Here we are again, strange as it seems.
The last thing I said in a Kimetsu no Yaiba post was “the door is only closed – not locked.” That was after Episode 15, which was when I pulled the plug. At that time it was already clear Kimetsu was a big hit, though not that it would be the record-shattering monster it’s turned out to be. I always reserve the right to return to shows I’ve dropped, though I don’t think I’ve ever done it with a gap this long. So what’s the difference?
Well, I think the answer to that should be pretty obvious. I make no bones about the fact that KnY’s insane popularity is part of the reason I’m back, and no apologies for it either. When a series is this massively popular, I yearn to understand why. I may have issues with Attack on Titan but I get why it’s huge. With this series (and Jujutsu Kaisen too for that matter, perhaps a skosh less so) it just baffles me. I can find nothing exceptional about Kimetsu no Yaiba (apart from the production values) no matter how hard I look. It’s always struck me as a middling, inoffensive piece of work. But maybe that’s partly its secret.
While it’s kind of greedy for the production committee to basically recycle the “Mugen Train” movie for an extra half-season of anime by adding a few new scenes, for selfish reasons I’m glad they did. Never having seen the movie this gives me a chance to catch up a little, though there’s still a gap where the last several episodes of the first season sit. This seems to be a relatively stand-alone arc, too, which is even better from my perspective. Indeed for one episode at least we even have a new (to me) protagonist, the “Flame Hashira” Rengoku (Hino Satoshi). That part is a nice respite but seemingly a short-lived one.
If all the S1 eps were like this, would I have stuck with Kimetsu to the end? I see no reason why not. It was nothing great, but it was solidly entertaining generic fantasy battle shounen with ufotable’s characteristically superb production values (though much of this being theatrical footage is kind of a cheat). But that’s the problem, isn’t it? This episode was successful for me because it didn’t have any Inosuke or (shudder) Zenitsu until the omake section. If you have to cut out two of the three main characters to make a show watchable, that’s a serious problem. It obviously isn’t for gazillions of others, but it is for me.
As a protagonist, Rengoku is a bit one-note but very serviceable. He plays the role of chivalrous hero to the hilt, and he’s clearly got the chops to back it up. He loves a good bowl of ramen too (as Hashira seem to). He also seems to be about 19 or 20, which given that the majority of the demon slayers are literally children makes him something of an elder statesman. His cat-and-mouse with the youkai Slasher was a good chance for him to flash his moves, though the Slasher was just a zaku there to distract him – the real youkai behind the Mugen Train disappearances is apparently much stronger.
What happens now is that I find out whether my issues with Kimetsu no Yaiba are still deal-breakers or not. I had some problems even before Zenitsu and Inosuke showed up, mainly with the writing. Frankly it’s sloppy at times, there are elements of the plot that don’t make sense, and times when the details just don’t add up. I don’t really understand the demon slayers as an organization – their actions often seem self-defeating to me, for no reason that has been offered by the narrative. But I’m open to being convinced.
That still leaves us with Screechy and Boaris, though, and I don’t know how I’m going to get past them. Even the two minutes when they popped up at the end were a chore to sit through, and that was just a taste. Their popularity – especially Zenitsu (who consistently tops character polls) – is yet another element of the Kimetsu phenomenon that baffles me. This show’s attempts at comedy just don’t work, dammit. And all that screaming is such a grating distraction. My hope is that as they’re folded into a larger story, hopefully becoming less omnipresent in the process, those two become tolerable. But only time will reveal whether that hope is misplaced or not…
Jindujun93
October 11, 2021 at 4:32 pmThis episode here was completely anime-original in order to make the transition between the end of S1 and the movie a bit more seamless. In general… I think you’re probably not missing out by much, and I fully expect you to distance yourself from Kimetsu no Yaiba again sooner or later given that Zenitsu and Inosuke still very much exist (they would play a much smaller role during S3 whenever it happens, and Zenitsu at least is sidelined for much of the final arc too), but for this season… yeah, they’re definitely there. I guess that’s firmly an upside of the manga – it’s not voiced, so you don’t have to listen to Hiro Shimono. Never thought I’d say that.
Honestly, I feel like the boom in popularity probably really was just the stars aligning – the fact that the ufotable fanbase and the Weekly Shounen Jump fanbase managed to line up for the first time, I suppose. With Jujutsu Kaisen, you at least have character chemistry that quickly starts to feel organic mostly because it’s highschool kids screwing around with each other like highschool kids do, but… well, the Tanjiro / Inosuke / Zenitsu dynamic is a mess at the very least, haha.
Nathan
October 11, 2021 at 11:03 pmI also find Zenitsu and Inosuke completely insufferable. I was really enjoying the first season while it was just Tanjiro going around slaying demons. And then Zenitsu and Inosuke joined and I could barely watch it. It felt so much more intimate and personal and even somber at moments before they joined. But I guess you can’t make an anime that quiet for that long.
Guardian Enzo
October 11, 2021 at 11:17 pmWell you can, but presumably not one as massively, stupidly huge as KnY. The thing is everyone says it was Episode 9 that really made it explode, and that was well before Boaris and Screechy showed up.
Kim
October 12, 2021 at 2:20 amI like it probably more than you but I also do not understand it’s insane record breaking popularity
That being said I was pretty disappointed they are doing this arc again. I was looking forward to new material.
Kim
October 12, 2021 at 2:25 amOn another note it was not episode 9 but episode 19 that made it explode. I know because that is when I finally have in and watched it. Before that I had only watched the firs episode
.
Sander
October 12, 2021 at 3:42 amThis review more or less sums up my thoughts of this franchise. I liked the first season, but it was not without it flaws. It mostly felt like a mediocre shonen story elevated to greatness by Ufotable. Great action scenes, not so great when it slows downs and the characters become more important. And I recently did watch the movie mostly to be ready for this second season, and that was a rather disappointing experience. Something that could have easily been a short arc in the series, maybe 3, maximum 4 episodes, and still would have been one of the weaker arcs so far.
So imagine how I felt when I found out yesterday that the first 7 episodes of this 2nd season is just that movie cut in pieces. Well, at least that first episode was new. But honestly, I feel the movie would have been better if they had included this episode and instead left out the final fight.
Sander
October 12, 2021 at 3:55 amBy the way, I seem to be one of the few that actually likes Inosuke! Probably even my favorite character. Zenitsu on the other hand….
Guardian Enzo
October 12, 2021 at 6:42 amMaybe he gets better. As far as I’ve seen all he does is scream and bang his head into things.
Sander
October 12, 2021 at 7:20 amI don’t expect him to change much. Nor would I want him to. He’s an idiot, but at least he’s more fun to watch than Goody Two-shoes like Tanjiro or Rengoku.
Marty
October 12, 2021 at 4:50 amYeah, I honestly think its just the production value. Shounen Jump manga, at least those that are successful within the cut-throat magazine, tend to have huge, and Sometimes rabid, fanbases. UFOtable just did the smart thing and used their exquisite production value to exposed themselves to a much larger audience, creating the conditions for a BOOM in popularity.
Considering Fate/Zero is still their best work (in my opinion), Demon Slayer doesn’t even come close to it in writing quality, but damn it if the fanbase isn’t larger.
Guardian Enzo
October 12, 2021 at 6:39 amThe only Fate series that held my interest but had the usual Gen issue of not being able to do a remotely decent final act.
KnY has a larger fanbase, but among hardcore otaku you’d be hard-pressed to find a more rabid one than the Fate universe has. It’s crazy.
Rasu
October 12, 2021 at 8:45 amI’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one who can’t make heads or tails as to why such mediocre and dull series like KnY, SnK and JK are so popular despite all. I really tried to understand why, but any single time It was never worth, not even their mangas are good. It makes me think it’s just like what happened with Elfen Lied or something, good adaptation (as for the visual aspecto, though) of a terrible original source.
But even so, neither I can get the supposedly “charms” of the characters of those series; everybody seems so plain and boring to me. Trust me, I don’t have an exquisite taste either, I’ve watched and liked pretty cliché anime (and characters) yet I enjoyed them a lot, that never happened with said so “great hits”.
Guardian Enzo
October 12, 2021 at 3:51 pmI get why Shingeki is super popular. It has a tremendous sense of spectacle, especially in the early days before the plot jumped the shark and a lot of people had never seen anything quite like it before.
KnY (and JJK to an extent) I just don’t get. No matter how much I squint I can’t see anything exceptional about it, apart from the anime having great visuals, but lots of anime have great visuals and don’t become bigger than One Piece. I’ve said it would be easier for me to grok it if I hated KnY – I’d just assume whatever I hate is what makes it popular, like NisiOisin. But I don’t hate it (apart from Zenitsu). It’s just… fine. Nothing seems to stand out all that much. That’s why the whole phenomenon baffles me as much as it does.
Yukie
October 13, 2021 at 12:33 amI think this is the Naruto for a new generation of viewers (albeit with not so great writing, faster pacing, and better production values). As to its popularity, I can’t help but think social media kind of promoted it out of proportion, as clips of sakuga also did in the olden days. Now that anime has a larger audience, these booms happen exponentially faster. UFOtable has always been very great with creating atmosphere with its music and visuals(which IMO really helped carry all the narration in Fate), and I think this worked wonders with KnY’s Japanese flair (which we haven’t seen much of in Shounen Jump in a while and is one of the main draws of the series for me).
Comparing KnY and JJK, I think storywise both suffer a lot from clumsy writing, 2D characters, and abysmal humor. At the same time, both are snappy-paced and visually stylish. As w/ all shounen jump titles, I do enjoy spotting where they put their own spins on the genre. As an anime-only, I think JJK is a lot better in terms of the logic of its world-building and the mechanics of its fights, while KnY has a better-written protagonist and interestingly, depicts a sense of pathos t/o the series. Those are their charm points for me, but I can def. see why ppl may consider them mediocre or unenjoyable.
Guardian Enzo
October 13, 2021 at 7:55 amThe mechanisms you ascribe it to make sense, but they don’t really explain why it was these shows specifically that exploited them, do they? To truly historical levels?
Incidentally, it didn’t strike me that JJK was anything spectacular in terms of sakuga – certainly not to the extent of making the franchise. Am I misremembering?
Yukie
October 20, 2021 at 12:47 amPerhaps not to the level that ep19 did for KnY, but JJK had spurts of sakuga for all of its fights in the first season (and there were quite a lot of them). The animation overall was quite fluid as well. Imagine BnHA sakuga moments for its big fights, interjected into almost every two episodes. I guess this also shows the vast difference b/t those two series, BnHA’s focus on character development and story vs JJK’s focus on cool fights and getting the story from pt A to B quickly.
Guardian Enzo
October 20, 2021 at 6:44 amWhich is why I like BnHA so much better, I suppose.
ibtachi
October 13, 2021 at 12:46 amI personally think that JJK’s first season (which had a bit of that Soul Society Arc edge to it all) had a lot much more going for it then KnY’s first season — which I found perfectly enjoyable mind you, as a well executed period Shonen with some really good sound direction (minus Screechy and Boaris of course).
I just felt borderline offended at KnY beating its (objective, not subjective) betters in both popularity and sales. I wasn’t sure if I was going to give the movie a fair chance and I went into the movie with a definite reactionary bias against KnY. However, I was pleasantly surprised by it despite my previous misgivings about the series’ undeserved success. A caveat though: I think my enjoyment was largely due to a tight feature length run-time & pacing — I have a gut feeling my mileage is going to vary with this arc being spread over a course of a half-cour season. Fingers crossed that the extra scenes here are Rengoku centric (a character I rather enjoyed having on the screen, he has a certain Silver Age comic book hero charm to him) instead of Zenitsu/Inosuke (they honestly do not deserve a single second more screen time than what the movie gave them).
DonkeyWan
October 13, 2021 at 4:16 amThis reminds me of Elfen Lied. That too was inexplicably popular and really doesn’t stand the test of time. For those who know nothing of anime/manga, KNY is a huge gateway hit, pitched at just the right level for a whole new generation of fans. For everyone else it’s a gobsmackingly dull show with irritating characters and lame tropes everywhere. However, I have read the manga and that is substantially better than the anime, with tight, consistent storytelling and few deviations from the main story pathway. As such I can see why the manga, at least, has a strong following and when the anime has the excellent production values it has, it makes the whole thing a recipe for success. I almost wish it wasn’t such a hit though, preferring instead if it was more flawed, but quirky and interesting shows that were succeeding, instead of this murky soup of banality.
Terrestrious
October 15, 2021 at 1:37 pmAt the end of last year I read binged read the entire manga because of how huge it got, and my takeaway was similarly that was it just okay. I did like Inosuke though. But I’m with you on Zenitsu. I know everyone says the anime is better because of the production values, but I found Zenitsu so annoying in the manga, I don’t even want to think about how much worse he is with a voice lol.
Guardian Enzo
October 15, 2021 at 4:12 pmYou definitely don’t want to think about it, believe me.
The problem is so far at least, in the anime Boaris screams almost as much as Screechy.