Kimetsu no Yaiba

Finally we have it, the new anime about loud teenagers with cool swords fighting the ultimate evil. Another shonen jump work which I ultimately like, but have a hard time describing the experience as not frustrating. So let’s get to that. The animation and presentation are definitely a plus, containing beautiful 3d backgrounds, that are seamlessly implemented (for the most part). The composition and usage of color are great, setting the mood really well, making for a good ominous spooky atmosphere, which in turn, really brings to life the more melancholic tragic aspects of the story. Those only come into play when we finally see thedemons dying, sadly. The lament for these wretched creatures, lost to all love and humanity becoming really touching. More importantly the animation is fluid where it matters, the action scenes, the audience can always follow what is happening; feel the strikes and impacts of every blow, in those. So basically this looks sex. Oh yeah, it also sounds sex. The music is phenomenal, impossible to find a mistake with. Every track seems to have a purpose, melody, also allowing for an entire new layer when added. You can get the gist of a scene, the danger, peril, sadness excitement of moments, or whole sequences with the soundtrack alone. I would argue sometimes in terms of emotions, those are actually doing most of the job. Try and imagine episode 19 without the incredible track in the flashback, or the rush for the final strike. You would have a completely different fight (and a way more boring one). In terms of translating the Kimetsu no Yaiba’s story into anime, there is definitely a lot of work in crafting this show, which is shown in every episode (not mob psycho levels, but it sure is up there with the best). In terms of narrative, it also contains some cool stuff. It understands the appeal of modern shonen, those are usually short and direct to the point. Borrowing a lot of elements and inspiration from classics in the genre, but making for a breezier, better-paced viewing. Which I would argue is great in a genre where pulpy action and excitement are 90% of the appeal (though Yaiba moves way too fast a lot of the time). Also, there is always a good sense of progression, getting slowly larger in scope, the story allowing for constantly bigger threats and enemies. I do think the show handles the whole slowly developing for a larger narrative with dozen characters, and world ending stakes somewhat neatly. Unfortunately, there was a lot that stopped me from completely buying to the emotions of this melodramatic and exciting tale. The characters were the issue for the most part, needing a more elaborate development in several key moments. The first episode is infamous in that regard, for killing the protagonist family in the middle of its run, while giving our main 3 scenes interacting with them. On this specific situation we find the protagonist motivation, the fact he lost everything of value, while gaining determination to save his sister and fight demons. But it feels like more of an afterthought, irrelevant, because we barely know this character, or have any grasp on the relations displayed, and bam, they die. Understanding the protagonist is essential, we need to see what he loves, get true action and moments with those people, see that family and discover why they were something to die for. The entire basis of the series relies on the Nezuko – Tanjirou bond, the thing it needs to nail more than anything. However, the introduction blows it pretty well. The issue of never managing to land, the big importance character moments and interaction, is prevalent. There are some obvious shortcuts attempted, like both Zenitsu and Tanjirou’s main fight in the anime, rely on a memory of an important father figure. Detail, we were not aware those characters even existed before the conflict of the episode started, and their whole appearance in the narrative is through flashbacks where they say important information. These interactions and supposedly super important people have no weight, or purpose, only serving for exposition. The lack of development is almost disturbing, just try and give such appearances relevance before putting them as devices to move plot. Try and think of episode 19 without the music, suddenly there is not much to care. Narratives inevitably become more complicated, entangled plotlines more common, complexity only tends to rise with progression. In turn this makes the need for a strong foundation really pressing, especially in the shonen genre, one infamous for introducing dozens of new characters per arc. Yaiba is giving strong signs of branching off, as lots of new super relevant people have been introduced. Nevertheless, I cannot trust our main party to hold interest at the center stage. My boy, Tanjirou, is probably the best of a character this show has, and even him does not hold that well on his own. Sure I may love way too good for this world boys, filled with kindness, comprehension, focus on always attempting to do what is best for the world, with everything he’s got. It may be impossible to not grow attached with the guy, seeing the lengths of effort displayed, the entire journey revolving around saving loved ones, and even more surprisingly, the own demons he uses that blade against. Goodness just comes so naturally for him, acts of helping, trying to understand, while also putting everything on the line for others, they just hit me right in the feels. Nevertheless, no matter how much I love his nature, there is something lacking, which comes in the almost nonexistent challenges. The ideals and what Tanjirou represents are never meaningfully contradicted, and he never experiences much in terms of failure. The ideals are too perfect, and come pretty much unscathed through the course of the story. This means he is not given much to react to, and learn from the world, or adversaries presented. Conflict mostly comes from external, physical barriers only there to be surpassed, but are not really that meaningful or memorable. While somehow everyone else features way worst when hold to scrutiny. Another issue comes from how Kimetsu no Yaiba is not really developing most of the concepts presented. The anime wants to have this tragic depressing side, where the demons are representations to some of humanity deepest anxieties, and desires, perverted on these loveless creatures. All the while denying to develop, and add human characteristics for the demons through most of their appearances. Giving the whole weight of characterization, humanity through flashbacks is a really roundabout way of adding the idea. Especially when they happen just when the character is dying, i.e., there is no more conflict, i.e., they do not matter anymore. The contrast, between the man eating monster at the surface, and human nature in the core, is barely allowed time, proper position, to shine, and make room for conflicted feelings towards the adversaries. The fact those are inflicted souls suffering is here, but portrayed in an addendum like manner, which feels related to nothing. The same wasted potential can be seen on the emphasis the show gives to the importance of empathy. Shown in the signs of it wanting us to understand and care for these creatures, their humanity and existences are not objects of pity, indifference, rage, but are of worth, deserve to be respected, and ultimately acknowledged. Humans and demons alike deserve compassion, someone who will attempt to understand their pains, try and help, Tanjirou being in the role of always doing this. Nevertheless, the concept is never given relevance in the narrative, our characters never win because of understanding the demon, the knowledge of who they were as people is in effect, made practically useless. Despite the importance of bounds, helping the weak and afflicted, being something hard to deny, Kimetsu no Yaiba does not have a particularly meaningful thing to say, or topic to explore, regarding such point Concluding, Kimetsu no Yaiba might be an action spectacle at times, with plenty of fun moments and interactions, which I would overall recommend. There were some reasons I could never completely embark in this mostly comfy show, about an impossibly good natured kid. Go for Mob Psycho for a way more interesting version of such, but you are probably going to have a better experience than me.

Oh boy, the seasonal battle shounen that everyone raves about, what does it do right? Well to be completely honest, nothing, the only thing it got going for it is the production quality from ufotable. Story: 2 (contains spoilers up to ep 19) There's really nothing special here, the series starts out with Tanjirou's family got devouvered by demons and his sister Nezuko got turned into one. In order to save his sister and turn her human again he set out to find Muzan Kibutsuji the original demon who surely has some way of turning Nezuko human again. In order to get to him he needs tobe strong and fight a lot of demons thus he becomes a demon slayer. After this set up he just fights demons every episode and honestly it gets tiring fast. They decide to fix this repetitiveness by introducing two other main characters who are extremely obnoxious and later by introducing a spider demon who's several times more powerful than Tanjirou and the demons we've seen prior. However the way they handle this demon is done in the worst way possible, first to showcase how powerful he is when Tanjirou goes to cut his spider thread it is the sword that is cut instead and after getting destroyed by the demon, he has a flashback and pulls out a breathing technique called dance of the fire god from his ass, he then oblitirates his opponent with his sword whose blade is now half the length of the hilt. After this I completely gave up on the series, Fairy Tail has better writing than this. Art / Animation: 8 The reason this series got popular in the first place, I have to admit it's beautiful and the fight scenes are fantastic, I do have a minor issue whenever I see CG Tanjirou walking around but it's otherwise fantastic. Sound: 6 There's really nothing to complain about but there's not much to praise either. The music is solid and gets the job done but it's also unmemorable. The've assambled an absolutely fantastic voice cast but their roles don't alow for them to shine, the only exeptional voice performance is from Saori Hayami as Shinobu. Characters: 0 The absolute worst part of the show, pretty much all the characters are as flat as a piece of cardboard with a single character trait, for many of them this character trait is also extremely obnoxious. Tanjirou is your standard shounen protagonist, overly righteous with a strong sense of comradery, honestly a really boring character that we've all seen a hundred times before so that he still ends up being one of the best characters in the show is speaking volumes about the rest of the cast. Nezuko is cute and that's it, apart from protecting Tanjirou a handful of times she hasn't done anything apart from looking cute she's also one of the better characters in the show. Inosuke is stupid, loud and obnoxious and tries to solve everything by beating stuff up, that's it there's nothing else to his character. Zenitsu is one of the worst characters I've seen in any medium, he's the biggest coward ever and his constant screaming makes you want to tear your hair off. Giyuu seems like a passable character on par with Tanjirou but I haven't found a reason to actually like him. Shinobu would be the most intersting character so far but she appears too robotic in her mission ''demon bad, gotta kill demon''. If she actually listened to Giyuu but still come to the same conclusion I wouldn't have a problem. Also she's a woman so of course she has to be too weak to sever the head of a demon, her sword and poison is cool and all but come on, find a better reason, it's pretty clear that strength is not the key component in severing the head of a demon in this universe. The rest of the pilars hasn't had much screentime but they've made an awful first impression, they've all been shows to have a single exaggerated character trait and nothing else. Enjoyment: 0 Boring plot with obnoxious characters that drive you insane leads to an absolutely abysmal level of enjoyment on par with staring into a wall while listening to a screaming baby for 10 hours. Overall: 1 To me this is the perfect example of style over substance and goes to show that as long as something has flashy fight scenes it's very likely to be loved by the anime community. If you're not already a big battle shounen fan who's able to watch a series for the action sakuga alone stay far away from this series.

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 abouthow 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.

Welp...I'm late to this party! Time to review the most overrated shonen garbage of the last 5 years! Demon Slayer is an anime that absolutely EVERYONE watched last year. Except for me of course, because I was watching bad hentai to make comedy reviews on the internet! I went in with pretty damn high expectations. As of January 2020, DS is rated one of the best anime of all time on MAL and the #1 anime of all time on Kitsu. I'm dead serious! The kids on Kitsu truly think that this is the GOAT. Galactic Heroes? Ping Pong? Lain? Ashita no Joe? No! Fuckthat shit! Demon Slayer baby! I went in expecting an action series SO epic that it blows your balls off and shoves them up your ass! I expected the love child of Hellsing Ultimate, Fist of the North Star, and Berserk with maybe some Shigurui and Violence Jack thrown in for good measure! The anime with SO much testosterone that Woody Allen could watch it and go into a Norse Berserker rampage, repeatedly bashing his head against a wall just to calm down! What did I get? A very average shonen that looks pretty but is horribly written. At least RebelPanda tried to warn me about this. I just didn't listen. He's now made me a sad panda too! So, what is Demon Slayer about? They certainly don't slay any demons. That's just a shitty translation into English. In Japanese the enemies are called Oni, but they're actually vampires. They're undead, fanged humans with vampire powers that can transform other humans by biting them and are immortal unless exposed to sunlight or decapitated with a holy weapon. They're fucking vampires! I'm going to call them that for the rest of this review. The story starts off as shonen as possible. The main character is named Tanjiro and he's a young coal miner/charcoal merchant from a small, mountain village. At least he's a country bumkin, so he's not in middle school! One day, an old man randomly warns him that vampires exist! Later that night, his family are slaughtered by vampires. The old man wasn't a vampire BTW, that was pure coincidence because this show is horribly written. However, Tanjiro's adorable little sister Nezuko has survived and turned into a vampire! A vampire hunter immediately shows up to kill Nezuko, but Tanjiro fights against him and desperately tries to save her. While all other vampires immediately turn evil, Nezuko is able to avoid killing her brother and retains her goodness because the power of love. The vampire hunter is very impressed by the strong bond between these siblings, so he spares Nezuko and sends Tanjiro off to train under an incredibly generic kung fu master and become a vampire hunter. As you would expect, Pai Mei is a hard bastard and puts Tanjiro through the wringer. He trains for a year and gains superhuman strength, speed, and techniques because this is a shonen. Now it's time for the vampire hunter test! The final exam involves surviving for days against hordes of high-level vampires. The test is so EXTREME and BADASS, that only 2 people have survived it in the last 50 years! The vampire hunter test has killed over 100 potential vampire hunters and thus has actually produced more vampires than hunters. Now that's what I call efficiency! Tanjiro survives of course because he's the main character and that gives him the power of plot armor! Let's stop the plot summary and talk about world building. Something that Demon Slayer forgot to do. I mentioned this in my review of Shiki, but vampires are fucking bullshit! In most vampire fiction, they're immortal and it takes 50 villagers with luck on their side to take down a vampire. The vampires can turn other people into vampires and increase their population exponentially, but somehow there aren't that many vampires and normal people don't believe in them. There's an amazing scene in the Witcher novels in which the comic relief bard talks to a vampire about how they reproduce. The vampire replies, "Of course we can't bite other people and turn them into vampires! Do you comprehend basic math? Let's assume a founding population of just 1,000 vampires that came into existence 500 years ago. Each vampire attacks remote villages and kills only 1 peasant per month. Just 20 percent of those bitten turn into vampires. At the end of the first year, there are just under 2400 vampires assuming a couple fucked up and got killed. At the end of year 5 there are 79,000 vampires. After 500 years, do you really think that vampires would be so rare that you've never seen one?!" The only way for humans to stand a prayer against vampires would be to design a highly effective weapon that's mass produced to the point that everyone has one and can use it. How about a crossbow that shoots blessed silver bolts? In Demon Slayer, the only thing stopping vampires is the guild of vampire hunters, who designed a test so EXTREME that there are 10-15 vampire hunters at any one time and that's being very generous. In order for the vampires to not overrun Japan, Tanjiro must be putting up INSANE kill numbers. We're talking Soviet state executioner Vasily Blokhin numbers. 7,000 vampires a week! His life is eating, shitting, and killing vampires on an assembly line! In season 2, we're going to be introduced to 3 vampire hunters that by themselves have somehow been running Vampire Treblinka in the middle of Tokyo! Jesus, that rant got dark. I apologize for that highly offensive joke, but I just hate this show so much! Next, we're introduced to some annoying side characters that add nothing and piss me off. We do get some cool fight scenes though and Tanjiro carries Nezuko around in a basket as an homage to the 1982 B-movie Basket Case. I just wish it had referenced the Toxic Avenger instead. I'm more of Toxie guy! The art and animation is the only reason this show got a 5 and not a 3 or 4. Demon Slayer followed the My Hero Academia formula to make shonen great again. Rule #1 No filler #2 Fuck character development. Just have non-stop action! #3 SAKUGA!!! MOAR SAKUGA!!!! The music was a huge letdown for me. An action scene for me lives or dies by its music. If you want to have non-stop ass kicking, you better have a pulse pounding, AMAZING OST. Demon Slayer got the composer of Idol Master and 1/10th of the Tekken 5 OST. What's wrong with you Ufotable?! You're based out of Japan! You could have hired Michiru Yamane, the goddess who wrote all the awesome Castlevania music over her 30 year career at Konami! She made a whole career out of orgasmic, badass music about beating the fuck out of vampires! Even I would probably give this series a 7 if Yamane had been given the OST. Instead, I'm left having to deliver the sad report that the climactic battle scene from Season 2 of Netflix Castlevania was better than any single scene in Demon Slayer. Yes, the Netflix Americanime with that obnoxious Indian director who said he comes from the future. That show is better than Demon Slayer! Because Bloody Tears! So in conclusion, if you enjoyed Vampire Slayer...that's cool with me! It just wasn't my cup of tea, but I'm glad other people had fun with it. Those guys on Kitsu sure are overly generous though! If they loved Demon Slayer so much, I can't wait to read the praise they wrote about my favorite anime! (Browses Kitsu) Let's see here...series rank 1,983rd. The top rated review by a longshot simply reads: "u might enjoy this if u re a stupid, horny 12 y/o. LOL!" (channels George Costanza rage) " You know we're living IN A SOCIETY! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO ACT IN A CIVILIZED WAY!" I think this is the last time I ever browse Kitsu.

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