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Demon Slayer’s simple plot strengthens its characters

Demon Slayer is often criticized for its simple plot, but it is actually the main reason for the success of the series.

One of the most common criticisms of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The story is very simple. Tanjiro Kamado’s family was massacred by demons and his only surviving sibling, Nezuko, has been turned into a demon whom he vows to turn back into a human. While it is fair to say that the plot of Murderer of demons it’s pretty straight forward, this is actually the biggest strength of the series. Murderer of demons has never been overly interested in world building, as the series’ rules and stakes were set early and remained unchanged throughout the manga, which concluded in May 2020. Taking advantage of the absence of extensive exposition on reveals shocking and series -alteration of turns, Murderer of demons he spends most of his time on the series’ greatest asset, the characters.


demon slainThe ending of r was established in the first chapter of the manga when Giyu Tomioka told Tanjiro that his best chance to turn Nezuko from a demon to a human was to join the Demon Slayer Corps. Subsequent chapters delved into the details of Full Concentration Breathing, Breathing Styles, and killing demons, but once the parameters of this new world were set, Murderer of demons never looked back. By doing all the world building early and fast, the series was freed up to spend most of its time developing the characters rather than the world around them.


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Tanjiro demands to pay for handjob in Demon Slayer

The second chapter of the manga doesn’t even reference the fact that demons exist in the first seven pages. Instead of rushing into the worldbuilding of the first series, the series sees Tanjiro stubbornly demanding to pay for materials he could have taken for free, coaxing Nezuko into a basket, and then politely asking for directions. It’s clear from the start that this story is about the characters rather than any outside force. Using multiple pages in a comedic scene of Tanjiro forcibly paying for a basket when he could just as easily have assembled an off-page basket helps the audience value Tanjiro more than the journey he is on. .


The simple premise of killing demons while searching for a cure is ripe for repetition and Murderer of demons It largely avoids becoming stale thanks to its large group of interesting and compelling characters. Once the series assembled its main cast, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke, it introduced the nine Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps as most of the series’ supporting cast. To keep the gang’s demon slaying missions fresh, the series wisely rotates into different Hashira to join the heroes on various missions. Even this technique should get old after a while, but the Hashira are fascinating characters that are dramatically different from each other. A new Hashira temporarily joining the group creates new character interactions to keep things lively and gives the audience a new character to invest in.


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Zenitsu, Rengoku, Tanjiro and Inosuke in Demon Slayer

Murderer of demons he wisely spends more time on who his characters are rather than what they can do. Even Kyojuro Rengoku, who spent much of his time in the spotlight literally sleeping, has still become so beloved by fans that an anime-only Rengoku-focused episode was created in response to his popularity. Rengoku’s dream flashback gave an insight into what drove Flame Hashira, and he spent time interacting with Tanjiro and the others before any fights started so that a bond between the characters could be formed. Murderer of demons it got the audience to care about Rengoku for who he was, instead of just trusting how cool his Flame Breathing looked.


For such a dark premise, Murderer of demons it’s also surprisingly fun. Humor is a great tool for gaining insight into a character, even if the character isn’t funny. Laughs and jokes humanize a character just as well, if not better, than a traumatic past or long-cherished dream. If the audience cares about a character, they will care about what happens to them regardless of the story. If the audience is more involved in the plot, the characters become less valuable and everything that happens to them loses much of its intended impact. Murderer of demons does such an excellent job of getting its audience so invested in its characters so quickly that it almost doesn’t matter if the series is relatively simple.

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