Oh boy, here we go. Before I start this review I'll say I first watched the anime before reading the manga, so my views on it were clearly clouded by Ufotable's incredible work, which can elevate mediocre stories and protagonists (looking at you God Eater) to much greater degrees. However, in taking some time to reflect on the manga on its own, without the studio magic animating it, I got a much clearer picture of what my thoughts were regarding this series.

Story: 4 - Decent

Honestly, this series does nothing new or exciting aside from one thing related to the protagonist's mentality and how it subverts the usual shounen protagonist. It follows a very straight forward path that you can see from beginning to end without any real surprises. That's not necessarily bad, as there's plenty of examples of stories who use a beaten path and succeeded, but I think the author played a bit too safe on this case.

The biggest problem lies in everything feeling like it took a syringe filled with Red Bull, caffeine and sugar straight into the veins and was on overdrive the whole time. Tanjiro goes from helpless villager to demon slayer badass in fewer chapters than it takes One Piece to create a tertiary villain's compelling backstory. We don't get a sense of power-scaling through the series, as the author just says "they spent months training" to explain how the heck did they get so powerful just like that. It doesn't feel natural or engaging for the readers.

This pacing issue permeates not only the power levels but the development of characters as well. More on all this later in the review. And even the worldbuilding felt rushed and forced in some areas (as an example, you don't realize the story is set in the 20th century until quite late in the story, which can be jarring for some people)

Art: 7 - Good

Kimetsu no Yaiba has a very unique and distinct art style, quite different from most others you'll find in this media. This helps to elevate the bad writing and lackluster characters to greater heights, improving the overall experience.

The fight scenes have a very good flow to them and each slayer has a distinct design and fighting style easily identifiable by the art. This helps a lot in recognizing who's facing who at a glance and makes the reader invested in what's happening on the pages. Not only that, but the changes in style to help show off comedic moments in contrast with the more serious ones is something I wish more people would do as well.

Character: 5 - Mediocre

Tanjiro has a nice subversion of the usual shounen protagonist in the fact he doesn't want to be the strongest there is. Thanks to stuff like Dragon Ball, Naruto and One Piece, the market is saturated with MCs looking to be the best there is at whatever the shows depict. So having Tanjiro just want to fight because he wants to heal his sister is quite a breath of fresh air.

However, that's the sole thing about him that isn't generic or bordering on Gary Stu territory. He doesn't have any real flaw the whole story and everyone seems to like or learns to like him over the course of the plot, sometimes for no apparent reason at all. Compare him to someone like Naruto, who was a real brat and pretty idiotic at the beginning of his series, slowly turning into a strong and interesting hero along his journey, and you'll see what I mean.

Another problem he has, which is shared by almost all the cast: Lack of growth and change. Seriously, pick how each individual person is when they first appeared and compare it to how they are at the ending and you'll see they are the same person. Summarizing a very complicated topic, normally you would want to have either the protagonist growing and changing (Naruto, Star Wars OT, etc) or a static protagonist who influences and changes others around him (Back to the Future, etc). Having no growth for anyone is a major problem.

Not only that, but most characters have no real depth to them, feeling like cardboard cutouts of cliches and beaten traits. This means they end up being forgettable, with you barely able to remember their names unless they appear as often as the main trio (Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke) and Nezuko. And slapping a sad backstory on them whenever is convenient works the first few times, but it loses its charm quite quick.

As for Muzan, the main villain, he's generic in his motivations, but damn if he isn't an intimidating bastard. The first time he appears in the flesh is a very good moment that shows the gigantic difference in power and cunning between him and Tanjiro, highlighting the abyss between them for Tanjiro to overcome. Overall, he's a fine villain that serves to elevate a poor story.

Enjoyment: 8 - Very Good

Now that the critical part of me finished his thoughts, I'll say that even with all its flaws, I utterly enjoyed Kimetsu no Yaiba. The fights were fun and had plenty of awesome and badass moments, as well as some creative powers and designs for the villains. And even if it was poorly executed, I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two for some of the backstories shown later in the series.

If you want a simple shounen story with good battles and without having to put much thought into it, Kimetsu no Yaiba is for you. But if you want a well-thought power system and/or elaborated world-building and characters, consider giving this series a hard pass.