“Demon Slayer” is a perfect example of a shonen anime, a genre aimed at teenage boys. It’s violent, visually-stunning and the plot is dynamic enough to grasp viewers with short attention spans.

“Demon Slayer” follows the protagonist Tanjiro Kamado and his sister Nezuko as they struggle with losing their entire family to a demon one night. This left Nezuko tragically transformed into a demon and giving Tanjiro some serious survivors guilt. After two years of training, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, a militia-style group operating outside the sanction of the Japanese government, in the Taisho Era.

Now that we’ve covered the basic information, let me just start by saying this anime exceeded all my expectations. I was afraid it was going to be a “monster of the week” style, repetitive storyline. “Demon Slayer” has a rich storyline and world, however, and the pacing is so well done. The relationship between Tanjiro and Nezuko is reminiscent of the sibling bond you could find in “Full Metal Alchemist”. Tanjiro is dedicated to finding a cure to save his sister and make her human again. He has this refined urgency in everything he does. He sets out to become a demon slayer, spending two full years training for the test. He embodies the lawful good character trope so well, he goes by his own moral code, but he always attempts to do what’s best for his family.

The studio responsible for producing “Demon Slayer” is Ufotable. They’re known for their use of CGI in anime. As a die-hard, traditional animation fan, it pains me to enjoy CGI so much, but when something is this good, it’s hard to be negative about it. Ufotable is known for its use of CGI and aftereffects to create the more traditional anime style we’ve come to love. In the end, they’re achieving the same goal, the process they take is just different than most studios. The art style in “Demon Slayer” incorporates these beautiful heavy line weights that focus the eye perfectly in the frame, it makes you want to keep watching, so much that I wound up changing from the English voice actors to the Japanese voice actors to enjoy the intended medium more.

If the first season is any indication of what’s in store for the rest of the series, I’m eagerly waiting for season two.

(5 / 5)