Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Kimetsu no Yaiba is a series that is loved and hated in equal measure. The only manga to outpace One Piece, and not by a small margin. The manga received a tremendous boost from its anime adaptation by Ufotable, but even before that, its quality led it to become very popular. I'll be honest, is it the most original work? No. Is it the best thing since sliced bread like those long queues in Japanese bookstores and the constant tweets on AniTwitter lead you to believe? No. What it is, is a really really good story, though. It does the little things right and does adecent enough job of world building, character development and growth. While there are a lot of valid criticisms of the series like a subpar villain, less than stellar climax, final arc dragged on, etc. I'll mainly focus on the things I enjoyed. KNY is shonen done right. It's got all of the tropes and cliches you've come to expect from the genre, but they're executed in textbook fashion. The power ups, power of friendship, rivalries, etc. The Mangaka does a great job of blending them into the story in a believable fashion and creating an entertaining narrative. From start to end, the manga remains fun, funny and engaging. The characters, no matter how much or how little time they get, make an immense impact on you. You genuinely do feel attached to the cast of the series and by the end, it feels you're losing a part of you by having to say goodbye. The art is quite unique in my opinion and the expressions on characters' faces throughout the series enhance the experience by creating humorous situations. This is most evident with Tanjirou and Zenitsu throughout the series. I did find one weakness to be when the magaka depicted fights. At times I personally found myself confused and unable to discern what was going on due to the style. Pacing wise, I had no issues with the series up until this final arc. I felt like I was reading the same chapter for MONTHS due to the repetitive nature of some of the chapters and panels. I think once Ufotable get their hands on it it will go much smoother, but in the manga format, I would have to dock points for the final arc. I felt the ending was satisfactory for the most part, providing closure and resolutions for beloved characters as well as leaving the door open for more content later down the line. Overall, KNY for better or for worse, is one of the biggest series of our generation. The numbers, hype and raving reviews all are evidence of that. While it's without a doubt overrated by many, it's also overly hated in equal measure. I found it to be a fun ride throughout and despite my minor issues with the pacing and art, enjoyed every moment of the past 4 years. Kimetsu no Yaiba gets 10 Spider Lillies out of 10.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is one major ride of a series. I was first introduced to this series after watching Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kyoudai no Kizuna, and right after walking out the theatre, I had to continue the story, and began immediately reading this. And wow, this story really took me on a ride, especially since I'm not a big fan of historical settings. From the start, we're greeted by a young Kamado Tanjirou. His introduction into the series was mesmorising. In one chapter, we see a kid wanting to help his family to dealing with loss. This growth does continue throughout the series though. Aswe go on, we see that Tanjirou learns and actually grows as a character. He gets stronger and refines himself into one hell of a man. It's wonderful seeing him actually grow, and this character development alone was wonderful, even without factoring other characters. Tanjirou's desire for saving his sister from demons is never lost, even in the hopelessness, and along the way, he starts to see the wider world of not just himself, but with others. The trials and tribulations that Tanjirou, Inosuke and Zenitsu go on during this series is wonderful, with the story not shying itself from going very dark really quickly. I definitely did shed some tears within the series; there's some losses that can never be forgotten. This story is phenomenal, with shifts between humans and demons, as well as the themes of family and camaraderie really shining through. There are plenty of laughs, cries, intense scenes, and relaxing parts, and it's all well paced. Nothing felt forced or rushed for the most part. I say for the most part as the ending did make me go: "What?". I wasn't too sure about it, but after a re-read of that chapter, it did make me happy. Sometimes, the characters and stories seemed to be a bit meh, but for the most part, it was basically a great ride. The artwork here is brilliant. Gotouge-sensei really knows what their doing, with a wonderful spread of serious designs, as well as some more funny designs. It's brilliantly drawn. And the rare colour pages made the story pop even more, and gave me a better immersion into the series. Overall, this Kimetsu no Yaiba was wonderfully made. Though the ending and some of the story could have been better, I don't regret reading this at all. I felt this was brilliantly done, with an amazing story, excellent characters with real character development, wonderful art, and an amazing setting. Would I recommend this? Yes. Would I read this again? Definitely.

This review will contain spoilers!! If you are easily triggered. Then please turn away from this review since I will not be holding anything back at all. I've said my piece about the first season of Demon Slayer anime. It was rough around the edges but land and sea above the awful of a mess known as the manga depiction. No hard feelings to anyone who enjoyed this crap. I mean, I was one of you as well for a very short period. Then I woke up and saw that Demon Slayer is not the least bit deserving of all the hype and fame it's gettingfrom a writing standpoint. After reading blindingly, ignoring my own feelings and letting the viewpoints of another affect my judgments and way of thinking. Just utterly throwing my own feelings in a circle of a pile of confusion, not trying to understand my genuine beliefs. I was able to come to terms with my actual views once I shut everything else out. I am not mad at the author, and quite happy they are selling millions on their work. But I can't say the same about the community. I am disappointed even if I do understand why Demon Slayer blew up as it did. We enjoy what we enjoy, and everyone is different. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Not to mention, it helped the manga community get more readers and prestige, and that's a big plus, no doubt. That anime adaptation from Ufotable was a blessing and with it trending like mad everywhere. Curious newcomers, countless other individuals in the anime community, ate that shit up like it was cake. It's no doubt hard to differentiate the taste when you've not eaten or, in this case, read or watched something genuinely worth your attention because it's simply great. I am willing to bet any numbers of shounen such as Black Clover, which is like far better than Demon Slayer and deserves some actual attention. If that shit got a proper adaptation putting a strong emphasis on the production value and even making sure the experience in the anime flows smoothly like running river. It would totally blow up and sell like hotcakes. That goes for shit like Fairy Tail as well. Black Clover for one possesses most of the same elements as Demon Slayer. But the execution is far clearer and much more concise and decisive. At least it was when I read it. I need to get back on that. I will throw this out there. Noelle is a greatly written character with flaws and everything nice. She is properly written tsundere to boot. For me, that's a big fat cherry on top. Asta feels real and is not void of emotions or a sense of danger and all that. The reason I think Demon Slayer doesn't deserve any of the fame it's getting from a writing standpoint - it's a mess with no lick of direction, genuineness in it's established themes and character drama. The impact feels so lackluster, and the deaths don't even affect my emotions a bit. It's so dull to read, and the pacing has no sense of balance or satisfaction. The cuts to events feel forced, half-assed. It's merely just damn random and is not running in paths without needless hindrances or broken roads. Even after all that, there's so much more I want to say and get off my chest. I would admit that Demon Slayer had the potential and elements to turn out as a decent shounen. If the author was not in a hurry or Weekly Shounen Jump didn't rush them to finish the story. I don't know if they were forced or not, but it has already happened many times. I don't want to open that can of utter worms, but it's obvious which shounen I am referencing, among others. As for Demon Slayer, nothing about the story interested me whatsoever. Most of the characters were just happened to be a means to an end. But it had a good cast of characters with distinct enough personalities. Shinobu was like such a best girl, and for me, it is far more interesting than Kanao. She had this simple sense of complexity by putting on a facade behind her face when she is actually angry about lots of things. It's such a shame she was killed before her character's potential got fully utilized. Kanao is adorable and charming, but unlike Shinobu, which at least got somewhat fleshed out, Kanao's change was jarring and didn't sit well with me. At least it seems like Tanjiro and her got together. So that's good and gave me at least some sense of comfort. But they seriously did my girl Shinobu so damn nasty. Inousuke was by far the only interesting character out of the main trio. But just like more or less anyone else, his growth was sloppy and not well executed. I wanna say that each of the Hashiras deserved more build-up than they got. Sadly, we only got something resembling a jittery backstory, and many were interesting, no doubt. Still, you could see that the author was in a rush to get back to the action. I think my favorite has to be Iguro's, which was seriously messed up. The way they tore his mouth to match that nightmare was a bit awkward and just a bit too much? But I definitely wanted him to bath in happiness after going through that tragic and scarring event. Also, that snake lady is damn nightmare-fuel. In just that one panel, she was much scarier than Muzan. I am not getting a wink of sleep tonight. I actually felt the chemistry between Iguro and Mitsuri. Sadly, once again, their relationship was not as sufficiently fleshed out or built-up like I wanted it to be. But it was by far my favorite ship. So unlike most characters. I felt their death but then that ending happened and my suffering was for nothing. So let's talk about the big bad of Demon Slayer. Muzan so insufferable as a villain, and I cared little how the whole fight with him went. It was going places way too quickly. I didn't get enough time to absorb how much of a threat Muzan was since he was zig-zagging around places chopping up demon slayers left and right. But it didn't carry any weight or impact. It was obviously forced down upon us to make us feel frightened of Muzan. But I was like okay all the time. I have said it before that death is a pretty severe double-edged sword that can bite you in the back if one doesn't know how to use it well. This story throws that at us literally all the times like it's a tool to make the vibe heavy and tell you that the stakes are high. Anyone can drop dead, but it's pointless if you know it's going to happen, and when you barely have an emotional bond with the cast, it's not going to affect you. Plus, once it's used and the character dies. We don't get time to process what just happened before we simply start moving to other things. It doesn't help either Muzan feels just like a joke with many loose screws in his already small brain. "I am like a natural disaster, so you shouldn't care if someone died" or something like that. I was seriously laughing out loud when those words came out of that freak's mouth. That's just a taste, so prepare to get your brain-cells eaten by Muzan stupidity. If you decide to read it. To make Muzan truly scary, the author should've given him common sense and some level of intelligence. Simply, flaunting your powers around will only work for so long. Just for like the first time, when you know nothing about said individual. This goes for many things. But in this case, a villain's appearance is not the only thing matters to make you respect or admire them. There are ideals, personality, and of course, flaws, and more. Not to the point, it's all over the place. Those things need to bounce off well with each other and not straight out devour each other. What the hell happened to my boi Azaka? He was the best and the most entertaining villain in Demon Slayer. Too bad the guy's name, I don't even remember killed him, and I couldn't care less about him. Since he was just in that one arc and hardly felt well-established. We'll see how the anime does his introduction and all that. I already hear the angry mob consisting of the Demon Slayer out there. Azaka was the best among all the demons and had the biggest amount of potential. I would've liked to see him be replaced with Tanjiro as a main, to be honest. Now Muzan death scene was the most hilarious shit I have seen ever. There was a meme of how Muzan turned into a baby. I completely burst out in laughter. That shit was honestly GOLD. Then when he was such a manipulative jerk trying to control Tanjiro but it didn't work. So Muzan resorted to begging him and probably crying inside. That was good entertainment. We've waited a long time for Nezuko to turn to human, but man was that whole scene so bland and like whatever. I didn't feel any emotions coming out from that panel at all. Can we talk about how Giyuu and Tanjiro basically became the best bros? Still, it was never established with security or ingenuity in mind? It came from the left-field, just like most of the directions in this story. Finally, I want to just say that regardless of all the death scenes that came from literally nowhere. Simply reincarnating them makes the situation much worse than it already is. Yes, those who died are not really alive, but calling it simply reincarnation and coincidence is not the best thing to say. It makes the already shaky story filled to the brim with all kinds of issues just crumble to utter pieces. Let's not get started on how Tanjiro time and time again. Became stronger without any clues that didn't feel wishy-washy, besides the obvious things like his hair and that mark on his head. The power system is really simple but effective and might be awkwardly written, but it does the job. That said, many of the characters' execution and how they went from zero-to-hundred was cheap and ineffective. I realized I have been simply focused on the character aspect, but the world-building was not there either. We don't even know many if any of the locations name. It all just seems so damn insignificant. One more thing I want to bring up is the author, Koyoharu, who uses tell and show at the same time. Most annoyingly, so it makes reading through Demon Slayer boring and lame. Since we already are seeing much of the things that are happening in the drawings, so we don't need to go all bananas about the details. Just a light touch be more than enough. I don't like drawing most of the time, either. The action is rough, and I can't properly see what's happening. I mentioned already that emotions don't get conveyed properly through facial expressions or behavior most of the time. There are rare occasions when we get some good eye-candy with details in the background and character art. It's not in the slightest the best artwork I have seen. But the author can draw once they put their mind to it. So I wonder if the author truly enjoyed writing Demon Slayer? I sadly didn't enjoy it as much as I thought initially. It was all over the place, no sense of anything, and that final chapter was terrible. It simply focused on a new batch of characters and went nowhere with that. I would've liked to see some silver of world-building with how the world became after the demons were killed with details. Maybe see the public reaction to the events and properly tie all the damn loose ends. Being how the characters went from this to that and so forth. Btw, I think Nezoku lost something when she returned back to human. Did she seriously marry Zenitsu? Overall, Demon Slayer is probably the worst shounen I have read in recent memories, if not ever so far. I enjoyed bits and pieces of the beginning. It had the potential to become slightly more. If only the author wasn't set by being satisfied by mere cheap thrills that last barley a few moments.

THIS IS A SPOILER FREE REVIEW With this review I will go over each category for ratings and give my ratings as well as my thoughts that lead me to those ratings. 1: Story - 9/10 Overall I would say the story is great. It is quite fast-paced and full of action with a lot of emotional moments as well as just generally "cool" moments. Multiple times while reading I just kept on looking at a particular panel or page for a while after I read it because the story was just so enthralling and the moment was so awesome that I couldn't move on just yet. However,this section is only a 9/10 for me because while the story overall is fast-paced, sometimes it is TOO fast-paced, meaning that some things that should have been a bit more drawn out are instead done with quite quickly. Additionally, the beginning portion of the manga is quite slow compared to the rest of it. Another nitpick, which is not a big enough problem to dock another full point, is that a lot of times the comedy just does not work for me. Occasionally it does, but I would say the majority of the time the comedy is not good and sometimes it is misplaced.There are not really any glaring plot holes or anything, and a lot of character backstories are amazing. Basically, the story is much better than your average shounen for sure, but it is not flawless. 2: Art - 9/10 The art in Kimetsu no Yaiba is great. A lot of the sword / breathing techniques are a beauty to look at, and a lot of the character designs (like Akaza, Kokushibo, basically all of the hashira) are incredible. However, the art is getting docked a point solely because in the beginning portions the mangaka was clearly still getting into the swing of things (this is to say that the beginning had lower art quality, but fortunately the mangaka gets used to it fast and the lower quality does not go on for long at all). Basically, while the earlier chapters left something to be desired, the mangaka ended up creating an art style that is both unique and a pleasure to look at. 3: Character - 10/10 The characters are outstanding which is why this section is getting a 10/10. The designs are all unique and all great, and many of the characters have compelling backstories that help the readers understand their motivations for doing what they do. Obviously, there are some meh characters in here and some that are a "you love them or you hate them" sort of deal, but I would say the writing for the GOOD characters far surpasses the meh nature of some of the other characters. There are not two characters in this series that I would say are exactly alike, and this sort of uniqueness is awesome to see. Additionally, there are so many fighting styles and each character basically has their own, which just contributes to making unique characters. Also, it must be said that in terms of shounen-mc's go, Tanjiro is one of the best. He has compelling motivation and his development and power gains seem realistic and not too over-the-top or forced like some other shounen series. Most of the villains are also great as well, with good backstories and good designs. There are some standard villains of course, but there are more compelling villains than you would find in most shounens. 4: Enjoyment - 10/10 Enjoyment is an easy 10/10. While I did say previously that the pace was too fast sometimes, most of the time I loved the fast pace of the series and it kept me reading for longer than I had planned to multiple times because I simply had to see what happened next. I also really enjoy the fighting style in this manga with the different breathing techniques allowing for the characters to pull off different sword skills. This has become one of my favorite manga and I am very happy that it is enjoying the recognition it deserves. 5: Overall - 10/10 I would say that the enjoyment and character aspect of this series bumps up the 9 in both the art and story category, hence the 10/10 overall rating. This is a manga I would recommend to anybody who likes action or cool characters. I am extremely happy that a studio as great as ufotable is doing a FAITHFUL adaptation (let alone such a high quality adaptation) to this great manga. This fact gives me another reason to recommend this manga to people, because the quality of the animation is so high, even if you read this manga you will still look forward to seeing these amazing fights animated. I know a lot of people don't read manga so they can just watch the anime, but with Kimetsu no Yaiba I fully believe that it is worth it to read it first so you can enjoy it more for the characters and the story and then you can watch it after for the art and the fighting. If you like action and/or a great story with great characters, do yourself a favor and read Demon Slayer.