I know I got the sword thing wrong, my bad I forgor. Anyway, if you liked the video make sure to like it, and if you want more check out this video on the incredible writing of Vinland Saga ruclips.net/video/95Wqq4vOLPM/видео.html
One of my main issues when reading the manga was I always felt Nezuko was treated more like a plot object than a character. Like she could be changed to a desirable vase with few major changes
I wish her combat skills were developed even further, it would cool if she reached the same level of strength as the main trio and participated in the muzan fight.
Nezuko is (so far in the anime) Tanjiro's guard dog. Literally EDIT: Now that Season 3 is over...I can say that...Nezuko had so much "character development" in 3 season. From Human to Demon to Backpack to Guard Dog to Talking Parrot...the "character development" in Shonen truly evolved...this Mangaka has to be stopped. This competent writing shouldn't be allowed...he is tooo powerful for no reason...just like the mc of DS/KnY.
When I was reading Demon Slayer, the one thing that I kept feeling is, that Demon Slayer is trying to speed run to end the series as fast as possible. Every single down time the cast get to rest or get to know each other is skipped with "X months passed, we all improve. Now we need to move to the next arc quick quick quick!"
Okay so people are mainly talking about Tanjiro and his friends but why is no one talking about Muzan? Bro has 5 brains and shi and still manages to become the dumbest villain in the manga history
yeah he couldn't kill tanjiro himself at ss1 that stupid because if he fear yoriichi sun breathen so much why he can't sent upper moon or lower moon to kill tanjiro
@@nhatminhhoa he could even kill unborn Tanjiro easily if he weren’t so stupid lmao ‘cause all bro needed was blue spider lily to turn into a human again right, why couldn’t he hire some human researchers to collect them when he was of high social standing in the human world and money clearly wasn’t a problem to him 😭. Actually, he could even take over Japan with such powers and the game could’ve been easier for him, but bro said no 😭
Not to mention, his character overall is so bland AF. He only exists because the author wants to tell you that "Oh this guy is the strongest, so you should always fear him" cliche without him actually having a proper personality. Honestly, Sukuna is just Muzan on steroids and (maybe) knows how to win against our protagonists (because Gege likes to give that guy plot armor lol)
That would actually be very engaging. Throughout the story, he does get better at not breaking them, but it still happens from time to time, until he gets fed up with it and just decides to have a shit ton of swords that he disperses throughout the battle field before each fight.
I thought him breaking swords would be an important but awesome plot point, especially against the Twelve Kizuki. It would've been really cool to see how he would've adapted to a sword breaking in the beginning of the fight against an Upper Rank. Maybe like reusing the broken pieces in creative ways.
Talking about Shinobu and character writing/conflicts, I think it'd have been a lot better if Shinobu chose Insect Breathing and poisoning not because she's too weak to cut a demon's head off, but because she's grown to hate demons so much throughout her life that she actively refuses to cut their heads off, just so she can see them suffer for as long as possible.
@@kroom8242 As it's been said in the video, the story is sorely lacking in inner conflicts, even though it should be laden with them, given Tanjiro's and Nezuko's situation. But all the Hashira just automatically accept Nezuko after her one display of self-control.
@@kroom8242 Also, Shinobu being weak is only really interesting in a passing mention, while her being hateful towards demons to such an extent would not only generate long-term conflicts but also give her a flaw that she could work towards, since it'd also hinder her efficiency as a demon slayer.
(Manga spoiler alert) @@markdaniel9657 I feel like the point of Shinobu is that she doesn't give up on that flaw, though--since she literally dies fighting her sister's murderer, going to the point of making herself literal poison to achieve revenge. And while I know different people have different preferences, I find it interesting how she sticks to her negative emotions to an end.
Imagine how amazing it’d be if Nezuko constantly fought the demon inside her with her own love and maternal strength instead of being hypnotized to make her a mindless baby half the time. Then, she and her brother could actually talk to each other, mourn their family or squabble like actual siblings.
She is fighting the demon insider her. Her urge to eat humans. That's it. Ig the author could've done some metephorical good vs bad internal conflict via hallucination vision dream thing, but there wouldn't be much to cover as it is rn and would be weirdly explicit and hand holdy as if we the audience would be too stupid to get that Nezuko is fighting her hunger.
Genya and Nezuko are both utterly fascinating character concepts that their author somehow managed to underuse and do horribly wrong in Nezuko’s case. You can’t argue that Nezuko retains more of her humanity than the other demons when he actually shows less depth
Keeping Nezuko gagged for most of the series and hypnotizing her to not act like a demon were both massive mistakes in missed opportunities. What sort of idiot gives the fml a lobotomy at the start of the series?
This is basically chainsaw man but bad, I read a manga that similar but the demons are plants and midway writing this I realised maybe they were trying to be demon Slayer instead I mean he even has a sister who becomes a plant but also goes inside him like chain doggy
a way to make Zenitsu's "falling asleep" thing work is that a method he uses to overcome his fear is to close his eyes. And this time, it actually has drawbacks: HIS EYES ARE CLOSED. it could also make his fighting style stand out more from other breathing, as he takes a "blind swordsman" style compared to others
And him having his eyes closed could be used to show how risky it his for him to use his breathing technices by accidently attacking a friend or other hashira but there's never that big of a treath. Take the berserker armor for example, that's a very good way to show a powerful power but it can affect the user and the ones near him. Something like that is never showned or is never well used in demon slayer
No lie, I really thought when I first watched the anime, that it reminded me of that one SpongeBob episode where he couldn’t drive unless he was blindfolded. 😂 It’s not a bad concept but I feel like it was executed poorly.
I like this as the demons we see him kill first we’re all noisy musical demons making them easy for a blind man to see and kill, and the spiders could actually give him a challenge (the humanoid ones at least) and results in a better fight then he falls unconscious and kills everything, and then they could reveal how he’s basically blind while fight uppermoon’s six as she realizes she can use that against him, and when inosuke eventually comes back to help to fight it feels like she is getting strained out in her fight to her eventual lost
Nezuko is in my opinion the biggest waste of a character in Demon slyer and perhaps in any anime I've seen. Nezuko had the potential to be a character who wrestles with her humanity constantly having the urge to eat humans but also wanting to help them and from that we'd see her inner monologue of this the whole time. Instead we got Nezuko being nothing more than a dog. She's cute when she needs to be, she'll can attack who ever she needs to, and can't speak. She could've been an amazing deuteragonist but instead can't even be called a character as she just isn't one. I know that at the end of the latest season she learned to speak but I doubt anything will be done with that.
I agree with that. She's literally can be the main weapon to defeat Muzan, but she was wasted. I can think of a few ways they can use Nezuko: Like having her train fighting so she can be as strong as an upper rank instead of the "Sleeping to regain strength." bs or she can train with a sword and become a demon slayer, as a demon, plus her demon blood art. Like there was so many ways she could of been used.
@@desmondcoppin591except like rock Lee, the fans let their bias turn into headcannon and because said headcannon isn’t fully developed they call it bad writing. Genya and Rock Lee are just side characters with mini side arcs not a whole ass storyline
@@zeyyyboggieewell yea but you're missing the point - being that there's more story potential to their characters already, which gives room to flesh them out and BUILD a better story in the first place.
The worst part about Demon slayer is not its enormous tone of flaws but how easily they could have been turned into strength with a simple consideration for the question "whats the point of this ?" every time the author has an idea.
I do agree through out the serie you notice lots of potential and Amazing Ideas can be established but only to be removed or not talked about.. after noticing the story is being really stiff and offer nothing..it became not interesting to continue watching.. I would say I don't mind decent stories occasionally you can watch a movie or read a book and relatively say if was okay and decent but still mange to continue none of the less Though demon slayer kill every potential it needs and the storyline itself Is meaningless and not explained.. characters are just funny with little to offer and the questions you may have through the series doesn't get explained Also I got bothered by how tanjro is capable to hold a battle with very strong demons with actually accurate and Smart plan and yet tanjro manage to defeat them not because he is smarter he just gets a sudden power moment or suddenly he adopt something to win or he becomes immune.. It becomes boring? With the lower moon in the train arc was a bit useless battle for visualization not that the lower moon death would main anything And he didn't even impact the train or kill anyone..ot was useless that muzan gave him his blood to be extra useless.. ans the fight wasn't meaningful or much struggle was there .. That's what I tend to dislike that demon slayer can offer a lot but the author refuses to even think about it ..he just does it with little thinking in it
@@cozmicdrama-music7062nah. Naruto and Dragon ball actually delivered a good story telling and had a pretty great message. Both have flaws in their world building but both mangaka manage to deliver what they want to convey to their audience. Demon slayer flaw is that it is basically a cop out of every shounen series. It borrows an element from everything but fails to convert any of that in a meaningful way.
@@nabkill0134 well, I have watched all of naruto and had a full fixation over how much I loved it and I can still say without a doubt in my mind that Demon slayer had inspired my writing and my ideas a lot more than Naruto has. I have gotten bored of Naruto do many times despite it being so good. You can have your opinion, that's all good with me mate. However, to say that demon slayer had bad writing is a flat out lie. It's really good in amazing ways and I have been a fan for a very long time now.
My first introduction to Demon Slayer was watching Mugen Train in theaters with my friends. I loved it, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I adored Rengoku. Except... one problem: I made the mistake of assuming Rengoku was an established character, and I wondered about all the character building I had missed by jumping into Mugen Train. I was really disapointed when I actually started watching Demon Slayer, and Rengoku only had like... 3 lines.
This somehow reminds me of a comment that said « Rengoku is such a well written character because he went from a background character to being memorable ». My brother of Christ that’s how a character works, it’s not like he’s the next Historia
You do know it's intentional. It goes opposite direction in writing and how humans actually perceive their historical figures it's usually when they die that people trace back their journey. 😊
I think you're the only person I've seen address how Rengoku (and other Hashira) went from wanting to kill Tanjiro simply for sheltering a non-violent demon to being perfectly buddy-buddy afterward without any on-screen development. It was so weird and jarring to read, and before the Demon Train arc I had no idea why Rengoku could possibly be so popular.
True. New Shonen just copied Naruto ,One piece, Death note with worse stories. Jujutsu Kaisen is a rare example where it takes inspiration from old Shonen(Naruto for the most part), but still manage to be a great story(just like Naruto did). Like none of new shonen surpassed Big three for me and it's been 10 years since Naruto/Bleach ended.
Nobody addresses it because it's not an issue if you actually remember the events of the manga. The pillars ease up on the siblings because Kagaya who they all love to death vouched for Tanjiro+Nezuko, and Nezuko demonstrated she's non-violent. Muichirou and Tengen were not buddy-buddy with him at first at all. Rengoku and Kanroji are friendly to everybody by default and had no reason to quarrel with Tanjiro after they learned Nezuko could be trusted. In the pillar training arc guys like Iguro and Sanemi are still dicks to Tanjiro.
@@ДавидГригорьев-ф3жTrue big 3 is something else and can't be surpassed for me. Jjk is pretty good tho it's the perfect example of how to use anime tropes and do them right. Every character in jjk is well developed and useful, and the plot is really good.
That’s easy to explain, I’m pretty sure the sick guy told them to treat Tajiro like he’s one of them after the nezuko test and he’s like their head captain
I think the absolutely simplistic plotline is partly why it's so popular. I sat down to watch Mugen Train with my little brother (he's really into the series) and my parents decided to join us. Neither of them had seen the first season and it only took a minute to catch them up with a summary. No one had any problems keeping up with the story and my mother cried her eyes out over Rengoku. The action kept my father engaged (a crazy feat as he isn't much of a television person) and the humor had my brother rolling. It's not the peak of storytelling by any means, but it can keep an audience entertained and engaged at multiple age groups, which is a strength all on its own.
I agree! The story of demon slayer isn't complicated or unique, but its very accessible and doesn't need too much thought. Which isn't always a bad thing. Yeah the characters can be done better but they're not terrible, and the worldbuilding isn't super detailed but it still works in world. Even my mom, a woman with about 0 education, was able to enjoy the movie.
As an older dude who loves anime, I always find it funny when people/kids discuss stories in shounen. It's basically all the same thing all the time, but apparently story in one series is miles better than the other. Some kid gets thrown into a strange situation. He needs to get more power to achieve his goal. His friends die. He cries and talks to himself a lot. He wins in the end. Whether he needs to defeat a demon, alien, clan, whatever... It's all the same 95% of the time. Reminds me of those 80s revenge movies where a cop loses his partner and goes on a killing rampage. There were hudreds of those made and people still enjoyed them. I just see it as a nice evening when I feel like not thinking over a couple of beers.
Loool that's so cute that your mom cried for Rengoku who is such a shallow character, I literally laughed when he died cause it meant nothing. I was like lmao wtf cares, he's a nobody. I guess he's a tiny bit more nuanced in the manga but meh.
well when you are someone who consumes a lot of media than the average viewer, demon slayer is okay and a show you have seen before with a different coat of paint. Not a bad show entirely but personally i got bored.
Yeah simple plotline isn't a bad thing for shounen, as long as the world logic stays consistent and the author gets creative with the fighting and power scaling. Neither of which Demon Slayer even attempts to accomplish.
I just realized that if Genya and Nezuko worked together they would be unbeatable, because he could just eat a small part of Nezuko, fight with them, rinse and repeat and be unbeatable.
As someone who likes to look at different perspectives of media that i enjoy/love, i entirely agree with this review. Now, that said, i still really love demon slayer, but i can absolutely agree that it is deeply flawed. I always look for videos like these so that i can view shows in a well rounded manner and be educated on what makes something truly special, and it never ceases to amaze me what i dont think of, and the similar things that i do think of, while im actively watching something, especially when i havent finished all of whats been released yet. I really appreciate this because i have had some really big questions that you helped answer, and it helps clarify things for me. I cant wait to watch Berserk based on your glowing review, and these video essays truly help me to open my mind up and think, what does this mean? Why are they doing this? Is this character REALLY written well? Etc.... so yes, while its great to agree with other viewpoints, i hope no one actually watches stuff like this and then feels like oh since he said this and i realize it now, i shouldnt be a fan, and then is sad and tries to dislike it. And i surely dont think thats what our guy is doing either. So just because theres a different POV of something you love that you agree with, DOES NOT MEAN that you cant or shouldnt still like/love said thing! So thank you for this amazing review, you really cleared some stuff up/ helped me clarify what i should be asking myself when it comes to the shows, movies, and even music that i love, keep an open mind guys!! Much love❤❤❤
Thank you, you're super kind! I agree with you completely, it's good to get different perspectives on things, and there's nothing wrong with liking something despite its flaws. Or maybe you could just disagree with someone that something they identified as a flaw is a negative for you, we all value different things after all! I'm really glad you liked the video, and I hope you enjoy Berserk when you check it out!
Honestly, I found a lot more enjoyment in watching Demon Slayer when I treat it like watching an episode of WWE. Characters getting introduced with some slight backstory to their gimmick and then being thrown into the ring to do cool fights, all building up to the season finale where we see who becomes the new champion. Works pretty well for me
I don't really get that, cause the story very much revolves around Tanjiro, unless you literally mean that you're just interested in who's gonna stay alive
As insulting as my buddies find this, this is my stance. I roll my eyes whenever I hear someone say it's super well-written. Bro, it's about as riveting watching a kettle boil for a bit too long. But goddamn, is that animation glorious...
@@a_rat_named_mouse I remember when I heard about the series for the first time. People kept on saying it was so good. I started reading, and I just didn't see it. I forced myself to continue reading, thinking I had not yet reached that really good part until at some point I realised the really good part was never coming and stopped reading. And then I saw the animation quality and finally understoon why people were all over it.
You got me thinking about how suffering makes the demons so cruel, and I think a cool way that could factor into Nezuko's character is that she lived a life with supportive and loving people. Any suffering she had was shared with her family, who looked after each other and taught one another to care for the world and the people around them. That could explain why she doesn't want to kill her brother and learns to be gentle. Generally, Muzan and the demons who chose to make new demons target those who have been beaten down because they could be molded into killing machines with no care for human life. When someone does care for others, they will resist this urge, at least to a certain extent. This would allow the themes that you brought up to genuinely affect the world-building and story direction, and give Nezuko more of a purpose. I have always believed that she is the most criminally underused character.
And that's why we were shown the backstory of the demon brother and sister. They're there to show a possible outcome for Tanjiro and Nezuko. The anime has flaws for sure, but a lot of arguments were just nitpick.
You said that you won't really change someone's mind, but i have to say I've absolutely changed my mind about demon slayer. I finished reading manga quite recently, and i really couldn't point my finger at the specific things i don't like, but you managed to summarise them extremely well and easy to understand. Great job, man, keep this up!
nezuko could literally be tanjiro’s pet dog sidekick and nothing would change about her besides the fact that she wouldn’t end up married to one of the most annoying side characters.
@@nauth123 pretty sure they did. This manga / anime treats woman like trophies 90% of the time. The Zenitsu... Situation is a lot worse, for reasons I prefer to not even think about.
I am a roleplayer (yes ik weird) and I originally thought the demon slayer writing was decent until people had started asking questions (this was a group roleplay) and I started doing research and I realized there was little to no info on ANYTHING, a lot of the plot points just happened because IT D I D
Honestly, if you can efficiently roleplay a character is a good litmus test for they are well written or not and if there are holes in either backstory or personality
It aint so much weird as it is ultimately a waste of creative energy. I'd personally recommend anyone into roleplaying put that energy into writing something original, or even writing a good fanfiction (as someone that used to roleplay years ago lol) Don't take my word as gospel or judgement though, do what makes you happy.
YEAH, no for one of my roleplays, me and my roleplay partner are very aware the series is not well developed nor worldbuilded enough, so what we do is play with the plot and worldbuilding like putty. (NGL, i'm only not naming it so I don't have to explain myself lmao)
One bit I do think that was done well with Rengoku is that after his death, he doesn't stop existing and we don't stop learning about him. We discover other connections he had within the corps. We learn about his family (his father was and still is an asshole), that he's actually mentored other Hashira before (he trained Mitsuri in Fire Breathing before she modified it to better suit her own needs). A lot of people don't really do that. the character dies and suddenly the world forgets about them except maybe during an important speech or at the very end when totaling the body count. So, props for that.
@@aaronaaron2405 People die all the time in Bleach and then get forgotten constantly. And in My Hero....I'm trying to remember who dies in My Hero who wasn't already dead at the start of the show. I'm sure there's someone but idk I can't think of them off the top of my head. Which is an issue. lol Naruto definitely does that. Naruto specifically uses certain deaths as significant events in the series. Turning points just about.
I read all of Demon Slayer in the span of about a week or so, probably about two years ago. For the longest time, I literally could only remember Tanjirou, Nezuko, Inosuke, and Rengoku’s names. I could not remember anyone else’s. Demon Slayer’s characters just do not have that memorability for me, and have almost zero staying power. The only ones above whose names I could remember were due to main character and main character’s sister, funny boar man, and ridiculous hair guy. Inosuke was the only one that had a real personality, silly as it was. My reaction when finishing it was “yeah it was ok”. Compare to Bleach, which had more memorable characters that I still think back to sometimes. Excellent analysis!
The worst sin of Demon Slayer is going too fast and too slow at the same time. Oh you want to power-up Tanjiro fast? Make a 6 month timeskip in the first episode of the story. Oh you want to get to the higher ranked Demons but there are some lower ones yet? Write them out of the story. Oh you want to develop many characters but you still want fights to appear frequently? Just get them a falshback before their death 10 minutes after introducing the character. Abusive timeskips to heal or power-up characters make me lose faith in the world building, and jumping to higher and higher threats by skipping some "power levels" entirely is wrong (And yet I like that story, It's still a good time, even in the manga, it just deserves less attention from the media and public)
I dont see the issue in most of this, the timeskip makes perfect sense, theres timeskips in most episodes, it would be worse if it was halfway through the series, and the lowermoon execution made sense, it established the power of the hashira and muzans immaturity
@@macvadda2318Bro just see latest season without zenitsu and inuzuko and it stale. Everyone is a victim whose not demon. Upper Demons are broken af and muzan spilting into 1000 pieces and shit it's stupid and got compensated by multiple powerups to main cast.
If we didnt have all the timeskips it would be a very slow burn. In the anime i will say the fight pacing is very odd and flashbacks will run on forever. There is definitely some pacing critique to make but its honestly still above average.
I think the training time skip is good cuz no one wants to watch him just swing or do a maze for like 40 episodes, but the lower moon dying was bad and kinda forced Tanjiro suddenly become much stronger.
i really dislike how we got one regular demon battle after tanjiro became a demon slayer. after that singular battle it was 12 kizuki member after 12 kizuki member
I literally never got the "no one knows about demons" thing. Why the hell don't they tell people about demons? It would be so much easier for the demon slayer corps to operate if people knew who they were and what they were doing.
I was also thinking. If demons have been a thing for over 500 years, how comes the government does nothing? They could literally partner with Kagaya and provide more personel and resources to deal with demons
It makes a lot of sense, it would make sense that they try to keep it a secret, also its not like theyre insanly secretive, theyve destroyed entire towns with people, they would just rather be as secretive as possible without risking human life, some of the tatical advantages include Being able to destroy a shit ton of stuff and not have people despise you Not have the government up your ass Not having to much attention on you giving u the element of suprise, Alltough there are some benefits, the military training their own ds and having less volunteers
In my opinion, it was season 2, where all of the potential of an interesting story died. It is not the worst season or saga chapter, but it was where all of the elements of shock value, ultimate plot armor, and the death of character development were the most prominent. There were many points of potential for character arc and development, and it was either missed or contrived. From Zentisu suddenly becoming a white knight when he does nothing but harass women, Tanjiro being completely stupid when he picks a hopeless fight with a dangerous demon instead of being smart and trying to defuse the situation before innocent people get hurt. The biggest example for me is Nezuko vs Daki, because instead of Nezuko being forced to use some intelligence and strategies for her fights, she's just given a unearned power boost with no buildup or effort and just wipes the floor with an experienced Upper Moon demon with a much more integrated power set. It was just a bad fight. The emotions for certain scenes were lacking, again, with Nezuko. She's too hollow to be invested in and too perfect and privileged to feel bad for because, just like Tanjiro, she is just flawless. The villains were probably the best and only characters in the story. I liked Daki and Gyutaro alot, and I appreciated seeing actual personalities in a demon and how circumstances can shape a person. But they were just too stupid to be realistic in the end. Don't get started on Gyutaro being an idiot at the end for no reason. Tengen should have died. His survival makes no sense. He should at least have died after the battle. Inosuke should be dead. His survival was just stupid. The Yoshiwara destruction should have had some major consequences. Like the Demons and Demon Slayers being exposed. Tanjiro should have learned of the Daki and Gyutaro’s backstory somehow, so his perspective on humanity could be tested. (Doing something like Tanjiro's nose can smell memories or something. I mean he can smell feelings and actions, so smelling memories shouldn't be.)
If Nezuko was actually like Daki; they would be perfect parallels. Picture this; Nezuko, wakes up a demon. She dosent know whats going on, where she came from, her name etc. She got brain damage from muzan's blood, technically. Now, take that as the reason she attacks tanjiro,her older brother who just walked up to her near a pile of dead bodies that makes Nezuko feel hungry. Obviously, she'd be confused to the point it'd make her *angry.* now in that case her attack on tanjiro and giyu WOULD make sense, and so would her anger. Eventually if she wasnt hypnotized by Urokodaki and was instead given a literal lobotomy because of her anger issues that'd further on to make her more irritated with everything, also to fix the fact that because of her survival but lack of assistance after becoming a demon; she'd lose her sense of smell thus permanently stopping the initial feeling of hunger near humans, instead pressing down an insatiable hunger for edible food on her that she couldnt understand was occurring. Instead of acting like a dog, she could act like a 14 year old teenager with hefty anger issues who was intimidating and edgy. Attacking anyone that challenged her anger or questioned her because she was too scared to face the question that frustrated her: her confusion. Her wanting to live a normal life but being fond of children and Mitsuri would make extreme sense considering the fact that she found them familiar but couldnt capture how; not knowing she had younger siblings in her past. Her character development would be with Tanjiro who would, episode by episode, tell her little things that made her question her own horrible behaviour, making her try to fix herself on whats right and whats wrong. that could've been such a great way to develop her character; a pretentious, irritable and violent brat who is actually frustrated because of her lobotomy and her memory loss, desperately trying to cling onto the fragments in her mind because those helped to keep her mentality intact and docile. She could also be privileged, getting all the help she needed to become human once again but not working. Her anger issues could be a stark contrast to her powers which were weaker and only excelled in regeneration; showing her vines as a reference to a turtle living in a lavish sea--- a hard outer shell that seemed intimidating, only hiding the weaker confused, troubled,frustrated and lost being underneath who just needed to be loved and given a second chance, which would be done by Tanjiro who would be affectionate, loving and caring to her despite her behavioural and mental problems, also switching the tables for zenitsu who would be terrified of her hostile and active-aggressive behaviour, whilst Tanjiro would be more docile and passive-aggressive. Tanjiro could love her like Gyutaro did but instead bawling his eyes out every night for her, praying she'd wake up human the next day. In this case Tanjiro's eyesight would be absolute dogshit due to crying, making Nezuko the eyes for Tanjiro while he was the nose for Nezuko. Now, in the Daki fight it could be more emotional; nezuko saw an exact parallel of herself who had gone a different path from her and was much less privileged then she was. She could get some behaviour-wise char. Development realizing how much of a better environment she is then Daki but still ending up with similar emotions as Daki. She could lose the fight for the sake of her character development, only to lash back with her blood demon art, the screams of Daki in the background being a theme as she realizes what she has become despite being in a such a better place. Thus, giving her an effort to be less animalistic and wild and try to be more caring and loving, granting ability to conquer sunlight because of her human traits. She could realize how bad of a person she is in general when being compared to someone with less violent and edgy behaviour despite them being in worse circumstances while she is more violent and edgy than them in a better and more privileged place. So many missed opportunities with nez tbh.
My big problem with Demon Slayer is they have a whole system of different powers, but Tanjiro solves all his problems with "But what if I TRY HARDER?" Like, Jojo started that way, then Araki realized that was boring so he changed it from "but what if I TRY HARDER" to "But what if I use my air magic karate ghost to make pure oxygen that freezes the poison slime that other guy's poison snail karate ghost uses to make my hands invisible, and then I can punch his stupid face?" And like, I'm a sucker for the hero trying harder, but you can do BOTH (cough cough steel ball run cough)
I felt so mad seeing him in season 3 thinking about how Zenitsu's speed would have been a life saver in that situation, and then just proceeds to ACQUIRING HIS SPEED and jumping the demon
@@Henrique-wv9xqthe sheer _ease_ at which he can acquire thunder breathing just makes me think "why not learn all of them if it's that easy?" Also does this make zenitsu useless now?
All these comments are people who just want to hate to hate, it's hilarious. It’s like they don’t read what they’re typing before hitting send. It’s all just hate from their own insecurities about their favorite anime. That goes to this creator too. Just complaining to complain, kinda like a female.
The facts that the first Upper Moon had to be killed by Tanjiro gets even more outlandish and funny, considering that *21* Hashira got sent to kill them before and all failed 💀
The only explanation/excuse might be that they didn’t know Daki’s and Gyotaro’s gimmick. Like Tengen at first, those hashiras might be able to cut off Daki’s head, wondering why she’s not dead yet, then got instant 2nd Boss Phase with Latin Music right in their face. But that also brings out another fridge logic: Have the previous hashiras never team up? Were they THAT solitary to go fighting an upper moon alone with literally no back up? Those repeated deaths can only be justified when a person fights alone, dies, and has no one else able to live to tell the tale of their possible weakness. As you can see in the Entertainment District arc, 4 very skilled (a hashira and 3 slayers) people can already make Daki having a difficult time. Won’t it be logical to send a lot more people for the mission after, say, 3 hashiras dying to this “demon living in the entertainment district”?
@@karntherandom1125 I think Gyutaro said that the former Hashira assumed it was easy as well, after figuring it out, right after Tengen said that it was simple to just cut both their heads off 😅 Okay, he said they didn't think the tæsk of beheading both of them at the same time was simple... But I think that at least implies that some figured it out
@@karntherandom1125 its dangerous to send multiple Hashira as not to lose your best people. however they did send two hashira to fight Rui so uhh.. i guess i cant really defend that lmao
My biggest issue is that they want to portray the demons as once being human and not entirely evil, but they wait until the very last moment and only use a backstory to do it. Why not show Ume and Gyutaro being siblings and make them a parallel of Tanjiro and Nezuko? Maybe the main cast can lead Daki into a trap and bait Gyutaro into coming after her because he cares more about his sister than he does about himself? That would give a good point of tension in Tanjiro's arc as well, he had to exploit someone's love for their family in order to kill them both. Thats a fucking awful thing to have to do and maybe because of that the show can examine what humanity is. If we're willing to do bad things for "good reasons," how blurry can the line be to just doing bad?
Wow, that's a really good idea and take. It also would fit in the story, because I believe it's stated in the manga by Muzan that Gyutaro would have been much stronger had he left Ume by herself? Its clear they have a strong bond with one another, even as demons. And that could have been explored more.
My only "like" regarding this is Akaza. I like the little subversion built into his backstory, which is... he was always horrible. Like, tragic things happened to him, but his reactions were always disproportionately violent towards often innocent people. The (chronologically) first thing we ever see him do is beat the tar out of someone, and the last moment of his backstory is him massacring sixty-seven people in vengeance for something that *at most* 3 of them were involved in. If I recall correctly, Muzan was literally shocked that the man who'd done something so grisly wasn't already a demon. This is why it peeves me off so much to see a ton of fans treating Akaza as an injured sadboy when like, no!! The *entire point* was that he wasn't!!!!
@seashellgarden2227 Then again, most of the time they had on screen was fighting so maybe they could chuck in a few scenes of them being demons together
I remember how Tanjiro thought that if he had become a demon, he and Nezuko would’ve ended up like Gyutaro and Daki judging by Tanjiro’s chosen one status, he probably wouldn’t have become evil
I once had an argument with someone about the 'forced' humanization of demons when they are clearly shown to enjoy doing all that horrible shit. He kept arguing that they are humans in the past and that they are abused (why is this a reason for demons being forgivable for doing demonic shit for most of their lives?) and then I told him "that's like saying Hitler isn't all that evil because he went through WW1 as a soldier and we should forgive him" He never spoke to me ever again.
I've shown to a friend who didn't know Demon Slayer a picture of both Muzan and Kokushibo, and asked him to guess who is the final boss of the series. His words were: "Are you seriously gonna tell me that this Mickael Jackson doppelganger is the final boss over this guy with spider eyes?"
@@threestars2164 It shows the flaw of his design in that he doesn't pass the vibe from the kind of character he is supposed to be, that can be good. But not in this case, as he doesn't exactly hide himself like that.
@@thomasffrench3639 How are the characters in demon slayer any different? If anything most of the characters have less depth any of the well known Dc or marvel characters, just because it's animation is very good and in another language most people forget how little substance there actually is in the show.
a shitty product with good animation would never be as popular as ds, kny was popular since the manga started, the reason is the dialogues, the designs, the period and the whole ahestetic that japanese people love, fate has a as good animation but is in no world as popular, ds movie became the highest grossing movie in japan, beating ghibli movies, which are almost objectively better, i'm not saying that its good, but the animation alone did nothing
You know what? You kinda changed my mind about this show. I still like aspects of it, but you were able to put into words many things I didn´t find sense in while reading the manga perfectly, that helped me see better why I wasn´t satisfied with it all. Thanks for the video lmao
Agreed. It was highly enjoyable animation wise but I always felt like I couldn't point my finger on why I dont feel as attached to this show. This like opened my sixth sense for it 💀
@@shinkurasha8061 Same here. I watched the first 6 or 7 episodes and absolutely nothing about the story grabbed me. Which is wild because I adore demon-based anime. Especially ones which cross the lines of what makes a person a monster. Then I hear all my friends talking about it like it's the greatest anime in years.
@@shinkurasha8061 yeah I couldn't really tell why after binging the manga after watching the first season I just had zero interest in season 2 or mugen train, this video shows I probably just got caught up in the hype lol
Yeah, but I don't think we should blame Ufotable for choosing to animating demon slayer, they did work hard on working on the anime adaption, and I respect them for that. I only blame for the author Koyoharu Gotogue for their incompetent writing and they do love to do their characters so dirty and especially give the female characters even more worse treatment by not giving them (excluding Tamayo and Shinobu, they are the only ones that are well written 👍) the development and independence they deserve! Kanao: The one that probably pisses me off the most, had so much potential but just to be reduced to be Tanjiro's love interest for literally no fucking reason! Others glaze over her for being such a "well-written" female character but in reality, her character development felt too dependant on Tanjiro and her character lacks agency because of that. I still love her growth but I just wish we could've gotten to see how strong of a demon slayer she was. Nezuko: I don't have much to say about her but again had so much potential but was just reduced as a plot device and nothing more I love her but kinda wish she was treated as a character not just an object. Aoi: Also one of my fav characters, but also got worse treatment from the the author too, in one of the fanbooks she's not even mentioned to be co-worker when she clearly worked hard in the Butterfly Mansion and deserve to be the doctor more than Kanao, who just became the doctor out of nowhere. At least she has more serious personality that's what I love about her the most unlike Kanao, who's more childish and immature, don't know why Tanjiro wasn't even aware of that. As for the rest I don't need to even explain as much I love this series, damn the female characters are absolutely garbage and were done so dirty when it comes to writing I still love them but come on this author is definitely 100% mysgonistic even if they say they "care" about the characters, even though they don't even bother putting in some effort in giving them development! 😭
I wish ufotable hadn't spent years wasting their incredible talents on such a bland and poorly written story as Demon Slayer. Of course the production committee and those in charge want loads of money and Demon Slayer is incredibly popular, but only because of ufotable's animation skills.
Nezuko’s lack of character is a significant problem as well. While some argue that she isn’t meant to be a central or deeply developed character, this doesn’t justify her portrayal as a hollow, one-dimensional figure. She is still the catalyst of the series. Plot device characters can still be characters. Nezuko has no personality, no character arc, flaws, and depth. In contrast, Daki and side characters are more human and relatable than her. Moreover, Nezuko is constantly idealized and depicted as this unique, messianic demon who effortlessly overcomes typical demon struggles and receives unearned power-ups without lifting a finger. This series just treats her like a flawless, privileged doll and that's just bad writing.
One of my biggest problems with demon slayer is that the Hashira and the main gang seem like the only demon slayers. There are tons of others that you see just constantly dying like canon fodder and seem like they can't use breathing at all and contribute nothing. This is explained as people either quickly die or become powerful but you never see anyone rise up to near Hashira levels besides Tanjiro and all the Hashira just seem to be complacently waiting around for their arc. Like, HOW did these nine become Hashira in the first place? It feels like some are just Hashira because there need to be powerful people to fight with Tanjiro but even by the end of the series Tanjiro never meets their level of skills and power.
What do you think a Tsuguko is?? Being a hashira has specific implications and requirements that you HAVE to meet. The "cannon fodder" demon slayers literally do not have a breathing technique which is why they will never get as far as the main cast without being a Tsuguko. It was stated throughout the series a number of times that Hashira come and go all the time, mostly due to a power gap at the top of the ranks when existing hashira die (or quit). To be a Hashira (and there can only be one of a kind at a time) you have to literally be the best living person in the era of your breathing technique. Not sure how you missed that... I haven't even read the damn manga.
maybe because they are the strongest humans going against the strongest demons? every other demon is fodder because they dont have the same centuries of experience that the upper moons have and same for humans relatively speaking, tanjiro and crew just barely scrape by despite being the main characters. Tanjiros goal is never to get the rank of hashira, nor being the strongest demon slayer, its simply to save his sister and defeat muzan, not every show has to be about the mc wanted to become the best/hokage/hashira/wizard king.
The thing about the Hashira not teaming up is a glaring plot hole. I don't think they'd need a territory to be stationed at if you have so many ranks of demon slayers Y'all are at war, these fights should be 3+ Hashira fighting an upper rank in all fights
Yeah and the fact that they do reunite without issue whenever the plot wants them to doesn't make it easier to buy. It feels like the show would be over if they teamed up or if Muzan moved his lazy ass from his seat instead of sending after Tanjiro demons that match his current power level. But nope, seems like Hashira are too busy fighting weak demons that other slayers could handle and the Moons are too busy looking for flowers.
Think about Uzui: He goes to the butterfly mansion, trying to get some female squad members.. and picks a nobody and our main guys to go with him. God forbid he asks Kanao and/or friggin Shinobu to go with him! Picture Shinobu in the battle finding a way to neutralize the poison since she's an expert. The Nezuko asspull fire would not have been needed. And having a healer with them would make everyone surviving without lasting injuries (except Uzui) so much more reasonable.
@@AnarchHive I think the problem with that is that I do not think he knew was going for an upper moon, so he wouldn't wanna waste shinobu's time on some bullshit mission
@@iloveorganicchem6921 That may be what happened, but it just makes me more curious: Over 100 years they lost several hashira and other corps members in this district and they did not suspect there is a kizuki? Don't the demon slayers keep records?
@@Temp-nj8rmyeah like the video said, the author wanted to focus on Tanjiro and make him the center of the universe, almost feel like other characters are just filler characters lol
The plot lines are abruptly cut in half but not in a subversive way, the moment all the lower moons died you immediately felt the hand of the author. Meanwhile the fights are DRAWN OUT as much as possible, with flashbacks interjected whenever a fight picks up. It’s like he wants to end it right away in the slowest manner possible.
I liked Demon Slayer, but I can't put it in my top 10 series. You hit the nail on the head with a lot of your early points. I think what really annoyed me with the story was how new characters would get introduced or an established character would get some kind of growth/new ability and then never revisit these or expand on it to make the later events more meaningful.
RE: the suggested change to Rengoku's death: Imagine if he clearly defined himself by protecting People, and establish that he does NOT see demons as people, just monsters. Then when he sacrifices himself for Nezuko, he could repeat a line about how he protects people. And so we have an indirect method, via the repetition of a line with new meaning, that he now recognizes her as a person, not just a demon.
DUDE that would be so much better!!! the WEIGHT that would have too, him turning and looking back and saying "I protect people, remember?" and smiling or something like that, would it be cheesy? absolutely. would it hit hard as fuck? YES.
Ugh I remember being really just whelmed over his death because he died the same arc he was given focus in. Very little development and you expect me to feel all emotional over a character who I barely got to know? Yeah it doesn't work.
And what if this act of sacrifice prompts Nezuko to actually have an opponent to go against? Akaza states he doesn't eat or attack women. But how long would that ideology last if challenged by a demon with massive potential for strength which he values and is not controlled by Muzan like a puppet, unlike him? This would lead Nezuko to seek to avenge Rengoku and would force Akaza to bend his ideals to survive/get rid of this potential nuisance. Having Nezuko be his rival would give him the dream of fighting someone who could match up to his love of fighting, but at the cost of his ideology. But hey, that's just a theory.
I'm so happy you brought up the Rengoku example. I watched S1 after it ended cause everyone was hyping it up. I thought "ok, regular shonen elevated by the visuals". Then I waited for S2 to come out in full. I watched the train arc and I just could not get into it. The delivery was so below mediocre, but every single second I could feel the show telling me how I'm "supposed to feel" about Rengoku and it felt kinda insulting to me as a viewer. And then other people online were crying out how sad it was and I started thinking I had gone crazy. It didn't help that while I was watching it, my gf came into the room, watched for like 3 minutes and she goes: wow, these people sure do monologue a lot. That line broke the mirage for me. I started noticing that for every 10 second of sakuga, there's like a 4 minutes poorly written monologue that's just un-needed explanations, exposition or emotional propaganda. I couldn't stomach the show anymore.
I agree, i was force pretty much to watch this, season 1 firts 13 episodes didnmothing for me, i just like it after the screaming blond came hahahahah end the thing felt ok 🆗. The movie came and i felt not conection with thandude at all, nothing, he died, ok and ??? Red distrit was amazing sorry this was Super cool, the dude with 3 wifes carried the whole thing And then this horrible season 3 came and got SO angry !!!!! Is so Bad
Same, the reason I couldn't sit through S1 was because the show kept telling me how I'm supposed to feel. It blows my mind that anyone can feel anything watching this trash
@@urallnoobs8943 is terrible, is like quimera arc on hunter x hunter with the narration dude... But this was the whole show .... At leats in quimera arc the exposición guy explain the thecniques and plans ....here is the non stoping monologue of our Main ... But the things he said are not necesary for an anime ...show don't tell "Oh no, he block My attack" "Where is it, i NEED to find him before he escapes" Ok, this 2 statement of the voice in the head of the Main were not Even necesarry. We could tell by watching with our eyes that Indeed the attack was blocked And the other scene we could tell once again by using our eyes that he was looking for the Demon by searching the Woods Why we NEED this explanations ?????
Hey to say this guys but maybe shounen isn't your thing cause thats how most are written. Doesn't make it better but it may just be these shows are not your thing. I'd recomend staying at least 10000 feet away from MHA if this shows monologues drove you nuts.
"I started noticing that for every 10 second of sakuga, there's like a 4 minutes poorly written monologue" bro that is literally 99% of shonen anime, invalid criticism.
But he wasn't incompetent though. It was revealed Urokodaki purposely gave him the biggest boulder so that he would fail and he wouldn't have to watch any more of his students die. The one who is incompetent, yet it has no drawbacks on him, is Zenitsu. Zenitsu literally has more plot armor than Tanjiro.
The most interesting implication for a character in this story is that one kid who’s descended from the OG sun breath user. He uses fog breathing or something, and everyone’s like “he’s descended from that one guy!! That makes him important!” And then Tanjiro shows up and he’s just some guy. That can sun breathe. Like, imagine being fog boy.
The criticisms here are SPOT ON! However, in reference to the "Demon Slayer just set a new standard" video, gigguk was mostly talking in reference to the animation (which was indisputably stellar).
@@ghostrookie740 Fate has great animation, but unfortunately the main (stay night) series are pretty awful adaptations. the original Fate route adaptation is almost a slideshow of stuff from the VN, the Ufotable UBW adaptation has amazing animation but it fails hard in adapting: Shirou in the anime and Shirou in the visual novel feel like entirely different characters due to the lack of inner monologue. Heaven's Feel is the best for Shirou as a character's adaptation, partly due to how simple it is to get across this version compared to other routes, but also fails to adapt the Illya and Kirei part of the routes which people argue are the most important parts. Fate/Zero is the only one that has a truly good adaptation, staying as an 8/10 for me on both versions, while the anime for Stay Night fall to 6/10s for me from the 10/10 i give the original visual novel.
I’ll be honest, Rengoku’s death got a little emotion out of me, not because of Tanjiro and his friends wailing. But solely because his crow was crying. That’s it. The bird shedding a tear was more than enough for me lol
@@XDGamer88 Demon Slayer is trash tbh. It's not a show you have to really even think about, it's more like a turn your brain off or leave it as background noise typa show. It's an extremely two dimensional story with a literal straight path to whatever they have to do. One Demon gets defeated, Muzan says "Why is this mf not dead yet?" the minions say "Oh yes we will get on that right away" then one of the minions pull up and gets killed or heavily injured and Muzan gets mad and does his whole little spiel about how weak the minions are and then he sends another one then it just repeats until all the Upper Moon are dead then Muzan is the last big bad and he gets beaten and end of story. The main cast is also not much better, Nezuko is literally just a walking vegetable plot device, if you replace her with a half-eaten apple the story would literally not change.
@mulanomula it feels like you're the type of person that says code geass is the best anime along side deathnote because they made you think not trying to insult but yet again just saying complexity doesn't always mean good
@@mulanomulait's simple and that's not bad. Great animation and simple emotional story with some badass characters. Not everything has to be a deathnote.
@@bu11ymaguire yes not everything has to be death note but when you leave plotdevices like zenitsu falling asleep and just being his normal self except asleep then that's when the rating becomes lowered. nezuko is literally not even a character she's just a tool used to start and end the story. if you want simple done correctly it would be mob psycho 100 or cowboy bebop. i guarantee that if the animation wasn't amazing no one would be watching or hyping up demon slayer lmao.
As a fan of the show, I thank you for broadening my perspective. One issue that I've had with demon slayer is the lack of character to character interactions, it always feels like the opportunity is there for the characters to share their perspectives or information on how their breathing styles work or how the Hashira mesh with other Hashira but whether the story is going mach 10 or if they want to immediately jump into demon fights, it just feels wasteful to the story at large for so many characters to exist but give barely any words to each other. By the way, one thing I don't get about Genya..., what got Tanjiro to the front door step of the Master was his allyship with his sister Nezuko the demon. At the time, most of the Hashira bucked at the idea but in comes Genya, someone who can literally become a demon, and that doesn't get any attention...? I don't know if it gets a spotlight later, but its been sitting at the back of my head for quite a bit as like a massive unaddressed yet similar conflict of interest.
At this point in time only Gyomei & Shinobu know that Genya can turn into a demon for a short period of time. And I guess it comes more down to the fact that Nezuko is an actual demon while Genya is human, but just gets demonic traits.
Genya's situation, despite being unusual, is nothing new for the Layer's records. Even kokushibo (the 1st moon) comments saying that back than he fought a pillar who was able to use the same technique by eating demon's parts. Unlike nezuko, which was something that never happened in over 500 years, slayers capable of turning termporaly into demons by eating them was something that already happened.
I am SO pissed about the lower moons getting scrapped out, it would've made Tanjiro's growth so much more tolerable and satisfying if he defeated them with relative ease, plus thats 5 arcs that wouldve helped with the pacing of the story but i guess theyre just gone
Yeah it would've helped with the pacing and would've sold the difference between upper and lower moons in terms of strength way better, if they showed the main cast struggling to beat the lower moons and eventually getting stronger than them, only for the upper moons to completely shit on them would've had more impact
I mean writing Manga is pretty darn hard especially the deadlines and such. I can understand wanting to get out while the goings good and shortening your story to hurry to the climax after it gets popular, getting rid of the Lower Moons means you don't have to write their personalities, abilities, or put much effort in their designs.
As an illustrator, I come back to Demon Slayer specifically for the art. But goddamn it feels like a chore to get through any of the storytelling in the show.
@@MarcoPerez04 The animation and colors are gorgeous, and I like the use of line weight. Additionally the shots are composed really well. Again, it's specifically because I'm an illustrator that I enjoy it. If you think stylistically it all looks the same, that's fine. That's up to preference. For me it is a good study in how a lot of foundational technical elements are executed.
this was a really well done critique of the Demon Slayer series. i really love the anime, and plan on reading the manga, but watching this made me realize how much more i'd love the series without all these huge flaws. what's crazy is how easy a lot of these flaws could be fixed without drastically changing the overall plot (which i really appreciate you doing throughout the video). while it doesn't make me like the series any less, it's certainly frustrating to know how much greater it could be.
These arent flaws. Dont get confused. A chosen one story isnt inherently bad, and the vast majority of this critique is just missunderstanding DS And nitpicking.
@kirinsama1847 would need to make a whole video to address this, but ill just start at the most obvious points i remember rn. Demon slayers "powersystem" isnt like others. Its not different ever complexifying applications of different aspects of the same power source. The diffrent breathing styles are not "diffrent but equal". They are all derivatives from the same style but altered to suit yourichis college's faults. Its a degenerate system akin to continuous dilusion. Yorichi entrusted sunbreathing/will to tanjiros ancestors through dance. That is why he is "the chosen one". Its also in part why nezuko is able to walk amongst the sun. Chosen one stories are a dime a dozen. Starwars, the matrix, Naruto, bleach, jojos, solo leveling ect. Are all chosen one stories atleast in part. Im not going to argue that allmost all moderns stories are to an extend chosen ones, i could but i wont. Even tho i called tanjiro a chosen one before he actually isnt, because the actual chosen one within demon slayer is yorichi. Is only in so far the chosen one because he happened to have inherited yorichis will to an extend, (He, who's family guarded the legacy of the disgraced yorichi for nothing in return). As u can see, this is already a twist on the chosen one trope (kinda like jojo 1-3). Character arcs generally have a character believe some kind of lie which in the process through the story they uncover. Usually this allows the character to achieve their need. However, all characters receive character development, while i agree that the pacing in some isnt ideal (yes i too find zenitsu annoying) it does happen at apropriate times in the story. I also legit think it might just be the authors humor because i also dont like the "hateful swordsmith" joke. Zenitsu is kinda similar to that
@@kenonerboy Ok I'm not trying to diss you on your opinions, and my philosophy for the last few years have been to let people enjoy what they want, and I'll do the same. Although sometimes I take the liberty to express opinions on subjects I've an emotional connection to because they played some part at at least one point in my life. I've read the KNY manga, and it is a mess. I'm from japan and even though KNY has become a huge cultural phenomenon, any decently experienced manga reader will tell you that KNY manga is mediocre at best. The points Mack talks about in this video are valid, he is not nitpicking. But if you are happy with it then it's ok.
Another critique to add that branches off the point you made about misogyny is how Nezuko is treated in the narrative. She’s the only female main, yet she’s basically just a cute mute mascot that they literally shove into a box until it’s convenient. She has times of being powerful, but again, only when convenient. After becoming a demon, she’s basically mentally reduced to a toddler. We know nothing about how she feels about turning into a demon, or even about her entire family being killed *while she was there.* Her entire existence is what drives the plot, so she should have more relevance than just “cute demon sister”
@@Moroccodefdender except we literally meet two other demons who don’t eat humans and manage just fine without having their mouths sealed. Even without that, her not devouring humans isn’t because her mouth is sealed shut, it’s because she fights her desires. But even if you want to keep her mouth sealed as a visual distinction, more internal dialogue from her would go a long way beyond just muting her. Or even something showing that she’s bothered by her inability to communicate. It comes across as more of a way to silence the character to keep her as a prop instead of a useful story device or character piece. If it’s really that instrumental in keeping her from eating humans, then they could add some tension by asking what risk they could face if it came off somehow (which wouldn’t be hard, it’s just fabric and bamboo, even Nezuko could rip it off if she wanted to because her hands are always free)
It would have made sense if she age regressed because she couldn't bare witnessing the deaths of her family right before her eyes and being turned into a demon herself then character development branches off from there but no we got babying an older sister instead.
I KNOW RIGHT this is what made demon slayer kind of trash for me, i was such a huge fan until i started realising how the show never really took female characters seriously. sure shinobu is cool and all but mitsuri is ltr there for fanservice, and tamayo isnt really fleshed out in my opinion... nezuko, despite being one of the MAIN CHARACTERS has no genuine development other than being cute. shes so bland its honestly kind of annoying 😭i honestly wish they gave her genuine conflict instead of being hypnotised to think that all humans are her family or some weird shit. we got little development between tanjirou and nezuko despite the series being about them, she only exists to be cute and be the comic relief, even zenitsu, a little whiny loser got more development than her 😭 it just makes me so annoyed because there were SOO many missed opportunities, like we could have gotten an episode entirely in her point of view, to show how she genuinely sees her brother and how she is coping with the loss of her family members, i feel like we didnt get to see her genuinely grieve. im lowk kind of bitter that we didnt get to see more of her, despite her being in the series for most of the time :/ shes such an interesting character but NOPE she exists merely for the male gaze and to move the plot lmao
The immense popularity of Demon Slayer owes itself to the gorgeous animation. Strip that away and it's a simplistic but decent story with some heart (a brother tryna save his younger sister).
Another quick thing is how lacking Muzan is as the main antagonist I just feel like you’re supposed to fear him, you’re supposed to feel like he’s the big bad but it’s just underdeveloped bc he’s not involved in the story enough especially since he doesn’t directly interact with tanjiro that often
@@NANAbananabanar no Naraku in Inuyasha was super present in the story, Inuyasha and co. fought a lot of times against him, and never compare mid slayer with Inuyasha again please
But theres an whole entire arc to Find muzan and the uppermoons. The reason why he doesn't do that is that he sends uppermoons to kill him and tanjiro has to kill them with hashiras.
To be honest, the only thing I ever seem to praise about Demon Slayer is the animation, and I just realized that was the case. I agree with everything you've said, I watch Demon slayer mostly because I need a distraction and just, awooga pretty animation. I hope Ufotable moves on after Demon slayer to something with better writing perhaps? Their animation is incredible for real.
@@Teh8Swords Fate/Zero and Kara no Kyoukai ae extremely well written series that Ufotable has worked on. Followed by FSN UBW and Heavne's Feel. They are also working on Witch on the Holy Night, basically the origin of Fate and all of the Nasuverse, it's really good too.
this is exactly how i feel about this story. its just a run of the mill shonnen with a beautyfull anime behind it. i often feel that the animation was so pretty that people think is good cause it looks good. its not awful but is not one of the greatest stories out of japan imo
I always found it so silly that Nezuko is basically just a mascot for the entire series. When watching the anime for the first time I was confused why Tanjiro never really tried to communicate with his sister beside some small comedy moments and when they literally hit pause on the whole nezuko thing by purtting her in a coma so that Tanjior can have his training arc I knew that Nezukos character would never be anything else than motivation and gimmick for Tanjiro since he is obviously the important main character. The start of the series sets up a somewhat compeling dynamic between the two and then proceeds to do literally nothing with it. Like they could have even solved the issue on why Tanjior is special and able to defeat demons no one else can with his cooperation wit Nezuko and their teamwork instead of just giving him secret magic powerup.
@@SkylarThompson-mu1qs i disagree nezuko is very strong with good hax knowing shes constantly holding back so as to not become fully demon or whatever shes monumental in the plot and his brothers journey from aiding him in battle like getting his sword to become red to forcing him to choose between her and the swordsmiths conquering the sun and proving to be very important asset against muzan, she is strong but we need to remember she aint eating humans and is therefore willingly nerfing herself you guys dont wanna understand that ds is succesful not only for the animation but it beat op in manga sales at one point too so that animation go brr crap is cap its a great story with relatable characters and a misunderstood story by the likes of ppl like yall and the maker of the video. npt every characters needs to be incredibly complex and not everyone is a misogynist
@@wesleyparish8280 Spot the demon slayer fanboy. Literally nezuko, is just there as a mascot which is made even more apparent in the final arc. It popularity really is because of animation and mindless fights with a colorful cast of characters. It's all very surface level in its story telling with character development almost non existent. It's fine to like demon slayer, it has a story that could go main stream and not ruffle any feathers because its everything we seem before and very black and white in how it handles its characters. In fact the only prop i would give demon slayer is, is its ability to kill off characters but then you think about which characters die and then it also becomes, oh these are characters that don't matter like rengoku. Lastly, if it was so good it would of surpassed One Piece earlier in manga sales, not in its last arc that was boosted by the anime - which a lot of fans thought it was bad ending too. So yeah Demon Slayer is mediocre, I too also like mediocre stories occasionally but I acknowledge their flaws.
23:11 now that I think about it, Sun breathing is supposed to be the hardest form of breathing technique but someone it was put into the form of a dance that not only could none demon slayers learn but tanjiro learned from mostly watching his dad do it and a couple of 1 on 1 dance lessons from his dad lmao honestly tanjiro should just host a demon slayer dance class and teach everyone sun breathing, they could take of muzan in a few days lol
Doesn't work that way. First off all, the kamados were trained for generations to learn and practice the dance. Their body was trained phisically to endure it generationally. There is also one important thing that is a slayer can only use properly one single style, which is the one matching the color of their sword (based on both their body and personalities). In fact many veterans switches their breathing style as long that it doesn't mat H their potential, and the "dual breathing wielders" are usually labeled as people that either are too noob or are trying to switch/evolve their style, having usually poor results like tanjiro while he was using the water one. So if you doesn't match said style, is useless trying to learn it. Also by the end of the series, it's explained that the sun breathing is nothing too special. It was THAT strong back than because yorichii was performing it (the literal choose one of the story.... Who failed), and every single other user just like tanjiro were nothing exceptional, and never single handedly won against an upper moon nor muzan
@@mattiasilva1705Sun breathing is still a big power up and special and difficuilt to master... Manga spoiler !.... But sun breathing users die in their early 20s or so, the only one that did not die was Yorrichi and he regreted teaching it later on, after he found out it gets people killed....
As a lover of demon slayer, i couldn't agree more. When the characters books came out after the main series, it got to flesh out character relationships and abilities. Also, because the creator had to rush the series for personal reasons, we never got something fleshed out. If the creator was able to flesh things out, we may have seen improvement on their end of it. I also want to say that rather than seeing this as a total bust, i find it a loss of potential that was forcibly closed down (as of the personal obstruction the creator faced) and i feel like certain arcs should've went to certain characters
I really want to know what the reasons were for the rush, so far no one mentioned it in the comments or figure if it wasn't rush, would the story have the same problems or not.
I enjoy Demon Slayer, but never really took it too seriously. I already had some of the same criticisms that you mentioned like lack of set up/ characters looking all the same age and babyish/no real difference in breathing techniques. And you pointed out more that I do agree with. However I’ll still watch cause at least pretty colors and nice music 😁
@@Racoon-j1t Actually I just realized you're just rage-baiting, I saw you commenting that JJK is trash then refusing to elaborate. 5/10 rage-bait. (Edit: I gotta give it to you because you actually made me and others mad so I'm changing it to 5/10 rage-bait 😂)
Here's how you fix sun breathing. It's the most powerful breathing form against demons because it gives the user the intensity of demons' weakness, the goddamn sun. But it has a massive drawback. Because it has the power of the sun, it can easily kill the user and takes very intense training to master. Even in the training, many trainees have died, which is why there are so few sun breathers. Because Tanjiro is a water breather, even the basics of sun breathing are difficult because the sun literally evaporates water. Imagine a training arc where you're constantly on edge that Tanjiro will die and fucks up his body in the process, and if other characters actually died training sun breathing. And imagine how rewarding it would be when Tanjiro finally masters sun breathing and defeats a powerful foe. See how easy that was?
The problem with that is that it implies that the breathing techniques don't JUST alter your techniques and do literally have special supernatural effects. Which opens up an entirely different can of worms. If all you say is it's strong because it "have the intensity of the sun which is the demons weakness" that logically doesn't make any sense because a human is not the sun.
" Imagine a training arc where you're constantly on edge that Tanjiro will die and fucks up his body in the process" There's be no edge, because it's obvious he wouldn't die
@@huntersuper98the implication is more the physical output of sun breather is enough to turn their swords bright red, adding the "supernatural" heat equivalent of the sun which demons are weak against. The drawback is pushing one's body beyond the boundaries like that is not healthy and ultimately, harmful to one's body (unless you're the original user). The significance of red blade is even more evident if you consider traditional kendo favour good cuts (techniques) rather than just swinging a sword (I.e. even with a good cut the speed and friction to air is still enough to heat the sword up) This trope has been done before with prime example is rurouni kenshin, where his techniques are actually harmful to his underdeveloped body The argument about it's just breathing, well a marathon runner will breath differently to weight lifter and to a sprinter, right? It can be inferred from their sub techniques as well (flower, bug, beast, etc...) that each school will focus on a different athletic output of the extra force generated. A good example is when Tanjiro attempts thunder breathing in the latter episode (prioritising legwork of thunder over general output with long combat in mind of water). To me that subtle details is good representation of how sun is the progenitor of all breathing
Ngl, that Genya section just made me realize he should’ve been the protagonist. He had a very tragic backstory, a good motivation, Sanemi(his older brother, scar hashira dude for the uninformed) as a sort of roadblock. Hell, Tanjiro could’ve been a perfect foil, the kid with the strongest breathing style and a good relationship with his demonic sister while Genya has a shitty one with his human brother. I recently saw a comic where Genya bonded with Shinobu(poison breathing hashira) because they both had deficiencies as demon slayers and I think that would’ve been fucking awesome to see in the actual series
Not every mc has to be a fit a certain narrative before they can or should be the mc. Tanjiro is perfectly suited to be Demon Slayer's MC because he's meant to to be a or give hope to the people around him who have most likely suffered the same things as he has. He has worked his ass off and protected the people he can as every mc can or should
i will never forgive how the mugen train arc just turned zenitsu and inosuke into comedy relief rather than potentially delve into their deeper psyche like it did with tanjiro and rengoku. that would have been a perfect moment to flesh out zenitsu's character, and reflect on his relationship with his teacher, and maybe possibly hint at how kaigaku ruined all of that. edit: i come back 8 months later to say that my opinion has not changed. in fact, i'll even double-down on it. zenitsu and inosuke as the deuteragonists should have been properly fleshed out during this arc. "but it's about rengoku"--and? tanjiro still got his dream sequence showing just how traumatic the loss of his family was, and how he was willing to give up a blissful dream for the greater good. the later development we got with zenitsu and inosuke was, dare i say it, sloppy. came straight out of nowhere, like it was written last-minute. no build-up, no hints, nothing. so yeah, they were unfairly snubbed in a moment that could have been crucial to their characters.
Didn't have to because you wanted to. EVERYTHING doesn't need to Arcane or Game of thrones. Let this fun series be that fun. If didn't have fun that's okay you I assume are an adult can find something else that has characters like demon slayer
@oyamampendu9467 lmao chill bro just as that is your opinion this is mine lets be grown ups Edit: For the record, i love demon slayer. I was obssessed when it first came out, but i also acknowledge it had flaws.
@@oyamampendu9467 What a weird fucking take, it must have gotten under your skin because you seem really defensive to immediately compare it to 2 amazing stories with amazing characters, and then turn around and say that shit character writing/development is some insane ask like the OP asked Demon to be like those 2 shows or because HE want's it to are you sure you are an adult with arguing like that?. You do know that you can have great character writing that doesn't need to be unfun right like 100s of great COMEDY shows, seriously wtf? and then say :"i assume you are an adult" like some childish own? It's okay to like a show because it's beautiful or fun, but don't say a show should not have good writing because it's "FUN" i bet it would be even better and fun with better characters/writing.
They always were a source of Comic relief. Zenitsu passes out at the first sign of danger and inosuke is a wild man who wears a pig head and can’t pronounce simple names. They are still badasses.
@RulerOfYore and im not saying that was a bad thing. The issue was that they, in that arc, felt especially two dimensional. It just would have been nice to see them written more properly, seeing as they had just as big a role later in the series as tanjiro.
My biggest frustration with demon slayer is that it has potential. (You address a lot of that, I'm mostly agreeing.) There are ideas there that, with a lot of work, re-drafting, careful thought and work, could make something much better like JJK or (the actual medium-redifining masterpiece) Chainsaw Man. Breathing is potentially really cool, controlling your body through technique and practice, with sun breathing being strongest against demons because of their inherent weakness to sunlight, but equally thst makes it the hardest to master and thus fell out of practice as generations went on and fewer people bothered. Tanjiro being a ray of kindness and sunshine in an otherwise cruel world and having his kindness tested and potentially damaged could be great. Inosuke is a funny boar man that makes us go haha, and him being overly brash and angry and competitive makes the times he's not hit harder. Rengoku is a good boy but his death lacked weight even though I was sad because I have a soft spot for heroic himbos. Muzan having an underwhelming design could be an actually intentional thing, similar to Philip/ Emperor Belos from the Owl House, to reinforce that demons were all human once no matter how twisted they are now, or that the humanity IN the demons combined with their supernatural abilities is what makes them terrifying. So many cool ideas, so much potential. This is the only video of yours I've seen (from random youtube recommendation) so I'm not really familiar but you seem to love animation, but you didn't really mention the music at all. I think the music is pretty well done and can be really cool, and obviously the animation is fantastic and it makes me angry. Other things deserve this level of popularity and appreciation. Demon Slayer could have been a wonderful, delicious cake with pretty icing and sprinkles but we have a barely-mixed batter that it looks like someone might have accidentally tipped some dirt into. Please share your feeling of indifference with me because I have so many thoughts about this show that is unbelievably shallow and substanceless and cant help but get passionate about what we could have had... Sorry for that wall of text, lol. Good video, me agree.
Man, i always thought "wouldn't it make Inosuke's character much more interesting and the power dynamics also if he's more physically capable than the main three?" You could have him be more in tune with his body through his wild upbringing and while he may start out more skilled (he's ripped, yet that doesn't make any difference whatsoever) Tanjor could level the playing field more as he's able to adept his strategy rather than relying on brute force and talent. But alas, Inosuke is quickly just another bystander to Tanjiro doing all the heavy lifting, who's clearly the strongest and most important overall
Inosuke was able to sense where the strings from the spider lady were coming from and tell tangiro using his sense of touch. He was also able to resist the sleep demon using his boar mask to obscure where he was looking making enmus hypnosis less effective. He's also able to shift his organs and even has poison resistance but most people wouldn't find these things out without looking deeper story such as reading the manga or the end bits of the episodes where they explain things they couldn't fit into the anime.
@@birdwatchingwithcookie8884yet the persons point did refer to inosukes unique talents yet they were Basically never used again. Also those aren't deep in the story they're straight up given to us by inosuke himself
@@yeslifeisalie9769 Like there is so much story for the world of demon slayer yet it only has about 210 CHAPTERS. Don't complain so much about things not being reused when you know that the entire story was sped through.
@yeslifeisalie9769 I kinda assumed they didn't know about inoskue's abilities cause they say "you could have had more in tune with his body". Which kind of what he is already.
Loved the part about Genya, it would've worked so much better with him as the MC. As the only human who can use the power of demons, while also hating them so much that he's always trying not to. That alone beats everything we get with Tanjiro, imo.
Sure a main character gaining the powers of the monsters that have taken over his world and which he has a personal vendetta against We've Never seen that before
@@Flipitmixit Whether something has been done before or not is of no serious importance, if the writing is good. I'd even argue that there's no such thing as an "original" anymore, because everything is inspired by something else - if not blatantly copied and painted in different colors. But if the work is good, it's good, and that's good enough for me at least.
@@MrSociofobs I completely agree. And thats exactly what I think about Tanjiros portrayal right now. The Goku/Luffy like purehearted protagonist who doesnt really need to change but changes the people around him, has been done before. But I think demonslayer offers a fresh take on it. Meanwhile the maker of this video pretends like these type of characters have to be deeper or edgier to be good characters.
@@Flipitmixit even in one piece most of the other character are deeper and the world around them matters and it does affect them the same can't be said here.
This genya segment make me realise just how much cool he would have been if he was the main character , imagine the sheer despair he would feel that he can't be at all a demon slayer because he can't use breathing technique , the story we could tell how he discover he can eat demon to gain stronger and how much it tell about is willpower , the shame he must feel about is brother , the potential of conflits with demon because how how much can resemble them in a fight , damn i want this story NOW.
Its ridiculous having the main character not be able to utilize the power system in their own show either sucks or makes the character ridiculously over powered as he needs to have an incredibly ridiculous alternative.
@@moonie1825 You guy should really stop commenting before thinking , it make you look bad and lack any creativity , first the one that use black clover as a argument then this , the funny things is black clover could be considrate as one of those mangas that do that , now you problably are just a kid so just go do something better.
@@moonie1825 But, but, in this example and as the video states, the powers are practically interchangeable they accomplish the same goal and it's not incredibly ridiculous because it's a thing that already exists within the current confines of the world and would be made less ridiculous by actually being able to develop it, as well as giving a legitimate believable reason why the protagonist is special relative to everyone else.
As a large fan of Demon Slayer I have to say I'm impressed. This is a very well constructed and well put together video that thoroughly explains why you dislike the series. I don't agree with all your points sure but I completely understand your perspective which is incredibly commendable and very impressive. It's honestly refreshing to see a video of well constructed criticism of such a popular and beloved series. My opinions on Demon Slayer haven't changed too much but you did a great job of voicing your dislikes beyond just saying 'it's overrated and terrible'. What I will say though, is that some characters don't need incredibly detailed backstories or large amounts of screen-time to have viewers get emotional about them, people can get attached to characters simply because they're incredibly likeable and fun to watch. That was the case with Rengoku and Tanjiro, and for me and so many others they'll able to generate emotion responses. Plus, having Rengoku attack Nezuko just isn't who he is (that's Sanemi) so I'd rather his character be consistently likeable (as he his basically). Anyway, that's my view, great video all around.
It's so nice that there's still people that can see criticism of a thing they like, process it and provide counterarguments in a civilized manner, props to you for being cool. It's also very funny to see a "lmao yap session" type of comment directly under this.
@@mauricioalvarezpino1818 Thank you for saying that. I'm a lot more open to accepting criticism if it's well explained, Demon Slayer has many valid criticisms but a lot of reviewers just don't do a good job of explaining their points and why they're significant. I acknowledge when a reviewer can successful convey their perspective, especially if it's in the minority. It's annoying how people will easily dismiss criticism if it's a series they enjoy, even if it's well explained. Though to be clear, I don't agree with a lot of his points either. For example, with his point on breathing styles he almost contradicts himself by first correctly stating that the effects are visual metaphors but then complaining that they aren't canonically explained within the plot. Also his opinion on the character designs I just completely disagree with, most prominently when he said Gyomei looks straight out of high school, which I just don't understand how he thinks that. It really shows that despite disagreeing with a number of his points, I still respect and understand his views on the series. This is proof of a well contructed review and analysis.
oh thank god someone who actually comments more than 5 words without using slurs, even its a good or bad detailed video, its weird how there are always ppl bashing it without watching it first and foremost
I'm half-way through and holy crap, Rengoku is doing a bang-up job staying alive and talking to Tanjiro while sporting a hole in his chest that not even a Terminator could cause.
@@henriqueferreira5165 that injury would miss his heart and lungs entirely. His bowel would be perforated though. He will be quickly bleeding to death.
More impressive than tanjiro running a mile without so much as a limp while chasing that demon at the end of the swordsman village arc after having his foot crushed?
Alternatively about Zenitsu's moves, it would be interesting if instead of him slowly learning moves throughout the story he slowly CREATES his own branching line of Lightning Breathing better suited to his style since he can't master the other more traditional forms. Until when he fights his rival instead of using the thunder breathing moves that he would be used to seeing and mastered himself he finds that Zenitsu has created his own set of forms and fighting style with the basis of that first form. Yknow-- like how lightning itself branches out
It starts so strong but the ending feels like the author was totally done with the story. Absolutely speed ran the moons. Also never really developed Tanjiro in any meaningful way.
Sorry to be a asshole or a defender but the only reason that is cause she was very rushed cause at the time that’s when the anime started to get released
Here after hearing of the tragic passing of Akira Toriyama because the sentence "I don't even like Dragon Ball and I think that's BULLSHIT!" came to mind
Imagine if Genya, the only character that can turn himself into a demon, hunting after the footsteps of his brother, a Hashira, who has problems controlling himself while being a demon, and also has severe character flaws (being an asshole, refuses to communicate or work as a team, etc) was the actual main character. HE HAS A FUCKING SHOTGUN
Idk if im just struggling to understand but his stomach is advanced in a way where if he digests demon meat it temporarily changes his appearance to a more demon thing
@@miceatah9359 You must be mistaken Genya has an ability makes him turn into a demon after eating their flesh. I think it's something like that, though yeah I wish Genya was fleshed out more instead of being killed off. 😓
@@genesismunoz6008 No bro, genya cant turn into a demon, he might be a human but if he eat demon flesh, he can get demon abilities, After all we first saw genya gaining powers in the swordsmith village arc, At the last episode, he was normal
Facts! Like I'm just sitting here thinking after I saw that Rengoku section being like "Wow... I mean I like this character but this is really good, and so much better written then the character we got."
ngl i was thinking when he was explaining in his opinion on how to make rengoku better i was like "thats soooo generic though" then after that he admits its kinda "generic." Idk maybe I just like other things and have different standards but thats prolly cuz of subjectiveness lol
Demon slayer had so much potential, it pains me to see how it actually deserves the popularity it has if the author just decided to add more than just tanjiro saying "Oh no! I cant move my body" for 5 mins"
It is popular because mc is not trying to be a edgelord trying to give some philosophical quotes from google. We are already saturated by edgelord mc and degenerated mc. we need some palette cleansing. Degens and edgelord doesn't exist during the Taishō Period of Japan. plus maybe shonen jump trying to rush the author and not giving her a break while having personal problems might be the cause. If shonen jump didn't rush her. We might get a Zero Requiem Tanjiro or Time Travelling demon art Tanjiro where he whisper muzan his family location. And he discovers that Demons lives freely outside japan. and he do the rumbling to kill 80% of demons.
@@zainab_hashmiii Not once has there been a moment where tanjiro cries about his body for 5 mins. Demon slayer despisers like you just don’t know when to quit huh 😹😹
As someone who really enjoys the Demon Slayer anime, I nonetheless found myself agreeing with this entire video. I particularly enjoyed the fact that you offer examples of alternatives with your criticisms, which I found to be quite well-done, and seemed like superior ways to approach their respective situations. Most notably with Rengoku and his death scene. I was confused why, as a typically mushy person, I was hardly bothered when he kicked the bucket, but when I heard your explanation it made perfect sense. And your alternative, even just hearing it laid out with the imagery in the background brought a tear to my eye. I would have found that so much more impactful. Looking forward to more from you. EDIT* I also hate Zenitsu. For all the same reasons.
Nothing wrong with enjoying something while still recognizing its flaws, or even outright admitting its not that good. Its actually a pretty good sign of mental maturity when you're able to sperate your own enjoyment of something from its actual quality. Nothing hurts worse than watching someone defend something that was poorly done just because its their favorite show or something.
Fair. But do you really need to relate to a character in order to feel sad? I have nothing to relate to with starving children in Africa. Nada. But if a starving child died in front of me, or on a tv screen, that would make me really sad. Not that I felt sad for Rengoku dying, but I can't really say for sure whether that had anything at all to do with being unable to relate due to being flawless. Because like I said, there are plenty scenarios where I don't relate at all, but still feel sad.
@@kopicat2429 Not a very good comparison. You can most certainly relate to a starving child in Africa, its called being human. No matter how different we are, there will always be that point. We can understand eachothers pain no matter how far apart we might be or how different our struggles are because we're human. Fictional characters dont benefit from this. Sure they might be human on paper, but at the end of the day they dont really exist. This is why making your character relatable matters. You need to form a connection with the reader/watcher to convince them that something happening to this character really matters despite it having no baring on the real world.
I think the best way to make popular art right now is to create something visually interesting with a basic plot, loose threads, and a ton of potential. People tend to be filling in gaps with their own imagination, analysis, and head cannon. If youre marketing a complete package there's less room for that because everyone kinda knows.
exactly! that's also why people subconsciously like sketches more than finished art and colored manga sometimes seems weird and worse than when it was uncolored - human imagination can create and extenuate stuff so beautifully and flawlessly to the point when it's almost impossible to beat in reality, unless you're a true pro or even a genius. the finished, polished work reveals all the mistakes you can't escape from and people will latch on to them, it's close to an eyesore to some. so, really, not finishing stuff and leaving enough room for the imagination of the viewer/reader - seems like a formula to success, unless, again, you're an extremely skilled genius
@@paytonogallagher3284 I wasn't but if the shoe fits it's at least part of the puzzle. Although success for DS and fromsoft games In general have a lot to do with gameplay as well
44:14 if Genya is the only human who can become a demon temporarily, why didn't tanjiro get his blood to Miss Tamayo for more research to help Nezuko turn back to human, Genya could be a great lead to bring Nezuko back to her human self.
@@ExNihilo. Yeah, that's fair. We don't really know much about how much they communicate anyway and Tanjiro has literally only just learnt that Genya can do that. If Tanjiro did tell Tamayo, it would've happened at the end of, or after, this arc.
Instead of breathing "styles". Why not "stances" instead? It's more of different in terms of postures or "combos", like holding your katana above your head means your attack is much more heavier. And if you're just holding your katana between your chest, it's just a "regular" attack. We would called those: "Water stance" means your attacks are smooth and flows like a water. "Stone stance" your attacks are heavier like a rolling stone. "Wind stance" your attacks are more swift and mobile like a raging wind. In that way, Breathing Stances are more "realistic"
My partner just started playing through Ghosts of Tsushima, and it has these styles of fighting stances, that obviously are balanced against certain enemies in the game. When I saw him get later on with a few unlocked my immediate thought was "so that's what Demon Slayer was supposed to emulate".
Another problem is that Koyoharu fails to establish Nezuko as a character before turning her into a nocturnal Pokémon for the duration of the series. Moments like the Rui fight or Nezuko going Berserk and almost eating someone would actually work if we knew what Nezuko was like before becoming a demon because it would actually establish her and Tanjiro’s relationship as siblings.
Yeah, like we should have had like first episode to just establish characters. Second episode in which Tanjiro's family dies. Third episode Tanjiro discovers Nezuko is a demon and meets Giyu.
Ig none of y'all know how naturally close rural people like Tanjiro's family are and how much it would take to worsen thier bonds. It shows. I'm suspecting y'all haven't even read or seen any other stories involving rural families. Tanjiro's familiy is an archtype and aren't ment to be anything else, that's why they weren't given time. Like how Muzan is immediantly an evil dude, Tanjiro's family is immediantly poor, struggling, but otherwise perfect loving family.
Honestly, I thought I was the only one who never liked Rengoku, so thank you for validating my feelings! Man existed for 5 minutes and then dies in a pretty cool way before we move onto the next adventure. It moves on so fast and we never get to bond with him at all. Like I thought there was more to him before watching season one and Mugan Train but nope! It was disappointing.
I mean theres a lot of ways a character can become a fan favourite with only five minutes of screentime. Thing is, i feel Rengoku did none of them so idek how this happened. Personally, he’s the definition of the superhero trope. Perfectly good and good hearted down to the core, hell they’re so good they give up their life in a heartbeat and don’t back down from the fight to protect their subordinates. He’s the *textbook* superhero/good guy. So textbook I can only respect him, but I rlly cannot love his character. You’d have to reveal all that we know of him was just a facade cause he was evil all along and serving the villain for me to even think about changing my mind, but even then that is now weak writing that would exist only for a dramatic plot twist.
My biggest problem with the series was that it seemed to reverse set up and pay off. We keep seeing pay offs happen with no build up and then the explanation comes after. Whenever Tanjiro gets into a bad place, he gets a power up out of nowhere and the explanation of how it’s possible comes later.
@@Xer0280 what's wrong with that? He was in a tight spot, was thinking how to use the resources and abilities available to him, and came up with this mixed style. It wasn't out of nowhere, been practicing hinokami kagura, and of course knew water breathing. Up until this point, we only saw pure forms used, so this seemed like a logical and creative way of using the styles. Also, from what I can tell (by only watching anime, and avoiding manga spoilers), Sun Breathing being like the OG style, and every other is a derivative, it actually makes sense that they can be used in complement. Lacking ability/stamina to perform a pure HK move, you fill the gap with WB
@@Tajbor87 no, I just kinda wished we got to hear his thought process as he mixed breathing styles. Like, he could've gotten a flashback to when Urokodaki told him that 'water can change into any form' and then boom, he just does the move
@@Xer0280 I understand what you mean, and sometimes that can be a good approach. Depending on how they achieve it, it will lead to pacing issues. Many shows do that (I think even this one, too), they actually take you out of the scene for a long time to do a flashback. I don't think you actually need all those flashbacks with long explanations if something has been built up logically. They don't even have to mention it specifically if it fits in the logic. They just allude to it with something that will remind the reader, it's much less in-your-face that way. Spoonfeeding info may mean you underestimate your audience's capability to make the connections.
I'm not a big fan of Demon Slayer, but I think there is value in its accessibility. I see all of the flaws in it you see, I'm not big on the show and never was (I'm in my mid-20s). But recently, my 12-year-old cousin has discovered the show and loves it. She loves the funny (to her) characters, the colours, the familial bond of the siblings, how kind Tanjiro is, the cool female characters, everything. And when I got her a Pen with Tanjiro on it, her eyes lit up and she couldn't stop talking about the show. It reminds me of the simple joy of discovering your first anime and I feel Demon Slayer fits right in with those kinds of shows.
I mean ofc different shows cater to different audiences, I can definetly see why a kid would like ds but objectively it's a pretty shit show and he is doing a good job pointing that out?
Gotta pay respect where its deserved, i was for brainwashed single handedly by the animation of Demon Slayer, but all the arguements and points you made are so true and now that I look back all those flaws really do stick out like a sore thumb. Keep up the engaging and accurate videos man, enjoyed watching the video start to finish
Ufotable did an exceptional job, as always. The fact that Demon Slayer is so widely loved even with a paper-thin plot and bland characters is just a testament to Ufotable's talent.
I remember watching Mugen Train and when I reached the end of it I thought to myself “Was I supposed to cry just now? Am I heartless?” Turns out it was just poor writing🤦
demon slayer is a perfect baby's first shonen, it is the genre distilled and simplified as much as possible. that's why it's so loved, it's the most simplistic form of the defining parts of the genre, not high art, but fun to anyone who doesn't overthink it. unfortunately as a baby's first manga, it makes its fans obsess over it and believe it's so much better than reality... unfortunately it really is full of potential, but all that potential is seemingly intentionally pushed out to make it even more of distilled shonen.
I think Naruto should be everyone’s first anime. It has all the plot, themes and character development of a competent shonen but it’s all pretty grounded and easy to follow. If having to navigate filler and inconsistent animation is a dealbreaker though, Demon Slayer is a solid choice I think.
You went well but you had to say "full of potential" Where? It was clearly stated that breathing and its forms' only difference was the color of the effects. Or how the main character had the complexity of a lego. Where is the potential? That nezuko is a demon, that for reasons that weren't expanded upon, can control herself?
@jando5980 well the video itself gave examples of potential, with the flame hashira rewrite for example, imagine if there were clear differences, strengths and weaknesses to the breathing styles, if the guy who ate demons was actually important and caracterized, if we actually got character development that wasn't offscreen, there are so many what ifs that the author just decided to rush past
@christianryan9989 im not saying demon slayer should be, just that it seems to be perfectly designed for that role, the big three, dragon ball, and other classics are much better starting material
The fact that from tanjiro's entire adventures through the series, tanjiro didn't encounter an awful or genuinely evil human that's similar to humans shown in flashbacks of demons or humans in general. He always meet kind people or rude people that will turns out they are actually kind. He never seen the cruel reality of the world that everyone is facing, basically the chosen one.
genuinely evil humans don't exist in real life very stupid and selfish people do exist, but evil beings aren't a thing no matter how many media products have them
So I'm not alone in hating the lack of character development. Also, it really drives me up a wall how all the hashira have one personality trait and that's it, that's the entire character
hashira´s personality traits are there so you remeber the characters, once they are more fleshed out they become actual characters, this applies to literally all hashiras excluding mitsuri but because she is boring AF
@@Oncomancer yeah so you clearly didnt read the manga and it shows lol. gyomei is not an amazing character, as most characters in kny, there is only a few that i would say are really good, but he definetly gets his development and time to shine, like all hashiras do. trust me, he is more than just a blind prayer man, and his backstory is not really that important in his character arc
Watching a man with barely controlled hair rant for an hour about an anime I have no intention of ever watching? Absolutely sold. Finding out he only uploads once in a blue moon? Perfect, suits my watch schedule down to the ground. Sign me tf up
There are actually two important elements of Tanjiro's character, and as a bonus, they're established early on! First is he's a good, good, good boy who wants to save people. The second is he really cares about his sister. When Nezuko is about to "die" to sunlight, if Tanjiro had decided to abandon the civilians and instead save his sister, it would have been cool and dramatic. He's talked a big game about being a hero, but this is rarely challenged. Have his heroic good good boy nature be challenged - and lose. Except no, she's just magically immune to sunlight because reasons, so he gets to save people AND she gets to survive.
Spoiler : Not magically someone said that nezuko and tanjiro had drank the blue spider lily soup that was made by their mother so...nezuko would be immune to sunlight and tanjiro if he ever turns into a demon.
@@meook2135 Yes, which is a narrative ass pull. There's nothing wrong with her sun immunity inherently, but there is something wrong with how it's revealed in the story.
The discussion of Tanjiro and Rengoku's writing in this video actually got me thinking about why they became so popular, while a character like Kirito from SAO doesn't see that same praise, and is often criticized for suffering from a similar issue of flawlessness. I think I have an idea as to why. This isn't meant to be a defense, just a hypothesis as to why Gotouge's character writing choices seem to work for so many people (sorry in advance for the essay). Gotouge's writing seems to place characters in scenarios that, rather than challenging their flaws, are meant to emphasize their positive traits. For example, with Tanjiro, rather than focusing on how his kindness comes into conflict with his role as a Demon Slayer, the focus is on how that kindness informs the way he performs his job. Because Tanjiro is unusually kind, he attempts to empathize with the Demons he fights and also finds a way to kill them as painlessly as possible. A similar thing is done with Rengoku, to emphasize his role as a protector, he's placed in a scenario that would challenge that desire to an extreme- not only having to face an upper rank by himself but even being offered the alternative of becoming a demon, yet choosing to give his life regardless. I think the idea here is that, by placing characters in scenarios that test their core values, their decisions to remain stalwart in those values leave an impression on viewers who find those traits admirable. It goes beyond Tanjiro just being a nice guy, Gotouge tries to make him look like THE NICEST guy. Rengoku's more than just a defender, the intent is for him to look like the picture of self-sacrifice. I think what Demon Slayer basically does is overhaul any core trait which could make a character likable. This would be why they leave such an impression on people who especially resonate with the given trait that a particular character may represent. People's mileage will vary on how effective that form of character writing is on them, but (as someone who doesn't really care about Demon Slayer anyway) I'd guess that's why the characters have worked for so many.
Kinda sounds like writing for Superman before he Man of Steel movie. Basically paragon writing, emphasizing their good traits without much challenge or something to make them slip. Which I can get foe those wanting more role model characters, but doesn't offer much to the audience on questioning if it's great being kind or a protector all the time, or giving thr character a learning moment that could actually reinforce their good traits by still choosing to be kind and good despite a major setback. Which would have been that moment if ,spoilers, Nezuko actually died at the end of this recent arc and would really challenge Tanjiro's mercy.
@@blutygar Oh yeah, I absolutely agree that generally speaking, challenging the character's belief is much more compelling, character development is considered such a fundamental truth of storytelling for a reason. Like I said, I hadn't intended to defend the series per se, just understand its appeal. Even though I don't care for DS myself, I think it's more interesting to delve into why its story has resonated with so many, as opposed to just writing it off. Though, honestly that consensus seems to be changing, with the latest season wrapping up, I've heard almost exclusively disappointment.
39:20 this is totally true. I was more worried about Tengen dying than about Rengoku because we actually saw his development and his flaws made him more relatable. Meanwhile, we see Rengoku as a perfect guy in two episodes, absent in another, and fighting in his last moments in a 25 minutes battle
It’s funny that you say that but rengoku lost his mom his dad is a drunk not to mention a real bitch and you’re gonna sit here and tell me he’s completely fine…yeah..totally…😑
@@aubree8595 don't get me wrong, Rengoku is a really cool character with an interesting backstory and personality. The problem is how he is executed in the story, as a flawless guy you are supposed to love more than anything in the span of a movie (at least he has an introduction episode in season 2 with the speed demon, but many people won't see it because they will see the movie)
@@aubree8595 That's part of the problem tho. You'd think a backstory like that would give him some type of flaw. Ex some generational trauma where he's acts like his dad sometimes, but he's pretty perfect instead. That's why I agree with OP. Tengen wasn't perfect, he was a straight up dick sometimes but that's what made him interesting.
@samanthabrown8690 Or he tries to do too much and ends up endangering the people he tries to protect. Like, he assigns Tanjiro only to look after Nezuko and he can't be in that many places at once to fight the demons, so he learns to let go of his pride and old fashioned way of thinking and trust the Kamado's Then dies protecting the train and the main cast. He can still be an aspirational character, just give him a flaw that doesn't mean he acts like a douche. He could be like Superman in that regard.
@@gangrenousgandalf2102and the funny part is that he almost got a scene like that! There is a moment in which he tells the others to take care of ⅜ of the trais while he single handly protects the othe ⅝ and then leaves runing so fast that the entire train crumbles. This was the perfect chance to do ANYTHING with his character just by showing him unable to do so. He could have to let go of his hero complex, or to start trusting nezuko, or to respect zenitsu's help... anything. He is just a mountain of missed oportunities as a character, so as much as we love him he's still to flawless, just a plot device used to stablish how cool and powerful the hashira are and then die to akaza to show how powerful the upper ranks are and give the main character more motivation. This just doesn't work if we don't get attached to rengoku
I know I got the sword thing wrong, my bad I forgor. Anyway, if you liked the video make sure to like it, and if you want more check out this video on the incredible writing of Vinland Saga ruclips.net/video/95Wqq4vOLPM/видео.html
Also koyoharu Gotoge is nonbinary/ female at birth
@@Monkeydfitzy 2:15
@@CaptainMack im pretty sure that gigguk video was praising the animation
@@westhun4580 Yeah, Gigguk often comments on how overhyped DemonSlayer is
@@Monkeydfitzy their gender isn't confirmed due to privacy so no one knows
The REAL critique is how demons are actually vampires but nobody’s ready to talk about that 😤
Its Japan they got weird ass demons bro some are like vampires while some lick toilets I'm glad we got the former
basically bootleg castlevania
Basicly bootleg jojo part 1 lmao
@@SSFplayer2 There's a reason they pitted Jonathan and Tanjiro against each other in Death Battle.
@@100organicfreshmemes5 heard about it ye, but never watched it
One of my main issues when reading the manga was I always felt Nezuko was treated more like a plot object than a character. Like she could be changed to a desirable vase with few major changes
I wish her combat skills were developed even further, it would cool if she reached the same level of strength as the main trio and participated in the muzan fight.
@@zandensterner3918 uh why should nezuko join the muzan fight? You dont play capture the flag by placing the flag in the middle of the warzone.
@@winterburn2353 You're completely right, I just want to see more nezuko action
@@zandensterner3918 im completely with you on that.
Nezuko is (so far in the anime) Tanjiro's guard dog.
Literally
EDIT: Now that Season 3 is over...I can say that...Nezuko had so much "character development" in 3 season.
From Human to Demon to Backpack to Guard Dog to Talking Parrot...the "character development" in Shonen truly evolved...this Mangaka has to be stopped.
This competent writing shouldn't be allowed...he is tooo powerful for no reason...just like the mc of DS/KnY.
When I was reading Demon Slayer, the one thing that I kept feeling is, that Demon Slayer is trying to speed run to end the series as fast as possible. Every single down time the cast get to rest or get to know each other is skipped with "X months passed, we all improve. Now we need to move to the next arc quick quick quick!"
Its unfortunately due to the author's personal issues, they had to move out for reasons I've forgotten so they had to end it as fast as possible
the fact that Tanjiro just happens to conveniently bump into both Hashiras AND upper moons .... come on breh
It’s not even like the characters are really awful (at least half of them at least) it’s just that they’re insanely half baked.
Yeah, jjk is the same way
would you rather it be constant fillers, that's one thing I can appreciate about DS is it doesn't seem to have any
Okay so people are mainly talking about Tanjiro and his friends but why is no one talking about Muzan? Bro has 5 brains and shi and still manages to become the dumbest villain in the manga history
yeah he couldn't kill tanjiro himself at ss1 that stupid because if he fear yoriichi sun breathen so much why he can't sent upper moon or lower moon to kill tanjiro
@@nhatminhhoa he could even kill unborn Tanjiro easily if he weren’t so stupid lmao ‘cause all bro needed was blue spider lily to turn into a human again right, why couldn’t he hire some human researchers to collect them when he was of high social standing in the human world and money clearly wasn’t a problem to him 😭. Actually, he could even take over Japan with such powers and the game could’ve been easier for him, but bro said no 😭
Not to mention, his character overall is so bland AF. He only exists because the author wants to tell you that "Oh this guy is the strongest, so you should always fear him" cliche without him actually having a proper personality. Honestly, Sukuna is just Muzan on steroids and (maybe) knows how to win against our protagonists (because Gege likes to give that guy plot armor lol)
how the hell is bro is a villain looking ass Michael Jackson and THE strongest demon, but still became the stupidest villain ever.. like HOWWW
@@XEVOIDS it’s the author who is super incapable lmfao. This manga would’ve flopped so hard if Ufotable had never taken it
Tanjiro just breaking swords constantly forever would be funny. He could make lots of blacksmith friends that way.
That would actually be very engaging.
Throughout the story, he does get better at not breaking them, but it still happens from time to time, until he gets fed up with it and just decides to have a shit ton of swords that he disperses throughout the battle field before each fight.
I thought him breaking swords would be an important but awesome plot point, especially against the Twelve Kizuki. It would've been really cool to see how he would've adapted to a sword breaking in the beginning of the fight against an Upper Rank. Maybe like reusing the broken pieces in creative ways.
Breath of the wild style
@@Chronically_ChiIII made a character like that.
@@joejoejoej9763
Ooh, do tell
Talking about Shinobu and character writing/conflicts, I think it'd have been a lot better if Shinobu chose Insect Breathing and poisoning not because she's too weak to cut a demon's head off, but because she's grown to hate demons so much throughout her life that she actively refuses to cut their heads off, just so she can see them suffer for as long as possible.
right let's take away an interesting aspect of the character so we can accentuate another aspect that doesn't need to be
@@kroom8242 As it's been said in the video, the story is sorely lacking in inner conflicts, even though it should be laden with them, given Tanjiro's and Nezuko's situation.
But all the Hashira just automatically accept Nezuko after her one display of self-control.
@@kroom8242 Also, Shinobu being weak is only really interesting in a passing mention, while her being hateful towards demons to such an extent would not only generate long-term conflicts but also give her a flaw that she could work towards, since it'd also hinder her efficiency as a demon slayer.
(Manga spoiler alert)
@@markdaniel9657 I feel like the point of Shinobu is that she doesn't give up on that flaw, though--since she literally dies fighting her sister's murderer, going to the point of making herself literal poison to achieve revenge. And while I know different people have different preferences, I find it interesting how she sticks to her negative emotions to an end.
@@courtney5312 I mean, being physically weak is not exactly a character flaw you can get over with character development, lol
Imagine how amazing it’d be if Nezuko constantly fought the demon inside her with her own love and maternal strength instead of being hypnotized to make her a mindless baby half the time. Then, she and her brother could actually talk to each other, mourn their family or squabble like actual siblings.
Yeah but that would be sad. And we need to be wholesome and funny
But how? If that could be why Akaza can't? Akaza never wanted to be a demon he got forced by Muzan
imagine understanding the point of the plot
She is fighting the demon insider her. Her urge to eat humans. That's it. Ig the author could've done some metephorical good vs bad internal conflict via hallucination vision dream thing, but there wouldn't be much to cover as it is rn and would be weirdly explicit and hand holdy as if we the audience would be too stupid to get that Nezuko is fighting her hunger.
That would require women to be respected in this show, which won't happen anytime soon.
Genya and Nezuko are both utterly fascinating character concepts that their author somehow managed to underuse and do horribly wrong in Nezuko’s case. You can’t argue that Nezuko retains more of her humanity than the other demons when he actually shows less depth
There are two demons that help tanjiro too that retain humanity too that ain't nezuko
Keeping Nezuko gagged for most of the series and hypnotizing her to not act like a demon were both massive mistakes in missed opportunities. What sort of idiot gives the fml a lobotomy at the start of the series?
This is basically chainsaw man but bad, I read a manga that similar but the demons are plants and midway writing this I realised maybe they were trying to be demon Slayer instead I mean he even has a sister who becomes a plant but also goes inside him like chain doggy
a way to make Zenitsu's "falling asleep" thing work is that a method he uses to overcome his fear is to close his eyes. And this time, it actually has drawbacks: HIS EYES ARE CLOSED. it could also make his fighting style stand out more from other breathing, as he takes a "blind swordsman" style compared to others
And him having his eyes closed could be used to show how risky it his for him to use his breathing technices by accidently attacking a friend or other hashira but there's never that big of a treath. Take the berserker armor for example, that's a very good way to show a powerful power but it can affect the user and the ones near him.
Something like that is never showned or is never well used in demon slayer
No lie, I really thought when I first watched the anime, that it reminded me of that one SpongeBob episode where he couldn’t drive unless he was blindfolded. 😂 It’s not a bad concept but I feel like it was executed poorly.
His eyes being closed aren't much of a drawback with his crazy sharp sense of hearing though. He hears emotions like how Tanjiro smells feelings
@@brandonadrien3476 he's still suppost to be sleeping tho
I like this as the demons we see him kill first we’re all noisy musical demons making them easy for a blind man to see and kill, and the spiders could actually give him a challenge (the humanoid ones at least) and results in a better fight then he falls unconscious and kills everything, and then they could reveal how he’s basically blind while fight uppermoon’s six as she realizes she can use that against him, and when inosuke eventually comes back to help to fight it feels like she is getting strained out in her fight to her eventual lost
Nezuko is in my opinion the biggest waste of a character in Demon slyer and perhaps in any anime I've seen. Nezuko had the potential to be a character who wrestles with her humanity constantly having the urge to eat humans but also wanting to help them and from that we'd see her inner monologue of this the whole time. Instead we got Nezuko being nothing more than a dog. She's cute when she needs to be, she'll can attack who ever she needs to, and can't speak. She could've been an amazing deuteragonist but instead can't even be called a character as she just isn't one. I know that at the end of the latest season she learned to speak but I doubt anything will be done with that.
I agree with that. She's literally can be the main weapon to defeat Muzan, but she was wasted. I can think of a few ways they can use Nezuko:
Like having her train fighting so she can be as strong as an upper rank instead of the "Sleeping to regain strength." bs
or she can train with a sword and become a demon slayer, as a demon, plus her demon blood art. Like there was so many ways she could of been used.
Plot device and nothing more
Damn but her rule 34 are soo good....
@@yoshikagekira6831 downbad💀
@@yoshikagekira6831 Bro she's 14
Y'know something funny, you explained Genya's ability and limitation and my first thought was "Why isn't he the protagonist?"
I'd be more interesting, if only because Tanjiro is literally a One dimensional joke of a character.
It’s rock lee all over again.
@@desmondcoppin591except like rock Lee, the fans let their bias turn into headcannon and because said headcannon isn’t fully developed they call it bad writing. Genya and Rock Lee are just side characters with mini side arcs not a whole ass storyline
@@zeyyyboggieewell yea but you're missing the point - being that there's more story potential to their characters already, which gives room to flesh them out and BUILD a better story in the first place.
Genya is the perfect protag if demon slayer was a seinen
I'm now obsessed with "HE'S JUST AWAKE BUT WITH MORE STEPS"
The worst part about Demon slayer is not its enormous tone of flaws but how easily they could have been turned into strength with a simple consideration for the question "whats the point of this ?" every time the author has an idea.
the author is a gay they/them he cnt even figure out the point of his gender
I do agree through out the serie you notice lots of potential and Amazing Ideas can be established but only to be removed or not talked about.. after noticing the story is being really stiff and offer nothing..it became not interesting to continue watching.. I would say I don't mind decent stories occasionally you can watch a movie or read a book and relatively say if was okay and decent but still mange to continue none of the less
Though demon slayer kill every potential it needs and the storyline itself Is meaningless and not explained.. characters are just funny with little to offer and the questions you may have through the series doesn't get explained
Also I got bothered by how tanjro is capable to hold a battle with very strong demons with actually accurate and Smart plan and yet tanjro manage to defeat them not because he is smarter he just gets a sudden power moment or suddenly he adopt something to win or he becomes immune.. It becomes boring? With the lower moon in the train arc was a bit useless battle for visualization not that the lower moon death would main anything And he didn't even impact the train or kill anyone..ot was useless that muzan gave him his blood to be extra useless.. ans the fight wasn't meaningful or much struggle was there ..
That's what I tend to dislike that demon slayer can offer a lot but the author refuses to even think about it ..he just does it with little thinking in it
@@Tea12456 its a shonen. Naruto does it, goku does it, a lot of animes do it. The power boosts do also make a lot of sense if u understand it.
@@cozmicdrama-music7062nah. Naruto and Dragon ball actually delivered a good story telling and had a pretty great message. Both have flaws in their world building but both mangaka manage to deliver what they want to convey to their audience. Demon slayer flaw is that it is basically a cop out of every shounen series. It borrows an element from everything but fails to convert any of that in a meaningful way.
@@nabkill0134 well, I have watched all of naruto and had a full fixation over how much I loved it and I can still say without a doubt in my mind that Demon slayer had inspired my writing and my ideas a lot more than Naruto has. I have gotten bored of Naruto do many times despite it being so good.
You can have your opinion, that's all good with me mate. However, to say that demon slayer had bad writing is a flat out lie. It's really good in amazing ways and I have been a fan for a very long time now.
My first introduction to Demon Slayer was watching Mugen Train in theaters with my friends. I loved it, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I adored Rengoku. Except... one problem: I made the mistake of assuming Rengoku was an established character, and I wondered about all the character building I had missed by jumping into Mugen Train. I was really disapointed when I actually started watching Demon Slayer, and Rengoku only had like... 3 lines.
“Umai” was said more than meaningful words lmaooo
This somehow reminds me of a comment that said « Rengoku is such a well written character because he went from a background character to being memorable ».
My brother of Christ that’s how a character works, it’s not like he’s the next Historia
You do know it's intentional. It goes opposite direction in writing and how humans actually perceive their historical figures it's usually when they die that people trace back their journey. 😊
@@datuputi777
But we learned absolutely nothing more about Rengoku after he died ?
@abhinavg-----9434
yea, you did. You just didn't care.
I think you're the only person I've seen address how Rengoku (and other Hashira) went from wanting to kill Tanjiro simply for sheltering a non-violent demon to being perfectly buddy-buddy afterward without any on-screen development. It was so weird and jarring to read, and before the Demon Train arc I had no idea why Rengoku could possibly be so popular.
True. New Shonen just copied Naruto ,One piece, Death note with worse stories. Jujutsu Kaisen is a rare example where it takes inspiration from old Shonen(Naruto for the most part), but still manage to be a great story(just like Naruto did). Like none of new shonen surpassed Big three for me and it's been 10 years since Naruto/Bleach ended.
Nobody addresses it because it's not an issue if you actually remember the events of the manga. The pillars ease up on the siblings because Kagaya who they all love to death vouched for Tanjiro+Nezuko, and Nezuko demonstrated she's non-violent. Muichirou and Tengen were not buddy-buddy with him at first at all. Rengoku and Kanroji are friendly to everybody by default and had no reason to quarrel with Tanjiro after they learned Nezuko could be trusted. In the pillar training arc guys like Iguro and Sanemi are still dicks to Tanjiro.
@@ДавидГригорьев-ф3жTrue big 3 is something else and can't be surpassed for me. Jjk is pretty good tho it's the perfect example of how to use anime tropes and do them right. Every character in jjk is well developed and useful, and the plot is really good.
@@hakunamakara Easy to trick af hashiras ngl, what a joke of elites.
That’s easy to explain, I’m pretty sure the sick guy told them to treat Tajiro like he’s one of them after the nezuko test and he’s like their head captain
Did I watch this entire video and agree with every point? Yes.
Am I still going to watch the series? Also yes.
Based
Me too😭😭😆
" i like popular anime since I'm a uncultured Philistine."
Tnajiro's family dies:
Copyright protection squad: 🕺🕺🕺
I luv the dancing squad
@@FoxGameCZno way you replied to your own comment
@@michaelwodz9807 no way you replied to a comment that comment their own comment
@@kaisteminono way you replied to a comment of that comment that comment their own comment
@@michaelwodz9807 you were never funny to begin with 💀
I think the absolutely simplistic plotline is partly why it's so popular. I sat down to watch Mugen Train with my little brother (he's really into the series) and my parents decided to join us. Neither of them had seen the first season and it only took a minute to catch them up with a summary. No one had any problems keeping up with the story and my mother cried her eyes out over Rengoku.
The action kept my father engaged (a crazy feat as he isn't much of a television person) and the humor had my brother rolling. It's not the peak of storytelling by any means, but it can keep an audience entertained and engaged at multiple age groups, which is a strength all on its own.
I agree! The story of demon slayer isn't complicated or unique, but its very accessible and doesn't need too much thought. Which isn't always a bad thing. Yeah the characters can be done better but they're not terrible, and the worldbuilding isn't super detailed but it still works in world. Even my mom, a woman with about 0 education, was able to enjoy the movie.
As an older dude who loves anime, I always find it funny when people/kids discuss stories in shounen.
It's basically all the same thing all the time, but apparently story in one series is miles better than the other.
Some kid gets thrown into a strange situation. He needs to get more power to achieve his goal. His friends die. He cries and talks to himself a lot. He wins in the end.
Whether he needs to defeat a demon, alien, clan, whatever... It's all the same 95% of the time.
Reminds me of those 80s revenge movies where a cop loses his partner and goes on a killing rampage. There were hudreds of those made and people still enjoyed them.
I just see it as a nice evening when I feel like not thinking over a couple of beers.
Loool that's so cute that your mom cried for Rengoku who is such a shallow character, I literally laughed when he died cause it meant nothing. I was like lmao wtf cares, he's a nobody. I guess he's a tiny bit more nuanced in the manga but meh.
well when you are someone who consumes a lot of media than the average viewer, demon slayer is okay and a show you have seen before with a different coat of paint. Not a bad show entirely but personally i got bored.
Yeah simple plotline isn't a bad thing for shounen, as long as the world logic stays consistent and the author gets creative with the fighting and power scaling. Neither of which Demon Slayer even attempts to accomplish.
I just realized that if Genya and Nezuko worked together they would be unbeatable, because he could just eat a small part of Nezuko, fight with them, rinse and repeat and be unbeatable.
But actually I don’t have a retort for this comment😂
The perpetual motion machine
Zenitsu really wants to eat Nezuko as well
sadly this isnt fire punch
hm this remind me of touka and kaneki from first season of tokyo ghoul hahaha. nice idea tho
As someone who likes to look at different perspectives of media that i enjoy/love, i entirely agree with this review. Now, that said, i still really love demon slayer, but i can absolutely agree that it is deeply flawed. I always look for videos like these so that i can view shows in a well rounded manner and be educated on what makes something truly special, and it never ceases to amaze me what i dont think of, and the similar things that i do think of, while im actively watching something, especially when i havent finished all of whats been released yet. I really appreciate this because i have had some really big questions that you helped answer, and it helps clarify things for me. I cant wait to watch Berserk based on your glowing review, and these video essays truly help me to open my mind up and think, what does this mean? Why are they doing this? Is this character REALLY written well? Etc.... so yes, while its great to agree with other viewpoints, i hope no one actually watches stuff like this and then feels like oh since he said this and i realize it now, i shouldnt be a fan, and then is sad and tries to dislike it. And i surely dont think thats what our guy is doing either. So just because theres a different POV of something you love that you agree with, DOES NOT MEAN that you cant or shouldnt still like/love said thing! So thank you for this amazing review, you really cleared some stuff up/ helped me clarify what i should be asking myself when it comes to the shows, movies, and even music that i love, keep an open mind guys!! Much love❤❤❤
Thank you, you're super kind! I agree with you completely, it's good to get different perspectives on things, and there's nothing wrong with liking something despite its flaws. Or maybe you could just disagree with someone that something they identified as a flaw is a negative for you, we all value different things after all! I'm really glad you liked the video, and I hope you enjoy Berserk when you check it out!
My favourite part of demon slayer is the "Backstory no jutsu" that happens every time someone is fighting.
record of ragnarok core ❤
@@sekkzionI still love record of ragnarok though the battles are so fire
@@brrmbrrmm for your own sake, don't watch the anime...
It’s always when they’re on the brink of death too
@@optimuq it's getting repetitive
Honestly, I found a lot more enjoyment in watching Demon Slayer when I treat it like watching an episode of WWE. Characters getting introduced with some slight backstory to their gimmick and then being thrown into the ring to do cool fights, all building up to the season finale where we see who becomes the new champion. Works pretty well for me
This is the greatest take I’ve ever seen on the show 💀
I don't really get that, cause the story very much revolves around Tanjiro, unless you literally mean that you're just interested in who's gonna stay alive
As insulting as my buddies find this, this is my stance. I roll my eyes whenever I hear someone say it's super well-written.
Bro, it's about as riveting watching a kettle boil for a bit too long. But goddamn, is that animation glorious...
@@a_rat_named_mouse I remember when I heard about the series for the first time. People kept on saying it was so good. I started reading, and I just didn't see it. I forced myself to continue reading, thinking I had not yet reached that really good part until at some point I realised the really good part was never coming and stopped reading. And then I saw the animation quality and finally understoon why people were all over it.
I used to do the exact same thing but Season 3 even brought that enjoyment down. It was a DRAAAAAG
You got me thinking about how suffering makes the demons so cruel, and I think a cool way that could factor into Nezuko's character is that she lived a life with supportive and loving people. Any suffering she had was shared with her family, who looked after each other and taught one another to care for the world and the people around them. That could explain why she doesn't want to kill her brother and learns to be gentle. Generally, Muzan and the demons who chose to make new demons target those who have been beaten down because they could be molded into killing machines with no care for human life. When someone does care for others, they will resist this urge, at least to a certain extent. This would allow the themes that you brought up to genuinely affect the world-building and story direction, and give Nezuko more of a purpose. I have always believed that she is the most criminally underused character.
thats actually genius
Thank you
@@suka312 Glad I could be of service.
And that's why we were shown the backstory of the demon brother and sister. They're there to show a possible outcome for Tanjiro and Nezuko. The anime has flaws for sure, but a lot of arguments were just nitpick.
Ero manga sensei is your favorite. So much support.
You said that you won't really change someone's mind, but i have to say I've absolutely changed my mind about demon slayer. I finished reading manga quite recently, and i really couldn't point my finger at the specific things i don't like, but you managed to summarise them extremely well and easy to understand. Great job, man, keep this up!
nezuko could literally be tanjiro’s pet dog sidekick and nothing would change about her besides the fact that she wouldn’t end up married to one of the most annoying side characters.
Read the manga.
@@gawagames7877 I have, he is speaking facts.
Ohh no... did they get her with Zenitsu? Please tell me it is not true!
@@nauth123 pretty sure they did. This manga / anime treats woman like trophies 90% of the time. The Zenitsu... Situation is a lot worse, for reasons I prefer to not even think about.
@@crazagres1839 Damm, that is terrible news! I dont even like Demon Slayer, but this was a low point to learn about
I am a roleplayer (yes ik weird) and I originally thought the demon slayer writing was decent until people had started asking questions (this was a group roleplay) and I started doing research and I realized there was little to no info on ANYTHING, a lot of the plot points just happened because IT D I D
Honestly, if you can efficiently roleplay a character is a good litmus test for they are well written or not and if there are holes in either backstory or personality
It aint so much weird as it is ultimately a waste of creative energy. I'd personally recommend anyone into roleplaying put that energy into writing something original, or even writing a good fanfiction (as someone that used to roleplay years ago lol)
Don't take my word as gospel or judgement though, do what makes you happy.
@@thegatorhator6822I don't even know how to do either
YEAH, no for one of my roleplays, me and my roleplay partner are very aware the series is not well developed nor worldbuilded enough, so what we do is play with the plot and worldbuilding like putty. (NGL, i'm only not naming it so I don't have to explain myself lmao)
Writing a story and role-playing are COMPLETELY different. Saying it's a waste of talent is pretty dumb
One bit I do think that was done well with Rengoku is that after his death, he doesn't stop existing and we don't stop learning about him. We discover other connections he had within the corps. We learn about his family (his father was and still is an asshole), that he's actually mentored other Hashira before (he trained Mitsuri in Fire Breathing before she modified it to better suit her own needs).
A lot of people don't really do that. the character dies and suddenly the world forgets about them except maybe during an important speech or at the very end when totaling the body count.
So, props for that.
Bro everyone does that tf? Naruto, bleach, One Piece and even My Hero. That's not a special thing.
@@aaronaaron2405 People die all the time in Bleach and then get forgotten constantly. And in My Hero....I'm trying to remember who dies in My Hero who wasn't already dead at the start of the show. I'm sure there's someone but idk I can't think of them off the top of my head. Which is an issue. lol
Naruto definitely does that. Naruto specifically uses certain deaths as significant events in the series. Turning points just about.
@@Axxidous that one guy in season 4 who can see the future
@@Axxidous
Someone in s6 who’s name I can’t say bc spoilers too
@@amdete8254 oh that’s true in season 6, a lot die.
I read all of Demon Slayer in the span of about a week or so, probably about two years ago. For the longest time, I literally could only remember Tanjirou, Nezuko, Inosuke, and Rengoku’s names. I could not remember anyone else’s. Demon Slayer’s characters just do not have that memorability for me, and have almost zero staying power. The only ones above whose names I could remember were due to main character and main character’s sister, funny boar man, and ridiculous hair guy. Inosuke was the only one that had a real personality, silly as it was. My reaction when finishing it was “yeah it was ok”.
Compare to Bleach, which had more memorable characters that I still think back to sometimes.
Excellent analysis!
The worst sin of Demon Slayer is going too fast and too slow at the same time.
Oh you want to power-up Tanjiro fast? Make a 6 month timeskip in the first episode of the story.
Oh you want to get to the higher ranked Demons but there are some lower ones yet? Write them out of the story.
Oh you want to develop many characters but you still want fights to appear frequently? Just get them a falshback before their death 10 minutes after introducing the character.
Abusive timeskips to heal or power-up characters make me lose faith in the world building, and jumping to higher and higher threats by skipping some "power levels" entirely is wrong
(And yet I like that story, It's still a good time, even in the manga, it just deserves less attention from the media and public)
I dont see the issue in most of this, the timeskip makes perfect sense, theres timeskips in most episodes, it would be worse if it was halfway through the series, and the lowermoon execution made sense, it established the power of the hashira and muzans immaturity
@@macvadda2318Bro just see latest season without zenitsu and inuzuko and it stale. Everyone is a victim whose not demon.
Upper Demons are broken af and muzan spilting into 1000 pieces and shit it's stupid and got compensated by multiple powerups to main cast.
If we didnt have all the timeskips it would be a very slow burn. In the anime i will say the fight pacing is very odd and flashbacks will run on forever.
There is definitely some pacing critique to make but its honestly still above average.
I think the training time skip is good cuz no one wants to watch him just swing or do a maze for like 40 episodes, but the lower moon dying was bad and kinda forced Tanjiro suddenly become much stronger.
i really dislike how we got one regular demon battle after tanjiro became a demon slayer. after that singular battle it was 12 kizuki member after 12 kizuki member
I literally never got the "no one knows about demons" thing. Why the hell don't they tell people about demons? It would be so much easier for the demon slayer corps to operate if people knew who they were and what they were doing.
I was also thinking. If demons have been a thing for over 500 years, how comes the government does nothing? They could literally partner with Kagaya and provide more personel and resources to deal with demons
It makes a lot of sense, it would make sense that they try to keep it a secret, also its not like theyre insanly secretive, theyve destroyed entire towns with people, they would just rather be as secretive as possible without risking human life, some of the tatical advantages include
Being able to destroy a shit ton of stuff and not have people despise you
Not have the government up your ass
Not having to much attention on you giving u the element of suprise,
Alltough there are some benefits, the military training their own ds and having less volunteers
Not defending DS but the general public might freak out if they knew.
@@dennisduncan7561 OK. That makes sense in a way
@@dennisduncan7561yeah for a lil bit it was that era of Japan they were scared of alot of shit that would be debatable scarier to think about
It's been over 30 years, and JoJo still has the coolest breathing ability
Hamon will never be topped
@@a6brx_editz23 Just like how it'll never return
@@ticklemedaddy Now that hurt.
@@thatrandomcrit5823at least we have spinning technique.
@@ticklemedaddydamn that hurt
In my opinion, it was season 2, where all of the potential of an interesting story died. It is not the worst season or saga chapter, but it was where all of the elements of shock value, ultimate plot armor, and the death of character development were the most prominent.
There were many points of potential for character arc and development, and it was either missed or contrived. From Zentisu suddenly becoming a white knight when he does nothing but harass women, Tanjiro being completely stupid when he picks a hopeless fight with a dangerous demon instead of being smart and trying to defuse the situation before innocent people get hurt.
The biggest example for me is Nezuko vs Daki, because instead of Nezuko being forced to use some intelligence and strategies for her fights, she's just given a unearned power boost with no buildup or effort and just wipes the floor with an experienced Upper Moon demon with a much more integrated power set. It was just a bad fight.
The emotions for certain scenes were lacking, again, with Nezuko. She's too hollow to be invested in and too perfect and privileged to feel bad for because, just like Tanjiro, she is just flawless.
The villains were probably the best and only characters in the story. I liked Daki and Gyutaro alot, and I appreciated seeing actual personalities in a demon and how circumstances can shape a person. But they were just too stupid to be realistic in the end. Don't get started on Gyutaro being an idiot at the end for no reason.
Tengen should have died. His survival makes no sense. He should at least have died after the battle.
Inosuke should be dead. His survival was just stupid.
The Yoshiwara destruction should have had some major consequences. Like the Demons and Demon Slayers being exposed.
Tanjiro should have learned of the Daki and Gyutaro’s backstory somehow, so his perspective on humanity could be tested. (Doing something like Tanjiro's nose can smell memories or something. I mean he can smell feelings and actions, so smelling memories shouldn't be.)
Too much yapping tbh
L take
This made so much sense that my third eye opened.
If Nezuko was actually like Daki; they would be perfect parallels.
Picture this; Nezuko, wakes up a demon. She dosent know whats going on, where she came from, her name etc. She got brain damage from muzan's blood, technically. Now, take that as the reason she attacks tanjiro,her older brother who just walked up to her near a pile of dead bodies that makes Nezuko feel hungry. Obviously, she'd be confused to the point it'd make her *angry.* now in that case her attack on tanjiro and giyu WOULD make sense, and so would her anger. Eventually if she wasnt hypnotized by Urokodaki and was instead given a literal lobotomy because of her anger issues that'd further on to make her more irritated with everything, also to fix the fact that because of her survival but lack of assistance after becoming a demon; she'd lose her sense of smell thus permanently stopping the initial feeling of hunger near humans, instead pressing down an insatiable hunger for edible food on her that she couldnt understand was occurring. Instead of acting like a dog, she could act like a 14 year old teenager with hefty anger issues who was intimidating and edgy. Attacking anyone that challenged her anger or questioned her because she was too scared to face the question that frustrated her: her confusion. Her wanting to live a normal life but being fond of children and Mitsuri would make extreme sense considering the fact that she found them familiar but couldnt capture how; not knowing she had younger siblings in her past. Her character development would be with Tanjiro who would, episode by episode, tell her little things that made her question her own horrible behaviour, making her try to fix herself on whats right and whats wrong. that could've been such a great way to develop her character; a pretentious, irritable and violent brat who is actually frustrated because of her lobotomy and her memory loss, desperately trying to cling onto the fragments in her mind because those helped to keep her mentality intact and docile. She could also be privileged, getting all the help she needed to become human once again but not working. Her anger issues could be a stark contrast to her powers which were weaker and only excelled in regeneration; showing her vines as a reference to a turtle living in a lavish sea--- a hard outer shell that seemed intimidating, only hiding the weaker confused, troubled,frustrated and lost being underneath who just needed to be loved and given a second chance, which would be done by Tanjiro who would be affectionate, loving and caring to her despite her behavioural and mental problems, also switching the tables for zenitsu who would be terrified of her hostile and active-aggressive behaviour, whilst Tanjiro would be more docile and passive-aggressive. Tanjiro could love her like Gyutaro did but instead bawling his eyes out every night for her, praying she'd wake up human the next day. In this case Tanjiro's eyesight would be absolute dogshit due to crying, making Nezuko the eyes for Tanjiro while he was the nose for Nezuko.
Now, in the Daki fight it could be more emotional; nezuko saw an exact parallel of herself who had gone a different path from her and was much less privileged then she was. She could get some behaviour-wise char. Development realizing how much of a better environment she is then Daki but still ending up with similar emotions as Daki. She could lose the fight for the sake of her character development, only to lash back with her blood demon art, the screams of Daki in the background being a theme as she realizes what she has become despite being in a such a better place. Thus, giving her an effort to be less animalistic and wild and try to be more caring and loving, granting ability to conquer sunlight because of her human traits. She could realize how bad of a person she is in general when being compared to someone with less violent and edgy behaviour despite them being in worse circumstances while she is more violent and edgy than them in a better and more privileged place. So many missed opportunities with nez tbh.
@@Goofyygoobersbro got butthurted
My big problem with Demon Slayer is they have a whole system of different powers, but Tanjiro solves all his problems with "But what if I TRY HARDER?" Like, Jojo started that way, then Araki realized that was boring so he changed it from "but what if I TRY HARDER" to "But what if I use my air magic karate ghost to make pure oxygen that freezes the poison slime that other guy's poison snail karate ghost uses to make my hands invisible, and then I can punch his stupid face?" And like, I'm a sucker for the hero trying harder, but you can do BOTH (cough cough steel ball run cough)
I felt so mad seeing him in season 3 thinking about how Zenitsu's speed would have been a life saver in that situation, and then just proceeds to ACQUIRING HIS SPEED and jumping the demon
@@Henrique-wv9xqthe sheer _ease_ at which he can acquire thunder breathing just makes me think "why not learn all of them if it's that easy?" Also does this make zenitsu useless now?
@@Garvant_ i mean, he didn't use thunder breathing, he used total concentration breathing to kick the ground with a trick zenitsu taught him
All these comments are people who just want to hate to hate, it's hilarious. It’s like they don’t read what they’re typing before hitting send. It’s all just hate from their own insecurities about their favorite anime. That goes to this creator too. Just complaining to complain, kinda like a female.
@@svKamNah complaining ab mediocre writing mate.
The facts that the first Upper Moon had to be killed by Tanjiro gets even more outlandish and funny, considering that *21* Hashira got sent to kill them before and all failed 💀
He's just built different😝😝😝😜😜😜😜🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
The only explanation/excuse might be that they didn’t know Daki’s and Gyotaro’s gimmick. Like Tengen at first, those hashiras might be able to cut off Daki’s head, wondering why she’s not dead yet, then got instant 2nd Boss Phase with Latin Music right in their face. But that also brings out another fridge logic: Have the previous hashiras never team up? Were they THAT solitary to go fighting an upper moon alone with literally no back up? Those repeated deaths can only be justified when a person fights alone, dies, and has no one else able to live to tell the tale of their possible weakness. As you can see in the Entertainment District arc, 4 very skilled (a hashira and 3 slayers) people can already make Daki having a difficult time. Won’t it be logical to send a lot more people for the mission after, say, 3 hashiras dying to this “demon living in the entertainment district”?
@@karntherandom1125 I think Gyutaro said that the former Hashira assumed it was easy as well, after figuring it out, right after Tengen said that it was simple to just cut both their heads off 😅
Okay, he said they didn't think the tæsk of beheading both of them at the same time was simple... But I think that at least implies that some figured it out
@@karntherandom1125 its dangerous to send multiple Hashira as not to lose your best people. however they did send two hashira to fight Rui so uhh.. i guess i cant really defend that lmao
@@cozmicdrama-music7062not sending adequate numbers of hashira is what's getting so many hashira killed kn the first place though
My biggest issue is that they want to portray the demons as once being human and not entirely evil, but they wait until the very last moment and only use a backstory to do it.
Why not show Ume and Gyutaro being siblings and make them a parallel of Tanjiro and Nezuko? Maybe the main cast can lead Daki into a trap and bait Gyutaro into coming after her because he cares more about his sister than he does about himself? That would give a good point of tension in Tanjiro's arc as well, he had to exploit someone's love for their family in order to kill them both. Thats a fucking awful thing to have to do and maybe because of that the show can examine what humanity is.
If we're willing to do bad things for "good reasons," how blurry can the line be to just doing bad?
Wow, that's a really good idea and take. It also would fit in the story, because I believe it's stated in the manga by Muzan that Gyutaro would have been much stronger had he left Ume by herself? Its clear they have a strong bond with one another, even as demons. And that could have been explored more.
My only "like" regarding this is Akaza. I like the little subversion built into his backstory, which is... he was always horrible. Like, tragic things happened to him, but his reactions were always disproportionately violent towards often innocent people. The (chronologically) first thing we ever see him do is beat the tar out of someone, and the last moment of his backstory is him massacring sixty-seven people in vengeance for something that *at most* 3 of them were involved in. If I recall correctly, Muzan was literally shocked that the man who'd done something so grisly wasn't already a demon. This is why it peeves me off so much to see a ton of fans treating Akaza as an injured sadboy when like, no!! The *entire point* was that he wasn't!!!!
@seashellgarden2227
Then again, most of the time they had on screen was fighting so maybe they could chuck in a few scenes of them being demons together
I remember how Tanjiro thought that if he had become a demon, he and Nezuko would’ve ended up like Gyutaro and Daki
judging by Tanjiro’s chosen one status, he probably wouldn’t have become evil
I once had an argument with someone about the 'forced' humanization of demons when they are clearly shown to enjoy doing all that horrible shit. He kept arguing that they are humans in the past and that they are abused (why is this a reason for demons being forgivable for doing demonic shit for most of their lives?) and then I told him "that's like saying Hitler isn't all that evil because he went through WW1 as a soldier and we should forgive him"
He never spoke to me ever again.
I've shown to a friend who didn't know Demon Slayer a picture of both Muzan and Kokushibo, and asked him to guess who is the final boss of the series.
His words were: "Are you seriously gonna tell me that this Mickael Jackson doppelganger is the final boss over this guy with spider eyes?"
u showed him the wrong picture then bc muan doesnt look like mj at all when hes final boss
That is not Muzans final form or kokushibos
@@bdabroadbase Kokushibo has 6 eyes regardless
????
What of it?
@@threestars2164 It shows the flaw of his design in that he doesn't pass the vibe from the kind of character he is supposed to be, that can be good. But not in this case, as he doesn't exactly hide himself like that.
Demon Slayer is absolutely an animation carry. It's also hilarious how it outsold the entire American comic industry, lol.
No shit, American comics are just bland superheroes. It’s been a problem since the 50s
@@thomasffrench3639 How are the characters in demon slayer any different? If anything most of the characters have less depth any of the well known Dc or marvel characters, just because it's animation is very good and in another language most people forget how little substance there actually is in the show.
@@Half-light I’m talking holistically. Super Hero comic have been holding back the medium in America
a shitty product with good animation would never be as popular as ds, kny was popular since the manga started, the reason is the dialogues, the designs, the period and the whole ahestetic that japanese people love, fate has a as good animation but is in no world as popular, ds movie became the highest grossing movie in japan, beating ghibli movies, which are almost objectively better, i'm not saying that its good, but the animation alone did nothing
@@yassirbeniaz6645 It isn’t a shit product, just underwhelming story wise.
You know what? You kinda changed my mind about this show. I still like aspects of it, but you were able to put into words many things I didn´t find sense in while reading the manga perfectly, that helped me see better why I wasn´t satisfied with it all. Thanks for the video lmao
Agreed. It was highly enjoyable animation wise but I always felt like I couldn't point my finger on why I dont feel as attached to this show. This like opened my sixth sense for it 💀
@@shinkurasha8061 Same here. I watched the first 6 or 7 episodes and absolutely nothing about the story grabbed me. Which is wild because I adore demon-based anime. Especially ones which cross the lines of what makes a person a monster. Then I hear all my friends talking about it like it's the greatest anime in years.
@@shinkurasha8061 yeah I couldn't really tell why after binging the manga after watching the first season I just had zero interest in season 2 or mugen train, this video shows I probably just got caught up in the hype lol
Crazy how the ufotable knew that demon slayer is poorly written so they knew they had to start cooking up a storm with the animation.
fr..if it was not for ufotable..this midslayer would've been in dust
@@xxiamlostxx_dreams_7916
Animation really does Wonder huh
The most souless shit I've ever seen
Even Marvel movies aren't that poor
Yeah, but I don't think we should blame Ufotable for choosing to animating demon slayer, they did work hard on working on the anime adaption, and I respect them for that. I only blame for the author Koyoharu Gotogue for their incompetent writing and they do love to do their characters so dirty and especially give the female characters even more worse treatment by not giving them (excluding Tamayo and Shinobu, they are the only ones that are well written 👍) the development and independence they deserve!
Kanao: The one that probably pisses me off the most, had so much potential but just to be reduced to be Tanjiro's love interest for literally no fucking reason! Others glaze over her for being such a "well-written" female character but in reality, her character development felt too dependant on Tanjiro and her character lacks agency because of that. I still love her growth but I just wish we could've gotten to see how strong of a demon slayer she was.
Nezuko: I don't have much to say about her but again had so much potential but was just reduced as a plot device and nothing more I love her but kinda wish she was treated as a character not just an object.
Aoi: Also one of my fav characters, but also got worse treatment from the the author too, in one of the fanbooks she's not even mentioned to be co-worker when she clearly worked hard in the Butterfly Mansion and deserve to be the doctor more than Kanao, who just became the doctor out of nowhere. At least she has more serious personality that's what I love about her the most unlike Kanao, who's more childish and immature, don't know why Tanjiro wasn't even aware of that.
As for the rest I don't need to even explain as much I love this series, damn the female characters are absolutely garbage and were done so dirty when it comes to writing I still love them but come on this author is definitely 100% mysgonistic even if they say they "care" about the characters, even though they don't even bother putting in some effort in giving them development! 😭
I wish ufotable hadn't spent years wasting their incredible talents on such a bland and poorly written story as Demon Slayer. Of course the production committee and those in charge want loads of money and Demon Slayer is incredibly popular, but only because of ufotable's animation skills.
30:59 it should have been like sleeping walking, unable to tell friend from foe, & essentially they would fight blindfolded & drunk.
Nezuko’s lack of character is a significant problem as well. While some argue that she isn’t meant to be a central or deeply developed character, this doesn’t justify her portrayal as a hollow, one-dimensional figure. She is still the catalyst of the series. Plot device characters can still be characters. Nezuko has no personality, no character arc, flaws, and depth. In contrast, Daki and side characters are more human and relatable than her.
Moreover, Nezuko is constantly idealized and depicted as this unique, messianic demon who effortlessly overcomes typical demon struggles and receives unearned power-ups without lifting a finger. This series just treats her like a flawless, privileged doll and that's just bad writing.
and her being able to resist human blood doesn't make sense
Yep
One of my biggest problems with demon slayer is that the Hashira and the main gang seem like the only demon slayers. There are tons of others that you see just constantly dying like canon fodder and seem like they can't use breathing at all and contribute nothing. This is explained as people either quickly die or become powerful but you never see anyone rise up to near Hashira levels besides Tanjiro and all the Hashira just seem to be complacently waiting around for their arc. Like, HOW did these nine become Hashira in the first place? It feels like some are just Hashira because there need to be powerful people to fight with Tanjiro but even by the end of the series Tanjiro never meets their level of skills and power.
He literally reaches the level of Hashira in everything but name based on his Sun Breathing alone.
As somone who loves demon slayer even I noticed that all the other demon slayers look the same.
@@EdelYT If he practiced more, he would have became the strongest Hashira, but he just played Ring Around The Rosy with Muzan.
What do you think a Tsuguko is?? Being a hashira has specific implications and requirements that you HAVE to meet. The "cannon fodder" demon slayers literally do not have a breathing technique which is why they will never get as far as the main cast without being a Tsuguko. It was stated throughout the series a number of times that Hashira come and go all the time, mostly due to a power gap at the top of the ranks when existing hashira die (or quit). To be a Hashira (and there can only be one of a kind at a time) you have to literally be the best living person in the era of your breathing technique. Not sure how you missed that... I haven't even read the damn manga.
maybe because they are the strongest humans going against the strongest demons? every other demon is fodder because they dont have the same centuries of experience that the upper moons have and same for humans relatively speaking, tanjiro and crew just barely scrape by despite being the main characters. Tanjiros goal is never to get the rank of hashira, nor being the strongest demon slayer, its simply to save his sister and defeat muzan, not every show has to be about the mc wanted to become the best/hokage/hashira/wizard king.
The thing about the Hashira not teaming up is a glaring plot hole.
I don't think they'd need a territory to be stationed at if you have so many ranks of demon slayers
Y'all are at war, these fights should be 3+ Hashira fighting an upper rank in all fights
Yeah and the fact that they do reunite without issue whenever the plot wants them to doesn't make it easier to buy. It feels like the show would be over if they teamed up or if Muzan moved his lazy ass from his seat instead of sending after Tanjiro demons that match his current power level. But nope, seems like Hashira are too busy fighting weak demons that other slayers could handle and the Moons are too busy looking for flowers.
@@kaijingarou6526 Well , spoilers, they do all team up for the last 3 upper demons and muzan
Think about Uzui: He goes to the butterfly mansion, trying to get some female squad members.. and picks a nobody and our main guys to go with him. God forbid he asks Kanao and/or friggin Shinobu to go with him! Picture Shinobu in the battle finding a way to neutralize the poison since she's an expert. The Nezuko asspull fire would not have been needed. And having a healer with them would make everyone surviving without lasting injuries (except Uzui) so much more reasonable.
@@AnarchHive I think the problem with that is that I do not think he knew was going for an upper moon, so he wouldn't wanna waste shinobu's time on some bullshit mission
@@iloveorganicchem6921 That may be what happened, but it just makes me more curious: Over 100 years they lost several hashira and other corps members in this district and they did not suspect there is a kizuki? Don't the demon slayers keep records?
The best way to put it: The manga feels incomplete. There are things that feel like they were supposed to be developed later on.
Yeah, like half of the hashiras. We got a quick story just for them to die so abruptly 💀
@@Temp-nj8rmyeah like the video said, the author wanted to focus on Tanjiro and make him the center of the universe, almost feel like other characters are just filler characters lol
The story had to be cut short due to health issues unfortunately
The plot lines are abruptly cut in half but not in a subversive way, the moment all the lower moons died you immediately felt the hand of the author.
Meanwhile the fights are DRAWN OUT as much as possible, with flashbacks interjected whenever a fight picks up.
It’s like he wants to end it right away in the slowest manner possible.
eh I dont think thats what he's saying. It's not incomplete it is literally just bad. not like its gonna revert all of its flaws after being completed
I liked Demon Slayer, but I can't put it in my top 10 series. You hit the nail on the head with a lot of your early points. I think what really annoyed me with the story was how new characters would get introduced or an established character would get some kind of growth/new ability and then never revisit these or expand on it to make the later events more meaningful.
RE: the suggested change to Rengoku's death: Imagine if he clearly defined himself by protecting People, and establish that he does NOT see demons as people, just monsters.
Then when he sacrifices himself for Nezuko, he could repeat a line about how he protects people. And so we have an indirect method, via the repetition of a line with new meaning, that he now recognizes her as a person, not just a demon.
DUDE that would be so much better!!! the WEIGHT that would have too, him turning and looking back and saying "I protect people, remember?" and smiling or something like that, would it be cheesy? absolutely. would it hit hard as fuck? YES.
@@memeyartist5591 Yeah. Cheese can be easy to produce, but it works. Clichés get done repeatedly for a reason.
Ugh I remember being really just whelmed over his death because he died the same arc he was given focus in. Very little development and you expect me to feel all emotional over a character who I barely got to know? Yeah it doesn't work.
And what if this act of sacrifice prompts Nezuko to actually have an opponent to go against? Akaza states he doesn't eat or attack women. But how long would that ideology last if challenged by a demon with massive potential for strength which he values and is not controlled by Muzan like a puppet, unlike him?
This would lead Nezuko to seek to avenge Rengoku and would force Akaza to bend his ideals to survive/get rid of this potential nuisance. Having Nezuko be his rival would give him the dream of fighting someone who could match up to his love of fighting, but at the cost of his ideology.
But hey, that's just a theory.
That's so much better dude
I'm so happy you brought up the Rengoku example. I watched S1 after it ended cause everyone was hyping it up. I thought "ok, regular shonen elevated by the visuals". Then I waited for S2 to come out in full. I watched the train arc and I just could not get into it. The delivery was so below mediocre, but every single second I could feel the show telling me how I'm "supposed to feel" about Rengoku and it felt kinda insulting to me as a viewer. And then other people online were crying out how sad it was and I started thinking I had gone crazy.
It didn't help that while I was watching it, my gf came into the room, watched for like 3 minutes and she goes: wow, these people sure do monologue a lot.
That line broke the mirage for me. I started noticing that for every 10 second of sakuga, there's like a 4 minutes poorly written monologue that's just un-needed explanations, exposition or emotional propaganda. I couldn't stomach the show anymore.
I agree, i was force pretty much to watch this, season 1 firts 13 episodes didnmothing for me, i just like it after the screaming blond came hahahahah end the thing felt ok 🆗.
The movie came and i felt not conection with thandude at all, nothing, he died, ok and ???
Red distrit was amazing sorry this was Super cool, the dude with 3 wifes carried the whole thing
And then this horrible season 3 came and got SO angry !!!!! Is so Bad
Same, the reason I couldn't sit through S1 was because the show kept telling me how I'm supposed to feel. It blows my mind that anyone can feel anything watching this trash
@@urallnoobs8943 is terrible, is like quimera arc on hunter x hunter with the narration dude... But this was the whole show .... At leats in quimera arc the exposición guy explain the thecniques and plans ....here is the non stoping monologue of our Main ... But the things he said are not necesary for an anime ...show don't tell
"Oh no, he block My attack"
"Where is it, i NEED to find him before he escapes"
Ok, this 2 statement of the voice in the head of the Main were not Even necesarry. We could tell by watching with our eyes that Indeed the attack was blocked
And the other scene we could tell once again by using our eyes that he was looking for the Demon by searching the Woods
Why we NEED this explanations ?????
Hey to say this guys but maybe shounen isn't your thing cause thats how most are written. Doesn't make it better but it may just be these shows are not your thing. I'd recomend staying at least 10000 feet away from MHA if this shows monologues drove you nuts.
"I started noticing that for every 10 second of sakuga, there's like a 4 minutes poorly written monologue" bro that is literally 99% of shonen anime, invalid criticism.
Its funny to think about how Tanjiro was so incompetent that literal dead people had to come help him.
God I love demon slayer and god I agree with almost everything in this video 🤣
But he wasn't incompetent though. It was revealed Urokodaki purposely gave him the biggest boulder so that he would fail and he wouldn't have to watch any more of his students die. The one who is incompetent, yet it has no drawbacks on him, is Zenitsu. Zenitsu literally has more plot armor than Tanjiro.
“Dw I gotchu bro” -dead child
@@LilRedWitch You have mental problems then
I didn't noticed it XD
The most interesting implication for a character in this story is that one kid who’s descended from the OG sun breath user. He uses fog breathing or something, and everyone’s like “he’s descended from that one guy!! That makes him important!” And then Tanjiro shows up and he’s just some guy. That can sun breathe.
Like, imagine being fog boy.
??? Lmao i thought tanjiro was descended from the og guy with the whole "sacred family dance was basically sun breathing warmups"
@shanon4768 no he's not one of his ancestors just knew the guy, tanjiros family has no blood relation with yorichii at all lol
The criticisms here are SPOT ON! However, in reference to the "Demon Slayer just set a new standard" video, gigguk was mostly talking in reference to the animation (which was indisputably stellar).
Not just animation, the fact that it was a competent adaptation, which is rare in the anime world.
Demon slayer doesn’t set a new standard in terms of animation, fate series has superior level of animation and they are made by the same studio
@@ghostrookie740 unfortunately Fate isn’t a great adaptation
@@ghostrookie740 Fate has great animation, but unfortunately the main (stay night) series are pretty awful adaptations. the original Fate route adaptation is almost a slideshow of stuff from the VN, the Ufotable UBW adaptation has amazing animation but it fails hard in adapting: Shirou in the anime and Shirou in the visual novel feel like entirely different characters due to the lack of inner monologue. Heaven's Feel is the best for Shirou as a character's adaptation, partly due to how simple it is to get across this version compared to other routes, but also fails to adapt the Illya and Kirei part of the routes which people argue are the most important parts.
Fate/Zero is the only one that has a truly good adaptation, staying as an 8/10 for me on both versions, while the anime for Stay Night fall to 6/10s for me from the 10/10 i give the original visual novel.
Yup
I’ll be honest, Rengoku’s death got a little emotion out of me, not because of Tanjiro and his friends wailing. But solely because his crow was crying. That’s it. The bird shedding a tear was more than enough for me lol
Damn you haven't watched much better anime then
@@XDGamer88 Demon Slayer is trash tbh. It's not a show you have to really even think about, it's more like a turn your brain off or leave it as background noise typa show. It's an extremely two dimensional story with a literal straight path to whatever they have to do. One Demon gets defeated, Muzan says "Why is this mf not dead yet?" the minions say "Oh yes we will get on that right away" then one of the minions pull up and gets killed or heavily injured and Muzan gets mad and does his whole little spiel about how weak the minions are and then he sends another one then it just repeats until all the Upper Moon are dead then Muzan is the last big bad and he gets beaten and end of story. The main cast is also not much better, Nezuko is literally just a walking vegetable plot device, if you replace her with a half-eaten apple the story would literally not change.
@mulanomula it feels like you're the type of person that says code geass is the best anime along side deathnote because they made you think not trying to insult but yet again just saying complexity doesn't always mean good
@@mulanomulait's simple and that's not bad.
Great animation and simple emotional story with some badass characters.
Not everything has to be a deathnote.
@@bu11ymaguire yes not everything has to be death note but when you leave plotdevices like zenitsu falling asleep and just being his normal self except asleep then that's when the rating becomes lowered. nezuko is literally not even a character she's just a tool used to start and end the story. if you want simple done correctly it would be mob psycho 100 or cowboy bebop. i guarantee that if the animation wasn't amazing no one would be watching or hyping up demon slayer lmao.
As a fan of the show, I thank you for broadening my perspective.
One issue that I've had with demon slayer is the lack of character to character interactions, it always feels like the opportunity is there for the characters to share their perspectives or information on how their breathing styles work or how the Hashira mesh with other Hashira but whether the story is going mach 10 or if they want to immediately jump into demon fights, it just feels wasteful to the story at large for so many characters to exist but give barely any words to each other.
By the way, one thing I don't get about Genya..., what got Tanjiro to the front door step of the Master was his allyship with his sister Nezuko the demon. At the time, most of the Hashira bucked at the idea but in comes Genya, someone who can literally become a demon, and that doesn't get any attention...? I don't know if it gets a spotlight later, but its been sitting at the back of my head for quite a bit as like a massive unaddressed yet similar conflict of interest.
At this point in time only Gyomei & Shinobu know that Genya can turn into a demon for a short period of time. And I guess it comes more down to the fact that Nezuko is an actual demon while Genya is human, but just gets demonic traits.
Genya's situation, despite being unusual, is nothing new for the Layer's records. Even kokushibo (the 1st moon) comments saying that back than he fought a pillar who was able to use the same technique by eating demon's parts. Unlike nezuko, which was something that never happened in over 500 years, slayers capable of turning termporaly into demons by eating them was something that already happened.
@@mattiasilva1705 Thanks for the clarity, I had no idea about that prior.
why don't you have more subscribers? this was such a well-articulated and thought out video
I am SO pissed about the lower moons getting scrapped out, it would've made Tanjiro's growth so much more tolerable and satisfying if he defeated them with relative ease, plus thats 5 arcs that wouldve helped with the pacing of the story but i guess theyre just gone
exactly!
Yeah it would've helped with the pacing and would've sold the difference between upper and lower moons in terms of strength way better, if they showed the main cast struggling to beat the lower moons and eventually getting stronger than them, only for the upper moons to completely shit on them would've had more impact
@@elijahaaron6949bro the way they killed two upper moons make it seems like they are weak
I mean writing Manga is pretty darn hard especially the deadlines and such.
I can understand wanting to get out while the goings good and shortening your story to hurry to the climax after it gets popular, getting rid of the Lower Moons means you don't have to write their personalities, abilities, or put much effort in their designs.
@@vincegalila7211that’s just lazy writing tbh
As an illustrator, I come back to Demon Slayer specifically for the art. But goddamn it feels like a chore to get through any of the storytelling in the show.
art? casi todos los diseños se parecen XD
@@MarcoPerez04 The animation and colors are gorgeous, and I like the use of line weight. Additionally the shots are composed really well. Again, it's specifically because I'm an illustrator that I enjoy it. If you think stylistically it all looks the same, that's fine. That's up to preference. For me it is a good study in how a lot of foundational technical elements are executed.
@@MarcoPerez04 It actually has a pretty good styling. The eyes on the characters being the best example I can think of.
@@whocares8576 wtf, a ver explica como es eso
the art? you mean the anime lol.
dont even get me started on demon slayers manga art.
this was a really well done critique of the Demon Slayer series. i really love the anime, and plan on reading the manga, but watching this made me realize how much more i'd love the series without all these huge flaws. what's crazy is how easy a lot of these flaws could be fixed without drastically changing the overall plot (which i really appreciate you doing throughout the video). while it doesn't make me like the series any less, it's certainly frustrating to know how much greater it could be.
These arent flaws. Dont get confused. A chosen one story isnt inherently bad, and the vast majority of this critique is just missunderstanding DS And nitpicking.
@@kenonerboy Why?
@@kenonerboy Oh please do elaborate. I would like to see it from your perspective, unless KNY is your first anime ever.
@kirinsama1847 would need to make a whole video to address this, but ill just start at the most obvious points i remember rn.
Demon slayers "powersystem" isnt like others. Its not different ever complexifying applications of different aspects of the same power source. The diffrent breathing styles are not "diffrent but equal". They are all derivatives from the same style but altered to suit yourichis college's faults. Its a degenerate system akin to continuous dilusion. Yorichi entrusted sunbreathing/will to tanjiros ancestors through dance. That is why he is "the chosen one". Its also in part why nezuko is able to walk amongst the sun.
Chosen one stories are a dime a dozen. Starwars, the matrix, Naruto, bleach, jojos, solo leveling ect. Are all chosen one stories atleast in part. Im not going to argue that allmost all moderns stories are to an extend chosen ones, i could but i wont. Even tho i called tanjiro a chosen one before he actually isnt, because the actual chosen one within demon slayer is yorichi. Is only in so far the chosen one because he happened to have inherited yorichis will to an extend, (He, who's family guarded the legacy of the disgraced yorichi for nothing in return). As u can see, this is already a twist on the chosen one trope (kinda like jojo 1-3). Character arcs generally have a character believe some kind of lie which in the process through the story they uncover. Usually this allows the character to achieve their need. However, all characters receive character development, while i agree that the pacing in some isnt ideal (yes i too find zenitsu annoying) it does happen at apropriate times in the story. I also legit think it might just be the authors humor because i also dont like the "hateful swordsmith" joke. Zenitsu is kinda similar to that
@@kenonerboy Ok I'm not trying to diss you on your opinions, and my philosophy for the last few years have been to let people enjoy what they want, and I'll do the same. Although sometimes I take the liberty to express opinions on subjects I've an emotional connection to because they played some part at at least one point in my life. I've read the KNY manga, and it is a mess. I'm from japan and even though KNY has become a huge cultural phenomenon, any decently experienced manga reader will tell you that KNY manga is mediocre at best. The points Mack talks about in this video are valid, he is not nitpicking. But if you are happy with it then it's ok.
Another critique to add that branches off the point you made about misogyny is how Nezuko is treated in the narrative. She’s the only female main, yet she’s basically just a cute mute mascot that they literally shove into a box until it’s convenient. She has times of being powerful, but again, only when convenient. After becoming a demon, she’s basically mentally reduced to a toddler. We know nothing about how she feels about turning into a demon, or even about her entire family being killed *while she was there.* Her entire existence is what drives the plot, so she should have more relevance than just “cute demon sister”
Ofc she unable to speak, think due to her not devouring humans. This sets her apart from every other introduced in the show.
@@Moroccodefdender except we literally meet two other demons who don’t eat humans and manage just fine without having their mouths sealed. Even without that, her not devouring humans isn’t because her mouth is sealed shut, it’s because she fights her desires. But even if you want to keep her mouth sealed as a visual distinction, more internal dialogue from her would go a long way beyond just muting her. Or even something showing that she’s bothered by her inability to communicate. It comes across as more of a way to silence the character to keep her as a prop instead of a useful story device or character piece. If it’s really that instrumental in keeping her from eating humans, then they could add some tension by asking what risk they could face if it came off somehow (which wouldn’t be hard, it’s just fabric and bamboo, even Nezuko could rip it off if she wanted to because her hands are always free)
It would have made sense if she age regressed because she couldn't bare witnessing the deaths of her family right before her eyes and being turned into a demon herself then character development branches off from there but no we got babying an older sister instead.
I KNOW RIGHT this is what made demon slayer kind of trash for me, i was such a huge fan until i started realising how the show never really took female characters seriously. sure shinobu is cool and all but mitsuri is ltr there for fanservice, and tamayo isnt really fleshed out in my opinion... nezuko, despite being one of the MAIN CHARACTERS has no genuine development other than being cute. shes so bland its honestly kind of annoying 😭i honestly wish they gave her genuine conflict instead of being hypnotised to think that all humans are her family or some weird shit. we got little development between tanjirou and nezuko despite the series being about them, she only exists to be cute and be the comic relief, even zenitsu, a little whiny loser got more development than her 😭 it just makes me so annoyed because there were SOO many missed opportunities, like we could have gotten an episode entirely in her point of view, to show how she genuinely sees her brother and how she is coping with the loss of her family members, i feel like we didnt get to see her genuinely grieve. im lowk kind of bitter that we didnt get to see more of her, despite her being in the series for most of the time :/ shes such an interesting character but NOPE she exists merely for the male gaze and to move the plot lmao
There's absolutely nothing misogenic in demon slayer. Having poor character writing doesn't automatically make it misogyny ffs.
The immense popularity of Demon Slayer owes itself to the gorgeous animation. Strip that away and it's a simplistic but decent story with some heart (a brother tryna save his younger sister).
amen
You mean the boring and forgetable plotpoint that serves nothing to the plot? Bruh
The story is the weakest part, I wouldn't call it decent by any means. But the art is really good
Recall how DS was barely mentioned by anyone until Episode 19 came out, and then it suddenly became the most popular manga on the planet for a year
@@juniperrodley9843 Ye ep. 19 is what _really_ made me a fan. It was stunning.
Another quick thing is how lacking Muzan is as the main antagonist I just feel like you’re supposed to fear him, you’re supposed to feel like he’s the big bad but it’s just underdeveloped bc he’s not involved in the story enough especially since he doesn’t directly interact with tanjiro that often
He’s kinda like how Naraku in Inuyasha got really tiring.
@@NANAbananabanar no Naraku in Inuyasha was super present in the story, Inuyasha and co. fought a lot of times against him, and never compare mid slayer with Inuyasha again please
But theres an whole entire arc to Find muzan and the uppermoons. The reason why he doesn't do that is that he sends uppermoons to kill him and tanjiro has to kill them with hashiras.
@@Nandomo00 peak slayer
@@zukosvfx Mid Slayer
To be honest, the only thing I ever seem to praise about Demon Slayer is the animation, and I just realized that was the case. I agree with everything you've said, I watch Demon slayer mostly because I need a distraction and just, awooga pretty animation. I hope Ufotable moves on after Demon slayer to something with better writing perhaps? Their animation is incredible for real.
Ufotable + good writing? A myth of legends never seen before.
Would be lit AF
@@Teh8Swords Just watch Fate...?
@@Teh8Swords Fate/Zero and Kara no Kyoukai ae extremely well written series that Ufotable has worked on. Followed by FSN UBW and Heavne's Feel. They are also working on Witch on the Holy Night, basically the origin of Fate and all of the Nasuverse, it's really good too.
this is exactly how i feel about this story. its just a run of the mill shonnen with a beautyfull anime behind it. i often feel that the animation was so pretty that people think is good cause it looks good. its not awful but is not one of the greatest stories out of japan imo
@@lllKXlllFate Zero you mean. Everything else is trash
Hitler: I just wanted to go to art school
Tanjiro: _sobs uncontrollably_
Did you just mistaked Deku with Tanjiro or what?
@@believebelow9403 I think both apply
Tanjiro: "komenasai, hitler-chan"
Congratulations sir, you just explained Tanjiro's entire character.
Tanjiro doesn't show mercy prob wouldn't be friends with Hitler
I always found it so silly that Nezuko is basically just a mascot for the entire series. When watching the anime for the first time I was confused why Tanjiro never really tried to communicate with his sister beside some small comedy moments and when they literally hit pause on the whole nezuko thing by purtting her in a coma so that Tanjior can have his training arc I knew that Nezukos character would never be anything else than motivation and gimmick for Tanjiro since he is obviously the important main character. The start of the series sets up a somewhat compeling dynamic between the two and then proceeds to do literally nothing with it.
Like they could have even solved the issue on why Tanjior is special and able to defeat demons no one else can with his cooperation wit Nezuko and their teamwork instead of just giving him secret magic powerup.
this is called misogyny :(
@@Itomon no, it's called bad writing.
@@pahradahdinaniniaaaaaaaaaand misogny
@@SkylarThompson-mu1qs i disagree nezuko is very strong with good hax knowing shes constantly holding back so as to not become fully demon or whatever shes monumental in the plot and his brothers journey from aiding him in battle like getting his sword to become red to forcing him to choose between her and the swordsmiths conquering the sun and proving to be very important asset against muzan, she is strong but we need to remember she aint eating humans and is therefore willingly nerfing herself you guys dont wanna understand that ds is succesful not only for the animation but it beat op in manga sales at one point too so that animation go brr crap is cap its a great story with relatable characters and a misunderstood story by the likes of ppl like yall and the maker of the video. npt every characters needs to be incredibly complex and not everyone is a misogynist
@@wesleyparish8280 Spot the demon slayer fanboy. Literally nezuko, is just there as a mascot which is made even more apparent in the final arc. It popularity really is because of animation and mindless fights with a colorful cast of characters. It's all very surface level in its story telling with character development almost non existent. It's fine to like demon slayer, it has a story that could go main stream and not ruffle any feathers because its everything we seem before and very black and white in how it handles its characters. In fact the only prop i would give demon slayer is, is its ability to kill off characters but then you think about which characters die and then it also becomes, oh these are characters that don't matter like rengoku. Lastly, if it was so good it would of surpassed One Piece earlier in manga sales, not in its last arc that was boosted by the anime - which a lot of fans thought it was bad ending too. So yeah Demon Slayer is mediocre, I too also like mediocre stories occasionally but I acknowledge their flaws.
23:11 now that I think about it, Sun breathing is supposed to be the hardest form of breathing technique but someone it was put into the form of a dance that not only could none demon slayers learn but tanjiro learned from mostly watching his dad do it and a couple of 1 on 1 dance lessons from his dad lmao honestly tanjiro should just host a demon slayer dance class and teach everyone sun breathing, they could take of muzan in a few days lol
He was also able to do it because of a breathing technique taught by his dad. And chances are Tanjiro wouldn’t have enough time to teach all of them
Doesn't work that way. First off all, the kamados were trained for generations to learn and practice the dance. Their body was trained phisically to endure it generationally.
There is also one important thing that is a slayer can only use properly one single style, which is the one matching the color of their sword (based on both their body and personalities). In fact many veterans switches their breathing style as long that it doesn't mat H their potential, and the "dual breathing wielders" are usually labeled as people that either are too noob or are trying to switch/evolve their style, having usually poor results like tanjiro while he was using the water one.
So if you doesn't match said style, is useless trying to learn it.
Also by the end of the series, it's explained that the sun breathing is nothing too special. It was THAT strong back than because yorichii was performing it (the literal choose one of the story.... Who failed), and every single other user just like tanjiro were nothing exceptional, and never single handedly won against an upper moon nor muzan
@@mattiasilva1705Sun breathing is still a big power up and special and difficuilt to master...
Manga spoiler !....
But sun breathing users die in their early 20s or so, the only one that did not die was Yorrichi and he regreted teaching it later on, after he found out it gets people killed....
That is like saying we just needed a kyuubi in every good ninja in naruto, and everything would be solved.
@@fathergascoigne6104that's bullshit he had time to reflect on his life and he doesn't have time? Thats bs
As a lover of demon slayer, i couldn't agree more. When the characters books came out after the main series, it got to flesh out character relationships and abilities. Also, because the creator had to rush the series for personal reasons, we never got something fleshed out. If the creator was able to flesh things out, we may have seen improvement on their end of it. I also want to say that rather than seeing this as a total bust, i find it a loss of potential that was forcibly closed down (as of the personal obstruction the creator faced) and i feel like certain arcs should've went to certain characters
I really want to know what the reasons were for the rush, so far no one mentioned it in the comments or figure if it wasn't rush, would the story have the same problems or not.
@@blutygar I heard it’s from family problems that the author had to rush
I enjoy Demon Slayer, but never really took it too seriously. I already had some of the same criticisms that you mentioned like lack of set up/ characters looking all the same age and babyish/no real difference in breathing techniques. And you pointed out more that I do agree with. However I’ll still watch cause at least pretty colors and nice music 😁
Bro ignore these kids just enjoy the anime don't think too much about the fictonal things.
@@Racoon-j1t Did you even watch the video??? Like are you actually justifying the story being dogshit because it is fictional?
@@Racoon-j1t Actually I just realized you're just rage-baiting, I saw you commenting that JJK is trash then refusing to elaborate.
5/10 rage-bait.
(Edit: I gotta give it to you because you actually made me and others mad so I'm changing it to 5/10 rage-bait 😂)
@@ChromeSarnie95 cry hard jjk and Naruto meatriders
Here's how you fix sun breathing. It's the most powerful breathing form against demons because it gives the user the intensity of demons' weakness, the goddamn sun. But it has a massive drawback. Because it has the power of the sun, it can easily kill the user and takes very intense training to master. Even in the training, many trainees have died, which is why there are so few sun breathers. Because Tanjiro is a water breather, even the basics of sun breathing are difficult because the sun literally evaporates water. Imagine a training arc where you're constantly on edge that Tanjiro will die and fucks up his body in the process, and if other characters actually died training sun breathing. And imagine how rewarding it would be when Tanjiro finally masters sun breathing and defeats a powerful foe.
See how easy that was?
The problem with that is that it implies that the breathing techniques don't JUST alter your techniques and do literally have special supernatural effects. Which opens up an entirely different can of worms. If all you say is it's strong because it "have the intensity of the sun which is the demons weakness" that logically doesn't make any sense because a human is not the sun.
I really hope this video makes a stupid statement like this so I can click off knowing it has no credence 💀
okay but I do not believe that you are going to kill tanjiro so there is no tension here
" Imagine a training arc where you're constantly on edge that Tanjiro will die and fucks up his body in the process"
There's be no edge, because it's obvious he wouldn't die
@@huntersuper98the implication is more the physical output of sun breather is enough to turn their swords bright red, adding the "supernatural" heat equivalent of the sun which demons are weak against. The drawback is pushing one's body beyond the boundaries like that is not healthy and ultimately, harmful to one's body (unless you're the original user). The significance of red blade is even more evident if you consider traditional kendo favour good cuts (techniques) rather than just swinging a sword (I.e. even with a good cut the speed and friction to air is still enough to heat the sword up)
This trope has been done before with prime example is rurouni kenshin, where his techniques are actually harmful to his underdeveloped body
The argument about it's just breathing, well a marathon runner will breath differently to weight lifter and to a sprinter, right? It can be inferred from their sub techniques as well (flower, bug, beast, etc...) that each school will focus on a different athletic output of the extra force generated. A good example is when Tanjiro attempts thunder breathing in the latter episode (prioritising legwork of thunder over general output with long combat in mind of water). To me that subtle details is good representation of how sun is the progenitor of all breathing
Ngl, that Genya section just made me realize he should’ve been the protagonist. He had a very tragic backstory, a good motivation, Sanemi(his older brother, scar hashira dude for the uninformed) as a sort of roadblock. Hell, Tanjiro could’ve been a perfect foil, the kid with the strongest breathing style and a good relationship with his demonic sister while Genya has a shitty one with his human brother. I recently saw a comic where Genya bonded with Shinobu(poison breathing hashira) because they both had deficiencies as demon slayers and I think that would’ve been fucking awesome to see in the actual series
Kokushibo victim 😂😂
@@Prinxce3_ lmao when you put it that way
@@Prinxce3_don't REMIND me
Did u call shinobu the poison breathing hashira😂
Not every mc has to be a fit a certain narrative before they can or should be the mc. Tanjiro is perfectly suited to be Demon Slayer's MC because he's meant to to be a or give hope to the people around him who have most likely suffered the same things as he has.
He has worked his ass off and protected the people he can as every mc can or should
i will never forgive how the mugen train arc just turned zenitsu and inosuke into comedy relief rather than potentially delve into their deeper psyche like it did with tanjiro and rengoku. that would have been a perfect moment to flesh out zenitsu's character, and reflect on his relationship with his teacher, and maybe possibly hint at how kaigaku ruined all of that.
edit:
i come back 8 months later to say that my opinion has not changed. in fact, i'll even double-down on it. zenitsu and inosuke as the deuteragonists should have been properly fleshed out during this arc. "but it's about rengoku"--and? tanjiro still got his dream sequence showing just how traumatic the loss of his family was, and how he was willing to give up a blissful dream for the greater good. the later development we got with zenitsu and inosuke was, dare i say it, sloppy. came straight out of nowhere, like it was written last-minute. no build-up, no hints, nothing. so yeah, they were unfairly snubbed in a moment that could have been crucial to their characters.
Didn't have to because you wanted to. EVERYTHING doesn't need to Arcane or Game of thrones. Let this fun series be that fun. If didn't have fun that's okay you I assume are an adult can find something else that has characters like demon slayer
@oyamampendu9467 lmao chill bro just as that is your opinion this is mine lets be grown ups
Edit:
For the record, i love demon slayer. I was obssessed when it first came out, but i also acknowledge it had flaws.
@@oyamampendu9467 What a weird fucking take, it must have gotten under your skin because you seem really defensive to immediately compare it to 2 amazing stories with amazing characters, and then turn around and say that shit character writing/development is some insane ask like the OP asked Demon to be like those 2 shows or because HE want's it to are you sure you are an adult with arguing like that?. You do know that you can have great character writing that doesn't need to be unfun right like 100s of great COMEDY shows, seriously wtf? and then say :"i assume you are an adult" like some childish own? It's okay to like a show because it's beautiful or fun, but don't say a show should not have good writing because it's "FUN" i bet it would be even better and fun with better characters/writing.
They always were a source of Comic relief. Zenitsu passes out at the first sign of danger and inosuke is a wild man who wears a pig head and can’t pronounce simple names.
They are still badasses.
@RulerOfYore and im not saying that was a bad thing.
The issue was that they, in that arc, felt especially two dimensional. It just would have been nice to see them written more properly, seeing as they had just as big a role later in the series as tanjiro.
My biggest frustration with demon slayer is that it has potential. (You address a lot of that, I'm mostly agreeing.) There are ideas there that, with a lot of work, re-drafting, careful thought and work, could make something much better like JJK or (the actual medium-redifining masterpiece) Chainsaw Man. Breathing is potentially really cool, controlling your body through technique and practice, with sun breathing being strongest against demons because of their inherent weakness to sunlight, but equally thst makes it the hardest to master and thus fell out of practice as generations went on and fewer people bothered. Tanjiro being a ray of kindness and sunshine in an otherwise cruel world and having his kindness tested and potentially damaged could be great. Inosuke is a funny boar man that makes us go haha, and him being overly brash and angry and competitive makes the times he's not hit harder. Rengoku is a good boy but his death lacked weight even though I was sad because I have a soft spot for heroic himbos. Muzan having an underwhelming design could be an actually intentional thing, similar to Philip/ Emperor Belos from the Owl House, to reinforce that demons were all human once no matter how twisted they are now, or that the humanity IN the demons combined with their supernatural abilities is what makes them terrifying. So many cool ideas, so much potential.
This is the only video of yours I've seen (from random youtube recommendation) so I'm not really familiar but you seem to love animation, but you didn't really mention the music at all. I think the music is pretty well done and can be really cool, and obviously the animation is fantastic and it makes me angry. Other things deserve this level of popularity and appreciation.
Demon Slayer could have been a wonderful, delicious cake with pretty icing and sprinkles but we have a barely-mixed batter that it looks like someone might have accidentally tipped some dirt into. Please share your feeling of indifference with me because I have so many thoughts about this show that is unbelievably shallow and substanceless and cant help but get passionate about what we could have had...
Sorry for that wall of text, lol. Good video, me agree.
Man, i always thought "wouldn't it make Inosuke's character much more interesting and the power dynamics also if he's more physically capable than the main three?" You could have him be more in tune with his body through his wild upbringing and while he may start out more skilled (he's ripped, yet that doesn't make any difference whatsoever) Tanjor could level the playing field more as he's able to adept his strategy rather than relying on brute force and talent.
But alas, Inosuke is quickly just another bystander to Tanjiro doing all the heavy lifting, who's clearly the strongest and most important overall
Inosuke was able to sense where the strings from the spider lady were coming from and tell tangiro using his sense of touch. He was also able to resist the sleep demon using his boar mask to obscure where he was looking making enmus hypnosis less effective. He's also able to shift his organs and even has poison resistance but most people wouldn't find these things out without looking deeper story such as reading the manga or the end bits of the episodes where they explain things they couldn't fit into the anime.
@@birdwatchingwithcookie8884yet the persons point did refer to inosukes unique talents yet they were Basically never used again. Also those aren't deep in the story they're straight up given to us by inosuke himself
@@yeslifeisalie9769 They are never used again because the story is super fast paced as if the author trying to do a speedrun.
@@yeslifeisalie9769 Like there is so much story for the world of demon slayer yet it only has about 210 CHAPTERS. Don't complain so much about things not being reused when you know that the entire story was sped through.
@yeslifeisalie9769 I kinda assumed they didn't know about inoskue's abilities cause they say "you could have had more in tune with his body". Which kind of what he is already.
Loved the part about Genya, it would've worked so much better with him as the MC. As the only human who can use the power of demons, while also hating them so much that he's always trying not to. That alone beats everything we get with Tanjiro, imo.
Sure a main character gaining the powers of the monsters that have taken over his world and which he has a personal vendetta against We've Never seen that before
@@Flipitmixit Whether something has been done before or not is of no serious importance, if the writing is good. I'd even argue that there's no such thing as an "original" anymore, because everything is inspired by something else - if not blatantly copied and painted in different colors. But if the work is good, it's good, and that's good enough for me at least.
@@MrSociofobs I completely agree. And thats exactly what I think about Tanjiros portrayal right now. The Goku/Luffy like purehearted protagonist who doesnt really need to change but changes the people around him, has been done before. But I think demonslayer offers a fresh take on it. Meanwhile the maker of this video pretends like these type of characters have to be deeper or edgier to be good characters.
@@Flipitmixit even in one piece most of the other character are deeper and the world around them matters and it does affect them the same can't be said here.
@@Flipitmixitboth goku and tanjiro are garbage protagonists
This genya segment make me realise just how much cool he would have been if he was the main character , imagine the sheer despair he would feel that he can't be at all a demon slayer because he can't use breathing technique , the story we could tell how he discover he can eat demon to gain stronger and how much it tell about is willpower , the shame he must feel about is brother , the potential of conflits with demon because how how much can resemble them in a fight , damn i want this story NOW.
That would just be Black Clover with demons tho
@@Bruh-fy1jk i think you should reread your comment then comeback with a better answer if you want to.
Its ridiculous having the main character not be able to utilize the power system in their own show either sucks or makes the character ridiculously over powered as he needs to have an incredibly ridiculous alternative.
@@moonie1825 You guy should really stop commenting before thinking , it make you look bad and lack any creativity , first the one that use black clover as a argument then this , the funny things is black clover could be considrate as one of those mangas that do that , now you problably are just a kid so just go do something better.
@@moonie1825 But, but, in this example and as the video states, the powers are practically interchangeable they accomplish the same goal and it's not incredibly ridiculous because it's a thing that already exists within the current confines of the world and would be made less ridiculous by actually being able to develop it, as well as giving a legitimate believable reason why the protagonist is special relative to everyone else.
As a large fan of Demon Slayer I have to say I'm impressed. This is a very well constructed and well put together video that thoroughly explains why you dislike the series. I don't agree with all your points sure but I completely understand your perspective which is incredibly commendable and very impressive.
It's honestly refreshing to see a video of well constructed criticism of such a popular and beloved series. My opinions on Demon Slayer haven't changed too much but you did a great job of voicing your dislikes beyond just saying 'it's overrated and terrible'.
What I will say though, is that some characters don't need incredibly detailed backstories or large amounts of screen-time to have viewers get emotional about them, people can get attached to characters simply because they're incredibly likeable and fun to watch. That was the case with Rengoku and Tanjiro, and for me and so many others they'll able to generate emotion responses.
Plus, having Rengoku attack Nezuko just isn't who he is (that's Sanemi) so I'd rather his character be consistently likeable (as he his basically).
Anyway, that's my view, great video all around.
It's so nice that there's still people that can see criticism of a thing they like, process it and provide counterarguments in a civilized manner, props to you for being cool.
It's also very funny to see a "lmao yap session" type of comment directly under this.
@@mauricioalvarezpino1818 Thank you for saying that.
I'm a lot more open to accepting criticism if it's well explained, Demon Slayer has many valid criticisms but a lot of reviewers just don't do a good job of explaining their points and why they're significant. I acknowledge when a reviewer can successful convey their perspective, especially if it's in the minority.
It's annoying how people will easily dismiss criticism if it's a series they enjoy, even if it's well explained.
Though to be clear, I don't agree with a lot of his points either.
For example, with his point on breathing styles he almost contradicts himself by first correctly stating that the effects are visual metaphors but then complaining that they aren't canonically explained within the plot.
Also his opinion on the character designs I just completely disagree with, most prominently when he said Gyomei looks straight out of high school, which I just don't understand how he thinks that.
It really shows that despite disagreeing with a number of his points, I still respect and understand his views on the series. This is proof of a well contructed review and analysis.
oh thank god someone who actually comments more than 5 words without using slurs, even its a good or bad detailed video, its weird how there are always ppl bashing it without watching it first and foremost
I'm half-way through and holy crap, Rengoku is doing a bang-up job staying alive and talking to Tanjiro while sporting a hole in his chest that not even a Terminator could cause.
That's because he's sooooo good at breathing
@@Gomarinka-w5z without a heart and possibly lungs?
@@henriqueferreira5165 that injury would miss his heart and lungs entirely. His bowel would be perforated though. He will be quickly bleeding to death.
This is the same channel that loves One Piece.
Let's not talk about how many holes were inside of Whitebeard.
More impressive than tanjiro running a mile without so much as a limp while chasing that demon at the end of the swordsman village arc after having his foot crushed?
Alternatively about Zenitsu's moves, it would be interesting if instead of him slowly learning moves throughout the story he slowly CREATES his own branching line of Lightning Breathing better suited to his style since he can't master the other more traditional forms. Until when he fights his rival instead of using the thunder breathing moves that he would be used to seeing and mastered himself he finds that Zenitsu has created his own set of forms and fighting style with the basis of that first form.
Yknow-- like how lightning itself branches out
Well spoiler if you haven't read the manga
He actually does, he is its first and last user
@@danielgeronimo5538 still, it’s ONE move. It’d be better if it was like 4 or 5
@@danielgeronimo5538he makes one attack and it’s just a slight derivative of the one he already knows
@@gdaddy584 godspeed?! thats a move 6 and 10 fold could be considered moves.
@@faintkiwi5178Nah, Its just Zenitsu turning around. Would you consider all the rasengan forms to be **New** moves?
It starts so strong but the ending feels like the author was totally done with the story. Absolutely speed ran the moons. Also never really developed Tanjiro in any meaningful way.
Sorry to be a asshole or a defender but the only reason that is cause she was very rushed cause at the time that’s when the anime started to get released
@@braydonlarawhat? Really? That is your argument?
Speed ran the moons? All of those fights were amazing
@@thegoodeboy2016 literally watched as Muzan wiped out like half of them lol
@@barningknight8683 I think he meant the lowermoons
Here after hearing of the tragic passing of Akira Toriyama because the sentence "I don't even like Dragon Ball and I think that's BULLSHIT!" came to mind
Imagine if Genya, the only character that can turn himself into a demon, hunting after the footsteps of his brother, a Hashira, who has problems controlling himself while being a demon, and also has severe character flaws (being an asshole, refuses to communicate or work as a team, etc) was the actual main character.
HE HAS A FUCKING SHOTGUN
Idk if im just struggling to understand but his stomach is advanced in a way where if he digests demon meat it temporarily changes his appearance to a more demon thing
mhh since when is sanemi a demon?
@@miceatah9359 You must be mistaken Genya has an ability makes him turn into a demon after eating their flesh.
I think it's something like that, though yeah I wish Genya was fleshed out more instead of being killed off. 😓
@@genesismunoz6008 No bro, genya cant turn into a demon, he might be a human but if he eat demon flesh, he can get demon abilities, After all we first saw genya gaining powers in the swordsmith village arc, At the last episode, he was normal
That has got to be my favorite part about Genya.
*HE HAS A GUN*
I promise you if studio DEEN was the one animating demon slayer not a soul would care
Should have gotten studio Queen Bee 😆
@@susbedo9258 HAHAHAA 😉
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Why is Mack just casually straight up spitballing how to make literally every character so much better and being so RIGHT ABOUT IT
Facts!
Like I'm just sitting here thinking after I saw that Rengoku section being like "Wow... I mean I like this character but this is really good, and so much better written then the character we got."
They pretty much have to change the entire story by the way he rewrote the story.
I want a petition for him to write a manga
Who's in?
ngl i was thinking when he was explaining in his opinion on how to make rengoku better i was like "thats soooo generic though" then after that he admits its kinda "generic." Idk maybe I just like other things and have different standards but thats prolly cuz of subjectiveness lol
That's what you call experience from reading alot
Demon slayer had so much potential, it pains me to see how it actually deserves the popularity it has if the author just decided to add more than just tanjiro saying "Oh no! I cant move my body" for 5 mins"
never has ever happened but keep hating
It is popular because mc is not trying to be a edgelord trying to give some philosophical quotes from google.
We are already saturated by edgelord mc and degenerated mc. we need some palette cleansing.
Degens and edgelord doesn't exist during the Taishō Period of Japan.
plus maybe shonen jump trying to rush the author and not giving her a break while having personal problems might be the cause.
If shonen jump didn't rush her.
We might get a Zero Requiem Tanjiro or Time Travelling demon art Tanjiro where he whisper muzan his family location. And he discovers that Demons lives freely outside japan. and he do the rumbling to kill 80% of demons.
ufotable should have adapted a different anime imo 😭beserk should have been readapted tbh
@@combo4461 what 💀did u watch the show with ur eyes closed
@@zainab_hashmiii Not once has there been a moment where tanjiro cries about his body for 5 mins. Demon slayer despisers like you just don’t know when to quit huh 😹😹
As someone who really enjoys the Demon Slayer anime, I nonetheless found myself agreeing with this entire video. I particularly enjoyed the fact that you offer examples of alternatives with your criticisms, which I found to be quite well-done, and seemed like superior ways to approach their respective situations. Most notably with Rengoku and his death scene. I was confused why, as a typically mushy person, I was hardly bothered when he kicked the bucket, but when I heard your explanation it made perfect sense. And your alternative, even just hearing it laid out with the imagery in the background brought a tear to my eye. I would have found that so much more impactful. Looking forward to more from you.
EDIT* I also hate Zenitsu. For all the same reasons.
Nothing wrong with enjoying something while still recognizing its flaws, or even outright admitting its not that good. Its actually a pretty good sign of mental maturity when you're able to sperate your own enjoyment of something from its actual quality. Nothing hurts worse than watching someone defend something that was poorly done just because its their favorite show or something.
Fair. But do you really need to relate to a character in order to feel sad? I have nothing to relate to with starving children in Africa. Nada. But if a starving child died in front of me, or on a tv screen, that would make me really sad. Not that I felt sad for Rengoku dying, but I can't really say for sure whether that had anything at all to do with being unable to relate due to being flawless. Because like I said, there are plenty scenarios where I don't relate at all, but still feel sad.
@@kopicat2429 Not a very good comparison. You can most certainly relate to a starving child in Africa, its called being human. No matter how different we are, there will always be that point. We can understand eachothers pain no matter how far apart we might be or how different our struggles are because we're human. Fictional characters dont benefit from this. Sure they might be human on paper, but at the end of the day they dont really exist. This is why making your character relatable matters. You need to form a connection with the reader/watcher to convince them that something happening to this character really matters despite it having no baring on the real world.
I think the best way to make popular art right now is to create something visually interesting with a basic plot, loose threads, and a ton of potential. People tend to be filling in gaps with their own imagination, analysis, and head cannon. If youre marketing a complete package there's less room for that because everyone kinda knows.
exactly! that's also why people subconsciously like sketches more than finished art and colored manga sometimes seems weird and worse than when it was uncolored - human imagination can create and extenuate stuff so beautifully and flawlessly to the point when it's almost impossible to beat in reality, unless you're a true pro or even a genius. the finished, polished work reveals all the mistakes you can't escape from and people will latch on to them, it's close to an eyesore to some.
so, really, not finishing stuff and leaving enough room for the imagination of the viewer/reader - seems like a formula to success, unless, again, you're an extremely skilled genius
@@yaynay2182 good point. Or you could be Patrick Rothfuss and do both. 😂
This is so accurate and I constantly see it...w 'Helluva Boss'
I hope nobody is saying this is the entire or main reason for DS's success
@@paytonogallagher3284 I wasn't but if the shoe fits it's at least part of the puzzle. Although success for DS and fromsoft games In general have a lot to do with gameplay as well
44:14 if Genya is the only human who can become a demon temporarily, why didn't tanjiro get his blood to Miss Tamayo for more research to help Nezuko turn back to human, Genya could be a great lead to bring Nezuko back to her human self.
i think because he needed the blood of an 12 kizuki, for reasons
Tanjiro doesn't know whether or not that would be helpful.
@@madladdie7069Yeah, which is precisely why he should confirm its usefulness with Tamayo
@@ExNihilo. Yeah, that's fair. We don't really know much about how much they communicate anyway and Tanjiro has literally only just learnt that Genya can do that. If Tanjiro did tell Tamayo, it would've happened at the end of, or after, this arc.
@@Yoshi_soupA forgotten plotpoint. Which never happened. Cause uh. Lower moons are dead as hell
Instead of breathing "styles".
Why not "stances" instead? It's more of different in terms of postures or "combos", like holding your katana above your head means your attack is much more heavier. And if you're just holding your katana between your chest, it's just a "regular" attack.
We would called those: "Water stance" means your attacks are smooth and flows like a water. "Stone stance" your attacks are heavier like a rolling stone. "Wind stance" your attacks are more swift and mobile like a raging wind.
In that way, Breathing Stances are more "realistic"
My partner just started playing through Ghosts of Tsushima, and it has these styles of fighting stances, that obviously are balanced against certain enemies in the game. When I saw him get later on with a few unlocked my immediate thought was "so that's what Demon Slayer was supposed to emulate".
Another problem is that Koyoharu fails to establish Nezuko as a character before turning her into a nocturnal Pokémon for the duration of the series. Moments like the Rui fight or Nezuko going Berserk and almost eating someone would actually work if we knew what Nezuko was like before becoming a demon because it would actually establish her and Tanjiro’s relationship as siblings.
Yeah, like we should have had like first episode to just establish characters. Second episode in which Tanjiro's family dies. Third episode Tanjiro discovers Nezuko is a demon and meets Giyu.
@@ErutuffLOL it’s just as bad in the manga. Koyoharu dedicates exactly 3 pages to Tanjiro’s family before Tanjiro leaves to sell charcoal.
@@_mcNeill Even less time was spend on Maximus' family and no one complains about it.
Ig none of y'all know how naturally close rural people like Tanjiro's family are and how much it would take to worsen thier bonds. It shows. I'm suspecting y'all haven't even read or seen any other stories involving rural families. Tanjiro's familiy is an archtype and aren't ment to be anything else, that's why they weren't given time. Like how Muzan is immediantly an evil dude, Tanjiro's family is immediantly poor, struggling, but otherwise perfect loving family.
@@paytonogallagher3284 bro, I literally spent almost half of my life in rural areas.
Honestly, I thought I was the only one who never liked Rengoku, so thank you for validating my feelings! Man existed for 5 minutes and then dies in a pretty cool way before we move onto the next adventure. It moves on so fast and we never get to bond with him at all. Like I thought there was more to him before watching season one and Mugan Train but nope! It was disappointing.
It's baffling how many people call him their favorite character
@@CaptainMack Rengoku is my favorite color indeed.
There WAS that prequel before he enters the train which imo was enough to give a bit of a bond to most viewers
I mean theres a lot of ways a character can become a fan favourite with only five minutes of screentime. Thing is, i feel Rengoku did none of them so idek how this happened.
Personally, he’s the definition of the superhero trope. Perfectly good and good hearted down to the core, hell they’re so good they give up their life in a heartbeat and don’t back down from the fight to protect their subordinates. He’s the *textbook* superhero/good guy. So textbook I can only respect him, but I rlly cannot love his character. You’d have to reveal all that we know of him was just a facade cause he was evil all along and serving the villain for me to even think about changing my mind, but even then that is now weak writing that would exist only for a dramatic plot twist.
@@Hivatel omg same
My biggest problem with the series was that it seemed to reverse set up and pay off. We keep seeing pay offs happen with no build up and then the explanation comes after.
Whenever Tanjiro gets into a bad place, he gets a power up out of nowhere and the explanation of how it’s possible comes later.
like when he mixed water breathing and hinokami kagura to save Hinatsuru
@@Xer0280 what's wrong with that? He was in a tight spot, was thinking how to use the resources and abilities available to him, and came up with this mixed style. It wasn't out of nowhere, been practicing hinokami kagura, and of course knew water breathing. Up until this point, we only saw pure forms used, so this seemed like a logical and creative way of using the styles. Also, from what I can tell (by only watching anime, and avoiding manga spoilers), Sun Breathing being like the OG style, and every other is a derivative, it actually makes sense that they can be used in complement. Lacking ability/stamina to perform a pure HK move, you fill the gap with WB
@@Tajbor87 no, I just kinda wished we got to hear his thought process as he mixed breathing styles. Like, he could've gotten a flashback to when Urokodaki told him that 'water can change into any form' and then boom, he just does the move
@@Xer0280 I understand what you mean, and sometimes that can be a good approach. Depending on how they achieve it, it will lead to pacing issues. Many shows do that (I think even this one, too), they actually take you out of the scene for a long time to do a flashback.
I don't think you actually need all those flashbacks with long explanations if something has been built up logically. They don't even have to mention it specifically if it fits in the logic. They just allude to it with something that will remind the reader, it's much less in-your-face that way. Spoonfeeding info may mean you underestimate your audience's capability to make the connections.
I feel like you just described Bleach and Ichigo.
And I was called crazy when I said Demon Slayer was not all the hype when you really pay attention to it. Subscribed ✅
Exactly.
I'm not a big fan of Demon Slayer, but I think there is value in its accessibility. I see all of the flaws in it you see, I'm not big on the show and never was (I'm in my mid-20s). But recently, my 12-year-old cousin has discovered the show and loves it. She loves the funny (to her) characters, the colours, the familial bond of the siblings, how kind Tanjiro is, the cool female characters, everything. And when I got her a Pen with Tanjiro on it, her eyes lit up and she couldn't stop talking about the show. It reminds me of the simple joy of discovering your first anime and I feel Demon Slayer fits right in with those kinds of shows.
I mean ofc different shows cater to different audiences, I can definetly see why a kid would like ds but objectively it's a pretty shit show and he is doing a good job pointing that out?
@@lmb1563 I am not trying to debate him, I literally agreed with the stuff he's pointing out.
@@lmb1563 what are you waffling about 💀
Well anyone can like anything, it just sucks it gets more than it deserves.
As that just basically insults any manga writers who actually do the work.
@@alexcat6685 nah disagree
Gotta pay respect where its deserved, i was for brainwashed single handedly by the animation of Demon Slayer, but all the arguements and points you made are so true and now that I look back all those flaws really do stick out like a sore thumb.
Keep up the engaging and accurate videos man, enjoyed watching the video start to finish
I like its story, but the animation is definitely the selling point
Ufotable did an exceptional job, as always. The fact that Demon Slayer is so widely loved even with a paper-thin plot and bland characters is just a testament to Ufotable's talent.
@@IamYasuraka I agree with your sentiment the ufotable is great the rest not so much
The story is only tolerable because of the animation tbh, that's why the anime skyrocketed the popularity of the brand
Story is shit; animation is good.
@@IamYasuraka the literal definition of "style over substance"
animation so good, you forget the shitty storytelling
I remember watching Mugen Train and when I reached the end of it I thought to myself “Was I supposed to cry just now? Am I heartless?” Turns out it was just poor writing🤦
the final scene felt super unnecessary
LMAO! 😂👌
I was crying but tbh, it was purely because of the soundtrack.
demon slayer is a perfect baby's first shonen, it is the genre distilled and simplified as much as possible. that's why it's so loved, it's the most simplistic form of the defining parts of the genre, not high art, but fun to anyone who doesn't overthink it. unfortunately as a baby's first manga, it makes its fans obsess over it and believe it's so much better than reality... unfortunately it really is full of potential, but all that potential is seemingly intentionally pushed out to make it even more of distilled shonen.
It is only liked as much as a it is because of the production on top of that overly simplistic and cliche battle shonen
I think Naruto should be everyone’s first anime. It has all the plot, themes and character development of a competent shonen but it’s all pretty grounded and easy to follow. If having to navigate filler and inconsistent animation is a dealbreaker though, Demon Slayer is a solid choice I think.
You went well but you had to say "full of potential"
Where? It was clearly stated that breathing and its forms' only difference was the color of the effects. Or how the main character had the complexity of a lego. Where is the potential? That nezuko is a demon, that for reasons that weren't expanded upon, can control herself?
@jando5980 well the video itself gave examples of potential, with the flame hashira rewrite for example, imagine if there were clear differences, strengths and weaknesses to the breathing styles, if the guy who ate demons was actually important and caracterized, if we actually got character development that wasn't offscreen, there are so many what ifs that the author just decided to rush past
@christianryan9989 im not saying demon slayer should be, just that it seems to be perfectly designed for that role, the big three, dragon ball, and other classics are much better starting material
The fact that from tanjiro's entire adventures through the series, tanjiro didn't encounter an awful or genuinely evil human that's similar to humans shown in flashbacks of demons or humans in general. He always meet kind people or rude people that will turns out they are actually kind. He never seen the cruel reality of the world that everyone is facing, basically the chosen one.
genuinely evil humans don't exist in real life
very stupid and selfish people do exist, but evil beings aren't a thing no matter how many media products have them
That demon that kidnapped girls and kept their hairpieces, muzan, upper 4,?!?!!?!?!?!?
@@lisagonzalez1371 I am talking about humans not demons 🤦
@@lisagonzalez1371genuinely evil **human**
Wtf do you mean never seen the cruel reality of the world😂 the dudes entire family got murdered
So I'm not alone in hating the lack of character development. Also, it really drives me up a wall how all the hashira have one personality trait and that's it, that's the entire character
Damn never thought about it that way, now that you say it, yes it does and its ruined for me lol
hashira´s personality traits are there so you remeber the characters, once they are more fleshed out they become actual characters, this applies to literally all hashiras excluding mitsuri but because she is boring AF
@@xxlordtinchoxx9015 How does blind prayer man become an actual character besides getting tragic backstory #27
*how all the characters have one personality trait and that's it, that's the entire character
@@Oncomancer yeah so you clearly didnt read the manga and it shows lol.
gyomei is not an amazing character, as most characters in kny, there is only a few that i would say are really good, but he definetly gets his development and time to shine, like all hashiras do. trust me, he is more than just a blind prayer man, and his backstory is not really that important in his character arc
Watching a man with barely controlled hair rant for an hour about an anime I have no intention of ever watching? Absolutely sold. Finding out he only uploads once in a blue moon? Perfect, suits my watch schedule down to the ground. Sign me tf up
Dude watch the anime. Dont just watch it and not understand anything.
There are actually two important elements of Tanjiro's character, and as a bonus, they're established early on! First is he's a good, good, good boy who wants to save people. The second is he really cares about his sister. When Nezuko is about to "die" to sunlight, if Tanjiro had decided to abandon the civilians and instead save his sister, it would have been cool and dramatic. He's talked a big game about being a hero, but this is rarely challenged. Have his heroic good good boy nature be challenged - and lose.
Except no, she's just magically immune to sunlight because reasons, so he gets to save people AND she gets to survive.
@rohandasgupta8758Honestly, never seen anyone use the term "peak fiction" genuinely, I've only ever seen it be used to make fun of bad writing.
Spoiler :
Not magically someone said that nezuko and tanjiro had drank the blue spider lily soup that was made by their mother so...nezuko would be immune to sunlight and tanjiro if he ever turns into a demon.
@@meook2135 Yes, which is a narrative ass pull. There's nothing wrong with her sun immunity inherently, but there is something wrong with how it's revealed in the story.
@@meook2135 still an asspull, took muzan years and years searching for just one and their mother just happened to find enough for a soup
@@juicyskittle6020it literally was explained that It blossom during the day
The discussion of Tanjiro and Rengoku's writing in this video actually got me thinking about why they became so popular, while a character like Kirito from SAO doesn't see that same praise, and is often criticized for suffering from a similar issue of flawlessness. I think I have an idea as to why. This isn't meant to be a defense, just a hypothesis as to why Gotouge's character writing choices seem to work for so many people (sorry in advance for the essay).
Gotouge's writing seems to place characters in scenarios that, rather than challenging their flaws, are meant to emphasize their positive traits. For example, with Tanjiro, rather than focusing on how his kindness comes into conflict with his role as a Demon Slayer, the focus is on how that kindness informs the way he performs his job. Because Tanjiro is unusually kind, he attempts to empathize with the Demons he fights and also finds a way to kill them as painlessly as possible. A similar thing is done with Rengoku, to emphasize his role as a protector, he's placed in a scenario that would challenge that desire to an extreme- not only having to face an upper rank by himself but even being offered the alternative of becoming a demon, yet choosing to give his life regardless.
I think the idea here is that, by placing characters in scenarios that test their core values, their decisions to remain stalwart in those values leave an impression on viewers who find those traits admirable. It goes beyond Tanjiro just being a nice guy, Gotouge tries to make him look like THE NICEST guy. Rengoku's more than just a defender, the intent is for him to look like the picture of self-sacrifice.
I think what Demon Slayer basically does is overhaul any core trait which could make a character likable. This would be why they leave such an impression on people who especially resonate with the given trait that a particular character may represent. People's mileage will vary on how effective that form of character writing is on them, but (as someone who doesn't really care about Demon Slayer anyway) I'd guess that's why the characters have worked for so many.
Kinda sounds like writing for Superman before he Man of Steel movie. Basically paragon writing, emphasizing their good traits without much challenge or something to make them slip. Which I can get foe those wanting more role model characters, but doesn't offer much to the audience on questioning if it's great being kind or a protector all the time, or giving thr character a learning moment that could actually reinforce their good traits by still choosing to be kind and good despite a major setback. Which would have been that moment if ,spoilers, Nezuko actually died at the end of this recent arc and would really challenge Tanjiro's mercy.
@@blutygar Oh yeah, I absolutely agree that generally speaking, challenging the character's belief is much more compelling, character development is considered such a fundamental truth of storytelling for a reason. Like I said, I hadn't intended to defend the series per se, just understand its appeal. Even though I don't care for DS myself, I think it's more interesting to delve into why its story has resonated with so many, as opposed to just writing it off. Though, honestly that consensus seems to be changing, with the latest season wrapping up, I've heard almost exclusively disappointment.
This pretty much sums up why I still like demon slayer despite its flaws
This take is actually better than the whole video.
Makes sense why I still like it despite knowing what's wrong with it.
39:20 this is totally true. I was more worried about Tengen dying than about Rengoku because we actually saw his development and his flaws made him more relatable. Meanwhile, we see Rengoku as a perfect guy in two episodes, absent in another, and fighting in his last moments in a 25 minutes battle
It’s funny that you say that but rengoku lost his mom his dad is a drunk not to mention a real bitch and you’re gonna sit here and tell me he’s completely fine…yeah..totally…😑
@@aubree8595 don't get me wrong, Rengoku is a really cool character with an interesting backstory and personality. The problem is how he is executed in the story, as a flawless guy you are supposed to love more than anything in the span of a movie (at least he has an introduction episode in season 2 with the speed demon, but many people won't see it because they will see the movie)
@@aubree8595 That's part of the problem tho. You'd think a backstory like that would give him some type of flaw. Ex some generational trauma where he's acts like his dad sometimes, but he's pretty perfect instead. That's why I agree with OP. Tengen wasn't perfect, he was a straight up dick sometimes but that's what made him interesting.
@samanthabrown8690
Or he tries to do too much and ends up endangering the people he tries to protect.
Like, he assigns Tanjiro only to look after Nezuko and he can't be in that many places at once to fight the demons, so he learns to let go of his pride and old fashioned way of thinking and trust the Kamado's
Then dies protecting the train and the main cast.
He can still be an aspirational character, just give him a flaw that doesn't mean he acts like a douche. He could be like Superman in that regard.
@@gangrenousgandalf2102and the funny part is that he almost got a scene like that! There is a moment in which he tells the others to take care of ⅜ of the trais while he single handly protects the othe ⅝ and then leaves runing so fast that the entire train crumbles. This was the perfect chance to do ANYTHING with his character just by showing him unable to do so. He could have to let go of his hero complex, or to start trusting nezuko, or to respect zenitsu's help... anything. He is just a mountain of missed oportunities as a character, so as much as we love him he's still to flawless, just a plot device used to stablish how cool and powerful the hashira are and then die to akaza to show how powerful the upper ranks are and give the main character more motivation. This just doesn't work if we don't get attached to rengoku