjiro is simply that incredible. by existing he betters the lives of everyone he touches. power of friendship levels 100. i am an ... |