Demon Slayer Review: A General Review of Kimetsu No Yaiba

First airing on 6 April 2019, Demon Slayer has broken several records in viewership and box office earnings. Adapted from the manga series of the same name, it has captured the hearts of fans on an international scale. It appeals to much more than strict action anime fans as it covers a depth of emotion, comedy and drama that gives completeness. In today’s article, we will be giving a General Review of Kimetsu No Yaiba. 

Plot

A kind-hearted and knowledgeable young man named Tanjiro Kamado lives in the highlands with his family. After his father passed away, he took over the role of family provider by traveling to the surrounding hamlet to sell charcoal. Everything changed when he returned home one day to find that a monster had attacked and killed his family. 

The only survivors of the catastrophe were Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko, who, although being changed into a demon, surprised everyone by still displaying human feeling and thought.

Tanjiro is sent to his retired master Sakonji Urokodaki for training to become a demon slayer after meeting Giy Tomioka, the Water Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. This is the start of his journey to aid his sister in turning into a human again and avenging the death of his family.

Tanjiro participates in a difficult exam after two years of strong training and is one of the few people to pass, making him a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. 

Alongside Nezuko, who has been hypnotized to cause no harm to humanity and who occasionally aids him in a fight. He starts his mission of tracking out and killing demons. Tanjiro visits Asakusa as part of one of his jobs and runs across Muzan Kibutsuji, the father of all demons and the person who murdered his family.

Additionally, he encounters Tamayo and Yushiro, two demons who have escaped Muzan’s influence. Together with Tanjiro, Tamayo and Yushiro start working on a treatment for Nezuko. However, Tanjiro will need to give Tamayo blood from the twelve Kizuki, the most powerful demons under Muzan’s command for this to work.

Review

The story addresses human nature and philosophy on one of the deepest of levels. The anime presents us with characters who have been through an incredible depth of pain. One group of people chose to gain strength and fight against the evil that caused them this pain (Demon Slayer Corps).

And the other chooses to get strength from the source of their pain with the promise of never being hurt again. Despite this dissection, the show never lets you entirely despise or venerate any of the sections.

We see this when the demons, at the point of death, reminisce about what their lives were before they were turned and the depth of pain.

They felt before choosing to switch sides. On the side of the Demon Slayers, we can also feel a little disappointed in them for their treatment of Tanjiro and Nezuko on their first meeting.

A General Review of Kimetsu No Yaiba Characters

Each character is so well defined and outstanding not only with respect to the nature of their powers or breathing techniques but down to their dialogue, personality and choices.

The Hashiras have no semblance of similarity apart from their clear admiration and respect for the commander of the Demon Slayer corps. The demons are all different with a wide variety of vices that make them evil.

No character has been specifically marked for comedic release. In our opinion is a good thing and the comedy never seems out of place.

In almost every section there is a main villain and hero. We get to reach a level of intimacy which makes us almost support all their choices.

A General Review of Kimetsu No Yaiba

The plot is well-paced and gives time for relationships and characters to shine. It also has this uncanny ability to switch tones seamlessly. In one episode, you could be laughing your lungs out at our protagonists being weird little guys. But in the next, you would be shivering in fear at the sight of human bodies being used and death puppets.

The fun thing is, you might not even notice when the tone changes, that is how immersive the story is.

Every story is made or broken by the quality of its hero and villain. This show has possibly the best hero in anime in recent years. Tanjiro is a warm and kind character filled with love and a desire to protect, he developed into this as he had to become the father of his family at a very young age.

He manages to show concern even for the most despicable of demons even in battle. His constant desire to protect his comrades pushes him to train and fight with all his heart even at the expense of his own life.

The villain, Muzan on the other hand is given the complete embodiment of evil. He dispatches humans and demons alike without even a sign of remorse. He is quite possibly the only truly evil person in the series (except Doma) albeit the fact that he is usually almost completely absent from the core of the story.

Any Negative Thing About the Series?

However, one negative point that stands out is the fact that some of the more light-hearted sequences. (The sequences at the Demon Slayer Corps infirmary after fighting the 5th lower moon, Rui. It seemed odd that people who witnessed those horrific scenes would recover from them and start joking around so easily).

While these sequences are normal to frequent anime watchers, they can seem too bizarre to viewers new to the genre. Equally, there are parts where the anime holds back on how much it can deliver in terms of horror and desperation.

These points usually feature solutions just showing up. This might be due to the fact that they are trying to keep the anime appealing to younger audiences. But they are passing up the opportunity to explore the anime’s themes to their full potential.

Related: 8 Real-Life Locations of Demon Slayer in Japan

Scoring greatly with the critics (8.2/10 on IMDb, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes). The show is fantastic to watch and a must-watch. One season and a movie have been released so far. They can be streamed, while we wait for the next season’s release.

Not that we did not give a review of Demon Slayer season by season, but rather a general review. However, we will provide a detailed review of each season soon.

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