Mad props to Ufotable. Demon
Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the studio’s first venture in adapting a shonen
manga into a full anime series – ends up being an anime masterpiece.
However, this wasn’t really apparent
at the start. In fact, I even contemplated of dropping it after watching the pilot. It took a few
episodes before I was convinced to watch the series all throughout. It indeed got better and better with each passing
episode, but even though I’ve already come to like it at the end of the spring season, I wasn’t convinced yet that it was going to amount into something special. Going into the summer season, I even wrote
that I was “a bit doubtful it will be able to compete against the new season’s
crop of strong, new shonen anime series.”
Boy, was I ever so wrong. Not
only was it able to hold its own against the summer season’s Big Three (Dr. Stone, Vinland Saga, and Fire Force),
but it utterly surpassed them. The
second half of its 26-episode debut season leveled up to heights I didn’t
expect it would go.
Kimetsu no Yaiba (translated into English as “Blade of Demon
Destruction”) follows a boy with a keen sense of smell named Tanjiro Kamado who
returns to his mountain home from selling charcoal in the village just to find
his family massacred by a demon. His
sister Nezuko survives, but she herself has been turned into a demon. However, even though she has become a demon, she
still retains part of her humanity – especially her love for his brother – and
she refuses to attack and devour humans.
A legendary demon slayer named Giyū Tomioka encounters the siblings, and after seeing their remarkable situation, he sends them to Sakonji Urokodaki at Mt. Sagiri. There, Tanjiro trains under Urokodaki to become a demon slayer. After passing the deadly “Final Selection” exam to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro begins travelling around Taishō era Japan with Nezuko to hunt down demons and look for a cure that can turn Nezuko back into human.
A legendary demon slayer named Giyū Tomioka encounters the siblings, and after seeing their remarkable situation, he sends them to Sakonji Urokodaki at Mt. Sagiri. There, Tanjiro trains under Urokodaki to become a demon slayer. After passing the deadly “Final Selection” exam to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro begins travelling around Taishō era Japan with Nezuko to hunt down demons and look for a cure that can turn Nezuko back into human.
Tanjiro is one of the most unique
shonen heroes I’ve ever encountered. Although
he displays some of the qualities of the archetypal shonen MC, he essentially plays
against type by being distinctively sensitive and compassionate to others, even
to his enemies. In turn, there’s a
sense of kindness in Kimetsu no Yaiba
that isn’t quite present in other action-oriented shonen.
The narrative goes out of its way
to bring depth to the demons Tanjiro is fighting, and thus, each one of them doesn’t
come across as mere disposable enemy-of-the-week that he has to overcome before
moving on to the next (although most of them are technically are). In the process, the audience feels sympathy for these demons. Now, this
doesn’t mean the narrative ends up justifying their evil deeds; it just makes
the audience understand where they’re coming from, which is a place of very
relatable human emotions and motivations but are tragically twisted in their
expressions.
Tanjiro, probably through his
superhuman olfactory gift and his empathetic heart, is able to instinctively sense
the traces of the humans these demons once were and the pains they’re dealing
with underneath their fallen, demonic exterior.
However, make no mistake: he has no illusions that these demons should
be spared. He understands that if they’re
left as they are, they will only keep on doing evil and causing harm. He understands that they need to be
stopped ASAP. Thus, he will readily terminate
them with extreme prejudice. But he performs
the deed coming from a place of mercy and justice rather than hate and vengeance
(even though it was demons who murdered his family; this anime is no revenge story). Moreover, once the killing blow is dealt, he will
sincerely extend a final, brief moment of human connection and comfort to his defeated
opponents. Thus, in their last few seconds
of consciousness before they completely expire, these demons are moved to
realize that, despite the evil they’ve done, they are being given a “rest in
peace.”
This powerful display of grace
gives Kimetsu no Yaiba a lot of
heart, and this is what makes it very different from all the other shonen shows
I’ve seen.
Tanjiro is also not the only interesting
character in this anime. Nezuko is both extremely
adorable and badass – arguably the definite Best Girl of 2019. The supporting cast is also quite
strong. I can’t blame anyone preferring
Zenitsu Agatsuma or Inosuke Hashibira over Tanjiro for Best Boy. They are both wonderful characters in their
own right, though Tanjiro, for me, is still the most complex and coolest character
of them all. Meanwhile, the Hashiras – save
for Shinobu Kochō (also a Best Girl contender, along with her adopted sister
and protege, Kanao Tsuyuri) – have not yet been given enough screen time to be
fleshed out, but they’ve already given off vibes of being worthwhile
characters.
Moreover, it wouldn’t be much of
an anime masterpiece if its production value isn’t fantastic as well – it is. The animation is breathtaking; the
compositing of traditional hand-drawn techniques with CGI is simply fabulous. Every frame of this anime is brimming with
beauty.
As a battle shonen, it’s a sakuga
aficionado’s delight. It has plenty of
jaw-dropping fight scenes (most notable of all is from the world-trending
episode 19). However, its action
sequences are outstanding not only because they are viscerally exhilarating and absolute
eye candies – which they undoubtedly are – but also because they have real substance
from a storytelling standpoint. They serve
as a genuine mode for expanding the world, establishing the power system, exploring
the recurring themes, developing the characters, or simply moving the plot
forward. The action is rarely there just
for action’s sake.
All in all, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is gorgeous, thrilling, and
thoughtful – and a standout of the shonen genre. It is, for now, tied with The Promised Neverland as the best new
anime series of 2019 in my book, and definitely one of the best anime of the year overall.
Postscript:
The saga is set to continue
through a film titled Kimetsu no Yaiba:
Mugen Ressha-hen. This is remarkable
because: a.) it’s uncommon for a shonen anime series to get a movie after just one
season; and b.) it’s much more uncommon for that movie to be actually connected
to the series’ overarching story, as most movies of shonen franchises are basically
unessential, non-canon, standalone romps.
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It Was Awesome Anime Waiting for Next Season Of Demon Slayer Anime
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