I would never say I love it (that should be obvious enough) but Kimetsu no Yaiba is never less than a fascinating enigma to me. I don’t understand some of the choices it makes, and – most vexingly – I don’t understand why it’s as popular as it is. This is a good show in many respects, but apart from the visuals it just seems so unexceptional to me in every way. As I’ve said before, it would be simpler for me if there were things about it I hated which I knew were part of the reason for its success, but I don’t even have that to fall back on.
This episode was perfectly competent, but it really hammers home the challenges I have with this production. In the first place, grinding the story to a halt so Enmu can take about 90 seconds explaining exactly how his powers work – for no reason at all – grinds my gears in a big way. Seriously, that’s such a lazy bit of writing and even if it were an isolated occurrence, it’d be an issue – but it’s not. My biggest issue with Kimetsu before the arrival of Boaris and Screechy was the sloppy nature of the writing – not a deal-breaker, but certainly a limiter on my level of engagement.
The other major issue is that I’m hard-pressed to think of another case where casting, specifically, has had such a deleterious effect on my viewing experience. The matter of Inosuke and especially Zenitsu is well-documented – to some extent they’re a problem from the page onwards, but the performances are a big part of it. But Enmu is another example. It’s not like Hirakawa Daisuke is a bad seiyuu – generally he’s very good. But he’s just unbearable here. This really leads one to believe there’s a deeper problem than the actors. These performances are a stylistic choice, and while I don’t know exactly what that says about Kimetsu no Yaiba, I know it isn’t anything good.
What frustrates me so much is that there’s the potential for something powerful here, and it even manages to break through sometimes (though not much this week). Enmu’s M.O. of using the desperate and despairing by offering them pleasant dreams to escape to isn’t that original, but it does have some pathos to it. And Tanjirou’s survivor’s guilt, which is touched on here, is one of the most compelling emotional threads in the fabric of the series. Even there though, the resolution to it – and indeed, the breakthrough in the episode – is pretty simplistic in the way it’s executed.
One gets the vibe that Enmu is a mid-boss here, even if he did level up by merging his body with the Mugen train. I was relieved at least that Tanjirou played out the “that was too easy” card because that’s exactly what I was thinking in that moment. But the sooner Enmu is disposed of and we can get to the one really pulling the strings here (and no, I know it won’t be Muzan directly – how he’s missed), the happier I’ll be. Unfortunately it appears that Zenitsu and Inosuke are going to be awake for the next leg of the journey, and that of course presents its own set of challenges.
Marmot
November 10, 2021 at 4:31 amThis is a pretty uncharitable take, but I’m starting to think that a big part Yaiba’s success is because it is a standard shounen that pretends to be for older anime fans (because of the blood/gore) but is actually aimed at a much, much younger audience. I feel like children of almost any age can understand the simple narrative here, and Zenitsu and Pig Assault keep them entertained. The violence is a bit over the top, but I feel like young teens especially love to get away with watching that kind of thing.
Guardian Enzo
November 10, 2021 at 8:25 amMy main issue with that theory is that clearly, older viewers/readers are indeed flocking to this series – the numbers bear that out. I do think its somewhat childish simplicity in tone and theme is an appeal broadly speaking.
Archaon
November 10, 2021 at 5:13 pmYes, KnY absolutely has appeal to older readers and also people who don’t usually read manga. I think the reason it success is because of it simplicity in an age where everything are trying to be complex by subverting expectation and plot twist. KnY is like a fairy tale, simple to read and still have deeper meaning for those who looking for that. I don’t mind Inosuke and Zenitsu because they are generally the foil to Tanjirou. Like the 3 of them form a strong dynamic (Tanjioru is the caring brother, Zenitsu is the straightman while Inosuke is the child of the group)
Guardian Enzo
November 10, 2021 at 5:39 pmI agree with some of that, but – Zenitsu as a straight man?? I have to call BS on that one.
Snowball
November 10, 2021 at 6:21 amConsidering this was made into a theatrical production, that is some embarrassingly ugly CGI blob.
Chaitan
November 10, 2021 at 11:15 pmEnmu was so cool in Episode 26 but sadly not so here.
And these CGI tentacles are shitty.
Rasu
November 11, 2021 at 6:26 amI followed a japanese family on Youtube (’cause the mom and I are from the same country), and, indeed KNY is seen by children. If I recall well, the youngest , who was 6 o7 years old at the moment, received the complete cosplay of Tanjirou (sword and all) as a X-mass present some time ago, and her older sister, who was like 11 or 12, also seemed to watch it to the point of knowing the lyrics of the op (she’s not really into anime, though, so that surprised me). As for their parents, they also liked it, they were on their 30’s and 60’s respectively; so I guess you’re on point.
Guardian Enzo
November 11, 2021 at 6:55 amThere’s no question children love it. KnY probably has more breadth in age among schoolkids than any anime I remember, literally KG through high school. My point was that older people are into it too, which is the reason it’s a historically big phenomenon and not just a regular hit.
Marty
November 12, 2021 at 10:53 amFrom what I’ve seen, even mediocre shounen jump manga can get a large anime following with a half-decent adaptation.
By that logic, a masterful adaptation (lets admit it, UFOtable doesn’t slouch), is bound to create legions of fans.
An unexpected development from the social media era is that I believe that the YT anime community has a significant effect on the western fandom of any Shounen series. There are countless videos trying to pry depth out of what id narratively a public pool as if it’s the Mariana Trench. I believe that creates some sort of self-validating loop of praise, allowing a sizeable anime fandom to spread like wildfire.
The inverse of that could be “Golden Kamuy,” few Youtubers cover the series because it generates so few Views that its almost not worth covering at all, which results in less people knowing about it as well.
Guardian Enzo
November 12, 2021 at 1:20 pmWell, if I can paraphrase it sounds like you’re saying any WSJ series (half-decent in your words) that got a good adaptation from ufotable would have been just as big. And while I don’t deny there’s some truth to the idea of WSJ driving a lot of this, I can’t dismiss it that easily. I think there’s something specific to KnY that’s driving this, even if I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is.