FIF#91-Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Young Tanjiro Kamado lives in the mountains with his mother, brothers and sisters and lives a nice life.  However, following a trip into town for work, Tanjiro returns home to find his family slaughtered, all except his younger sister Nezuko.  Things get worse when Nezuko appears to have been turned into a demon and is nearly slain by a passing by Demon Slayer named Giyu.  But Tanjiro defends her and Nezuko resists killing her brother.  Seeing possible potential in these strange siblings, Giyu sets Tanjiro off on a journey to become a Demon Slayer himself.  Though the dangers of the night lurk everywhere, Tanjiro is determined to master the sword and find the demon that killed his family and perhaps, though it’s a long shot, find a way to restore his sister to a normal human again.

Welcome to the dark side of Shonen, at least that’s what I was thinking most of the time while I was checking out the first couple of episodes of Demon Slayer.  Does this new Anime have the ability to join the ranks of its far more popular Shonen Anime like My Hero Academia, Boruto, or even Black Clover?  It’s a hard question to try and answer so early on, though there is plenty already making Demon Slayer stand out from the crowd.  

For starters, it’s got one amazing animation level pedigree backing it up.  That’s right, one of my favorite Anime studios is taking a stab at adapting Shonen Anime, Studio Ufotable.  Right away, Demon Slayer looks like a far more mature looking Shonen than Hero Aca or Black Clover, or even legends before them like Dragon Ball Z or Bleach.  Beautiful snowy landscapes and plenty of gore present a more adult tale for the young adult crowd.  Demon Slayer might not look quite as pretty as Fate/Zero or The Garden of Sinners, but it’s still an Ufotable production so it already looks better than most other Anime out there.  Ufotable also has their fellow secret weapon and music composer, Yuki Kaijura, doing the musical score and it’s one of her saddest compositions yet (feels wise).  When you’re not left in shock thanks to the strong performances of Tanjiro and Rezuko, Kaijura’s score is pulling the rest of your heartstrings with another beautiful OST.

There isn’t a lot of action in the first two episodes of Demon Slayer but what little is there promises big things to come.  This is Ufotable after all, the people who can make all action look like God level epicness (cough cough Fate/Zero anyone cough).  Just look at how Tanjiro and Rezuko’s brief battle with Giyu plays out if you need further proof.  My main concern with Demon Slayer so soon is its tone.  For the most part, it’s a hard hitting tale of loss with Tanjiro desperately trying to keep his Demon turned sister sane and save her.  The first episode pulls no punches setting up just how dark the series might become.  But then the intro and second episode feature some more traditional lighter, comedic Shonen tropes: loud screams in small arguments, characters acting cute and some not so mature reactions to fighting demons.  I don’t know, I just didn’t feel the same kind of balance between humor and drama that Hero Aca has mastered so well, although even that didn’t get that aspect fully worked out until Season Two.  It’s still really early on so there’s plenty of time to get that issue ironed out.

Demon Slayer has promise thanks to a darker approach Shonen storytelling and the always awesome animation powers of Studio Ufotable.  I’m not sure if this show will turn into a 50 episode run or a way into the 100’s epic like One Piece or Naruto.  Either way, im might stick with another couple of episodes to see how things play out.  It might be worth it just to see some actual professional Demon Slayers get to do some real Demon slaying.  Cause when Ufotable is allowed to really cut loose with the action…well just watch a trailer for Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel and you’ll see what this Shonen could really be capable of.