Demon Slayer S1 Review

Reviewing Demon Slayer, is it worth the hype? or is it just "good" animation?

This show was recommended by a friend and I must state that I was not disappointed. I remember that I kept texting him throughout the whole season because I was always so intrigued. I even did my research in katanas and it is now my dream to get one from a samurai house. If only katanas actually changed color in real life....

This anime starts very intense, I actually didn’t expect it, it seemed it was starting to be a friendly episode, but we were quickly immersed in the story. Also, from the beginning this anime had a very detailed scenery, one of the bests so we could expect great animation in the whole season. But in the beginning, we got a glimpse of just how serious this anime could be. We catch glimpses of the protagonist’s personality, showing us a bit of his intelligence, strength and his values that give this anime family values that actually makes the watcher feel pretty comfortable despite everything that’s going on. Although in the first episode we don’t see much humor, we will see a bit of humor throughout the series. This anime does not include humor or any other genre in a forced way, everything is greatly placed, and since you know I do love humor, the one that is included in this show is great because it is not a key element of the show, it just has funny moments which mostly are funny faces or characters being stupid, which to me is actually great. For me its Inosuke trying to say Tanjiro’s name or "nezuko chaaaaaaaaaan".

Character Review

Now let’s get to character review. I will review in detail the most relevant ones but I won't review at all meaningless characters, because it would take me a long time. Now, before I begin, I have to say we get strong female characters that I feel will be really important in future seasons. So lets start off with Tanjiro. I felt like I saw Tanjiro’s personality somewhere before, and it made me think a lot about Deku in MHA, but of course, Tanjiro has a much stronger personality so he doesn’t cry like Deku. Like I mentioned from the beginning we saw Tanjiro’s personality, he was the pillar of the family and he has crazy family values, he cherishes friendship and family in a very “Zen” way. He also has a very strong will that made him able to surpass his limits at all times. He is able to give the watcher a feel of excitement and thrill every time he faces a challenge. He was fierce when needed but kind and friendly. Nezuko, tanjiro’s little sister is… well actually pretty adorable! She is a nice change of pace because 90% of the time she is sleeping, but that’s. okay because every time she’s on screen, it brings a lovely light onto the show. She will protect tanjiro at all costs and it makes the viewer feel like sibling love can surpass any challenge. She demonstrates so much through her actions like hugs or even in fighting scenes, she is a character you can see and feel your heart warming. I personally love her little noises or when she runs, it is just too cute.

 Now onto the characters that I found really, really annoying at first. Zenitsu and Inosuke, Zenitsu starts of really clingy and really annoying, but as the episodes go by you come to like him, but it does take some time, he is a crybaby most of the time but when times get tough and serious, he will square up. He is actually pretty strong, but he lacks confidence except when it comes to women, I know that at first, he will get to your nerves, but you will like him in time, he is probably the child of the squad since Tanjiro was forced to grow up and mature. But they are still kids at the end. Inosuke is also annoying although not as much as Zenitsu, he is just loud but he will always show strength, he is very independent and yet at the same time stuck with Tanjiro, the thing I love about Inosuke is that he doesn’t care what anybody thinks of him, he is very simple, and he is always trying to surpass Tanjiro or anyone above him. No matter how annoying these two characters are, they are actually the funniest as well, give them a shot, a long one it may take a while for you to like them.

Before reviewing the 9 Hashira's, ill review Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro’s and Giyu’s sensei, he gave me Jiraiya vibes and how could he not, he is patient, understanding, fierce but most of all a great teacher, he isn’t the guy that will solve your problems he will only and subtly guide you in the right direction. To be honest we couldn’t perceive much of the 9 hashira's they all look badass and each have different traits but it would make this review longer and since we haven't seen them in action well I won't into detail at the moment, the only thing is I think we all hated the wind hashira "Sanemi".Giyu and Shinobu are the only ones we can. Giyu is very serious and since the beginning we noticed that he does listen to reason so he is not chained to the slayers rules. We must remember it was all thanks to him that tanjiro is on this path. He is a complete badass, nothing more to say about him. Shinobu may look very kind and lovely but when she confronts a demon you get psycho vibes. Although she may have been a crush to many… Of course, not to me… *cough, cough*

The only demons ill review other than Muzan are Tamayo and Yushiro, I love how they were like 2 sides of the same coin, Yushiro would do everything for Tamayo to the points he will be aggressive with anyone who comes near her, and yet she will punish him for that, I found it pretty wholesome, and I love how they make Tanjiro’s point valid. Onto the most intriguing characters in this show, Kagaya the head of the slayers. He also knows about these kind demons existence. He is so mysterious yet so calm, he seems like he can be so fierce and ruthless, but he is yet so kind. He brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the show, and I really want to know more about them. The big bad, MUZAN, man he actually looks so much like MJ but he is a great villain, when we met him, he was so ruthless and so threatening that we felt so much like Tanjiro at the moment, we get a feeling that he wants to become all powerful, maybe he already is, the other scene we get from him is the one with the demons and I went speechless, didn’t even know what to say.

Story ReviewI thought the story was good, it had well executed plots and a good continuum, the story is a bit cliché at the moment, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, there is just really difficult to make a 100% original story now a days, and demon animes is very common, but this just makes the ones that do work, special. The story has very good explosive parts that keep the audience captivated. The thing I liked about the story is that it brings powerful groups of characters in both sides. Demon slayer’s story brings the human side of the villains, it devotes a big part of the anime to get backstory of the demons to see how they where before being, well demons. I feel the story does this to make the audience consider how some of these demons are “innocent” in a way or if they need a redemption. Although right now everything is fine this storytelling makes us wonder what will happen in the future and if they actually can defeat Muzan.

Animation Review

What’s to say about the animation, hell many watchers said they that it was the only good thing which I completely disagree. But yes, I would say the animation is one of the best things that this show will offer. Cheers to Ufotable studios because they did an amazing job. Fighting scenes where always on point, and the animation does an excellent work at making the scenes in a fresh approach, creating a world and landscapes that are easily to get lost in. The way it has been drawn and animating is something to behold.

Soundtrack Review

The musical score works very well to most scenes, it has good openings and endings, and it fits well into the story, fighting soundtracks are on point, but it doesn’t captivate me enough, it doesn’t make me feel so many things, so it is good, not great but not bad.

 Things that need to be better

• I felt the story was a bit rushed and that left us with some plot holes. They need to find their pace to get the story going, everything happened really fast and sometimes that made me feel like it was lazy writing.
• The main goals about the protagonists are kind of bland and generic and that makes the character traits to obvious for people who have watched shonen animes
• Female characters should have a major part in this because although nezuko has a motive for not being able to have major screen time, I think female characters are essential to a Show and I actually want to see more of the great female leads they have.
• Although they have good humor it could be better, because sometimes it feels to dry, and it relies too much on the same type of jokes.

Kitsune Masuku’s Rating:

Demon slayer will receive a rating of 8.5, although I wouldn’t say it is for everyone, this show for many veterans of anime is boring, but if you see many things, like good animation and specially like action animes I do recommend this anime, in my experience it actually entertained me a lot, it is tough to find something I won’t enjoy even a little. But it is not a bad anime, it has elements many shows have used before but like I said, find me something that is 100% original, there isn’t anything, everything is inspired by another. Fan base could actually get better because the toxicity they have is making other weeb’s hate this show when it is good and entertaining, and I believe it will get more interesting.

PS: Demon slayer movie will be available in US theatre's the 23 of April, and it's the highest-grossing anime movie of all time now. Beating. Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away