Quarantine is still underway as I write this, darn you COVID-19! Before everyone closed their doors, this series had caught my eye in Barnes & Nobles, especially seeing that it was getting really popular in the online world, I'm looking at you Karuta. I had picked up the manga and read the first four or so volumes in store and it had peaked my interest, but not as much as some other series I was currently reading. At the time, I couldn't tell why it was so popular. Was it really just because of this kid trying to save his sister or was there more to it?
The premise of the show is that the main character's, Kamado Tanjirou's, his family is killed by human-eating demons and his younger sister Nezuko is the only survivor of the encounter. Bad thing is she got turned into a demon herself and so we follow Tanjirou and Nezuko's journey as he tries to get help and turn Nezuko back into a human.
(SPOILER WARNING! START)
I am going to try and condense twenty-five episodes into one post without going off on a tangent too often, so bear with me, okay?
The first episode starts out with our main man, Tanjirou, saying good-bye to his family, heading down off the mountain, where he lives, to sell charcoal to the town at the base of the mountain. He spends all day in town selling charcoal and helping the villagers and it is during this time we find out that he has an incredible sense of smell, able to smell the scent of a cat on a broken vase when asked to identify the culprit.
On his way back up the mountain at night, a man he knows stops him, Saburo-jiisan, and invites him to spend the night in his house for fear of demons roaming the mountain at night. Tanjirou takes him up on his offer and spends the night, asking Saburo-jiisan about demons and such, leaving towards his house the next morning. There, at his house, he meets a bloodbath. Horrified, he checks everyone to find someone alive but the only one whose body is still warm is Nezuko's. Tanjirou starts to carry her body towards help when she awakens, she was unconscious the whole time, she attacks Tanjirou and that's when he realizes she's a demon now.
A guy, a demon slayer, appears and tries to kill Nezuko, but Tanjirou tries to protect her desperately. Then things change, as Tanjirou is knocked unconscious, Nezuko fights the demon slayer to protect him. The demon slayer is surprised that she would protect a human, being a demon herself, and simply knocks her out. When Tanjirou awakens, he finds himself and Nezuko still alive, Nezuko with a bamboo mouth gag on her, the demon slayer still there, introducing himself to be Tomioka Giyuu. Giyuu tells him to go to Urokodaki Sakonji at Mount Sagiri.
When Tanjirou meets Urokodaki-san he trains him for nearly two years before he is ready to be recommended for Final Selection, a final test to become an official member of the Demon Slayer Corps. Also, in those two years Nezuko has been asleep the whole time without ever waking, with no apparent reasoning for it.
Tanjirou has finally finished his training after two years and is finally off to the Final Selection. As he is leaving, he tells Urokodaki-san to tell Sabito and Makomo hello from him, the two other apprentices that helped him in the last six months of his training, and helping him to pass Urokodaki-san's final test for him to be recommended to the Final Selection. Urokodaki-san is taken aback by the remark, commenting to himself why would Tanjirou know those dead children.
Tanjirou finally gets to the Final Selection and that's where the anime starts picking up momentum.
On his way back up the mountain at night, a man he knows stops him, Saburo-jiisan, and invites him to spend the night in his house for fear of demons roaming the mountain at night. Tanjirou takes him up on his offer and spends the night, asking Saburo-jiisan about demons and such, leaving towards his house the next morning. There, at his house, he meets a bloodbath. Horrified, he checks everyone to find someone alive but the only one whose body is still warm is Nezuko's. Tanjirou starts to carry her body towards help when she awakens, she was unconscious the whole time, she attacks Tanjirou and that's when he realizes she's a demon now.
A guy, a demon slayer, appears and tries to kill Nezuko, but Tanjirou tries to protect her desperately. Then things change, as Tanjirou is knocked unconscious, Nezuko fights the demon slayer to protect him. The demon slayer is surprised that she would protect a human, being a demon herself, and simply knocks her out. When Tanjirou awakens, he finds himself and Nezuko still alive, Nezuko with a bamboo mouth gag on her, the demon slayer still there, introducing himself to be Tomioka Giyuu. Giyuu tells him to go to Urokodaki Sakonji at Mount Sagiri.When Tanjirou meets Urokodaki-san he trains him for nearly two years before he is ready to be recommended for Final Selection, a final test to become an official member of the Demon Slayer Corps. Also, in those two years Nezuko has been asleep the whole time without ever waking, with no apparent reasoning for it.
Tanjirou has finally finished his training after two years and is finally off to the Final Selection. As he is leaving, he tells Urokodaki-san to tell Sabito and Makomo hello from him, the two other apprentices that helped him in the last six months of his training, and helping him to pass Urokodaki-san's final test for him to be recommended to the Final Selection. Urokodaki-san is taken aback by the remark, commenting to himself why would Tanjirou know those dead children.
(SPOILER WARNING! END)
When I started the manga, the point of the story hits you right in the first volume, no build up or anything of the sort. As I continued reading I couldn't figure out why the manga was so popular. Nothing really interesting happens in the first couple of volumes to grip onto you and keep your interest. So, why do people like it?
With all the rage of it online, that's when I thought to turn to the anime, especially since I couldn't afford the manga on my Kindle during these difficult times...
That's when it hit me. I was able to get much farther than what I had read in the manga, for obvious reasons, but the story is much deeper than I thought it was. Also the animated fight sequences didn't hurt either, made it easier to see what was going on than just reading it in the manga.
I see what all the hype is about, and I may not be extra hyped about the series myself, I did really enjoy it! I cannot wait for the movie that comes out in October, which is a direct sequel to this, they haven't made a season two just yet. In the meantime, I'm going to try and buy a volume a week or so, maybe, I have no idea yet with other financial obligations right now. But I'm going to try to continue the series before the movie releases!
How did you feel about this week's review? Did you watch this yet? Please feel free to leave comments below on your thoughts on this week's review and on the show in general if you would like! I will be replying to all comments! Also, the reviews are going to be getting shorter as I keep going, I'm trying to limit my tangents and keep everything as spoil-free as I can. See you all next week!
Here is a little bit of a PSA for everyone: I've never thought to add this little tidbit before but I thought you guys should know that I write these posts in advance. Like over a month in advance, so the fact that I started this post and the last post talking about COVID-19 is because it is still April as I am writing this. So stuff I have seen or read, I'll write a review for it immediately, regurgitating my thoughts to my keyboard, but it won't release for several more weeks. If the timeline seems off to you, like there's no more quarantine in May, which is when I predict this will be published, and the fact that this post talks about the quarantine as if it's in real time, it's not. It's just what is happening during the time of writing the posts. Sorry for the long PSA and I hope to see all of you join me next week! Stay safe everyone and stay home!
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