That was… not good.
I’ve already commented on the double-edged sword that the casting pattern of Kimetsu no Yaiba represents. Getting huge names in even middling roles is all well and good, but it takes you out of the moment a lot – especially when said seiyuu are not always the best actual actors. And in contrast with Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin (which somehow manages almost as many big names on a crap budget), where these seiyuu are clearly given license to act, in Kimetsu no Yaiba they’re mostly doing variations on their own personas.
This week’s episode really took that to a new level, though. Shimono Hiro is not a very good actor, if we’re brutally honest – RahXephon is almost two decades in the rear-view mirror now and Hiro-Hiro pretty much just has one schtick he recycles over and over (edit: to be fair he was quite good in ACCA, a show where I noted how miscast he seemed at first). Something like Tonari no Seki-kun is perfect for him, because he doesn’t actually say anything, just do sound effects (which he’s very good at). But it’s hard to imagine a worse fit than Zenitsu, or a more obnoxious and thoroughly grating performance. That performance is truly horrendous, and based on one episode a truly awful character.
This is one of those “the less said the better” situations, but damn – this was so bad it actually makes me question whether I can continue with this series if Zenitsu remains a key player. I can only assume he’s going to be toned down at least a little, but it’s still going to be the same character and the same actor. Once the trauma of sitting through these 22 minutes has faded a bit, I’m sure I’ll go into next week hoping things get better, but this was a huge step backwards for Kimetsu.
Truthfully, the whole Zenitsu debacle was so off-putting I couldn’t even focus on the plot enough to muster any interest in it. A shapeshifting house with a bunch of oni-looking demons in it who kidnap humans, including the brother of a pair of young siblings (the brother is played by Sakaguchi Daisuke – again, no small actors here). This is Tanjirou’s next gig, and sadly he’s saddled with Zenitsu for it. Hopefully once the oni are dealt with these two will split up and we won’t have to experience Zenitsu at least for a while. I wish I could muster something positive to say about this ep but truthfully, the whole Zenitsu-Shimono thing obliterated everything in its path. But there’s always next week…
al2606
June 16, 2019 at 11:36 amFirst time commenting here but I guess I have to say something. Since as a manga reader I have the same impressions as you throughout: An extremely enjoyable shounen manga.
I don’t like a few characters much initially either but there might be more than meets the eye. And if anything the anime has done steps to make the experience more satisfying.
Guardian Enzo
June 16, 2019 at 12:21 pmI’m assuming there’s more to Zenitsu that first impressions, obviously. But that’s still a horrible performance. Totally insufferable.
bnbros
June 16, 2019 at 4:27 pmSeen quite a bunch of comments on the episode discussion thread on Reddit hyping Zenitsu a lot, with some even proclaiming him as one of their favorite characters (and the Japanese fandom apparently adores him greatly too). I’m at least interested to see how much of this supposed positive side of his can outweigh his extremely annoying first impression.
That said, he might test us anime-only viewers for a while, with someone claiming they’re expecting another 2 or 3 episodes of whiny Zenitsu for now.
bnbros
June 16, 2019 at 4:30 pm*Edit: Sorry, my last sentence should have been “someone claiming that if we don’t like Zenitsu within the next 2 or 3 episodes, we might not like him at all, ever.”
Yann
June 16, 2019 at 11:43 amNot only the performance… But the tone, the animation… WTF just happened?! Am we watching the same show at all? This is a HUGE bummer 🙁
Lark
June 16, 2019 at 2:27 pmAhem- the ACCA anime only came out two years ago. (I also liked him in Akatsuki no Yona- I know you weren’t too big on the casting choice when it was announced, but I’m curious to hear your opinion about his performance in the OVAs.)
Guardian Enzo
June 16, 2019 at 4:52 pmHe wasn’t my favorite part of AnY, though he was dialed down enough that it wasn’t a major problem (analogous to Kaji Yuki in BnHA). But I’ll admit I overlooked ACCA – he was quite good there, and in a mode I hadn’t heard him in for a long time. A fair point to be sure.
Robert Black
June 16, 2019 at 3:44 pmOy vey, yes that was terrible. Judging from the end of the ED sequence, Zenitsu develops a big thing for Nezuko. I can think of a few places where she might want to kick him.
leongsh
June 16, 2019 at 6:46 pmManga follower here. I rolled my eyes, hard, then at this part in the manga. For what its worth, the voice actor’s performance did nail how annoying the character was in the manga =P
For now, I suggest watching to see what his skill/technique is and a bit more exposition of his background.
Kurik
June 17, 2019 at 6:59 amI am hoping he does mellow out in the next episode as this episode has been the only one I haven’t enjoyed so far. Fingers crossed.
Collectr
June 16, 2019 at 9:14 pmYou need to praise/condemn the performance, rather than the actor. For a while, Shimono Hiro was the ‘go-to’ actor for near-hysterical teen-aged boys (e.g., Nagasarete Airantou, the Baka to Test franchise, and The World God Only Knows franchise); perhaps that’s why you think of him as “one note.” However, he was very good as Jean in ACCA. He also showed his dramatic chops in the Akatsuki no Yona OADs, where he convincingly conveyed the deep melancholy than underlies Zero’s happy-go-lucky exterior. On the comedy side, he was laugh-out-loud funny as the masochistic dog god in Binbougami-ga and the cat-crazed editor in Doukyonin wa Hiza.
His voice is distinctive, and like other seiyuu with unique voices (such as Minaguchi Yuuko from Yawara), it’s hard not to hear their most famous performance in their later ones.
ibtachi
June 16, 2019 at 9:59 pmThat was downright grating. Apart from the obviously detestable performance, this reeks of an editor’s demand for a “gag character” to be inserted into the series. Zenitsu’s first appearance did in no way hint at the obnoxious fool of a character on display here. Furthermore, just a few things that further irritated me:
– The way the more nuanced storytelling on display so far has been sacrificed in favour to adding an unfunny, tropey, overplayed gag moment. Every human we have met so far has been shell shocked and traumatized by fear of demons.
Is Zenitsu’s role so important that a child’s natural reaction in this precarious situation is ignored just to provided an overplayed “judgmental face” gag at this clown of a character?
– The jarring changes in tone severely undermining one of the more interesting demons to show up so far (who brings along with him an element of well executed supernatural horror in Japanese flavour).
Its times like this where I wish adaptations would take a bit more liberty with the source material. A gag panel in a manga is far less intrusive than mood breaking gag segments which have no right to belong in the world Kimetsu no Yaiba has created so far.
Sadly, this is strike one of the 3 episode rule. If this keeps up, I’m out.
Onix Franceschini
June 18, 2019 at 2:33 amThis is the exact chapter I dropped the manga… Did not enjoy the character at all, but I’ll continue to watch to see where it goes.
DP
June 18, 2019 at 9:18 amI was surprised to see the Reddit reaction remarkably muted. For me, this was very much a Jump the Shark moment and also a WTF were they thinking with this guy? The entire atmosphere of the series just flushed down the toilet.
I’ll give it another episodes or two (maybe until the first episode of the second cour) to see if he tones down a bit or is pushed into the background. I don’t really blame the actor — by all accounts the character is as much or more over the top in the manga — but this guy is C-KO levels of annoyance…
Clinton
June 23, 2019 at 8:06 amThis episode is Zenitsu at his worst, he is never this bad again.