First impressions « Demon Slayer »
Tanjirou is quite surprised …
I’m in the mood for some anime. It has been a while since I watched anything new.
Thanks to a recommendation by my good friend, L-san (or should I call her M-san?), I watched the first three episodes of Demon Slayer. It is also known as Kimetsu no Yaiba which roughly translates into demon killing blade. Yeah, I know. This is just pointless trivia, but it is still interesting to see the word blade being used in the Japanese title.
What do I think? In my humble opinion, I can see a few influences from Bleach, Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist. Groups of individual people with different powers. Being in a student teacher relationship and gradually learning to become stronger, and the overarching background of trying to save and/or heal a family member. Ultimately, it might be all about friends and family. But I’m open to see where it will lead me to. I don’t know anything at this point, but I’m getting more and more interested in the overall world. The above mentioned influences are purely my own interpretations, and stem from my own anime watching experiences. Don’t believe everything I say, please 🤪
It looks like we are in the Meiji period (correction: It’s already the Taishou period, haha [Future self]). Japan, once closed. Now open for business with the west. Adopting new technologies at an increasing pace. Transforming the country into a mixture of tradition and rationalisation. Powered by the fuel of scientific advances and the political systems of the west, in particular Germany, it races into a never before seen future. The shougun is powerless. The emperor is the new ruler of Japan. 400 years of isolation leads into a new age of opportunities and disasters.
Honestly, what mystifies me the most is the fact that this show was very super successful, and had a big impact on the perception of Japanese culture. I’ve seen many if not countless Nezuko goodies before even watching this anime, or being even aware of its existence. In a way, the presentation of this character is nothing new, but the outer appearance leaves room for many new stylistic and visual approaches. I’m talking about the object in her mouth which obviously hinders her from biting any humans. Only time will tell if there is actually any deeper secret to the character, or if it is all just style. Maybe just maybe, we can discover a glimmer or hint of an unspoken, hidden secret in her. The transformation of the ordinary into the extraordinary continues.
Nezuko the talpa europaea
How will the story develop? Will Tanjirou be able to save his little sister? Will the demons win in the end? In a sense, it is a story about succumbing to your own internal demons and trying to find a way to fight and defeat them. Primal versus intellectual.
This is by no means any review, and I don’t intend to write any reviews because the of the hierarchical structures of a review. It will just play bondage games with your mind. If you want to be a slave to society then continue to follow the rules of others, and try to please them. The profound beauty of human existence and experiences starts with the unknown, and will go much deeper. I want to sharpen my mind. That is my mission for myself and the purpose of this blog. If I can succeed, sure, that would be great. If not that is okay too. Maybe I will come across some new ideas for my work on the way. In a way, I’m feeling very dull at this moment, but I’m getting used to it. Only time will tell. Let me take some baby steps first – This part has obviously nothing to do with the anime, but I could care less. Nya ha ha
„If you can slice this boulder, I will allow you to enter the Final Selection.“
An interesting quote. I believe that breaking free from the norm, and being able to achieve the impossible are very important parts to our perception of this world. Some might call it daydreaming, but isn’t there something deep down in our psyche that wishes for the unattainable, the so called impossible? Peace, ever-lasting life? Nothing is literal, and basically everything is literal. What really matters are the friends and experiences we make on the way to achieving those impossible dreams.
Artist rendition of one of the main characters
Well, I created a quick sketch of Nezuko. My current main concern revolves around the question how cute she is. Is there actually any real moe moe involved, or am I just being led on. I will find an answer even if I need to dive deeper into the dreamworld.
The brother sister relationship is, yes indeed, quite fascinating for me. I can see that one’s love for a sibling, especially the last surviving one, would literally make you develop inhuman superpowers, and make you cross any kind of boundaries. It might be a mere plot point to drive the heroes quest, but we still need to ask the question why such a simple plot point is so important for a good story. The human mind revolves around the question “what is love?”, and this difficult, yet so familiar question will continue to haunt all of our existences. A story without love can simply not exist. Finally, how can we define love? Is there actually a definite answer? What creates love? Is it possible that the dichotomy of love creates pain and happiness? Many questions, but I’m interested to see more.
I’m certain that we can explore much more in this anime, but for the time being I will leave it here. If you can cut a boulder with a sword, doesn’t that mean that you can cut down anything in your path? The doors to the fantastical might have been opened, and with is it a plethora of new opportunities. Leaving the home town behind to explore new and exciting places, and go on an unforgettable adventure. Until then…
