Reflection and Analysis

Demon Slayer - Thoughts - Spoilers (2/28/2022)

I thought I wrote up this reflection awhile back. And then I found it under Kamado Tanjiro – Gary Stu which I'm retitling to start with Demon Slayer.

Let's start off with one of the things the Manga is praised for—not running as long as other series. Is this actually a good thing? To answer this question, the reason it is assumed that shorter is better is because there is this argument among certain Anime fans that there is something wrong with being a longer series. Yet, is this true?

There are two reasons this argument exists. Longer series require an investment on the part of fans to stick with the series for a long period of time. This means the fan needs the attention span to keep up with the series, but in regards to this reason it is not the fault of the longer series or the creator of said series that said fan lacks the attention span to keep up with said series, but in this regard fans who lack the proper attention span to keep up with longer series need to own up.

This is in particular important as there has of late been a catering to this particular demographic within Anime and Manga, one that has led to rushed plots and is now being called out as there are quite a few series for which a longer plot would be more suitable being shoved into a single cour which is a production cycle. These series are often one and done, yet I'd argue shoving what should be a longer series covered in more than one cour is a type of fan service – a new type that should be done away with. But, more on that in a bit.

The other reason for the argument against longer series is that fans have invested their time (and in some cases money) into these series only to be disappointed in the series. Which, Demon Slayer is one example of a series which ended in a manner that was a disappointment which can be tied to issues in writing. The thing about this, is not all of the series with disappointing endings are because of bad writing. And even if it is because of bad writing, it may not be the entire series. This needs to be recognized.

So is a series being shorter and fast paced a good thing? Saying yes is built upon the idea that longer series is inherently bad. The answer is it is neither bad or good, yet the real answer to the question is this—a series should be the length it needs to be to tell the tale. It should neither be too short or too long, but just right for that particular story. Nothing more, nothing less.

In the case of Demon Slayer, it's rushed. But how? I touch upon that in the above entry. There are certain things like having a bunch of canon fodder which come out of nowhere after it being set up in the first arc that it is difficult. There are arcs which serve as a power up for the characters only to be treated as useless in the very next arc, just so that the main character can have a cool sword hilt and be the "best" Demon Slayer when it comes to fire abilities. And then the writer realized the canon fodder needed a level up. Backstories are there and the character gone in the next moment.

And, let's not forget the junk science of the Demon Slayer Mark I pointed out in another entry, of it "killing" by a certain age but our main character being an exception. This isn't to say the series isn't enjoyable, but—oh, there's no getting around the fact the main character is a Gary Stu.