Demon Slayer is an anime that has been recommended to me countless times, but I’m such a sucker for pages that I knew I had to read the manga first before I could get into the anime series. That’s why I decided it was time to read Demon Slayer Volume 1. Here is my official review of the manga.
Demon Slayer Volume 1 by Koyoharu Gotouge | Buy in the US | Buy in the UK
About Demon Slayer
Written and Illustrated by: Koyoharu Gotouge
Published by: Shueisha & Viz Media
Original Run: April 6, 2019 – present
Pages: 192
Summary
Tanjiro Kamado never believed that demons were real. But when his family is slaughtered, and his sister is transformed into a demon, he gets a first-hand reality check. His sister Nezuko is his only remaining family member, and now she’s trying to kill him. Tanjiro must subdue her and find a way to save her. This leads him on a quest to seek out Sakonji Urokodaki, a retired demon slayer.
My thoughts on Demon Slayer
When people initially told me about Demon Slayer, my first impression of it was that it was probably some hack and slash series where characters engage a never-ending horde of demons with samurai swords. Walking Dead with samurai swords, I thought. I wasn’t expecting any kind of compelling story to come from a series named Demon Slayer, and therefore, my mind sorted it into the “dumb fun” category.
But as I read through the first few chapters of the manga, I realized that there’s actually much more going on here. Tanjiro’s quest to cure his sister is an interesting arc to follow. And while the deaths of his other family members was brushed off a little too quickly, we are given time to understand that Tanjiro has a significant amount of admiration for his sister Nezuko. We’re shown flashbacks of their prior sibling interactions, and it helps to develop that bond between them. And this makes the moment when Tanjiro must defend his sister from a Demon Slayer more intense.
Tanjiro is no warrior. He finds himself having to rely on quick-thinking and instinct to protect himself and his demonic sister. After reasoning with a Demon Slayer, Tanjiro is told to seek out the wise (and retired) Demon Slayer, Sakonji Urokodaki. And once Tanjiro reaches Urokodaki, we begin to see the real growth and development of Tanjiro.
Urokodaki begins to teach Tanjiro about how demons function. Their strengths and weaknesses. And when Tanjiro learns, we learn. We find out the many rules of demon slaying during action sequences, so the world-building of the story is never overwhelming.
I’m always fascinated when a mangaka is able to both write and illustrate something this good. The artwork in Demon Slayer is both well-defined and distinct. In manga, the backgrounds often don’t need to be super detailed unless it’s a big part of the scene, but in this manga, the backgrounds are often given the same level of detail as the characters themselves, which is even more impressive.
There’s also some nice facial details that make it obvious which characters are human and which ones are demons. And this volume features a cool super-boss demon that looks like a total abomination.
This is a well-paced read with lots of highs and lows. It features seven chapters, and I’ll be surprised if you haven’t made up your mind to buy volume two by the time you hit chapter five.
Verdict
The Demon Slayer anime is one of the hottest ones right now, and while I’ve yet to check out the anime, I can confirm that the manga is thoroughly enjoyable. The fate of Nezuko is enough to hook you into the story to find out whether Tanjiro is able to save his sister in some way.
For fans of Shonen manga, Demon Slayer is right up your alley and is pretty much a must-read / must-watch property right now.
