By: Shawn  Wang

By now, you have probably heard of the anime called Demon Slayer, or Kimetsu no Yaiba. It has grown to become one of, if not, the most popular shonen anime right now. The entire series has won a total of 11 awards, including top prize for Anime of the Year.

The show started off as a manga written by Koyoharu Gotouge, and was first released in Feburary of 2016. Later, the manga was adopted into an animated show by the talented studio known as Ufotable. They are well known for their attention to detail, professional animation, and stunning background art.

Demon Slayer takes place in Japan, in a world where humans are at war with human-eating Demons. The main character is a young boy named Tanjiro. He trains to become a demon slayer to protect his sister, and, to one day be able to slay all the demons in the world. He does this so that no one will have to go through the pain that he did when he lost his family to demons.

A common complaint about the show is that the story is too simple, and has been done many times before in the past so it offers nothing new. Demon Slayer’s storytelling isn’t deep and complicated like other anime shows, such as Attack on Titan, and this may lead to people thinking the show is less enjoyable.

However, the story is by no means poorly-written. Even though at some points the show is predictable, it is still worth watching to see everything unfold. Throughout the show, the emotional parts still make you cry, and the funny parts still make you laugh out loud. I see the plot’s simplicity as a good thing, since at times you can stop thinking and just enjoy the graphics and soundtrack.

Another thing that Demon Slayer does very well are the character designs. Each character that is drawn in the show has their own personality and looks good, with their clothes, characteristics, and backstories all being memorable and unique.

My personal favorite story arc of the show is Season 2, Entertainment District Arc. Over the course of 13 episodes, the show takes place in a busy nightlife city with a lot of familiar characters we already got to meet in season 1.

Here, Tanjiro and other demon slayers work to find and defeat a very strong demon thats been rumored to be causing trouble in the city. The entire season is a huge crescendo. As the season goes on, the fights get more intense and animation gets more colorful and detailed. The arc finishes off with a battle between the demon slayers and the demon that tears the city apart, and is arguably one of the greatest animated fight scenes in all of anime.

The show will be coming to an end soon, with three movies that will be released in theaters throughout the next year concluding the series. The movies will have a huge budget, resulting in animation and music that is most likely going to be even better than that of the shows.

If you aren’t caught up to Demon Slayer, I highly recommend for you to watch the show, and also be on the lookout for the movies that will be releasing next year.

Sources:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/anime/when-demon-slayer-made-manga-anime-releases-explained

https://otakumode.com/otapedia/anime/kimetsu_no_yaiba_demon_slayer/ufotable

https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/03/jujutsu-kaisen-and-demon-slayer-win-top-prizes-at-the-2024-crunchyroll-anime-awards/#:~:text=The%20series%20picked%20up%20a,the%20Best%20Film%20Anime%20Award.