
Anime
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
2019 · TV
One of the biggest examples of "Overrated doesn't always mean bad"
65Ah yes, Demon Slayer, one of the most popular anime of all time. To be honest, I had not touched this anime until now, as I had other things to watch. However, I finally came around to watching it, and I enjoyed it a fair bit. I'll be talking about the Plot, the characters, and the Art & Animation. At the end of the review, I will be rating the series overall (10 is S tier, 9 is A tier, 8 and 7 is B tier, 6 5 4 are C tier, 3 2 1 are D tier). Sorry if I'm not the most eloquent in this review, again, I'm just doing this for fun so don't expect it to be this incredible analysis.
Also, remember 10/10 does not mean perfect, it just means "S tier"
~~
#~PLOT:~
Demon Slayer is basically about a kid named Tanjiro who sells coal to feed his family. He comes to his home one day to find his entire family massacred, and his little sister Nezuko turned into a demon. The series follows him trying to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human, slaying demons and meeting colorful characters along the way. Now, the plot of Demon Slayer is by no means incredible, in fact, I'd say that it is a very standard plot that is seen very often. However, I really enjoyed the presentation of it, especially the serious moments.
Now, hot take number one: I didn't like the comedy.
~~
Demon Slayer's serious moments, and it's fights, were done very well, however the comedy just falls flat for me. To me, it seems like whenever they try to put in a "comedic" moment, they do so by overexaggerating everything in that moment to try to bring out a laugh from the viewer. Now, exaggeration is not always a bad thing, and sometimes it can be done well. Even my favorite anime of all time, Gintama, has had a lot of its comedy depend on exaggeration, but it is executed very well. Here, most of the time, it seems like the characters are mere caricatures of themselves (funnily enough, that's how they are portrayed in these segments) during the comedic moments. Only a few moments really made me chuckle, however, comedy is subjective, and what I did not find funny may have been hilarious to many other viewers. This is just my opinion on the matter.
That said, I did enjoy Demon Slayer's plot, and it was fun to see a classic shonen done well for the most part.
~~~
~~~
~CHARACTERS:~
In my opinion, this is where Demon Slayer shines. The characters (most of them, at least) are very fun to watch on screen. Tanjiro, the main protagonist of the 3 in the series, is your typical noble soul type character. Zenitsu is the guy who's a crybaby who, when pushed into a corner (especially when he's sleeping), is capable of tremendous feats. Inosuke, my favorite of the 3, is the hotheaded fighter who aspires to be the strongest. In my opinion, the dynamic between these 3 works well as each of them has one trait of a typical shonen protagonist, and together, they make up the quintessential "protagonist". The side characters, like Urokodaki, Giyuu and Shinobu are also very fun to see on screen. The antagonists are fine, they're not bad but they're not really good either. Muzan seems like an interesting antagonist and studio UFOTABLE made him seem very intimidating, so hats off to them.
Overall, the characters are fun to watch, none of them are too special, however, they are all likeable enough for the viewer to care about what they are doing.
# ~ART AND ANIMATION:~
~~
I don't think I can say anything that has not been said about the art and animation. The artstyle of the anime is very refined and very bold, and the animation is simply out of this world. Episode 19 in particular had some of the best animation I have ever seen. The art and animation is easily the best it could have ever been.
Now, before ending things off with the overall review and final score, I would like to give my second and final hot take about this season.
Hot take number 2: I thought episode 19 was overrated.
~~~
~~~
Now, don't get me wrong, the animation of that episode was incredible, and as I stated before, some of the best animation I have ever seen. I'm also not saying the episode was bad, it was a very good episode in my opinion. However, I do not think it is an S tier episode. I think the story that episode told was really good, but it is an A tier episode, and that is not bad by any means. However, episode 19 was probably the best episode in the series.
~~
~IN CONCLUSION:~
Demon Slayer is a very enjoyable series with fun characters, an interesting plot, well done fight scenes and some of the best animation to ever grace a screen. However, it does have it's shortcomings, such as the weak comedy.
~Overall score: 7/10~
A very good anime to be one of your firsts, and a good one to watch regardless. Demon Slayer is one of the most overhyped anime out there, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Don't have too high expectations while watching Demon Slayer, and you will be very happy with the series. It's a fun watch, and I'm excited to see the movie, which everyone claims is a masterpiece.
