The general feeling among those who followed the second season of demon slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) it is to have seen something special; even, with some chapter that could remain in the personal top of each one. A memory that, as happens with dragon ball, Naruto, Death Note, Samurai X and some more anime, serves as an induction towards the genre and at the same time triggers different conversations.
TO Kimetsu no Yaiba the passage of time is still lacking to know how it ages in the collective memory. Meanwhile, it already has a solid first season, a film that moved hundreds of people to the cinema before Spider-Man: No Way Home and a second season that allows it to consolidate itself as a shonen and a story capable of attracting different audiences.
The second season of demon slayer spanned the arch Red District of the manga. The characters entered the neighborhood of pleasure looking for a demon that subdued the area and, along the way, rescue the wives of the pillar that accompanied the protagonists during this section, Tengen Uzui. With him, Tanjirou Kamadohis sister nezuko, Hashibira Inosuke and Zenitsu Agatsuma, they traveled to investigate what happened in the place and to rescue Uzui’s companions. Along the way, the pillar recognized that the mission they embarked on is more dangerous than he thought.
Each of them is forced to push themselves to the limit during their confrontation with Daki and Gyutarō. That demon was made up of two brothers that the anime initially presented with only one body, until he splits into independent beings. Heroes and villains clashing with each other, while Kimetsu no Yaiba, a classic shonen, is allowed to make social criticism at different times; especially, one in which the notion of beauty and the weight that appearances have today are questioned. The anime resonates beyond the universe it composes, a success. While doing so, due to Ufotable’s adaptation, it generates a powerful and entertaining visual experience.
Kimetsu no Yaiba: the consolidation of a narrative
The first broadcast of Kimetsu no Yaiba occurred on April 6, 2019. Three years later, the story is still a phenomenon that attracts fans of manga and those viewers who do not follow such stories. As it happens with Attack the titans, demon slayer offers a story and a presentation that is attractive, satisfying and that, on occasion, escapes its narrative universe to wink at current issues.
demon slayer does not have the symbolic power of Shingeki no Kyojin. True to the characteristics of the shonen, it is a more youthful story, less mature in some sections. Still, it allows for explicit fighting (there’s a lot of blood) and contemporary critiques of notions of aesthetics and how elites recognize lower classes within the scale, for example. While he leaves that type of symbolism with what is outside his narrative, he consolidates his own.
Through the first season and the movie Demon Slayer: The Infinity Train, this anime has shaped in a logical and sustained way the role of each of its protagonists. Tanjirou, Nezuko, Inosuke, and ZenitsuThey have continued to plow the path of the hero, growing within the story, both from a personal point of view and in their work as demon hunters. The end of the second season allows us to understand this: it is not the pillar who kills the demon; It’s the three apprentices who pull it off, after months of training and, yes, of course, some script conveniences. Because he has them.
Kimetsu no Yaiba It’s not a perfect anime. There are details that can irritate, generate controversy. Nezuko’s abilities or some power up. The thing with those conveniences is that they are still part of the universe composed during the previous chapters. Although they are easy ways out, they are justified in advance. The verisimilitude pact with the viewer is not broken. Instead, several of them are used to describe the protagonists and help them in their own journey of growth and presentation to the viewer.
The pillars as a means to tell the main story
During Demon Slayer: The Infinity Train a key change occurred in relation to the first season of the anime. Kyojuro Rengoku, the pillar of the flame, sponsored the protagonists during that stretch. Once the four main characters were introduced, the story jumped to the next level: narrate the adventures of Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke and Zenitsu through their relationship with the pillarsthe elite class of demon hunters.
In that way, Kimetsu no Yaiba does not overload his story in the protagonists. It is supported by secondary actors with a key weight, both in the action phase and in personal development, to surprise the viewer. Along the way, he also offers information about demons, the tradition implicit in the job of hunters and the mystique hidden in each combat dance. As the personalities of the pillars are opposite (to the point of generating the idea that they do not get along with each other), each of them offers a different story and that serves as a counterweight to that of the main characters. The story and the spectacle are enriched, since these elite characters have skills superior to the others.
The graphic adaptation of demon slayer
There is no better staging within anime today. If the first season and Demon Slayer: The Infinity Train were pleasant productions in this sense, the second part of this story leaves behind any doubt and suspicion: the work of ufotablethe commissioned animation studio, It’s one of the great anime values in particular and animated productions in general.
His combination of 2D resources, the use of 3D, color management, photographic composition, montage and music are unquestionable. Through the combination of these factors, along with a simple yet nuanced story, demon slayer has left memorable chapters; some of them may even be the favorites of several viewers, like episode ten, in which the protagonists face and kill the superior moon. There are action movies, with greater resources and investment, that do not offer the visual, emotional and aesthetic experience of this series.
Kimetsu no Yaiba is at a midpoint, in relation to the manga, and the third season is already confirmed. It is likely that, as happened with Demon Slayer: The Infinity Train and the second season, Ufotable takes about a year to adapt it and present new episodes. While Attack the titans his end is near, the story that will take his place in the audience when he is gone continues to grow.
