Please be warned this review has spoilers:

Reading Demon Slayer was an emotional rollercoaster; it is a heartfelt story about societal failure, loyalty, perseverance, faith, and bonding. That list doesn't cover all the themes, but I believe it covers a majority of them. While the plot as a whole wasn't necessarily groundbreaking or unique, there were a number of qualities that overshadow the story's generic nature and make the journey enjoyable. At the same time, there are some criticisms I would like to address.

As a shounen, Demon Slayer doesn't lack for any action and most action sequences are accompanied by a compelling antagonist. A recurring theme in the story is that each antagonist was driven to a demonic state by some kind of past trauma, which we get a vista into once the demon is on the verge of death. My personal favorite antagonists are Upper Moon 3 and the first Upper Moon 6, both of who had riveting backstories that conveyed the grueling and morose nature of their upbringing as humans. As the story further unravels their backstories, it becomes easy to somewhat sympathize with the antagonists' struggles. It becomes clear that underneath the contempt and belligerence lies a humanism previously shrouded - a thread connecting even these loathsome demons to their humanity. It's truly poignant and Gotouge Koyoharu does a commendable job interweaving it with the Demon Slayer experience.

Further adding to the appeal is the lore surrounding the Demon Slayer world. Set in the late 1800s/early 1900s Japan, the author regales readers with an era of darkness and danger stretching back over a thousand years. Demons have been a nocturnal threat for humans living in Japan for the entire span of time and the organization protecting humans from the danger of demons - the Demon Slayers - is not even governmentally recognized. Readers become exposed to interesting backstories for both protagonists and antagonists and compelling characters like Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Especially fun is diving into the hierarchy of skilled swordsmen and types of breathing which yield each swordsman's capabilities. I think it is a world that has much potential for even further expansion, should more material elucidating on the lore come out.

Amongst the more popular shounen, pacing seems to be an opinionated issue. In regards to Demon Slayer, the pacing throughout the beginning and middle arcs are well done, in my opinion, and move the story along at a comfortable pace. Expositions take place at reasonable junctures and the protagonist progresses at a level that is in concordance with the events that take place. This does, however, bring me to my first criticism.

The pacing in the ending arc seems to accelerate rapidly and Tanjiro's development starts to become more contrived rather than organic. The plot begins to rely on deus-ex machina in order to progress to it's endpoint i.e. Kanao miraculously having extra antidote for Tanjiro when he transforms into a demon and the path to the final fight seems entirely rushed, although given the author's circumstances at the time of writing, its understandable. I also feel the story would have benefitted from further exposition prior to reaching the endgame, especially when it came to the antagonist, Muzan. I would have liked to see his backstory be expanded and his reasons for becoming a demon to be more compelling. Even the final fight, while in some ways was spectacular, was not very interesting and consisted simply of Muzan flailing his tentacle-like appendages haphazardly in an attempt to cut down the demon slayers. There was very little use of an interesting blood art, which his underling demons displayed adeptly. To be candid, the fight was a bit underwhelming. Although the story does not lack much in its ending (in fact I thought its wholesomeness fit the overall optimistic tone of the plot), the events leading up to the aftermath could have been handled better.

While I do think the story should have expounded more on certain plot points and that there should have been more arcs before the end, I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy my time reading Demon Slayer. With that said, I regard this manga in a positive light and recommend it to anyone looking for a good shounen.