The Spring 2019 Anime Preview Guide

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

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In an alternate Taisho era, young teen Tanjiro lives with his widowed mother and his siblings high on a mountain. They survive by selling charcoal in the town at the mountain's base, and on snowy days Tanjiro goes in by himself with their wares, much to his younger siblings' disappointment. One fateful day he's stuck overnight at the home of an old man named Saburo, and when he the snow stops enough for him to head home, he's met with a terrible sight – man-eating demons have come while he was out and murdered almost his entire family. The only one who's still alive is Nezuko, the younger sister closest in age to Tanjiro, and he sets out to carry her to a doctor. But along the way Nezuko undergoes a terrifying transformation: because her wounds were infected with demon blood, she's now turned into a man-eating demon herself. Tanjiro is still determined to save her and some of Nezuko does appear to have survived the change, but is there any hope for them? Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is based on a manga and streams on Crunchyroll, Saturdays at 12:00 PM EST.

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Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

While it's kind of early in the season to be declaring much of anything, I still think it may be a safe bet to call this the dark shounen series of this spring. Based on the manga of the same name (currently being published in English by Viz), Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba pulls very few punches in its introductory episode, not just killing off hero Tanjiro's entire family (which consists of mostly of young children), it then also takes the time to show us how horribly they died. This is largely done by allowing our own febrile imaginations to do their worst rather than giving us a play-by-play, and that's a good move. Just showing us their bodies where they lay, covered in blood and with final expressions of horror on their faces, is very effective, especially when you consider that according to their positions the entire group died protecting each other. “Awful” isn't a strong enough word, and in order to truly understand Tanjiro's next moves, it's important that we fully understand that.

Fortunately for the episode's continued credibility, that's the only time it truly delves into the horrific, at least visually. By the time Tanjiro is sprinting down the mountain carrying the lone survivor, his younger sister Nezuko, we understand his desperation, and when she begins her transformation into the very monster that killed the rest of the family, it isn't hard to see why Tanjiro wouldn't want to comprehend what's going on. Sure, the claws, growling, and way she keeps going for his throat are good indications that something not right is happening, but Tanjiro is by this point so upset and wracked with survivor's guilt that all he can do is try to see past all of that. He needs to believe that Nezuko's human self is still in her new monstrous body because she's all he has left.

Whether it's that desperate belief that does it or there really is some of the old Nezuko there, hope does pay off. That's what allows Nezuko to live, not just because her older brother believes in her, but because he does so to the degree that he's willing to go up against one of the eponymous demon slayers, a kid about his age named Giyu, in order to keep her that way. When Giyu also observes Nezuko trying to protect Tanjiro, he realizes that maybe there's something more going on here, and that perhaps turned humans can be saved. The degree to which he's frustrated with Tanjiro and wants to believe him capable of returning Nezuko to her human state seems indicative of some similar tragedy in his own past, and that's probably why he sends the siblings on to someone else. That means that even though this is a dark story, it's not one without that seed of hopefulness, and that's something that can make the difference between a good series and one that's just overwhelmingly depressing. It's going to be worth seeing if this can work through its more melodramatic airs and pull it off.