I’m one of the few readers who followed this manga from the start to where it is now, and guys, what a ride. As one of the reviewers said, in the first ten chapters you get this feeling of imminent axing from WSJ, just close an eye and keep reading. Anyway, truly a refreshing manga, Kimetsu no Yaiba takes elements from the boring and repetitive Shounen genre and gives its own vibes, colors, atmosphere and setting, putting everything together. What I mean is, Kimetsu no Yaiba does NOT revolutionize the Shounen, the author gives his best to make it unique in its own repetitivness and boringness. So how does KnY differ from the others?

First of all, the manga takes a different route from the very beginning. We all know everyone dies but the protagonist alone or with one or two friends of his in every manga we might think of. Here in this historical adventure with the protagonist survives the sister, soon to be a demon. Now what are the demons? Humans transformed into humanoid creatures thirsty of human flesh. The enemies of our race. Props to the mangaka tho, with time in shounen mangas the enemies tend to be blank and without a personality. Here each and every demon is different, has its strenghts and weaknesses and its past/story. The demons are truly the horror elements of this series, while some might look like humans, others completely not. But keep calm, the gore is always granted. Demons are cruel but they are not stupid. In fact I might say some of them are even more intelligent than some humans.

When I think of “Kimetsu no Yaiba”, some words come out: gore, demons, blades, pighead and terrible drawings. So yeah, let’s get straight to the selling point of the manga. I might not be the one who can judge, but hey, the art is terrible. If I had to say how bad it is, probably as bad as in Shingeki no Kyojin. I’m not saying that there’s not effort put in it, ‘cause I’m sure there is, but maybe the author’s strength might not be the drawing. Is that a good thing or a bad a thing? Subjective. You always have to look things to other points of view, personally I see it as a positive thing. It’s this incosistent line which gives its uniqueness to the manga. The problem I have with some shounen, is that the panels don’t tell you nothing, whereas in this book every panel is a festival of emotions, feelings and sweat put altogether in simple ink lines. It’s not something I noticed straight away, but with every chapter being released I found out why I couldn’t get my eyes off to the drawings. The uniqueness and the vibes this gives to you.

Oh boy, this is just hilarious. The characters. Honestly? As I said before when I think of KnY Some words come to my mind, one of which is “colors”. Koyoharu has done an outstanding job with the characters. They just give you the right vibes of how good can a character be written. Don’t get me wrong, characterization is not something very noticeable, but this might be one of the few cases where it’s not really needed. What I mean is, all the characters (even the support cast) have their own personality, and you can truly feel what they are going through and what they are feeling, even with some of the demons. This might be just me tho. So now don’t call me crazy, but Kimetsu no Yaiba, as I see it, is a very colorful manga. When I said that the author had done an excellent job with the characters this is what I wanted to say; every single character has its color, its vibe and its shape. Each MC never gets boring to read, the interactions they have with one another is something everyone should praise. So yeah, both humans and demons are memorable, as they are very unique on its own.

When it comes to enjoyment, Kimetsu no Yaiba always hypes you up, doesn’t waste time to get to the action, in fact I can’t think of more than 10 chapters for a break from the end of a battle to the beginning of a new one. Yes it is very fast paced, or better, it might have a questionable pace, but I’m guessing that the author wants to do what he loves the most, gets you excited for an awesome battle, and you can feel the all the love and effort he puts in the choreography of the scene, the dance of the characters. Of course, you can’t call a Shounen-battle manga a shounen-battle manga if it doesn’t have over-the-top action, blood from a single scratch, some sort of weird techniques and screamings. Kimetsu no yaiba is not by any meaning lower than big mangas like Naruto or one piece when it comes to fight scenes. I’m sorry they not might be 100 chapters-long but every battle has its story to tell, its characters to develop, its demons, and its setting (most of the time night). Other than fights and gore, the enjoyment of the manga is characterized by a cast which is pure fun to follow, so it never gets boring there.

Overall, Kimetsu no Yaiba is an hidden gem, sadly underrated, that takes you to a completely different kind of world in a historical horror setting with a unique cast, atmosphere and identity.

Hopefully you will give it a try, thanks for reading!