mine was a kids anime when i was younger and beyblade burst will always have a special place in my heart, but demon slayer is def good for new comers to anime; its safe , funny , doesn’t have a bad spot of animation (like the older anime episodes from the main three) its very dry for older anime fans but is very good for newcomers
This was me (alongside Inuyasha though its more of a first isekai than anything) which was 5 years ago now (wow) my current consensus on it is that I have issues with the world building and some of its characters but other than these I like it, its a simple anime that shows you what it is and focuses more on presenting that simplicity in a cool way, a good comparison of battle shonen like it are the John Wick films world isn't that fully explored and some characters may be one dimensional but the simplicity of it all is presented in cool high-octane action
For me demon slayer is both enjoyable to watch but undeniably badly written and shallow. The internet seems to have forgotten that those two aren’t mutually exclusive.
I think some parts of demon slayer were fantastically written especially in the beginning, I’m talking season 1. The show expertly played with suspense, emotional pay of and mystery incredibly well. However as the show went on the character became more flat and one dimensional.
@@somasaasaa4850yeah, the start of the show was pretty okay. Like up until the train arc I was pretty invested, enough to pick up the manga. Sure they introduced and killed Rengoku in the same arc which was a huge red flag but I was still hopeful it'll turn out great. Then I finish it and ooooh boy... Pretty disappointing
@@billlee3851 Rengoku dying was good, People complain when characters they love die, but they also complain when noone dies. Rengoku dying was to show us that being a demon slayer is dangerous . Its similar to how important characters die in JJK.
@@crazychaba9816 I don't mind lovable characters dying, but they tried so hard to glaze Rengoku in such a short time period, it felt pretty superficial and shallow. Like, viewers will have different first impressions about a character, and to make us collectively feel bad for them you should at least give us enough time to think about them first. I admit his death scene was awesome and easily one of the best scenes in the series, but it also felt pretty contrived because I barely spent time with the guy. Still, it wasn't a bad arc by any means, but it was alarming to me how they would kill a newly introduced character for shock value.
I've been victim of the "Trash or Peak, no other option" mindset a few times, shamefully. I've strayed from those ways in recent times, taking a step back from other people and really analyzing something on your own works wonders. To me, Demon Slayer is just good, I'll watch it and likely enjoy it for the most part. If you've watched a real trash anime, Demon Slayer is nowhere near that, and neither are a lot of other works that have large fanbases, notably JJK and MHA since those have similar extremes of perceived quality.
Yeah demon slayer isn’t the best show in the world. But it’s such a work of art that i can shut up and suspend my disbelief of the convoluted writing and I’m the guy that has a ton of trouble asking “why does the boat have tires on it” while watching a movie. The hashira training arc is closer to a work of art than a show. But also the demon slayer manga is probably the best book I’ve ever read.
I agree. Demon Slayer to me is a solid 7/10. It's not great or amazing but it's far from bad or trash the way ppl make it out to be which is why I tend to defend it alot. I feel like although it deserves its criticisms there are those who overdo it solely because it's popular and I think that's corny.
I like the characters that aren’t Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke because they don’t have plot armor and can actually die at any moment. The pillars in particular give actual stakes, because you know the author is willing to kill them off. That’s why the best fight in all of Demon Slayer is a fight in the manga that doesn’t involve the three of them at all.
My biggest frustration with demon slayer was the overuse of flashbacks. Every single time it was so predictable exactly when and where they'd dump an entire backstory on your head and it felt so cheap every time.
I strongly agree with this. But my problem isn't the flashbacks themselves, they can be strong narrative tools if used effectively, it is where they put the flashbacks that kills the pacing. This wasn't much of an issue for the first two seasons and the movie, the few flashbacks we got were not during action scenes, and the ones that were (like the first hinokami kagura use) were short and emotionaly strong and engaging, which didn't cut the pacing of the fight. But the swordsmith village arc was plagued by flashback after flashback that lasted for several minutes in the middle of fight sequences. The worst offender of this for me was Genya's flashback in the middle of chasing upper moon 4's real body, a whole backstory in the middle of a sword swing, it completely killed the pacing of the fight. Like, it was interesting and all, it helped understand his character, why he acts the way he does and to set up the future conflict between the brothers. But jesus christ, there's a time and a place for everything, if we really need to know it then put it before or after the fight but not in the middle
@@SmoothAsFelt the author had to abuse the flashbacks because she can't write complex characters as they are. Oh you should feel bad about this dying demon because he had a terrible childhood and his loved ones die horribly. Meanwhile the demon is literally a one-note cartoonish villain that killed thousands of people.
@@facundosilveira5535 I 100% agree. The bad timing and placement of the flashbacks is what made them so predictable in the worst way. You could pinpoint the exact moment when tensions were high and you were about to finally get the release of all that pent up tension and go "Now they're gonna flashback for the one swinging the sword" and BOOM half of the remaining episode was one giant flashback. I already cared about the character, Genya had enough stuff to make him interesting. If you want to flesh out his backstory with his brother, great. You can even do it well through flashbacks. But practically ANY other time would have been better than when it was used. A similar thing can be said for most of the demons right before they're slain. I'm sorry but you've built up this hatred of them for multiple episodes, the absolute worst possible moment to try and make me suddenly care about them is the very second they're dying. I get what it's trying to do, I just don't think it does it well, especially when it does it the exact same way for EVERY SINGLE DEMON. The story is genuinely incapable of just letting a monster be a monster and letting one of the characters slay it without HAVING to try and make you care about them at the last possible second. Sometimes the stories are even good, but it would be so much better if this was established BEFORE they're right about to die. It's such a dropped ball moment, and it happens constnatly
@@billlee3851I find the fact that Muzan is one note to be refreshing. He doesn’t need a sad back story. He doesn’t need to be understood. He was a horrible person as a human and as a demon it’s a million times worse and that’s such a true reflection of how people can be. The obsession nowadays with wanting to give every bad guy a sob story is exhausting. DS has a healthy fair share of both. Even then the back stories that we are shown are usually related to the themes being put forward in a specific arc. There were still plenty of villains that were just evil. In the upper ranks alone more than half of them were just horrible people. Muzan himself is more similar to a villain like Ozai. His pettiness and cruelty is meant to be a stark juxtaposition to Tanjiro’s and Kagaya. Cruelty for the sake of cruelty in the face of kindness for the simple sake of being kind
For me the only problem I had with the ending of the entertainment district arc was the awful Inosuke deus ex machina. Not only did he survive getting stabbed through the heart, but he could somehow keep up with Zenitsu's speed while on the brink of death because.... ??? No reason I guess, he just can. I wish they just stayed with "he can tough out the poison because he grew up in the wild", because that would at least make a fraction of sense. But outside of that crap I absolutely loved it. Because I already had very low expectations about whatever direction they would take with Zenitsu since his "can only perform if he's passed out" -thing and his character is awful to begin with. And with Tengen he at the very least suffered pretty severe consequences with losing and eye and a hand, rendering him unfit to keep being a Demon Slayer. Not to mention that his re-entrance to save Tanjiro was so expertly directed and some of the most hype sh*t I've ever seen in my life that you kind of just forgot that it was a cheap writing decision lmao
I totally agree with you, for me that whole episode was so close to being a perfect episode, but that Inosuke stuff really dragged it down by the end. But same i think everything else in that fight was just great, they honestly could've left Inosuke out of that final battle and just let zenitsu finish her off himself, considering they had some beef before he knew she was a demon. Guess they just wanted to have a "all 3 protagonists finish off the villains together" so they had to somehow bring inosuke back in
@@bboywolf while I agree demon slayer has a lot of the same problems other animes have, why does that all of a sudden keep it safe from criticism like that? Inosuke somehow coming back and keeping up with zenitsu is so different to how they handled tengen coming back after you thought he died. Its how they did it is the problem. That's totally worthy of criticism
Demon slayer to me is like the popcorn of anime. It tastes good, smells nice and you're excited to sit and eat it. But when you're eating it its kinda mindless and not very nutritional.
Demon slayer is classic anime junk food. At least, that's what I would say, if ufotable wasn't the studio making it. This isn't the first time they've made a show, that would otherwise be nothing, worth watching.
@@wamaschawama5178in my opinion fate zero is great, but most other fate anime, regardless of if they're made by ufotable or not, have similar writing issues
I absolutely adore Demon Slayer, it's definitely my favourite show. And that's why I'm so grateful you make videos like this, you point out flaws that I otherwise wouldn't have noticed at all or would've been less bothered by. Your view is much more neutral than what I see in the depths of the fandom and so I'm able to properly take in what you're saying and so far every point about it you've made has made sense to me. I admit I was the type to jump to defending KNY a bit too quickly because I love it so much, but it's thanks to you that I'm now able to be a lot more sensible about it and acknowledge the flaws it has without being annoyed or upset because I know you're right because of how well you explain everything
I’m pretty middled on Demon Slayer, it’s FAR from “peak” but it’s also FAR from bad. Many pros and cons. It’s a decent show, although it has been getting worse imo. The production quality still there obviously, but I’ve become less invested in the characters & their struggle against Muzan with each passing season. The storyTELLING just feels so flat. Still functional & not actively BORING, but completely sauceless Zenitsu is the worst character of all time, and Tanjiro hasn’t had a shred of meaningful character development since the train. I think that’s a problem, but at the same time, they always develop the Hashira really well & Inosuke is always comedy gold. As I said, many pros and cons. I’m still excited to see how the series comes to an end with that film trilogy, but I am by no means DYING to see it.
Worst character of all time is an insane overstatement, I hate zenitsu as much as the next guy, but you simply haven't consumed enough media if you think that's even close to as bad as it can get.
Inosuke is easily my favourite character from the show... too bad he doesn't get developed more. I don't feel like the Hashiras are that well developed either though, even the ones with more screentime. Zenitsu is definitely not the worst character of all time though, but he's definitely bad, and not even an interesting kind of bad... I suppose it was interesting to see him used as an example of how not to write cowards but in terms of the show it was just painful for me most of the time he got any attention.
i like Demon Slayer. I really enjoy nearly every character, the animation and art is gorgeous, it rarely fails to make me emotional and i love how Tanjiro is written. That might be a bit odd because - as you said - he is basically "the perfect protagonist", but i just really like how he is shown to be a good person. Many other shonen also try that, but then give the protagonist "quirks" that are either annoying or a literal crime (like the characters who spy on women etc.). Were as Tanjiro is good, he is good but still doesn't shy away from killing his enemies, because it has to be done and i love how the story sometimes shows glimpses of how he actually feels. That he just tries to keep it together for the sake of his mission and that he has never really grieved his family. He just put it in the back of his mind, because he couldn't allow himself to "get sidetracked". I like nearly every aspect of Demon Slayer - despite its flaws - except Zenitsu.
I think it just comes down to expectations. I didn’t start demon slayer looking for a narrative masterpiece, I started it because bright color make brain happy. It does that and that’s good enough for me.
You voiced my opinions perfectly, great video. I see so many videos of people shitting on demon slayer calling it derivative garbage, while not giving it any of the praise it does deserve. More people need to be like you and be able to see the good things while not ignoring the bad things and then learn from that.
Well said. Honestly, I see so many people just trashing Demon Slayer without giving its praises to the point where now people are just joining this bandwagon of “Demon Slayer is MID” and “Demon Slayer is trash,” without even looking deeper on what the series is.
@@anapple6912 i would say animations. Because they really are good. But beyond that, story is forgettable, the world building is bland, the antagonist is not investable, the main character does not have any development
For me the disappointment was just too much. If a show stays average it's easy to accept. But when a show has so much potential, and shows the ability to meet it, while also consistently failing to deliver at other times, it gets jarring. Like a dirt road, bumps can feel far worse then persistent ruts.
@@jjthomson2815 Altho the conversation betwixt Ubuyashiki and Muzan was peak and the children singing was peak and the fight with Muzan was peak and the infinity castle was peak
You articulated all the feelings Ive ever had for this show better than I ever could. Thank you, it was so cathartic to understand the why behind my thoughts. Wanting to love it but giving up, the inconsistencies in good writing, still liking the show without thinking it was either extreme, simply perfect take imo
@@bertoandon9681 She did. Also there was no incest the series revealed who the two ended up with. It annoys me that so much of the journey was about her and then. nothing. I defended how she was basically feral because I thought it would set up character development about her having overcame what happened to her.
I have consumed manga and anime since 2008 especially the shows within shojo and shonen demographic. And truth be told, I LOVE Demon Slayer although there's nothing new it can offer for me who has read COUNTLESS shonen medias. I never hold Demon Slayer in a pedestal as a whole, but I feel attached to its characters right away and always find Gotouge's storytelling to be gentle (I can't explain it without sounding weird sorry). One thing I always put in high regard of Demon Slayer is how it puts importance in weaker people too like we can see in the final fight where even weak members of the corps and the kakushis also jump against muzan. Yes, it might be seen as a writing flaw, but I always love stories that remind their audience of kindness, to care for others, and to remember how even people we deem as unimportant and weak could actually be the most helpful at critical moments. I believe that because I treasure those simple yet important lessons of kindness and humanity Demon Slayer offers so much, any other flaws the show has don't bother me at all haha
The trope that turned me from rapt reader to occasional check-in reader was the "turn the students loose in a deadly trial" trope. Students are valuable, and exponentially more valuable the rarer their skillsets are. That's why the waste of so many lives in some sort of deadly boot camp really takes me out of any sense of immersion. Thanks for the video!
I agree and disagree. While yes it is kinda stupid it did also work. Demon slayers are going down in quality and that is probably for 1 reason: Bonding. Most teachers, and even Urokodaki before Tanjiro came along, don't push their students far enough during training. A demon won't fighting in the same way as a human. A demon won't throw stick and stones while fighting you. A slayer can't afford to slowly learn the demons moveset. Just like knives and boulders being flung at you suddenlly while going down a mountain, a slayer will only have a moment to memorize their enviroment and react to what their opponent is doing.
@@matijasostojic4288 Interesting, the first thing I thought of was the mountain demon test with the rest of the rookie slayers, not the initial mountain race training.
The whole Neuzko is immune to the sun thing felt very lazy. I really enjoyed the set up and what you mentioned about putting Tanjiro in an impossible situation is exactly how I felt. Not having any consequences for that made the moment feel very cheap, I wanted to take back my emotional reaction. They could have easily set this up well before. Even just having Muzans backstory earlier on and letting us in on the evolution of demons subtly during the show would have made me content.
You say there are no consequences, except there are. In fact, the consequences are even more dangerous than if Nezuko just died. Muzan knows that Nezuko has "conquered the sun" as the show likes to put it. Now he's after her, specifically, and is targeting her. He's after her, and if he manages to get his hands on her and obtain the ability to conquer the sun himself, then the demon slayers and the rest of the world are doomed.
@@jackmanleblanc2518 yeah sure, there are because the story has to continue. My point was more that these consequences we got weren’t set up and the whole moment didn’t feel earned by the writing that came before it. It just happens, and then we get muzans backstory where it turns out the one thing he’s been looking for after 1000 years is finally here. It’s lazy, and it’s an attempt to justify the nezuko scene without any prior set up. Ultimately I’m not watching demon slayer for the good writing, but it has moments where it gets close. I find it frustrating to see when it has the potential to be so much better.
@@OdaGoda957 The writing is bad mainly due the actual manga/source material being rushed... The author was going through a lot and ended up rushing through it, probably skipping planned arcs. There's a reason all the lower moons were cut off and the last 3 upper moon fights (including nakime and kaigaku) were crammed into one arc.
@@OdaGoda957I gotta disagree with you here, we always knew that Nezuko was different from other demons especially in regard to the relationship with Kuzan. Her character trope was always gonna be a surpassing of Muzan in atleast one aspect. Maybe it's because I read alot of female centric novels that this was my exact expectation and was just waiting for it.
@@keithdavy7346 following a betty sue like trope for the female lead and properly setting up the immunity to the sun that ties her to the main villain are very different things. You can see my point right? Like I can know that Tanjiro will have a power up in an arc but still be disappointed if it doesn’t feel earned. I totally agree that she is special but nothing in the story set me up to expect her to suddenly overcome the main weakness of all demons. The fact that this happens and is a major plot device that drives the final arcs is why I think it’s so important to set up beforehand.
I read the Manga, I like the first Season, I also watched the village arc. After that - I will wait a bit. I mean it was never perfect series. It had amazing animation and at times it hit emotionally very much.
You’ve got some interesting points here! Regarding that third option when discussing, or rather not talking about Demon Slayer though, I don’t see a scenario where someone with a more relaxed opinion on the show would care to discuss it online anyway. Media with smaller fanbases still won’t have many discussions from people who found the property okay or kind of bad. There are exceptions as with anything, but I don’t think the lack of discussions begun from a non-extreme viewpoint to do with social influence.
Kny kinda sucks at character writing, I didn’t really feel any attachment towards any character. But the thing that makes me happy when I watch this show is how simple it is. You can keep track of the relationships, the fight scenes are fun and the plot is straight forward. It’s a simple show with underwhelming writing but overall a fun story that I can watch without feeling bored or confused as hell.
Demon slayer is peak for me pey but it's definitely not a perfect show by any stretch so I appreciate this video. It's definitely far from perfect and there are many criticisms I could throw out but I just choose to enjoy it instead and I think others should too.
I absolutely agree that DS is flawed but similar to what you said at the beginning most of the time criticism levied against it is so superficial that it just comes off as a lack of media literacy. 9/10 I’ve had people accuse the show of things they blatantly did not do. Like people accusing of Tanjiro being too happy didn’t seem to watch the show at all with how often Tanjiro despairs and struggles to keep going, being able to only do so with the help of others and openly admitting he wouldn’t have made it as far as he did without it. Another issue is how people insist on judging DS slayers seasons ONLY individually instead of a cohesive whole (this is frankly an issue I have with modern media criticism in general). Each season ends the way it does to aid in delivering the final arc of the story. It’s a progression. Each season asks and answers a certain set of questions before asking even more that are meant to be answered in the next one. Judging the seasons individually isn’t necessarily bad but it’s been the only way I’ve seen it done and the repetitive echo is frustrating because there’s nothing really new in it Also a lot of the times the things people don’t like about the show is very much preferential. Like how Tanjiro is obviously written as a Superman archetype and while there is still room for criticism regardless there’s also nothing wrong with simply saying that’s not your cup of tea and that’s fine. It doesn’t make the show or the characters bad. My own personal example is attack on titans. It is a great show. Well written, complex themes, stunning animation and more. But at the end of the day I didn’t enjoy it because I found it too depressing and bleak. I’d just end up sad most of the time by the end of an episode and that just wasn’t what I was looking for in the content I consume. Same thing with shows like GOT or The Boys. Good shows but with stories and themes that just weren’t my own preference. I prefer a story like LOTR but it also wouldn’t be fair of me to judge a show like GOT through the lens of LOTR and vice versa. There’s this current obsession nowadays among the audience to find a way to justify their dislike of a content by deciding that it was bad all along instead of just recognizing that it was more a matter of personal opinion. But what frustrates me the most is how these superficial criticisms are so loud that they block out efforts to both criticize and analyze the content more deeply. I think analysis and criticism of media is the best way to appreciate it but doing so only superficially is ultimately a disservice to it and that is frustrating
You nailed the head on a lot of my own frustration where people's analysis of the story is concerned. Making judgments on the series as whole based on assessment of individual seasons in a vacuum rather then as a whole continuous series and conflicting points of personal preference as narrative flaws.
I like Demon Slayer. I started watching it with no expectations and was immediately interested in the plot and art style. I generally filter information as it comes in and discard stuff that doesn't meet a quality threshold and so instead of contrasting the good and bad parts, it is more like whether the density of good parts (to remember) is good. What I remember in hindsight is Tonjiro having a tragic beginning, deciding and training to become a demon slayer, and so on. So, if I were to watch it again I would think "oh was it always this long?" And I think that is a good metric to use because there aren't any shows that are worth memorizing every minute of (even Star Wars). It is hard to quantify without a full rewatch though.
For me personally, demon slayer is what got me into the shonen genre and honestly anime in general. I had watched a couple other anime before, but Demon slayer is what made me an anime fan. That first time watching it, I thought it would be in my top 5 for the rest of my life, since then I’ve watched a lot more anime, and it’s slipped quite a bit. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy it, I still rewatch some arcs, when I wanted to show my Dad an anime, we watched Demon slayer together and had a great time! It is an anime I would 100% recommend to somebody who wants to begin watching anime, but as this video points out, as you watch more and more anime, you will find there are plenty of flaws in it that you simply couldn’t have noticed without seeing more from the medium.
i've always been baffled at how divisive this show is, it seemed pretty common sense to me that it wasn't "perfect" in terms of writing, but the spectacle of everything else it had is what i would call its strongest suit, so yeah, i'm 100% with you on this😌
Your finite descriptions of subjects that seems so subjective is amazing. I found this channel because the anime beyond journey's end touched me so deeply. I am starting to get old. In the past 6 year I have seen a lot of people close to me die. That anime change the way I asked a lot of question. Questions, I found very important to me. I am glad the divisive discussions of demon slayer didn't cloud your instrumentation of it.
I just wish to say that i love the delivery of your essays. the music, the visuals, the thoughtful commentary like the ebb and flow of the tides. it's a genuine joy to watch your videos
this video made me appreciate your work even more; it gave me a better understanding about your perspective of media. For example i judge a piece of media to how much it emotionally resonates with me, how many times i laugh, cry, get angry over an evil character or cheer with hype over a heroic one, if the emotion is strong enough i tend to look past (but still acknowledge) a lot of the flaws in a show. that's why demon slayer (although not my favourite Shonen) still gets a 9/10, and is probably why others and myself are so defensive for shows like these.
While I am aware of demon slayer's many flaws, it is still my favorite anime. I feel like the goofy moments are just as important as the serious moments and over the top action sequences.
I love Demon Slayer, but I'm not going to defend it as a masterpiece or GOATed. What may have helped for me is that the person who recommended Demon Slayer, actually said it's story wasn't anything new. They only recommended it for the visuals and music. And so I started watching Demon Slayer: not as a great story, but as an entertaining watch. And so while I agree with most of the writing criticisms, they just don't bother me because I'm not invested in the writing when I watch Demon slayer.
I appreciate this video a lot. For me, Demon Slayer is my favorite series currently. It's been that way for four years now. And Demon Slayer is perfect to me. I recognize its flaws and shortcomings, but even in those, I can find reason for the decisions made and appreciate what was attempted. Everyone says it, but its simplicity works well for the story it's telling. If I had to give the main reason why I adore this series, it's because of the wide cast of characters that don't take long to get attatched to. Even if I initially didn't like or care for a character, it never took me long to appreciate their story when it was presented. That's what I'd say the real beauty of the series is. I can't speak for everyone, but I know that for me, I would choose a series with characters I feel connected to in a simple story rather than a complex story with characters that I don't feel nearly as attatched to. Ironically, Frieren is also one of my favorite series. I enjoy it for the same reason I listed for Demon Slayer. The characters feel alive, and I really feel like I get to know them all well. They're honestly similar to me for that reason, and it's why I hold them so close to my heart. I also just enjoy analyzing the characters in Demon Slayer. Each one of them, no matter how big or small a role, have a clearly defined personality and character that almost always has something to enjoy. It's fun for me to think about all the parallels and how characters might interact with one another. I enjoy doing that kind of thing for every series, but Demon Slayer is what got me into analyzing media. I suppose I would be on the extreme side of the argument saying Demon Slayer is "peak" but I also recognize why that's obviously not the most common opinion. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and I respect it for that. It's not ashamed to tell its story and display its characters. It's really beautiful and, as I've said, absolutely perfect to me.
It's no exception that Demon Slayer is good and enjoyable. But calling it peak or a masterpiece? That just screams a lack of taste, experience, and any real understanding of storytelling. It's just another mediocre show riding on flashy animation and empty hype, destined to lose relevance as quickly as it gained.
@justdhurba I don't really care about how relevant the series is or how liked it is by others. It's been five years now and Demon Slayer is still the best thing I've watched/read. The animation isn't why I like it. As I said it beautifully crafts all of its characters and portrays its themes beautifully. I love the manga and its art style all the same. I'm obviously not the most educated person when it comes to storytelling, but I don't need to be to know what Demon Slayer does right. Never before or after have I felt so connected with a cast of characters. If a show can get me to write and talk about it for as long as Demon Slayer has, then it's clearly done something very, very right. As long as I'm around, Demon Slayer will always have at least one loyal fan still talking about it.
@@L00LB Yes, it can be your favorite-best for you. But saying it's the best or 'peak fiction' means you're claiming it's better than other well-written stories, which is immaturity. Good, finally a guy who isn't like other guys-a guy with a brain. You won’t believe how the Demon Slayer fans on Instagram act. They compare Demon Slayer with One Piece and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and even call it 'mid.' I hate those retard kids who act so immature."
Thank you for this. This was incredibly mature of you and it's a breath of fresh air to see someone discuss Demon Slayer without going all in on the hate or hype. I'm one of those people who tried to like it but couldn't and I think there's plenty more criticisms that are valid and not prompted by sheer polarizing effect of the show and the fandom. That said, I'm glad you were able to provide something of substance that can genuinely be praised about the show. I hate to admit that I've argued more often that I should have with people who call it a masterpiece and asking them to give me something they think the show did well. Very few were able to provide something, but your take on the end of the swordsmith arc is valid imo. Still, I think there's a considerable amount of issues that make the show difficult to watch even compared to shows that are arguably worse. I don't want to write an essay in the comments so I'll keep it short, but I think the plot conveniences away many things that would have been interesting to explore only to then fill time with shallow interactions and other empty scenes. Anyway, thank you for this and happy to see you feel comfortable to break away from Frieren from time to time.
Honestly, we all have different opinions. So everybody in this comment section is neither entirely right or entirely wrong it depends on how you’re looking at it and it’s js an opinion so we can say whatever we want js not attack others ( I’ve done that b4 so don’t come at me) Honestly Demon slayer got me HOOKED it was a simple story yes but the simple story was amazing they never let me down personally I loved entertainment district and the village arc and s1 and the recent season was PEAK especially ep 8. It’s not mid for me it may be mid for some people but honestly in my humble ass opinion (not rlly but I’m going with it) this anime is amazing
Good animation ( other than the first season), good fights, good side characters, garbage story, garbage main character, bad world building, and really stupid story telling. But I like the show, I just hate how much potential is wasted.
The first couple of seasons I felt like the show was starting to develop themes about the power of empathy, friendship, and community. As soon as Tanjiro got fire power, they basically dropped any attempt at deeper themes and just went “fire sword go boom”
You nailed the head on my gripes with entertainment district exactly. S1 was really good for me, but entertainment district made me lower my expectations drastically. How many times did I expect someone to die (Tengen, Inosuke) before something miraculous saved them? I was good with a death scare once, as it turns out both Tengen and Inosuke had some immunity to poison, but then there was the chest stab and then somehow still dying from poison, only for Nezuko to heal all of them somehow
Its a good anime and its well written, sure it doesn't have a multi-level 3 dimensional plotline but it doesn't need it its nice to watch and enjoy the story, most people seem to want to more depth and that's fine but don't go around calling it shallow because it doesn't have bleach or naruto levels of story threads, its stupid.
@@hydra_drizz2164 Maybe that's how they wanted it? My nine-year-old niece watches it. Every anime doesn't need depth. That's probably why it's so popular b/c even a nine-year-old can watch and understand what's happening. I've read where even grandmas watch it. It's an easy-to-digest show. Doesn't have multiple layers and that's okay.
For me Demon slayer was my first Anime, I was drawn to it by the flashy animation as I had been watching a ton of animated shows (such as Toh, Tmnt, And Lego monkie kid) I had never really considered watching Anime but after starting Demon slayer it’s like a whole new world has been revealed, I REALLY like Demon slayer, its animation is gorgeous, I really like the characters, and it introduced me to so many awesome shows. HOWEVER I can totally see the flaws, the story is very basic and I already knew what was going to happen in the end before even seeing any spoilers, also I’m not exactly a Zenitsu hater, I’m very interested in his character and I’m excited to see what the movies are going to bring for him, but I can totally see where the hate comes from (as I too cringe sometimes when he’s screaming/simping lol) Demon slayer isn’t even my favourite Anime! (That place goes to Mp100 eheh) but I still really like it! I feel like people should just keep an open mind, I don’t think there should be “mid” and “peak” and no in between, Demon slayer has many flaws but ppl are allowed to enjoy it, Ppl need to keep an open mind and not hate on other ppl because they enjoy a show that others find “boring” or “trash”
“Criticism is best paired with nuance” Honestly i think this line needs to be heard by way more people. If you’re going to critique something, you should talk about what it did well in addition to things you dislike. A lot of people only talk about the bad parts of a piece of media in critiques but not ones that worked.
finally reasonable talk about this show. ppl r either biased or talking with narrow sense of what they experienced but this is a well put together video. thanks for this
Like you were saying, Demon Slayer got me (back) into anime! I loved Ghibli, Fruits Basket, etc. when I was little, but stopped watching anime until 2020 when I was bored cause of covid and found out abt it. Demon Slayer was the first anime I'd watched in more than a decade, and given the fact that I don't really remember watching anime when I was a literal 4 year old, I count it as my first anime. It was definitely my first battle-shounen, so I was *completely* unaware of any of the tropes I know now, it was a completely new experience to me. The past couple seasons have been the low points of the series imo, but having read the manga it will only get better from here. Without spoiling the Infinity Castle arc, so many characters get their moments to shine. Some of my favorites have to be Shinobu (best character imo), Zenitsu (he stops being super annoying), Inosuke, Kanao, Akaza, Sanemi and Genya (finally), Mitsuri and Obanai, etc. (there's so many, practically everyone gets the spotlight at some point) It's nowhere near perfect, but I love it anyway.
I never understood the extreme hate for DS. Yes the story is basic, but it isn't bad. Pair that with some of, if not the best animation out right now, and you have a great anime imo
Pey explained it well imo, the problem is so many people call it a masterpiece and would die on that hill which made any conversation around flaws extremely difficult, so people either rode the hate or the hype or didn't talk. I think Pey was incredibly mature with this and I think he pulled some punches because I'm one of the people he referred to as really trying to enjoy the show only to be disappointed several times. He even gave examples of things to be disappointed about.
@@OhmIsFutile no yeah I get that. I love demon slayer, but I think it’s by far from the best out there. I’m just saying I don’t get how people can hate it to the extremes some people do. Not liking it is one thing, but saying its utter trash is insane to me
take away the anime and what are you left with? i was reading the source material when it was coming out and it was conistently borig and badly written from chapter to chapter. people forget how much the anime did for this story. give it to another studio that would have animated it normally and nobody would have cared
@@averagesoul8256 and I ain’t debating your point with the story. But what I am talking about is the anime. It’s an ok story, but again, with some of the best animation out right now. I don’t agree with people saying it’s one of the best anime ever. But I also don’t get how people can say it’s the worst
@@mrbloxo5693 ofc the anime is good, well paced and gorgeous but the source material itself is super weak and i personally care about that way more than animation. i like the anime ,its fun to watch
Demon slayer is by no means well written. But if it was "terribly written" and "carried by animation," why is it the most sold manga/volume of all time? And even extremely high standard shows have these kinds of writing issues. The Shibiya arc of JJK was great, or so I'm told. but I couldn't enjoy it because it was just fight after fight where character death just stopped feeling impactful. Its almost permanently tainted JJK for me, because I know any new characters will likely just get killed or made to be insignificant after their one plot point People hate on Demon slayer for reasons not unjustified, but not exclusive to it either.
@@terrormansakata9626 one piece has sold more, but it also has 25+ years ahead of demon slayer If you divide the number of volumes by the number of sales, demon slayer wins over one piece
@leadpoisoned45 also by the way demon slayer manga sales got a huge boost after the first season of the animr so yes demon slayer is carried by animation
As someone who really likes this show, your definitely right about how there's extremes when it comes to talking about demon slayer. Either you see people say it's the best thing ever, or that it's the worst. There's never a inbetween. Personally, i've read the whole thing to the end. To me, demon slayer has a really simple story that is by no means perfect, but it has charm. And it's why i enjoy the characters and it's story, regardless of how simple it truly is. It has captivated me as a viewer. Either way, loved how you handled this video. Usually critiques of demon slayer suck tbh. But you actually displayed the ones you and others could have, and they're honestly valid. It's honestly appreciated especially when you've seen the sea of critiques that are just "its bad" and that's it. I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts. Also..don't think i didn't noticed the amount of shots you had for zenitsu lol!
I agree with your position but the way you argue it is a bit weird. I'm not sure if you meant to say that forming your opinion based on context is bad, but it is weird to juxtapose that with saying that judging demon slayer in the context of other anime is better way to critically view the piece.
Whoa, a nuanced take on media. Who would’ve thought- I love Kimetsu, but I totally vibe with your points. We can just have chill conversations about taste, it ain’t as hard as people think it is
I think you should make a video about Tanjiro and the issue of him being the "perfect" protagonist. I'd like to see you give more thoughts on this topic.
I actually felt the complete opposite I hated Rengoku’s death while I loved how much stakes it seemed Entertainment distrct arc had To me, it felt Rengoku was a character that hadnt had much fleshing out so when he ended up dying, I felt so detached from all the mourning crying characters. While Entertainment having so much high stakes made for such a fun and intense watch. I never once thought any of the main 3 would die. But I was still shocked and engaged when Inosuke was stabbed, when Tanjiro got cut in the mouth. It shows how powerful and threatening the demon was and showed how much the demon slayers have to and did go just as hard
Earliest I have ever been to one of your videos, please keep making awesome stuff and doing what you do. If you ever branch out from videos, consider writing a book on media analysis in the vein of your channel because I'd sell my soul for the audiobook !
Somehow when it comes to Demon Slayers people become George R R Martin lmao. Because of its emotional scene and simple writing, the show able to capture many different audiences which Is why it is as popular and "overrated". I am surprise you don't enjoy season 2 which is like its best execution so far. I gotta agree with Inosuke somehow survive that stab with really bad excuse and Zenitsu being annoying beside season 2 where he's asleep and actually fought back to help the kid. Still I think it is hard to enjoy things if I were to keep judging and be critical about the show. Reality is boring so there's no reason to make sense of everything in the fiction.
Great write up! Refreshing to see someone discuss about the why the discourse exists before talking about the work itself. Just wanted to add my two cents, a lot of people talk about Demon Slayer as if it didn't exist before the anime. Although it's very true that season 1 skyrocketed the series to high popularity, remember that it was already a long running series before the anime aired! It's unfair to say that "it's popular because the animation is good", because people already love it BEFORE there was any animation! So there must be a quality to the story by itself that made people love it, and I haven't found any content creator that discuss that. For example, in the finale of the Entertainment District Arc, the anime turned up everything up to eleven, from the severity of the fight to the scale of destruction. While in the manga the destruction is more subdued
I'm admidetly one of the people ho "droped" Demon Slayer after the Entertainment District Arc, though not for any solid reason. I just have a bad habit of temporarily and accidentaly "droping" shows when I take a break from them xD That beeing said, the Entertainment District arc was a smal isapointment for me. Not purely for the ending, though I dislike the Inosuke cop-out, but more so becouse of wasted potential. I wished the arc was longer, that we had spend more time in the district, actually got to know the characters there! We had this amazingly interesting setting, and this intruiging plot concept of finding a needle in a hay stack, an investigation to finde someone who managed to stay hiden for hundreds of years! And than...we just found them. Just like that. Like the snap off a finger. The arc had a lot of really cool and interesting moments! Zenitsus abduction, for example, was absolutely tense! I just wished we had explored this more. Have the characters struggle to find the demon, while the chance of finding Uzuis wives alive twindles with every day. Have a chance for Tanjirou and Inosuke to mourn or loose themself in denial over their friend beeing potentially dead! The more I think about all the wasted potential, the more frustrated I get. The arc failed in the things the previous arcs did SO WELL! And it reminds me of my frustration with My Hero Akademia...speedrunning the setting...
Haters and glazers are both annoying. Most of the time I'm just the guy in the corner quietly enjoying whatever show/game I like. I might notice some flaws but if I like it I'll notice the flaws then move on wirh my life. Anyways, I find most of the time when people complain about something in a story it's because of the story not doing what they wanted, rather than because of the story being bad itself. I don't take criticisms seriously. If I like it, then that's all that matters to me.
As he said, it's all about the expectations something builds from the start. Demon Slayer had a well-written first season with some amazing world building. The second season ignored all of that, and just had bs plot armor moments just to have some dramatic moments with no consequences. This is bad writing, and it is a negative.
It seems like JJK's influence is more the issues. The audience wants every character to die off now. A character dying is becoming cliche, and JJK proved that it's not always a good thing. Many people didn't like Shibuya arc because half the cast dies, killing off all potential that was set up so far.
One thing about Deux machina or ass pull is that a lot of people misunderstand what's makes something ass pull or plot, when it comes to battle shonen these are the 3 things I look out for when a character powers up unexpectedly, 1 was it foreshadowed if so no problem if not might be , 2 does it immediately end the fight if it does that's not so good, 3 does it have consequences if it does great if it doesn't not so great, if a development in a story that can be seen as ass pull was foreshadowed and has consequences I won't have an issue, the severity of the consequences should be equal to how much is pulled out of the ass, this wasn't well written but i hope I got my point across
Echoing what was discussed in the video, Demon Slayer is not wholly unique in the writing department. Roughly the same plot and setting have been used again and again in manga and anime before ("shonen protagonist kills evil creatures in Edo/Taisho Japan.") For example, imo, Muzan is almost exactly the same villain as Naraku from Inuyasha, just set in slightly different circumstances. However, Gotouge's humor, art style, and creativity have distinguished Demon Slayer despite its unextraordinary subject matter. Some of Gotouge's character designs and narratives aren't the worst, either. While it has poorly delivered moments, there are also times where it shines, rehashing elements in ways that haven't been done quite that way before. It's okay to like something that uses common story elements, archetypes, and tropes, and uniqueness isn't the only quality that can define a work as "enjoyable."
I only started watching Demon Slayer very recently. It reminds me of Saint Seiya, from that particular era of 80's Shounen Jump with painfully stilted wholesomeness combined with oddly gruesome violence, and I genuinely find that endearing. However, it lacks that important... let's call it connective tissue between the action set-pieces to really bring it to life. It kind of feels like a boss rush in a NES-era video game, is the best way I can describe it.
I think you hit my exact frustration with Demon Slayer at the end, the high and frankly awe inspiring art direction had me expecting so much from the writing, so when it never rose above the initial arc in S1 I felt frustrated, not to mention alienated from the hype and praise it got. I kept watching through S2 and the film, checking out a couple of episodes of S3 but I found it so grating and was bored to tears. It's a show I would've dropped in the middle of the first season if the visual art wasn't that good.
This is a great video. I like to present my thoughts sincerely in replies, so here it goes: I don't think Demon Slayer has poor writing for the most part. I think, as fans, people tend to judge products based on their expectations instead of their content. Your example with deus ex machina is a great one. Deus ex machina is just a tool of writing, same as tropes. Still, people improperly use it as an example of "bad writing" due to how it is discussed on social media. What matters isn't the tool though, it's how it is used. Back to the topic of expectations. Due to bias, sometimes story elements are lost on the audience. Tanjiro always being potrayed as a "perfect" character for instance. When Tanjiro hesitated to save children in place of Nezuko I thought it was obvious how he'd react. Tanjiro's goal is not to kill Demons so people are safe - he's specifically after Upper Moons. Due to what the story makes us feel about Tanjiro we forgot that his goal is to kill high ranking Demons in order to cure his sister. That's why that scene you mentioned is so important. It reminds you of what Tanjiro is actually doing in this story and it moves the plot forward simultaneously. Also, people dying due to Tanjiro's decision would halt the plot because it could erase all Tanjiro has accomplished (to him at least. So, no one died in the Entertainment District. Would that have added anything? I don't think one of the main cast dying in that arc would've properly paid off the tension. My interpretation was that the stakes were set unbelievably high in order to make victory feel more cathartic. That arc served the opposite purpose of the Mugen Train. The train tore us down by showing how unbeatable the odds were while the District was meant to give us something to believe in again. Thanks for listening!
A shame that there aren't more people who love the nitty gritty nuance like you & I(when it comes to these topics, god do I hate it when people just steal my capacity to think critically by dismissing my ideas or interrupting me with "maybes" and "no's" with 0 evidence and doing so in a demeanor that implies they either aren't paying attention, or they just aren't interested/engaged...
@@averagesoul8256 I’ve also watched aot and death note and currently watching one piece, I just prefer demon slayer for its simplicity, and enjoyability, I’ve watched a lot of anime’s.
@averagesoul8256 I've watched 155 anime and Demon Slayer is still my #1 favorite. Liking Demon Slayer a lot has nothing to do with lack of exposure to other anime: a good story is good regardless of how much (or how little) "experience" a person has watching television.
@@averagesoul8256 As of yesterday, I've watched 41 anime (I know that's still considered newbie zone lol). I've watched my first fav Death Note, Berserk, Monster, AOT, Parasyte, Vinland Saga, etc. Demon Slayer is still in my top 3 lol and Tanjiro is still one of my favorite characters. He's what I hope my son would be if I had one.
What I don't understand is that Demon Slayer is such a simple and straight forward story but is always blasted with huge standards that a bunch of other anime don't have to adhere to. Everyone always talks about how the story is mid and doesn't compare to big hits like AoT, Death Note, FMAB, HxH, Jojos, etc. but you never see these standards applied to other popular series like Black Clover, Fairy Tail, Tokyo Revengers, Dr Stone, etc. Is it because people expect super popular things to always have S tier writing or what? If thats the case, thats such a weird way of thinking. Popular shows like Dragon Ball or Spy X Family don't have insane writing but are also universally praised, I dont get it.
I wouldn't call AoT shonen, or even battle shonen. It's just strictly seinen. It only feels like shonen because of how early Eren carried himself in the show. As one youtube video once put it, "Eren is a shonen protagonist in a seinen anime."
For a while, I haven't really been able to identify my issues with Demon Slayer and why I've felt that it has not been as good as I previously thought, and I think you summed up what's been bothering me about the show. I do keep watching it for those incredible moments, but feel frustrated with all the moments that fall short of them. I appreciate your videos and look forward to what more you have to say. There are a few anime that I feel this way about, I think foremost among them is My Hero Academia, but that is far different from your normal subject matter
Really enjoyed the video! While I don't have particularly strong feelings on Demon Slayer, I personally checked in on it when the Internet first exploded over the fire dance reveal thing in season 1 where i immediately checked out once i got to the scene, I do have one concern. With modern shows like Demon Slayer pushing the production value through the roof, i'm always worried that modern audiences will be less inclined to look at older or atypical works. I do think pushing for more is near objectively positive, it just bums me out when people have less interest in a show if it doesn't carry that modern visual spectacle. Older adaptations like Berserk '97, hyper stylized shows like Mononoke, and anything directed by Masaaki Yuasa are just a few examples of shows that are often difficult to get people to try. Would like to see more people in general being comfortable with trying something different.
The important thing is to be self aware. There is nothing wrong enjoying paper thin plot, characters and story. But the viewers should be self aware of this. Otherwise If most people have low standards they will elevate to the top badly written stories, which on their hand will push studios to keep producing such as long as they are watched by millions of people. This leads to drop of quality of the medium - something already visible in Marvel and Disney, which for almost a decade now are a complete s***.
I'm a month late, but before I can finish watching your video, I often like to point out as to why I'd still defend demon slayer despite the flaw in the narrative is because I see this series as nothing more than a modern Taisho fairytale. Something with straightforward prompts told in a lot of expositional dialogue without any hint of subtlety helps difine the age demographic for this particular story. It is not the most amazing shounen out there, but I often like to allude to George Lucas's statement on his attitude towards the OG trilogy of Starwars. 11-12 year olds are not stupid. Kids who have just entered the early stages of teens are not stupid. Demon slayer is a modern fairytale shounen because of the series' clear defined lines of its morality. It is what makes it ironically refreshing because it makes it easier for the readers to understand what the story is trying to teach the intended demographic. At least, that's what I feel, because contextually, demon slayer isn't really so much of 'shallow' or 'mid' or something that people should think too deeply about. Like a fairytale, it serves its purpose to entertain and emphasize the value of 'living' or the virtues of family, or anything else that a fairytale would serve its purpose to teach people on these defined lines of morality and virtues.
This is well put, it's basically what how almost every shounen how has been treated, and i'd agree too, alot of it is just shallow junk food, but i can understand that people just enjoy it One thing i feel you forgot to mention is ENVY, there are so many anime that absolutely fall flat just based on poor animation despite being good overall, this for fans is utterly gut wrenching, people want to share what they enjoy but if no one even wants to consume it just for not looking pretty people naturally become angry, and this anger has to go somewhere. They dont feel like it desrves the animation, and i agree too, so many good manga (or other asian comics) out there that would literally do the same thing if not better than demon layer if they got the same VVVIP treatement, but they just.... dont, i can't exactly figure out despite watching anime for years why mediocre shows get absolutely humngeous budgets, got tier directors and animations teams where so many other stories deserved the same. It's a sad thing, the extremism is kinda seperating people a little too much, i'll hate on demon slayer or any other shounen slop as much as the next guy, ill be envious of all the shows that never get a second season despite deserving so. But still, the stupid fighting is sad to see.
Your argument is unfair, some better written anime aren't successful or popular for a reason. you just need to understand that and not let it stop you from enjoying the anime or make you some toxic fanboy who hates on "Shonen slop" also understand that there is a reason anime like demon slayer are popular
People need to stop being annoying. They act like every show needs to be the next bible. Its like godzilla movies im not there bc the human characters are going to challenge my ideals.
I watched season 1 of Demon Slayer, I loved it so much that I read the manga. I finished the manga. I saw the Mugen Train movie and then...I didn't want to watch any more. I realized that when I was reading the manga, I could push through the tiresome bits because it was new, but when I got to the end I was left unsatisfied. Now that stuff I've already read is being animated, I don't feel like going back to see it, because except for one part I don't think it's worth experiencing again. I don't think it's all bad, necessarily, but it's nothing awe-inspiring either. I'd liken it to pizza. Pretty good when it's hot and fresh, but less appetizing after you've had it sitting in your fridge for a week.
I think have a similar feeling you have to demon slayer to Frieren. As with demon slayer, I rarely if ever see people calming it's the greatest anime ever. However I see this all the time with Frieren, despite it being an incomplete show with a single season
It's no exception that Demon Slayer is good and enjoyable. But calling it peak or a masterpiece? That just screams a lack of taste, experience, and any real understanding of storytelling. It's just another mediocre show riding on flashy animation and empty hype, destined to lose relevance as quickly as it gained
I think what really made me dislike demon slayer was that I expected wayyyyyy too much from it first the hype and then when I saw the first episode I kinda expected it to be like Naruto with amazing writing and deep emotional impact but found it bad cus I was comparing it to an objectively better written show and because of the hype thought it would be just as good i didnt have the same problem with MHA even though people don't like it for a lot of the same reasons
Personally I kinda feel like I’m on the "it’s ok but I don’t get the hype" side. I was watching season 1 during it’s release I found it pretty ok, then my expectations have risen because people really were putting it on a pedestal to the point that even the manga sells. I then decided to read right after finishing season 1 and then got criminally underwhelmed. I wasn’t getting it and I was there like "maybe it’s actually that good and I’m just trippin" so I kept going on and kept gaslighting myself by using that reasoning of "If it sells that well then it’s that great so the problem is me". I actually found the entertainment district arc was quite great even in the manga, and even though the plot armor shielding the characters from dying while it was previously shown that you can pissed me as much as you I finally just sighed and kept going. Then the swordsmith village arc arrived and that’s when I really felt the let down. I was already holding myself back from falling asleep when I was reading it and when the anime version came out it somehow made the feeling even worse. Nezuko getting immune to sun just felt cheap ( not only because it came out of nowhere with even now still no explication which makes it worse ), but also because even though like you said putting Tanjiro on a critical situation was really interesting, you already expecting Nezuko to survive and her actually surviving 2 sec completely destroys it because there’s just no real consequences. I feel like Demon Slayer works better on people who watch anime for the first time or people who haven’t watch a lot of anime because even though it’s far from great it’s a good entrance door for them
Imo Demon slayer is great as you can tell from me pfp but demon slayer isn’t some great life changing story it’s a simple one people probably thought it was gonna be something like aot and when it wasn’t people called it bad and carried by animation My main problem with demon slayer is how fast the story goes after season 1 I think that all we needed was 1 extra arc where we see Tanjiro and his friend become hashira and we get to see the hashira dynamics because we don’t really know the dynamics between some hashira like Muichiro and Giyu Rengoku or Tengen with the other hashira or Zenitsu dynamic with someone like Gyomei or Inosuke and Sanemi or Tanjiro getting a character arc where he starts to hate demons more which is kinda what happens as in the sword smith village he’s not sympathetic to upper 4 at all or Akaza and Muzan
Me who has no Twitter account: What debate?
best to keep it that way. hold fast my friend.
I'm so glad to not have a twitter account and I will never have one
Me and the boys not having twitter accounts so we don’t get to deal with the toxicity:
Me who has twitter but doesnt use it^
its on youtube too you know.
I never considered that for many people, Demon Slayer is their first battle shonen, not Naruto or DBZ.
Mine was Fairy Tail and HxH
mine was a kids anime when i was younger and beyblade burst will always have a special place in my heart, but demon slayer is def good for new comers to anime; its safe , funny , doesn’t have a bad spot of animation (like the older anime episodes from the main three) its very dry for older anime fans but is very good for newcomers
They’re old anime’s now, many kids and teenagers today likely don’t want to watch 1,000+ episodes of a series so they’ll go for newer shorter ones
This was me (alongside Inuyasha though its more of a first isekai than anything) which was 5 years ago now (wow) my current consensus on it is that I have issues with the world building and some of its characters but other than these I like it, its a simple anime that shows you what it is and focuses more on presenting that simplicity in a cool way, a good comparison of battle shonen like it are the John Wick films world isn't that fully explored and some characters may be one dimensional but the simplicity of it all is presented in cool high-octane action
Naruto or DBZ is something I won't ever watch as a beginner as I prefer small shows unlike swaths of filler episodes.
For me demon slayer is both enjoyable to watch but undeniably badly written and shallow. The internet seems to have forgotten that those two aren’t mutually exclusive.
I think some parts of demon slayer were fantastically written especially in the beginning, I’m talking season 1. The show expertly played with suspense, emotional pay of and mystery incredibly well. However as the show went on the character became more flat and one dimensional.
@@somasaasaa4850yeah, the start of the show was pretty okay. Like up until the train arc I was pretty invested, enough to pick up the manga. Sure they introduced and killed Rengoku in the same arc which was a huge red flag but I was still hopeful it'll turn out great. Then I finish it and ooooh boy... Pretty disappointing
@@billlee3851 Rengoku dying was good, People complain when characters they love die, but they also complain when noone dies. Rengoku dying was to show us that being a demon slayer is dangerous . Its similar to how important characters die in JJK.
@@crazychaba9816 they probably mean that rengoku should've been given more screen time for us to care enough for his death
@@crazychaba9816 I don't mind lovable characters dying, but they tried so hard to glaze Rengoku in such a short time period, it felt pretty superficial and shallow. Like, viewers will have different first impressions about a character, and to make us collectively feel bad for them you should at least give us enough time to think about them first. I admit his death scene was awesome and easily one of the best scenes in the series, but it also felt pretty contrived because I barely spent time with the guy. Still, it wasn't a bad arc by any means, but it was alarming to me how they would kill a newly introduced character for shock value.
I've been victim of the "Trash or Peak, no other option" mindset a few times, shamefully. I've strayed from those ways in recent times, taking a step back from other people and really analyzing something on your own works wonders. To me, Demon Slayer is just good, I'll watch it and likely enjoy it for the most part. If you've watched a real trash anime, Demon Slayer is nowhere near that, and neither are a lot of other works that have large fanbases, notably JJK and MHA since those have similar extremes of perceived quality.
Twitter users out here being less reasonable than the king of evil
It’s just easier for the human mind to ignore nuance when opinions are being discussed.
Exactly!
Yeah demon slayer isn’t the best show in the world. But it’s such a work of art that i can shut up and suspend my disbelief of the convoluted writing and I’m the guy that has a ton of trouble asking “why does the boat have tires on it” while watching a movie. The hashira training arc is closer to a work of art than a show. But also the demon slayer manga is probably the best book I’ve ever read.
I agree. Demon Slayer to me is a solid 7/10. It's not great or amazing but it's far from bad or trash the way ppl make it out to be which is why I tend to defend it alot. I feel like although it deserves its criticisms there are those who overdo it solely because it's popular and I think that's corny.
I like the characters that aren’t Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke because they don’t have plot armor and can actually die at any moment. The pillars in particular give actual stakes, because you know the author is willing to kill them off. That’s why the best fight in all of Demon Slayer is a fight in the manga that doesn’t involve the three of them at all.
Kokushibo fight
Every time inosuke cheats his way out of death it feels actually deserved and not plot armour. Which is weird
Agreed
Kusakabe solo!
Nah
Both of them are comic relief
That's all they are used for tbh
My biggest frustration with demon slayer was the overuse of flashbacks. Every single time it was so predictable exactly when and where they'd dump an entire backstory on your head and it felt so cheap every time.
Not really
It's actually one of the strong points of the show, I can explain if you want but eh, I will get my PC for that
I strongly agree with this. But my problem isn't the flashbacks themselves, they can be strong narrative tools if used effectively, it is where they put the flashbacks that kills the pacing. This wasn't much of an issue for the first two seasons and the movie, the few flashbacks we got were not during action scenes, and the ones that were (like the first hinokami kagura use) were short and emotionaly strong and engaging, which didn't cut the pacing of the fight. But the swordsmith village arc was plagued by flashback after flashback that lasted for several minutes in the middle of fight sequences. The worst offender of this for me was Genya's flashback in the middle of chasing upper moon 4's real body, a whole backstory in the middle of a sword swing, it completely killed the pacing of the fight. Like, it was interesting and all, it helped understand his character, why he acts the way he does and to set up the future conflict between the brothers. But jesus christ, there's a time and a place for everything, if we really need to know it then put it before or after the fight but not in the middle
@@SmoothAsFelt the author had to abuse the flashbacks because she can't write complex characters as they are. Oh you should feel bad about this dying demon because he had a terrible childhood and his loved ones die horribly. Meanwhile the demon is literally a one-note cartoonish villain that killed thousands of people.
@@facundosilveira5535 I 100% agree. The bad timing and placement of the flashbacks is what made them so predictable in the worst way. You could pinpoint the exact moment when tensions were high and you were about to finally get the release of all that pent up tension and go "Now they're gonna flashback for the one swinging the sword" and BOOM half of the remaining episode was one giant flashback.
I already cared about the character, Genya had enough stuff to make him interesting. If you want to flesh out his backstory with his brother, great. You can even do it well through flashbacks. But practically ANY other time would have been better than when it was used.
A similar thing can be said for most of the demons right before they're slain. I'm sorry but you've built up this hatred of them for multiple episodes, the absolute worst possible moment to try and make me suddenly care about them is the very second they're dying. I get what it's trying to do, I just don't think it does it well, especially when it does it the exact same way for EVERY SINGLE DEMON. The story is genuinely incapable of just letting a monster be a monster and letting one of the characters slay it without HAVING to try and make you care about them at the last possible second. Sometimes the stories are even good, but it would be so much better if this was established BEFORE they're right about to die. It's such a dropped ball moment, and it happens constnatly
@@billlee3851I find the fact that Muzan is one note to be refreshing. He doesn’t need a sad back story. He doesn’t need to be understood. He was a horrible person as a human and as a demon it’s a million times worse and that’s such a true reflection of how people can be. The obsession nowadays with wanting to give every bad guy a sob story is exhausting. DS has a healthy fair share of both. Even then the back stories that we are shown are usually related to the themes being put forward in a specific arc. There were still plenty of villains that were just evil. In the upper ranks alone more than half of them were just horrible people. Muzan himself is more similar to a villain like Ozai. His pettiness and cruelty is meant to be a stark juxtaposition to Tanjiro’s and Kagaya. Cruelty for the sake of cruelty in the face of kindness for the simple sake of being kind
For me the only problem I had with the ending of the entertainment district arc was the awful Inosuke deus ex machina. Not only did he survive getting stabbed through the heart, but he could somehow keep up with Zenitsu's speed while on the brink of death because.... ??? No reason I guess, he just can. I wish they just stayed with "he can tough out the poison because he grew up in the wild", because that would at least make a fraction of sense. But outside of that crap I absolutely loved it.
Because I already had very low expectations about whatever direction they would take with Zenitsu since his "can only perform if he's passed out" -thing and his character is awful to begin with.
And with Tengen he at the very least suffered pretty severe consequences with losing and eye and a hand, rendering him unfit to keep being a Demon Slayer. Not to mention that his re-entrance to save Tanjiro was so expertly directed and some of the most hype sh*t I've ever seen in my life that you kind of just forgot that it was a cheap writing decision lmao
I totally agree with you, for me that whole episode was so close to being a perfect episode, but that Inosuke stuff really dragged it down by the end. But same i think everything else in that fight was just great, they honestly could've left Inosuke out of that final battle and just let zenitsu finish her off himself, considering they had some beef before he knew she was a demon. Guess they just wanted to have a "all 3 protagonists finish off the villains together" so they had to somehow bring inosuke back in
@@masonmahumed6161 Oh yeah that's also a good point. Zenitsu did had beef with her so it would've been enough to have him be the one to do it!
@@bboywolf You're completely missing the point.
@@bboywolf Ok you're COMPLETELY missing the point.
@@bboywolf while I agree demon slayer has a lot of the same problems other animes have, why does that all of a sudden keep it safe from criticism like that? Inosuke somehow coming back and keeping up with zenitsu is so different to how they handled tengen coming back after you thought he died. Its how they did it is the problem. That's totally worthy of criticism
Demon slayer to me is like the popcorn of anime. It tastes good, smells nice and you're excited to sit and eat it. But when you're eating it its kinda mindless and not very nutritional.
And zenitsu is like the annoying bits that get stuck in your teeth.
@@adamsaunders7837 actual goated explaination
eat popcorn while watching demon slayer lol
Most media is like this, it’s means nothing only simply meant to be enjoyed.
@@adamsaunders7837 insulting Zenitsu for no reason is such a "ive never read the manga/only read the later manga" move lmfao
Demon slayer is classic anime junk food. At least, that's what I would say, if ufotable wasn't the studio making it. This isn't the first time they've made a show, that would otherwise be nothing, worth watching.
@@HaydenDoodles Are Fate Zero and Garden of Sinners among these shows as well? Because I think these two have nice storytelling and characters.
@@wamaschawama5178fate zero is very good
And the berserk manga is only carried by its manga drawing
@@wamaschawama5178 the main fate storys (the stay night routes, and fate zero) are very good, the multiple random spin offs are carried by animation
@@wamaschawama5178in my opinion fate zero is great, but most other fate anime, regardless of if they're made by ufotable or not, have similar writing issues
I absolutely adore Demon Slayer, it's definitely my favourite show. And that's why I'm so grateful you make videos like this, you point out flaws that I otherwise wouldn't have noticed at all or would've been less bothered by. Your view is much more neutral than what I see in the depths of the fandom and so I'm able to properly take in what you're saying and so far every point about it you've made has made sense to me. I admit I was the type to jump to defending KNY a bit too quickly because I love it so much, but it's thanks to you that I'm now able to be a lot more sensible about it and acknowledge the flaws it has without being annoyed or upset because I know you're right because of how well you explain everything
Agree! Anime has got to be so sexualized nowadays…. IMO it’s great!
That's a very mature take. We need more people who think like that on both sides of debates, otherwise it's just people shouting at each other.
I’m pretty middled on Demon Slayer, it’s FAR from “peak” but it’s also FAR from bad. Many pros and cons.
It’s a decent show, although it has been getting worse imo. The production quality still there obviously, but I’ve become less invested in the characters & their struggle against Muzan with each passing season. The storyTELLING just feels so flat. Still functional & not actively BORING, but completely sauceless
Zenitsu is the worst character of all time, and Tanjiro hasn’t had a shred of meaningful character development since the train. I think that’s a problem, but at the same time, they always develop the Hashira really well & Inosuke is always comedy gold. As I said, many pros and cons.
I’m still excited to see how the series comes to an end with that film trilogy, but I am by no means DYING to see it.
It is very fascinating how popular this anime got.
I really feel like it arrived at the perfect time plus the boost of Ufo.
Worst character of all time is an insane overstatement, I hate zenitsu as much as the next guy, but you simply haven't consumed enough media if you think that's even close to as bad as it can get.
Inosuke is easily my favourite character from the show... too bad he doesn't get developed more. I don't feel like the Hashiras are that well developed either though, even the ones with more screentime. Zenitsu is definitely not the worst character of all time though, but he's definitely bad, and not even an interesting kind of bad... I suppose it was interesting to see him used as an example of how not to write cowards but in terms of the show it was just painful for me most of the time he got any attention.
To be fair he serves the narrative as a flat arc character. Goku is this way and even aang from avatar. Problem is hes fucking boring lol
@@affinity601People think Aang has a flat arc? Am I mixing up the terms or something?
i like Demon Slayer. I really enjoy nearly every character, the animation and art is gorgeous, it rarely fails to make me emotional and i love how Tanjiro is written. That might be a bit odd because - as you said - he is basically "the perfect protagonist", but i just really like how he is shown to be a good person. Many other shonen also try that, but then give the protagonist "quirks" that are either annoying or a literal crime (like the characters who spy on women etc.). Were as Tanjiro is good, he is good but still doesn't shy away from killing his enemies, because it has to be done and i love how the story sometimes shows glimpses of how he actually feels. That he just tries to keep it together for the sake of his mission and that he has never really grieved his family. He just put it in the back of his mind, because he couldn't allow himself to "get sidetracked".
I like nearly every aspect of Demon Slayer - despite its flaws - except Zenitsu.
I think it just comes down to expectations. I didn’t start demon slayer looking for a narrative masterpiece, I started it because bright color make brain happy. It does that and that’s good enough for me.
You voiced my opinions perfectly, great video. I see so many videos of people shitting on demon slayer calling it derivative garbage, while not giving it any of the praise it does deserve. More people need to be like you and be able to see the good things while not ignoring the bad things and then learn from that.
Well said. Honestly, I see so many people just trashing Demon Slayer without giving its praises to the point where now people are just joining this bandwagon of “Demon Slayer is MID” and “Demon Slayer is trash,” without even looking deeper on what the series is.
It's glitter coated mid. It aint trash, but it's too shallow to be a masterpiece
True. It has some good points, mainly that it's very entertaining, but that's about it.
@@MustardGuy161 entertaining? can you name a few? because the start was until the world started revolving around main character.
@@anapple6912 i would say animations. Because they really are good. But beyond that, story is forgettable, the world building is bland, the antagonist is not investable, the main character does not have any development
@@karacik2288What beef, he just said it isn't bad nor is it good
@@anapple6912Did you watch the video? 💀
For me the disappointment was just too much. If a show stays average it's easy to accept. But when a show has so much potential, and shows the ability to meet it, while also consistently failing to deliver at other times, it gets jarring. Like a dirt road, bumps can feel far worse then persistent ruts.
But le season 4 episode 8 was le greatest episode of anime ever made thoughbeit
@@AwesomeGuy_21not even le close
@@jjthomson2815 Even doe it was peak
@@AwesomeGuy_21 not even le peak
@@jjthomson2815 Altho the conversation betwixt Ubuyashiki and Muzan was peak and the children singing was peak and the fight with Muzan was peak and the infinity castle was peak
You articulated all the feelings Ive ever had for this show better than I ever could. Thank you, it was so cathartic to understand the why behind my thoughts. Wanting to love it but giving up, the inconsistencies in good writing, still liking the show without thinking it was either extreme, simply perfect take imo
Demon Slayer and MHA don’t get enough respect. They’re not excellent, but people are more turned off by their popularity than by them not being good.
MHA is good tho.
Demonslayer is honestly pretty shallow
My hero is good but the Fandom doesn't have a good reputation so others don't wanna watch it
Problem with demon slayer is that the author was forced to end the series which made the last arc extremely rushed
Wait really i never knew this
@@Chosen698 yeah, unfortunately.
@@alluringmitsuri thats disappointing, but for what it is I think it was a decent ending atleast.
I remember my notes were: Nezuko deserved better, Nezuko deserved better. And incest?
@@bertoandon9681 She did. Also there was no incest the series revealed who the two ended up with.
It annoys me that so much of the journey was about her and then. nothing.
I defended how she was basically feral because I thought it would set up character development about her having overcame what happened to her.
I have consumed manga and anime since 2008 especially the shows within shojo and shonen demographic. And truth be told, I LOVE Demon Slayer although there's nothing new it can offer for me who has read COUNTLESS shonen medias. I never hold Demon Slayer in a pedestal as a whole, but I feel attached to its characters right away and always find Gotouge's storytelling to be gentle (I can't explain it without sounding weird sorry). One thing I always put in high regard of Demon Slayer is how it puts importance in weaker people too like we can see in the final fight where even weak members of the corps and the kakushis also jump against muzan. Yes, it might be seen as a writing flaw, but I always love stories that remind their audience of kindness, to care for others, and to remember how even people we deem as unimportant and weak could actually be the most helpful at critical moments. I believe that because I treasure those simple yet important lessons of kindness and humanity Demon Slayer offers so much, any other flaws the show has don't bother me at all haha
The trope that turned me from rapt reader to occasional check-in reader was the "turn the students loose in a deadly trial" trope.
Students are valuable, and exponentially more valuable the rarer their skillsets are.
That's why the waste of so many lives in some sort of deadly boot camp really takes me out of any sense of immersion.
Thanks for the video!
They never forced people to join them all who go to selection know the danger so no it's not the organisation's fault for their death
I agree and disagree.
While yes it is kinda stupid it did also work.
Demon slayers are going down in quality and that is probably for 1 reason: Bonding.
Most teachers, and even Urokodaki before Tanjiro came along, don't push their students far enough during training.
A demon won't fighting in the same way as a human.
A demon won't throw stick and stones while fighting you.
A slayer can't afford to slowly learn the demons moveset.
Just like knives and boulders being flung at you suddenlly while going down a mountain, a slayer will only have a moment to memorize their enviroment and react to what their opponent is doing.
@@matijasostojic4288
Interesting, the first thing I thought of was the mountain demon test with the rest of the rookie slayers, not the initial mountain race training.
If the US Military can do it im sure demon slayer can too! (sarcasm)
I see you watched that mahisTV video
The Solomon Ash experiments? Did not expect this video to cover some of the same material as Super Eye Patch Wolf’s “Social Anxiety Horror”.
That's exactly what I was thinking to.o! XD
Jjk solo!
I sometimes wish Demon Slayer had more world building, just so there would be more story points and more episodes in general.
The whole Neuzko is immune to the sun thing felt very lazy. I really enjoyed the set up and what you mentioned about putting Tanjiro in an impossible situation is exactly how I felt. Not having any consequences for that made the moment feel very cheap, I wanted to take back my emotional reaction.
They could have easily set this up well before. Even just having Muzans backstory earlier on and letting us in on the evolution of demons subtly during the show would have made me content.
You say there are no consequences, except there are. In fact, the consequences are even more dangerous than if Nezuko just died. Muzan knows that Nezuko has "conquered the sun" as the show likes to put it. Now he's after her, specifically, and is targeting her. He's after her, and if he manages to get his hands on her and obtain the ability to conquer the sun himself, then the demon slayers and the rest of the world are doomed.
@@jackmanleblanc2518 yeah sure, there are because the story has to continue. My point was more that these consequences we got weren’t set up and the whole moment didn’t feel earned by the writing that came before it. It just happens, and then we get muzans backstory where it turns out the one thing he’s been looking for after 1000 years is finally here.
It’s lazy, and it’s an attempt to justify the nezuko scene without any prior set up. Ultimately I’m not watching demon slayer for the good writing, but it has moments where it gets close. I find it frustrating to see when it has the potential to be so much better.
@@OdaGoda957 The writing is bad mainly due the actual manga/source material being rushed... The author was going through a lot and ended up rushing through it, probably skipping planned arcs. There's a reason all the lower moons were cut off and the last 3 upper moon fights (including nakime and kaigaku) were crammed into one arc.
@@OdaGoda957I gotta disagree with you here, we always knew that Nezuko was different from other demons especially in regard to the relationship with Kuzan. Her character trope was always gonna be a surpassing of Muzan in atleast one aspect. Maybe it's because I read alot of female centric novels that this was my exact expectation and was just waiting for it.
@@keithdavy7346 following a betty sue like trope for the female lead and properly setting up the immunity to the sun that ties her to the main villain are very different things. You can see my point right? Like I can know that Tanjiro will have a power up in an arc but still be disappointed if it doesn’t feel earned.
I totally agree that she is special but nothing in the story set me up to expect her to suddenly overcome the main weakness of all demons. The fact that this happens and is a major plot device that drives the final arcs is why I think it’s so important to set up beforehand.
A simple plot with good characters and moments. What is there to hate…seriously
I read the Manga, I like the first Season, I also watched the village arc. After that - I will wait a bit.
I mean it was never perfect series. It had amazing animation and at times it hit emotionally very much.
Did you skip the entertainment district arc? That’s the best one!
@@jojojohnson5008 No. I watched everything in between.
@@jannegrey oh ok, gotcha.
Detective Conan better!
You’ve got some interesting points here! Regarding that third option when discussing, or rather not talking about Demon Slayer though, I don’t see a scenario where someone with a more relaxed opinion on the show would care to discuss it online anyway. Media with smaller fanbases still won’t have many discussions from people who found the property okay or kind of bad. There are exceptions as with anything, but I don’t think the lack of discussions begun from a non-extreme viewpoint to do with social influence.
Kny kinda sucks at character writing, I didn’t really feel any attachment towards any character. But the thing that makes me happy when I watch this show is how simple it is. You can keep track of the relationships, the fight scenes are fun and the plot is straight forward. It’s a simple show with underwhelming writing but overall a fun story that I can watch without feeling bored or confused as hell.
Demon slayer is peak for me pey but it's definitely not a perfect show by any stretch so I appreciate this video. It's definitely far from perfect and there are many criticisms I could throw out but I just choose to enjoy it instead and I think others should too.
I absolutely agree that DS is flawed but similar to what you said at the beginning most of the time criticism levied against it is so superficial that it just comes off as a lack of media literacy. 9/10 I’ve had people accuse the show of things they blatantly did not do. Like people accusing of Tanjiro being too happy didn’t seem to watch the show at all with how often Tanjiro despairs and struggles to keep going, being able to only do so with the help of others and openly admitting he wouldn’t have made it as far as he did without it.
Another issue is how people insist on judging DS slayers seasons ONLY individually instead of a cohesive whole (this is frankly an issue I have with modern media criticism in general). Each season ends the way it does to aid in delivering the final arc of the story. It’s a progression. Each season asks and answers a certain set of questions before asking even more that are meant to be answered in the next one. Judging the seasons individually isn’t necessarily bad but it’s been the only way I’ve seen it done and the repetitive echo is frustrating because there’s nothing really new in it
Also a lot of the times the things people don’t like about the show is very much preferential. Like how Tanjiro is obviously written as a Superman archetype and while there is still room for criticism regardless there’s also nothing wrong with simply saying that’s not your cup of tea and that’s fine. It doesn’t make the show or the characters bad.
My own personal example is attack on titans. It is a great show. Well written, complex themes, stunning animation and more. But at the end of the day I didn’t enjoy it because I found it too depressing and bleak. I’d just end up sad most of the time by the end of an episode and that just wasn’t what I was looking for in the content I consume. Same thing with shows like GOT or The Boys. Good shows but with stories and themes that just weren’t my own preference. I prefer a story like LOTR but it also wouldn’t be fair of me to judge a show like GOT through the lens of LOTR and vice versa.
There’s this current obsession nowadays among the audience to find a way to justify their dislike of a content by deciding that it was bad all along instead of just recognizing that it was more a matter of personal opinion.
But what frustrates me the most is how these superficial criticisms are so loud that they block out efforts to both criticize and analyze the content more deeply. I think analysis and criticism of media is the best way to appreciate it but doing so only superficially is ultimately a disservice to it and that is frustrating
You nailed the head on a lot of my own frustration where people's analysis of the story is concerned. Making judgments on the series as whole based on assessment of individual seasons in a vacuum rather then as a whole continuous series and conflicting points of personal preference as narrative flaws.
Sieg Zeon!
10/10 Animation
6/10 Main Plot
0/10 Character Development
3/10 plot, it’s just a repetitive formula
@@RohanDasgupta-f7xI swear,every time tanjiro cuts a demons head off it just keeps regrowing
@@lucieja-18 Yeah it’s such a plot hole
demon slayer was actually my first anime when i was 12 my uncle suggested it to me hearing how much i liked Avatar which got me into anime
Your uncle seems like a cool guy
I like Demon Slayer. I started watching it with no expectations and was immediately interested in the plot and art style. I generally filter information as it comes in and discard stuff that doesn't meet a quality threshold and so instead of contrasting the good and bad parts, it is more like whether the density of good parts (to remember) is good. What I remember in hindsight is Tonjiro having a tragic beginning, deciding and training to become a demon slayer, and so on. So, if I were to watch it again I would think "oh was it always this long?"
And I think that is a good metric to use because there aren't any shows that are worth memorizing every minute of (even Star Wars). It is hard to quantify without a full rewatch though.
i love just listien to u talk and also the music u chose is rlly good
For me personally, demon slayer is what got me into the shonen genre and honestly anime in general. I had watched a couple other anime before, but Demon slayer is what made me an anime fan. That first time watching it, I thought it would be in my top 5 for the rest of my life, since then I’ve watched a lot more anime, and it’s slipped quite a bit. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy it, I still rewatch some arcs, when I wanted to show my Dad an anime, we watched Demon slayer together and had a great time! It is an anime I would 100% recommend to somebody who wants to begin watching anime, but as this video points out, as you watch more and more anime, you will find there are plenty of flaws in it that you simply couldn’t have noticed without seeing more from the medium.
i've always been baffled at how divisive this show is, it seemed pretty common sense to me that it wasn't "perfect" in terms of writing, but the spectacle of everything else it had is what i would call its strongest suit, so yeah, i'm 100% with you on this😌
Your finite descriptions of subjects that seems so subjective is amazing. I found this channel because the anime beyond journey's end touched me so deeply. I am starting to get old. In the past 6 year I have seen a lot of people close to me die. That anime change the way I asked a lot of question. Questions, I found very important to me. I am glad the divisive discussions of demon slayer didn't cloud your instrumentation of it.
I just wish to say that i love the delivery of your essays. the music, the visuals, the thoughtful commentary like the ebb and flow of the tides. it's a genuine joy to watch your videos
this video made me appreciate your work even more; it gave me a better understanding about your perspective of media. For example i judge a piece of media to how much it emotionally resonates with me, how many times i laugh, cry, get angry over an evil character or cheer with hype over a heroic one, if the emotion is strong enough i tend to look past (but still acknowledge) a lot of the flaws in a show. that's why demon slayer (although not my favourite Shonen) still gets a 9/10, and is probably why others and myself are so defensive for shows like these.
Agreed 100%. It's a really enjoyable show, I don't get why so many basement dwellers cannot let us enjoy it. 💀
Mitsuhiko solo!
While I am aware of demon slayer's many flaws, it is still my favorite anime. I feel like the goofy moments are just as important as the serious moments and over the top action sequences.
Watch more anime then. Your problem will be fixed.
@@OnigoroshiZero Why are you so mad lmao?
Jjk better!
@@GaionSputro it is better than ds. Jjk has more depth and nuance to its writing. And i actually like the comedy in it.
@@OnigoroshiZero Trying to fix someone else' "taste"? How presumptuous can u be
I love Demon Slayer, but I'm not going to defend it as a masterpiece or GOATed. What may have helped for me is that the person who recommended Demon Slayer, actually said it's story wasn't anything new. They only recommended it for the visuals and music. And so I started watching Demon Slayer: not as a great story, but as an entertaining watch. And so while I agree with most of the writing criticisms, they just don't bother me because I'm not invested in the writing when I watch Demon slayer.
Thnxs 4 the video, love ur channel
I appreciate this video a lot. For me, Demon Slayer is my favorite series currently. It's been that way for four years now. And Demon Slayer is perfect to me. I recognize its flaws and shortcomings, but even in those, I can find reason for the decisions made and appreciate what was attempted. Everyone says it, but its simplicity works well for the story it's telling. If I had to give the main reason why I adore this series, it's because of the wide cast of characters that don't take long to get attatched to. Even if I initially didn't like or care for a character, it never took me long to appreciate their story when it was presented. That's what I'd say the real beauty of the series is.
I can't speak for everyone, but I know that for me, I would choose a series with characters I feel connected to in a simple story rather than a complex story with characters that I don't feel nearly as attatched to. Ironically, Frieren is also one of my favorite series. I enjoy it for the same reason I listed for Demon Slayer. The characters feel alive, and I really feel like I get to know them all well. They're honestly similar to me for that reason, and it's why I hold them so close to my heart.
I also just enjoy analyzing the characters in Demon Slayer. Each one of them, no matter how big or small a role, have a clearly defined personality and character that almost always has something to enjoy. It's fun for me to think about all the parallels and how characters might interact with one another. I enjoy doing that kind of thing for every series, but Demon Slayer is what got me into analyzing media.
I suppose I would be on the extreme side of the argument saying Demon Slayer is "peak" but I also recognize why that's obviously not the most common opinion. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and I respect it for that. It's not ashamed to tell its story and display its characters. It's really beautiful and, as I've said, absolutely perfect to me.
It's no exception that Demon Slayer is good and enjoyable. But calling it peak or a masterpiece? That just screams a lack of taste, experience, and any real understanding of storytelling. It's just another mediocre show riding on flashy animation and empty hype, destined to lose relevance as quickly as it gained.
@justdhurba I don't really care about how relevant the series is or how liked it is by others. It's been five years now and Demon Slayer is still the best thing I've watched/read. The animation isn't why I like it. As I said it beautifully crafts all of its characters and portrays its themes beautifully. I love the manga and its art style all the same.
I'm obviously not the most educated person when it comes to storytelling, but I don't need to be to know what Demon Slayer does right. Never before or after have I felt so connected with a cast of characters. If a show can get me to write and talk about it for as long as Demon Slayer has, then it's clearly done something very, very right. As long as I'm around, Demon Slayer will always have at least one loyal fan still talking about it.
@@L00LB Yes, it can be your favorite-best for you.
But saying it's the best or 'peak fiction' means you're claiming it's better than other well-written stories, which is immaturity.
Good, finally a guy who isn't like other guys-a guy with a brain.
You won’t believe how the Demon Slayer fans on Instagram act. They compare Demon Slayer with One Piece and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and even call it 'mid.'
I hate those retard kids who act so immature."
Thank you for this. This was incredibly mature of you and it's a breath of fresh air to see someone discuss Demon Slayer without going all in on the hate or hype. I'm one of those people who tried to like it but couldn't and I think there's plenty more criticisms that are valid and not prompted by sheer polarizing effect of the show and the fandom.
That said, I'm glad you were able to provide something of substance that can genuinely be praised about the show. I hate to admit that I've argued more often that I should have with people who call it a masterpiece and asking them to give me something they think the show did well. Very few were able to provide something, but your take on the end of the swordsmith arc is valid imo. Still, I think there's a considerable amount of issues that make the show difficult to watch even compared to shows that are arguably worse.
I don't want to write an essay in the comments so I'll keep it short, but I think the plot conveniences away many things that would have been interesting to explore only to then fill time with shallow interactions and other empty scenes.
Anyway, thank you for this and happy to see you feel comfortable to break away from Frieren from time to time.
Honestly, we all have different opinions. So everybody in this comment section is neither entirely right or entirely wrong it depends on how you’re looking at it and it’s js an opinion so we can say whatever we want js not attack others ( I’ve done that b4 so don’t come at me) Honestly Demon slayer got me HOOKED it was a simple story yes but the simple story was amazing they never let me down personally I loved entertainment district and the village arc and s1 and the recent season was PEAK especially ep 8. It’s not mid for me it may be mid for some people but honestly in my humble ass opinion (not rlly but I’m going with it) this anime is amazing
I love how you are so thorough with each thing you bring up
Good animation ( other than the first season), good fights, good side characters, garbage story, garbage main character, bad world building, and really stupid story telling. But I like the show, I just hate how much potential is wasted.
yh... watch the vid again
The first couple of seasons I felt like the show was starting to develop themes about the power of empathy, friendship, and community. As soon as Tanjiro got fire power, they basically dropped any attempt at deeper themes and just went “fire sword go boom”
Yooo excited to be here within the first 5 minutes!! Keep up the great work 🎉
You nailed the head on my gripes with entertainment district exactly. S1 was really good for me, but entertainment district made me lower my expectations drastically. How many times did I expect someone to die (Tengen, Inosuke) before something miraculous saved them? I was good with a death scare once, as it turns out both Tengen and Inosuke had some immunity to poison, but then there was the chest stab and then somehow still dying from poison, only for Nezuko to heal all of them somehow
Its a good anime and its well written, sure it doesn't have a multi-level 3 dimensional plotline but it doesn't need it
its nice to watch and enjoy the story, most people seem to want to more depth and that's fine but don't go around calling it shallow because it doesn't have bleach or naruto levels of story threads, its stupid.
Go watch the vid again
@@mortgu i already watched it, i was giving my opinion on the whole ordeal, just like everyone else was
i was going after anyone or the youtuber.
Well the truth is it is shallow and that's not even by top anime standards 🤷♂️
Mitsuhiko solo!
@@hydra_drizz2164 Maybe that's how they wanted it? My nine-year-old niece watches it. Every anime doesn't need depth. That's probably why it's so popular b/c even a nine-year-old can watch and understand what's happening. I've read where even grandmas watch it. It's an easy-to-digest show. Doesn't have multiple layers and that's okay.
For me Demon slayer was my first Anime,
I was drawn to it by the flashy animation as I had been watching a ton of animated shows (such as Toh, Tmnt, And Lego monkie kid)
I had never really considered watching Anime but after starting Demon slayer it’s like a whole new world has been revealed,
I REALLY like Demon slayer, its animation is gorgeous, I really like the characters, and it introduced me to so many awesome shows.
HOWEVER
I can totally see the flaws, the story is very basic and I already knew what was going to happen in the end before even seeing any spoilers, also I’m not exactly a Zenitsu hater, I’m very interested in his character and I’m excited to see what the movies are going to bring for him, but I can totally see where the hate comes from (as I too cringe sometimes when he’s screaming/simping lol)
Demon slayer isn’t even my favourite Anime! (That place goes to Mp100 eheh) but I still really like it!
I feel like people should just keep an open mind, I don’t think there should be “mid” and “peak” and no in between, Demon slayer has many flaws but ppl are allowed to enjoy it, Ppl need to keep an open mind and not hate on other ppl because they enjoy a show that others find “boring” or “trash”
“Criticism is best paired with nuance”
Honestly i think this line needs to be heard by way more people. If you’re going to critique something, you should talk about what it did well in addition to things you dislike. A lot of people only talk about the bad parts of a piece of media in critiques but not ones that worked.
finally reasonable talk about this show. ppl r either biased or talking with narrow sense of what they experienced but this is a well put together video. thanks for this
HOW DO YOU PUMP OUT SO MUCH CONTENT. YOURE A MACHINE
Like you were saying, Demon Slayer got me (back) into anime! I loved Ghibli, Fruits Basket, etc. when I was little, but stopped watching anime until 2020 when I was bored cause of covid and found out abt it. Demon Slayer was the first anime I'd watched in more than a decade, and given the fact that I don't really remember watching anime when I was a literal 4 year old, I count it as my first anime. It was definitely my first battle-shounen, so I was *completely* unaware of any of the tropes I know now, it was a completely new experience to me.
The past couple seasons have been the low points of the series imo, but having read the manga it will only get better from here. Without spoiling the Infinity Castle arc, so many characters get their moments to shine. Some of my favorites have to be Shinobu (best character imo), Zenitsu (he stops being super annoying), Inosuke, Kanao, Akaza, Sanemi and Genya (finally), Mitsuri and Obanai, etc. (there's so many, practically everyone gets the spotlight at some point)
It's nowhere near perfect, but I love it anyway.
I like how Tanjiro blocks all the S’s and now the thumbnail is full of “DEMON LAYER”s
I never understood the extreme hate for DS. Yes the story is basic, but it isn't bad. Pair that with some of, if not the best animation out right now, and you have a great anime imo
Pey explained it well imo, the problem is so many people call it a masterpiece and would die on that hill which made any conversation around flaws extremely difficult, so people either rode the hate or the hype or didn't talk.
I think Pey was incredibly mature with this and I think he pulled some punches because I'm one of the people he referred to as really trying to enjoy the show only to be disappointed several times. He even gave examples of things to be disappointed about.
@@OhmIsFutile no yeah I get that. I love demon slayer, but I think it’s by far from the best out there. I’m just saying I don’t get how people can hate it to the extremes some people do. Not liking it is one thing, but saying its utter trash is insane to me
take away the anime and what are you left with? i was reading the source material when it was coming out and it was conistently borig and badly written from chapter to chapter. people forget how much the anime did for this story. give it to another studio that would have animated it normally and nobody would have cared
@@averagesoul8256 and I ain’t debating your point with the story. But what I am talking about is the anime. It’s an ok story, but again, with some of the best animation out right now. I don’t agree with people saying it’s one of the best anime ever. But I also don’t get how people can say it’s the worst
@@mrbloxo5693 ofc the anime is good, well paced and gorgeous but the source material itself is super weak and i personally care about that way more than animation. i like the anime ,its fun to watch
Demon slayer is by no means well written. But if it was "terribly written" and "carried by animation," why is it the most sold manga/volume of all time?
And even extremely high standard shows have these kinds of writing issues.
The Shibiya arc of JJK was great, or so I'm told. but I couldn't enjoy it because it was just fight after fight where character death just stopped feeling impactful. Its almost permanently tainted JJK for me, because I know any new characters will likely just get killed or made to be insignificant after their one plot point
People hate on Demon slayer for reasons not unjustified, but not exclusive to it either.
JJK is not the peak of writing either. Though it does manage to entertain me more, because it has real stakes on the line.
Maybe im crazy but im pretty sure demon slayer never was the most sold manga of all time its been one piece for a long time pretty sure.
@@terrormansakata9626 one piece has sold more, but it also has 25+ years ahead of demon slayer
If you divide the number of volumes by the number of sales, demon slayer wins over one piece
@leadpoisoned45 ok so basically you lied lol why?
@leadpoisoned45 also by the way demon slayer manga sales got a huge boost after the first season of the animr so yes demon slayer is carried by animation
As someone who really likes this show, your definitely right about how there's extremes when it comes to talking about demon slayer. Either you see people say it's the best thing ever, or that it's the worst. There's never a inbetween. Personally, i've read the whole thing to the end. To me, demon slayer has a really simple story that is by no means perfect, but it has charm. And it's why i enjoy the characters and it's story, regardless of how simple it truly is. It has captivated me as a viewer.
Either way, loved how you handled this video. Usually critiques of demon slayer suck tbh. But you actually displayed the ones you and others could have, and they're honestly valid. It's honestly appreciated especially when you've seen the sea of critiques that are just "its bad" and that's it. I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts.
Also..don't think i didn't noticed the amount of shots you had for zenitsu lol!
I agree with your position but the way you argue it is a bit weird. I'm not sure if you meant to say that forming your opinion based on context is bad, but it is weird to juxtapose that with saying that judging demon slayer in the context of other anime is better way to critically view the piece.
It's a weirdo view to be honest I thought the pey just didn't take his time to understand zenitsu
Whoa, a nuanced take on media. Who would’ve thought-
I love Kimetsu, but I totally vibe with your points. We can just have chill conversations about taste, it ain’t as hard as people think it is
Me and my father both watch Demon Slayer as a thing we do together. We both enjoy it!
His main criticism is mostly the fact Rengoku is 6 ft under
If you don't like the show it's all good, I'm just tired of people being jerks online to others who do enjoy it.
I think you should make a video about Tanjiro and the issue of him being the "perfect" protagonist. I'd like to see you give more thoughts on this topic.
I actually felt the complete opposite
I hated Rengoku’s death while I loved how much stakes it seemed Entertainment distrct arc had
To me, it felt Rengoku was a character that hadnt had much fleshing out so when he ended up dying, I felt so detached from all the mourning crying characters.
While Entertainment having so much high stakes made for such a fun and intense watch. I never once thought any of the main 3 would die. But I was still shocked and engaged when Inosuke was stabbed, when Tanjiro got cut in the mouth. It shows how powerful and threatening the demon was and showed how much the demon slayers have to and did go just as hard
Earliest I have ever been to one of your videos, please keep making awesome stuff and doing what you do. If you ever branch out from videos, consider writing a book on media analysis in the vein of your channel because I'd sell my soul for the audiobook !
Good Enough , Simplistic ]Story with One of the Best Manga to Anime Adaptation
Love the video. Very cohesive. Demon slayer is still one of my favorites
Somehow when it comes to Demon Slayers people become George R R Martin lmao. Because of its emotional scene and simple writing, the show able to capture many different audiences which Is why it is as popular and "overrated". I am surprise you don't enjoy season 2 which is like its best execution so far. I gotta agree with Inosuke somehow survive that stab with really bad excuse and Zenitsu being annoying beside season 2 where he's asleep and actually fought back to help the kid.
Still I think it is hard to enjoy things if I were to keep judging and be critical about the show. Reality is boring so there's no reason to make sense of everything in the fiction.
Great write up! Refreshing to see someone discuss about the why the discourse exists before talking about the work itself.
Just wanted to add my two cents, a lot of people talk about Demon Slayer as if it didn't exist before the anime. Although it's very true that season 1 skyrocketed the series to high popularity, remember that it was already a long running series before the anime aired! It's unfair to say that "it's popular because the animation is good", because people already love it BEFORE there was any animation! So there must be a quality to the story by itself that made people love it, and I haven't found any content creator that discuss that.
For example, in the finale of the Entertainment District Arc, the anime turned up everything up to eleven, from the severity of the fight to the scale of destruction. While in the manga the destruction is more subdued
I'm admidetly one of the people ho "droped" Demon Slayer after the Entertainment District Arc, though not for any solid reason. I just have a bad habit of temporarily and accidentaly "droping" shows when I take a break from them xD
That beeing said, the Entertainment District arc was a smal isapointment for me. Not purely for the ending, though I dislike the Inosuke cop-out, but more so becouse of wasted potential. I wished the arc was longer, that we had spend more time in the district, actually got to know the characters there! We had this amazingly interesting setting, and this intruiging plot concept of finding a needle in a hay stack, an investigation to finde someone who managed to stay hiden for hundreds of years! And than...we just found them. Just like that. Like the snap off a finger.
The arc had a lot of really cool and interesting moments! Zenitsus abduction, for example, was absolutely tense! I just wished we had explored this more. Have the characters struggle to find the demon, while the chance of finding Uzuis wives alive twindles with every day. Have a chance for Tanjirou and Inosuke to mourn or loose themself in denial over their friend beeing potentially dead!
The more I think about all the wasted potential, the more frustrated I get. The arc failed in the things the previous arcs did SO WELL! And it reminds me of my frustration with My Hero Akademia...speedrunning the setting...
Haters and glazers are both annoying. Most of the time I'm just the guy in the corner quietly enjoying whatever show/game I like. I might notice some flaws but if I like it I'll notice the flaws then move on wirh my life.
Anyways, I find most of the time when people complain about something in a story it's because of the story not doing what they wanted, rather than because of the story being bad itself. I don't take criticisms seriously. If I like it, then that's all that matters to me.
As he said, it's all about the expectations something builds from the start.
Demon Slayer had a well-written first season with some amazing world building. The second season ignored all of that, and just had bs plot armor moments just to have some dramatic moments with no consequences. This is bad writing, and it is a negative.
Detective Conan better!
Very good comments🤔 I didn't think that maybe I was so upset with it because of how much I loved the amazing parts and how jarring the bad parts were.
Nice video again man, keep the good work
It seems like JJK's influence is more the issues. The audience wants every character to die off now. A character dying is becoming cliche, and JJK proved that it's not always a good thing. Many people didn't like Shibuya arc because half the cast dies, killing off all potential that was set up so far.
One thing about Deux machina or ass pull is that a lot of people misunderstand what's makes something ass pull or plot, when it comes to battle shonen these are the 3 things I look out for when a character powers up unexpectedly, 1 was it foreshadowed if so no problem if not might be , 2 does it immediately end the fight if it does that's not so good, 3 does it have consequences if it does great if it doesn't not so great, if a development in a story that can be seen as ass pull was foreshadowed and has consequences I won't have an issue, the severity of the consequences should be equal to how much is pulled out of the ass, this wasn't well written but i hope I got my point across
Echoing what was discussed in the video, Demon Slayer is not wholly unique in the writing department. Roughly the same plot and setting have been used again and again in manga and anime before ("shonen protagonist kills evil creatures in Edo/Taisho Japan.") For example, imo, Muzan is almost exactly the same villain as Naraku from Inuyasha, just set in slightly different circumstances. However, Gotouge's humor, art style, and creativity have distinguished Demon Slayer despite its unextraordinary subject matter. Some of Gotouge's character designs and narratives aren't the worst, either. While it has poorly delivered moments, there are also times where it shines, rehashing elements in ways that haven't been done quite that way before. It's okay to like something that uses common story elements, archetypes, and tropes, and uniqueness isn't the only quality that can define a work as "enjoyable."
I only started watching Demon Slayer very recently. It reminds me of Saint Seiya, from that particular era of 80's Shounen Jump with painfully stilted wholesomeness combined with oddly gruesome violence, and I genuinely find that endearing. However, it lacks that important... let's call it connective tissue between the action set-pieces to really bring it to life. It kind of feels like a boss rush in a NES-era video game, is the best way I can describe it.
I think you hit my exact frustration with Demon Slayer at the end, the high and frankly awe inspiring art direction had me expecting so much from the writing, so when it never rose above the initial arc in S1 I felt frustrated, not to mention alienated from the hype and praise it got.
I kept watching through S2 and the film, checking out a couple of episodes of S3 but I found it so grating and was bored to tears. It's a show I would've dropped in the middle of the first season if the visual art wasn't that good.
This is a great video. I like to present my thoughts sincerely in replies, so here it goes:
I don't think Demon Slayer has poor writing for the most part. I think, as fans, people tend to judge products based on their expectations instead of their content. Your example with deus ex machina is a great one. Deus ex machina is just a tool of writing, same as tropes. Still, people improperly use it as an example of "bad writing" due to how it is discussed on social media. What matters isn't the tool though, it's how it is used.
Back to the topic of expectations. Due to bias, sometimes story elements are lost on the audience. Tanjiro always being potrayed as a "perfect" character for instance. When Tanjiro hesitated to save children in place of Nezuko I thought it was obvious how he'd react. Tanjiro's goal is not to kill Demons so people are safe - he's specifically after Upper Moons. Due to what the story makes us feel about Tanjiro we forgot that his goal is to kill high ranking Demons in order to cure his sister. That's why that scene you mentioned is so important. It reminds you of what Tanjiro is actually doing in this story and it moves the plot forward simultaneously. Also, people dying due to Tanjiro's decision would halt the plot because it could erase all Tanjiro has accomplished (to him at least.
So, no one died in the Entertainment District. Would that have added anything? I don't think one of the main cast dying in that arc would've properly paid off the tension. My interpretation was that the stakes were set unbelievably high in order to make victory feel more cathartic. That arc served the opposite purpose of the Mugen Train. The train tore us down by showing how unbeatable the odds were while the District was meant to give us something to believe in again. Thanks for listening!
A shame that there aren't more people who love the nitty gritty nuance like you & I(when it comes to these topics, god do I hate it when people just steal my capacity to think critically by dismissing my ideas or interrupting me with "maybes" and "no's" with 0 evidence and doing so in a demeanor that implies they either aren't paying attention, or they just aren't interested/engaged...
i personally love the anime and dont understand the hate
if you watched more than 1 anime you would
@@averagesoul8256 I’ve also watched aot and death note and currently watching one piece, I just prefer demon slayer for its simplicity, and enjoyability, I’ve watched a lot of anime’s.
@averagesoul8256 I've watched 155 anime and Demon Slayer is still my #1 favorite. Liking Demon Slayer a lot has nothing to do with lack of exposure to other anime: a good story is good regardless of how much (or how little) "experience" a person has watching television.
Detective Conan better!
@@averagesoul8256 As of yesterday, I've watched 41 anime (I know that's still considered newbie zone lol). I've watched my first fav Death Note, Berserk, Monster, AOT, Parasyte, Vinland Saga, etc. Demon Slayer is still in my top 3 lol and Tanjiro is still one of my favorite characters. He's what I hope my son would be if I had one.
What I don't understand is that Demon Slayer is such a simple and straight forward story but is always blasted with huge standards that a bunch of other anime don't have to adhere to.
Everyone always talks about how the story is mid and doesn't compare to big hits like AoT, Death Note, FMAB, HxH, Jojos, etc. but you never see these standards applied to other popular series like Black Clover, Fairy Tail, Tokyo Revengers, Dr Stone, etc.
Is it because people expect super popular things to always have S tier writing or what? If thats the case, thats such a weird way of thinking. Popular shows like Dragon Ball or Spy X Family don't have insane writing but are also universally praised, I dont get it.
I wouldn't call AoT shonen, or even battle shonen. It's just strictly seinen. It only feels like shonen because of how early Eren carried himself in the show.
As one youtube video once put it, "Eren is a shonen protagonist in a seinen anime."
People call it a shonen because it was published in a shonen magazine
Detective Conan better!
For a while, I haven't really been able to identify my issues with Demon Slayer and why I've felt that it has not been as good as I previously thought, and I think you summed up what's been bothering me about the show. I do keep watching it for those incredible moments, but feel frustrated with all the moments that fall short of them. I appreciate your videos and look forward to what more you have to say.
There are a few anime that I feel this way about, I think foremost among them is My Hero Academia, but that is far different from your normal subject matter
really happy to have someone actually be honest about what they like and dislike about DS.
Really enjoyed the video! While I don't have particularly strong feelings on Demon Slayer, I personally checked in on it when the Internet first exploded over the fire dance reveal thing in season 1 where i immediately checked out once i got to the scene, I do have one concern.
With modern shows like Demon Slayer pushing the production value through the roof, i'm always worried that modern audiences will be less inclined to look at older or atypical works. I do think pushing for more is near objectively positive, it just bums me out when people have less interest in a show if it doesn't carry that modern visual spectacle. Older adaptations like Berserk '97, hyper stylized shows like Mononoke, and anything directed by Masaaki Yuasa are just a few examples of shows that are often difficult to get people to try. Would like to see more people in general being comfortable with trying something different.
The important thing is to be self aware. There is nothing wrong enjoying paper thin plot, characters and story. But the viewers should be self aware of this. Otherwise If most people have low standards they will elevate to the top badly written stories, which on their hand will push studios to keep producing such as long as they are watched by millions of people. This leads to drop of quality of the medium - something already visible in Marvel and Disney, which for almost a decade now are a complete s***.
Yeah, like what you like. But seriously some people gotta stop the glazing.
I'm a month late, but before I can finish watching your video, I often like to point out as to why I'd still defend demon slayer despite the flaw in the narrative is because I see this series as nothing more than a modern Taisho fairytale. Something with straightforward prompts told in a lot of expositional dialogue without any hint of subtlety helps difine the age demographic for this particular story. It is not the most amazing shounen out there, but I often like to allude to George Lucas's statement on his attitude towards the OG trilogy of Starwars. 11-12 year olds are not stupid. Kids who have just entered the early stages of teens are not stupid. Demon slayer is a modern fairytale shounen because of the series' clear defined lines of its morality. It is what makes it ironically refreshing because it makes it easier for the readers to understand what the story is trying to teach the intended demographic.
At least, that's what I feel, because contextually, demon slayer isn't really so much of 'shallow' or 'mid' or something that people should think too deeply about. Like a fairytale, it serves its purpose to entertain and emphasize the value of 'living' or the virtues of family, or anything else that a fairytale would serve its purpose to teach people on these defined lines of morality and virtues.
This is well put, it's basically what how almost every shounen how has been treated, and i'd agree too, alot of it is just shallow junk food, but i can understand that people just enjoy it
One thing i feel you forgot to mention is ENVY, there are so many anime that absolutely fall flat just based on poor animation despite being good overall, this for fans is utterly gut wrenching, people want to share what they enjoy but if no one even wants to consume it just for not looking pretty people naturally become angry, and this anger has to go somewhere.
They dont feel like it desrves the animation, and i agree too, so many good manga (or other asian comics) out there that would literally do the same thing if not better than demon layer if they got the same VVVIP treatement, but they just.... dont, i can't exactly figure out despite watching anime for years why mediocre shows get absolutely humngeous budgets, got tier directors and animations teams where so many other stories deserved the same.
It's a sad thing, the extremism is kinda seperating people a little too much, i'll hate on demon slayer or any other shounen slop as much as the next guy, ill be envious of all the shows that never get a second season despite deserving so.
But still, the stupid fighting is sad to see.
Your argument is unfair, some better written anime aren't successful or popular for a reason. you just need to understand that and not let it stop you from enjoying the anime or make you some toxic fanboy who hates on "Shonen slop" also understand that there is a reason anime like demon slayer are popular
People need to stop being annoying. They act like every show needs to be the next bible. Its like godzilla movies im not there bc the human characters are going to challenge my ideals.
The bible has bad writing though
Kekkaishi better!
lol keep crying everyone in the comments hating lol
highest rated anime of 2024 keep crying while demon slayer break records
I watched season 1 of Demon Slayer, I loved it so much that I read the manga. I finished the manga. I saw the Mugen Train movie and then...I didn't want to watch any more. I realized that when I was reading the manga, I could push through the tiresome bits because it was new, but when I got to the end I was left unsatisfied. Now that stuff I've already read is being animated, I don't feel like going back to see it, because except for one part I don't think it's worth experiencing again. I don't think it's all bad, necessarily, but it's nothing awe-inspiring either. I'd liken it to pizza. Pretty good when it's hot and fresh, but less appetizing after you've had it sitting in your fridge for a week.
I think have a similar feeling you have to demon slayer to Frieren. As with demon slayer, I rarely if ever see people calming it's the greatest anime ever. However I see this all the time with Frieren, despite it being an incomplete show with a single season
Frieren is far from the best anime.
Jjk solo.
It's no exception that Demon Slayer is good and enjoyable. But calling it peak or a masterpiece? That just screams a lack of taste, experience, and any real understanding of storytelling. It's just another mediocre show riding on flashy animation and empty hype, destined to lose relevance as quickly as it gained
I think what really made me dislike demon slayer was that I expected wayyyyyy too much from it first the hype and then when I saw the first episode I kinda expected it to be like Naruto with amazing writing and deep emotional impact but found it bad cus I was comparing it to an objectively better written show and because of the hype thought it would be just as good i didnt have the same problem with MHA even though people don't like it for a lot of the same reasons
Personally I kinda feel like I’m on the "it’s ok but I don’t get the hype" side. I was watching season 1 during it’s release I found it pretty ok, then my expectations have risen because people really were putting it on a pedestal to the point that even the manga sells. I then decided to read right after finishing season 1 and then got criminally underwhelmed. I wasn’t getting it and I was there like "maybe it’s actually that good and I’m just trippin" so I kept going on and kept gaslighting myself by using that reasoning of "If it sells that well then it’s that great so the problem is me". I actually found the entertainment district arc was quite great even in the manga, and even though the plot armor shielding the characters from dying while it was previously shown that you can pissed me as much as you I finally just sighed and kept going. Then the swordsmith village arc arrived and that’s when I really felt the let down. I was already holding myself back from falling asleep when I was reading it and when the anime version came out it somehow made the feeling even worse. Nezuko getting immune to sun just felt cheap ( not only because it came out of nowhere with even now still no explication which makes it worse ), but also because even though like you said putting Tanjiro on a critical situation was really interesting, you already expecting Nezuko to survive and her actually surviving 2 sec completely destroys it because there’s just no real consequences.
I feel like Demon Slayer works better on people who watch anime for the first time or people who haven’t watch a lot of anime because even though it’s far from great it’s a good entrance door for them
Imo Demon slayer is great as you can tell from me pfp but demon slayer isn’t some great life changing story it’s a simple one people probably thought it was gonna be something like aot and when it wasn’t people called it bad and carried by animation
My main problem with demon slayer is how fast the story goes after season 1 I think that all we needed was 1 extra arc where we see Tanjiro and his friend become hashira and we get to see the hashira dynamics because we don’t really know the dynamics between some hashira like Muichiro and Giyu Rengoku or Tengen with the other hashira or Zenitsu dynamic with someone like Gyomei or Inosuke and Sanemi or Tanjiro getting a character arc where he starts to hate demons more which is kinda what happens as in the sword smith village he’s not sympathetic to upper 4 at all or Akaza and Muzan
Fr demon slayer is easily in my top 3
Jjk better!
@@flexcheekz7641 It is in my top 3 too. 1) Death Note 2) Demon Slayer and then AOT.
@@faa1412 W list mines
1- op
2- kny
3- aot
yoh, non frieren vids? I’m alright w/ it
The show that managed to be both over-rated and over-hated.