why is manga turned anime so popular?
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu’s No Yaiba anime was a surprise hit. Although the manga it was based on was published in the popular comic book anthology magazine Weekly Shonen Jump alongside other series like My Hero Academia and One Piece, it was not as successful as some of the most famous series.
Since its release, however, everything has changed, perhaps most illustrated by the manga which has sold over 100 million units worldwide – roughly four times the sales of My Hero Academia, and roughly equal to Attack on Titan (although on 22 volumes compared to the current Titan. number of 31).
During the Demon Slayer feature film panel at New York’s Metaverse 2020 on Friday, Chris Han of Funimation and Anthony Foronda of Aniplex of America discussed the animated series and what resonated with viewers. They also gave a hint on what fans should expect to see in the film, and information on when North American fans might see the film.
The series is set in Japan at an undetermined period of the Taisho era (roughly 1912-1926) and follows his brother and sister Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado. Tanjiro, upon his return from selling charcoal to help make ends meet for his family, finds them all murdered by a demon except for his sister Nezuko, who has become a demon herself. The two travel together, searching for a way to return Nezuko to human form, leading Tanjiro to join a secret group of demon-slaying swordsmen. Hunters use special breathing techniques that allow them to imbue their weapons with elemental properties to kill demons that are normally unkillable.
The empathy that Tanjiro shows not only for others but also for demons was an aspect frequently mentioned on the panel about the attractiveness of the show and Tanjiro as a protagonist. With Anthony saying, “We don’t see much empathy in the heroes of shounen, and we see it with him.”
Although Tanjiro is part of a demon-killing group, he still manages to remain empathetic and see his targets as more than monsters. Something they speculated might come a bit from her sister’s transformation into a demon, that if she can refrain from killing humans in order to survive, then there might be others like her. And so, in a sense, he acts not to kill them, but to free them from this terrible path that they have found themselves on.
Han and Foronda also discussed the beautiful animation of the show from the Ufotable studio (pronounced like a U.F.O.table). Chris described the show’s allure of animation as the animated GIFs you would want to see in an art museum. “[Millennials] long to be able to walk into an art museum and see like moving GIFs, like pictures and paintings in frames. It’s like seeing it as an animated series. And I think that’s where Ufotable kicks him out of the park. “
They ended the panel by discussing Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train aka Demon Slayer: Infinity Train, which will be released in Japan on Friday, October 16, announcing that it will arrive in North American theaters at the start of 2021.
Mugen Train, unlike many long-form animated films, continues the history of the series. The film sees Tanjiro and his friends help one of the dozen most powerful swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps, the Hashira flame Kyojuro Rengoku, investigate the mysterious disappearances of people on a train.
Which leads them to cross paths with Enmu, one of the main antagonist and demon lord Muzan Kibutsuji’s 12 elite guards, who has made the train their personal hunting ground. Enmu was briefly seen at the end of the animated series as Muzan warned the Lower Six after one of their own was defeated.
The 26-episode animated series is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll and Funimation. There is also a Blu-ray version of the first 13 episodes on sale now.
