Manga Two steps above most shonens, but only two steps.
(Warning, I only saw the anime, and had parts of the manga spoiled by a friend)
I approached Demon Slayer with some caution, after some friends recommended me not to 'look too deep into it'. It basically checks nearly every single box of shonen animes that there ever was. The setting is Japan a bit after the first Japanese-Russian war, where an evil demon kills the whole family of our protagonist, Tanjiro, except for Tanjiro's sister, Nezuko, turning her into a demon. Tanjiro then takes up to himself the task of A- Turning his sister back into a human and B- Avenging his family, and to do so, he trains to become part of the Demon Slayer corps, an 'elite' of CharlesAtlasSuperpower humans. He is joined in his quest by Zenitsu, a mix of the 'perv', 'lazy' and 'cowardly lion' tropes, and Inosuke, whom I call 'beneficial Vegeta on crack'.
The first thing I noticed about this anime is that it's visually well done, gorgeous in some aspects. Keen-eyed viewers will notice that it uses both 2D and 3D animation at its best: Whenever the characters are too far away or when their movements are too fast, they use 3D models, and when it's time for close-up action, they switch to 2D. Whenever its time for super-special effects, they mix both 3D and 2D and it really works! In the end you have the best of both worlds, cheapening production with 3D but having the good quality of 2D. If only the studio that made the adaptation of Dorohedoro thought of that... (my boy, look how they massacred my boy!) The music is also quite catchy!
The second thing that I noticed was that it had some nice departures from the shonen genre! Tanjiro is neither a WarriorTherapist pacifist nor a hot-headed book-dumb, he is sympathetic to the demons he kills, but won't hesitate to do so nor forget he is dealing with man-eating monsters. This makes him an exception to the StockShonenHero, further cemented by the fact that his element is water, which is rare! Most Shonen protagonists are tied to either fire, light or both. Except that this is a red herring, he is tied to a superpowered form of fire. Inosuke is an interesting construction of the Lancer, using his rivalry (and stupidity) as a means to improve himself as a character and Zenitsu... is there.
On the other hand... it REALLY checks 'nearly every single box in shonen', up to a fault. Everything that you expect from the genre is here: Training montages, the fact that the hero has secret techniques that place him five steps above his peers (Super-smell and fire techniques), and a complete lack of anything that would make the hero's life any easier: Tanjiro wins not by trickery or strategy, but sheer will and using his techniques in different ways or just downright asspulls, even when there is an easier option available with minimal lateral thinking, example: He fights a drum-based demon that shifts the house they are in with every beat of the drums, instead of piercing the drums to stop the demon, he just uses acrobatics and techniques. Or when he fights another demon that broke his sword. Instead of grabbing a sword of a fallen slayer, he uses the broken sword with a technique he just happens to remember and is helped by his sister that just realizes she can use blood magic.
And this extends to the Demon-Slayers corps, because they are downright TERRIBLE at their jobs, serving more as a ladder to show how much Tanjiro has grown, rather than a force to stop the demons: Their method of enlisting new people is training from hell mixed with deadly selections, and once someone graduates into a Demon Slayer, they are expected to fend off for themselves against all sorts of threats without the guidance of older and more experienced slayers. This is 1900's japan, yet nearly everyone uses ONLY swords. No scouting parties which led to MANY slayers dying in the spider's mountain, no hunting groups (as in small teams to take care of specific demons), no such things as guns, bombs, binoculars, lanterns, not even bows&arrows and shurikens considering that there is a very effective anti-demon poison you'd think everyone would be trained to use them not even a cool chain & sickle. And to make things worse, they are ruled mostly by psychopaths (that do make you think of Bleach), except when their leader steps in. (Again, this mostly serves as a contrast to Tanjiro's good nature: where most of their fight turned them jaded, Tanjiro remains a good person)
The need to keep on track with the shonen tropes also buries a lot of potential interesting moments. How to cope with a sister-demon that needs to eat human flesh? she doesn't need to eat, she just sleeps, which also makes her muzzle more or less pointless since she can remove it any time. Perhaps there are other good demons? just two that drink blood from time to time, so there isn't anything such as a bounty-hunter demon that only feeds on bandits, thus the hero is never forced to re-evaluate his opinions.
For the antagonists, the big bad resembles a watered-down version of Narak from Inuyasha down to a similar start of darkness except that... he frankly barely appears, and when he does, at most is the generic villain behavior (killing minions for small slights, hurting people to look evil, etc), with the structure of the demons resembling the Camarilla from Vampire the Masquerade (blood fuels the demons, 'elder' blood empowers them, blood bindings, blood magic, etc).
Overall, it's a fun romp that you can watch without guilt, but don't expect anything groundbreaking in all departments. It's a step over the overdone genre, but nothing stellar.
Manga Economical and fast-paced, but at a cost.
Kimetsu no Yaiba is definitely one of the best new manga to come out of Shonen Jump in a while. The plotting is tight and never drags, the core cast is likable, quirky, and easy to root for, and the art is excellent. The fights are surprisingly logical and well-thought out compared to most shonen series due to its relatively grounded combat system, forcing the demon slayers to overcome their marks with tactics, technique, and power to counter the crazy flexibility, durability, and eldritch tricks the demons have up their sleeve.
The Ufotable anime especially has done even more to endear the cast to viewers, between the fluid animation and the incredibly solid voice acting.
But the tight pacing and narrow character focus comes at a cost. In order to maintain the story's pace, the world of Japan is never really fleshed out besides the locales Tanjiro and co. visit. It's clearly set in early 1900s Japan, but beyond making the townsfolk the Victim of the Week, we never learn what it's like for people who have their loved ones snatched away by demons. We never learn if the history of Japan is different with Muzan manipulating things from the shadows. Heck, the idea of introducing ranks among the Demon Slayer Corp becomes pointless when we only see the absolute lowest and the absolute highest with nothing in between.
Outside of the core cast, the characters are given backstories, but rarely are they elaborated on beyond explaining their character traits. While again, this keeps the plotting briskly paced, nearly everyone feels thinner and more forgettable than Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke even with their flashy designs and their unique fighting styles.
The story's world at large simply doesn't have time to breathe with the plot barreling towards the next climax after every Training Montage. I find that to be a shame and the only major blemish on an otherwise excellent story.
Manga Made Me Want To Play Nioh 2
For me, both S1 and Mugen Train were merely fine, mainly due to the characterization and plot being too formulaic.
Starting with Tanjiro, he’s unique to the shonen genre, but him being an Ideal Hero is handled poorly. His biggest issue is his lack of any charisma which makes that archetype enjoyable. With all the zany characters around him it seems like a prime opportunity for him to be the Only Sane Man and The Snark Knight. Instead, he comes across as a Vanilla Protagonist, not awful but just plain.
As for Nezuko, she’s hardly even a character. She's badass and Moe. That’s it. She doesn't even talk. How can I care about her if all I know is that she’s Tanjiro’s sister? We barely get any interaction between them to establish their bond. Worst of all, she's treated more like a pet than a human being.
Next is Zenitsu, who’s acts cowardly and selfish, but loyal and compassionate. Unfortunately, most of his flaws are used for comedy, rather than setting him up for any meaningful growth. And his antics get annoying after a while.
And finally, Inosuke, a Stock Shōnen Hero. Ironically, he ends up being the most compelling character in the series due to his crazy and violent tendencies setting him apart from the other heroes. He also develops in a believable manner. I was hoping he would represent what Tanjiro would be if he went off the deep end, or something along those lines. Instead, like Zenitsu, he gets pigeonholed as comic relief and his development is downplayed.
The supporting cast is mainly defined by a dark past and quirk. These backstories are overused to the point that it begins to feel less special. Eventually, I stopped caring.
As for the villains, they try to add depth through their past, but it fails due to the overuse of dark pasts and how out of place it feels in the middle of fight. And Tanjiro repeatedly showing Sympathy for the Devil got tiresome. Rui and Enmu are entertaining, but The other villains are unremarkable. I would’ve preferred if they’d fleshed out Muzan instead.
The English voice acting is superb, although there are times where the voices don't match the character designs because of how pretty everyone looks, but the voice actors are talented enough to pull it off. On the other hand, the music didn't elevate some of the big action scenes like I felt it should. Animation for S1 is spectacular, of course. However, Mugen Train was disappointing for a Ufotable film, especially compared to some of their other films.
The plot itself is way too straightforward for me. What's more upsetting is that there's multiple instances where the story could take a more compelling route, but it never comes to fruition.
My biggest complaint though is how the fights are undermined when it stops to focus on unnecessary narration or a Flashback.