Review and Reaction - Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)
Kimetsu no Yaiba Demon Slayer is one of the most popular Japanese manga and anime during 2019. The manga was first serialized by Weekly Shonen Jump in 2016, and an anime adaptation has been on air since 2019. Season 1 of the anime adaptation consists of 26 episodes, with a movie movie set to be released in 2020.
Review
The anime series was first aired in theaters in Japan. This release consisted of 5 episodes, which aired for two weeks in select locations all over Japan on March 29th, 2019. The theatrical release in the US was hosted by Aniplex only two days after the first airing in Japan. Upon airing in the US, the show became an instant hit. It was highly acclaimed, by fans and critics alike, for its breathtaking animation.
The animated series received a high rating across platforms: 8,8 out of 10 in IMDB (8000+ votes), and 8.87 in MAL with more than 300.000 votes. It also rated highly on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic from Asian Movie Pulse write: “The detail in both characters and backgrounds is impressive, and there are scenes that stay [in your] mind [for] their artistry...”
Characters
In a 2019 popularity poll conducted on manga readers by Shonen Jump, the top 5 most popular characters from the series were:
Giyuu Tomioka has his own spin-off series, Demon Slayer: Tomioka Giyuu Gaiden. A light novel set to be published in 2020 that will focus on the lives of characters Kanae Kocho and Shinobu Kocho.
Reaction
Although the manga series, written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge, was serialized in Shonen Jump In 2016, it wasn’t until 2018 that the series became popular enough in Japan for an anime adaptation to be viable. The anime adaptation, was produced by studio Ufotable (famous for titles such as Fate/Zero, Tales of Zestiria the X) was announced in June of 2018.
As of February 2020, it is estimated that the manga has over 40 million copies in circulation worldwide, including digital publications. It was the best-selling manga in Japan in 2019, beating One Piece regularly in the yearly rankings of digital publications such as Oricon, Rakuten, and Mangazenkan.
2019 was a very controversial year for manga sales, as Demon Slayer was nowhere near the Top 10 best selling manga during the first half of 2019, yet becoming best-selling manga of the year, surpassing One Piece. One Piece has been the number 1 best-selling manga almost every year since 2001. The last time One Piece was number 2 was in 2006, with Death Note taking first place.
The series has given way to spin-offs such as the Tomioka Giyuu Gaiden, a series consisting of two chapters exploring the character’s journey after having met Tanjiro. Although the work is credited to the original author, Ryouji Hirano illustrated it. The same illustrator penned a 4-panel comedic adaptation of the manga, with the main characters as chibis.
A light novel in collaboration with Aya Harima, who has written light novel adaptations of notable manga such as Blue Exorcist, was published in 2019. A second light novel is set to be published in 2020.
A movie was revealed to be in production and was teased during airing of the 26th episode of Demon Slayer. It continues the story where the anime left off, following the original story of the manga, giving way to speculation of a second season.
Reception in Japan
Release of the anime led to an unseen boom in sales of the manga, which led to unbelievable news such as the Demon Slayer manga being literally stolen off the shelves.
After airing, the anime received many awards, most notably winning Best anime, voice actor (male and female, for Tanjiro and Nezuro respectively), best theme song (Gurenge by LiSA, best director, and best character design during the Newtype Anime Awards.
In 2020, the anime won the Animation of the Year Award during the Tokyo Anime Film Festival. It was also the winner in the Original Production/Screenplay category, with the award going to the author, Koyoharu Gotouge.
Reception in the US
Viz Media, which distributes Japanese media such as manga, games, and anime, licensed the manga for the North American market in 2017 during the San Diego Comic-con. An English version was made available by the original publisher, Shueisha (a leading manga publishing company), via the online service Manga Plus, along with a spanish translation.
An English dub was released by Aniplex in October, 2019. The show quickly rose to popularity in the US, giving way to a lot of attention on social media. The show quickly appeared in several top rankings, with Crunchyroll listing it in its “Top 25 anime of the 2010s”, and Polygon considering it “one of the best anime of the decade”.
As of 2020, the anime in licensed in english-speaking country by Aniplex for the US region and by Madman Entertainment for Australia.
It is aired in Adult Swim. It can be streamed via services like Crunchyroll and Hulu.