My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 23 by Koyoharu Gotouge

Two years after finishing this manga I still wish they did the ending over. I remember how much people complained about the finale of the last volume of My Promised Neverland, but I take that finale over this one anytime. Hopefully the movie adaptation does better. 

  Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 23 by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Talk about a hard-fought, bitter-sweet ending! To no-one's surprise, Muzan was defeated. But he made good on his vow to destroy the Demon Slayer Corps―specifically the elite Hashira fighters. It wasn't until this last volume that I picked-up on the analogue between the Hashira and the Seven Samurai. While the core team of Tanjiro and company survived, I wish Koyoharu Gotouge didn't see fit to kill-off every likeable supporting character in the story just for the drama.

Given that this last volume was written at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it may explain the somber, but hopeful tone of the ending and afterward. Also, I felt that the story and art clearly drops-off in this volume, especially after Muzan is finally dealt with. I felt that the author is alternatively rushing and packing in filler at the end, and does not really feel like dealing with the story after the goal is achieved. The ending is suppose to be hopeful/happy, but it becomes corny (again, I think Gotouge was exhausted dealing with this book and COVID at the same time so I am not totally unsympathetic). We could've had Muzan defeated and everyone just go their separate ways—the time-skip feels painfully forced.

For me, overall, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has been an amazing manga (and anime until late).I think the final arc is the last to be adapted and hopefully they do a little better than the recent adaptation of Swordsmith Village arc (volumes 12-15) and the snails-pacing of the story (back-story has always been the Achilles Heel of this book and shonen as a whole).

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My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 22: The Wheel of Fate by Koyoharu Gotouge

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 22: The Wheel of Fate by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[I wrote this part after I had read the book on April 10, 2023, before I came back to Goodreads]

The penultimate volume of one of the greatest manga of all time. This is the first-half of the last battle against Muzan and it looks as bleak as ever for the surviving heroes, after Tamayo's death and Tanjiro is temporarily knocked-out by Muzan. Of course , Tanjiro recovers and they have to keep Muzan occupied for an hour until the sun comes out and kills him—the longest hour ever.

The dynamic art-style in this volume sees Koyoharu Gotouge operating at the height of his powers. Weirdly, we are still getting backstory this late in the game (this time for the Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro and some more on the first demon slayer Yorichii).

[current note, January 2024]
I'm writing this having finished the series and I can say this volume and the preceding two volumes are the book at it's peak.

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My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 21: Ancient Memories

This review was written on Oct 29, 2021. I think this volume and the volumes before and after it was the series at it's peak. I know the trilogy of anime movies ending the franchise are covering manga volumes 17-23, but I think the last volume is one of the big let-downs and it makes me nervous for the final Demon Slayer film. By contrast, I am hype for the penultimate film and hope the studio gives it the same treatment they gave the last movie.

  Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 21: Ancient Memories by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This volume picks-up right where the last one left off. The most powerful Upper Moon demon is defeated, but he takes some crucial folks with him, and the ranks of the heroes are further thinned out...just in time for Muzan to break-out of Tamayo's hold and we lose her as well. Despite that the last Upper Moon Demon to die was actually No. 4 who was controlling the battlefield and she is used to push Muzan outdoors (as he can only be killed by sunlight), unfortunately it is still an hour and a half until dawn and given the casualty rate, it seems impossible for the Demon Slayers to hold out for that long. This is truly one of the great genre reads I've come across in the last few years and I can't wait to read the last volumes. Happy Halloween!

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My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 18: Assaulted by Memories by Koyoharu Gotouge

I decided to post the rest of my reviews of the six remaining volumes of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba to the blog. With the movies coming out over the next 2-3 years I thought I might as well share these.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 18: Assaulted by Memories by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This volume was a bit more heavy on plot-contrivances and back-story, but it was still really good on the art. One battle with one of the main antagonist-lieutenants finally comes to an end. This guy was one of the most notorious villains of the series besides the big bad since the end of the Demon Train-arc. Meanwhile, the most hated of the Upper Moon lieutenants since this final arc began is still giving one of the protagonists a hard time, but then my favorite of the protagonists and the best child shows-up ready to rumble. I hate that Gotouge had to concoct a contrived backstory between Inousuke and the demon to give some motivation to the heroes (this is a meta-problem with Demon Slayer that I may comment on further when I review the series as a whole for the last volume, but safe to say that the concept of "women in refrigerators" plot-laziness that was so well articulated by Gail Simone is in full-effect throughout this series—sometimes justified as a part of the world of the story, but often not). Besides that, this volume is still really good–if not as strong as the last volume–and I can't wait to read the next volume.

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Read on Dec 26, 2020

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 19: Flapping Butterfly Wings by Koyoharu Gotouge

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 19: Flapping Butterfly Wings by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Need to start the year off right with a good manga. Well, with the Upper Moon 2 demon defeated by a very long gambit, it only leaves 2 more lieutenants before the big bad. Upper Moon 2 was truly the most purely evil of the Upper Moon demons, the narrative doesn't even give him a post-death woobie sympathy scene like with all the other demons. The Upper Moon 4 is controlling the actual setting of the battlefield and Upper Moon 1 is pretty-much Mike Tyson-ing every one who he goes against (view spoiler)[which is understandable since it is all but confirmed that he is the first Demon Slayer swordsman turned into a demon—he even uses Demon Slayer sword techniques aka "breathing" instead of blood-demon-art (hide spoiler)]. The last part of the manga has 4 different Demon Slayers (3 of them "hashira" aka Demon Slayer generals) trying to just put a dent in him while he is dog-walking them. We got until at least August 2021 until the last English translation wraps up and it will be wild from what I can guess. The art is as good as it has been since I have been reading the manga (the anime really excels in this department).

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Read Jan 1, 2021

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 20: The Path of Opening a Steadfast Heart by Koyoharu Gotouge

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 20: The Path of Opening a Steadfast Heart by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best volumes of the book and Tanjiro & co. are not (really) in it. The battle with the Upper Moon 1 demon (view spoiler)[who turns out to be the second swordsman to use demon slaying techniques taught to him by his twin brother: the first demon slayer (hide spoiler)]. This volume is interesting because we learn just how long the big bad has been doing his thing and we learn the origin of the sword techniques of the demon slayers. The effort used to fight this guy was just amazing. I can't imagine what will happen next.

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 Read Feb 15, 2021

My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 17: Successors by Koyoharu Gotouge

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 17: Successors by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Happy Halloween folks!! (To think that the actual scariest day of this year is actual three days from now.)

No better book to read on this day than one of the best horror manga of the new century. We are in the middle of the final battle and as usual no easy victories are allowed to come here. We lead this volume off with a devastating lost for the demon slayers, but we don't linger on it for to long because we are actually visiting multiple fronts of the battle and getting in more back-story on the different participants. Zenitsu (my least favorite of the protagonists) shows off a new weapon and we get some more of Tanjuro's history with his father. The pacing of this manga is definitely a "writing for the trades" situation so I it is obvious this battle won't be over know time soon and this volume is just a segment of the story with no beginning or conclusion. Because I came to this manga from the beautifully-made anime, Gotouge's art will always feel off to me though he is the one who created all these characters. Can't wait to read the next volume.

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My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 16: Undying

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 16: Undying by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, we resolved the last training-arc of the series and the final battle is upon us. The original Japanese publication of this series finished this year, but the last Japanese volume of this is not until December 2020, and the official English translation won't be done until the middle of next year (hopefully we'll have a functioning COVID-19 vaccine by then). Tanjiro get's his last training by the Stone Hashira and just in time, because Muzan makes his move and the whole Demon Slayer Corps is now fighting in total war against him and his lieutenants.

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My Goodreads Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 15: Daybreak And First Light by Koyoharu Gotouge

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 15: Daybreak And First Light by Koyoharu Gotouge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So much going on here; I'll spoiler-tag my thoughts on the story here and then give my general thoughts on the title overall:

view spoiler --[Man Gotouge makes his heroes earn every bit of victory they get--and still always finds a way to make something worse be right around the corner! We come into the action with everybody in danger and almost the whole team getting annilated in just the first two pages. They manage to win thanks to a long-hinted at surprise (that I won't even spoil in the spoil-tag) happening and the assault on the Demon Slayer Corps armory is over and it is time to asses the damage. Making the twist be what transitions us to the last arc of this series is a genius move. The Hashira are as unhinged and dangerous as always, but we get more back-story on them and we learn more about the big bad as he begins his plans for the final showdown with the protagonists. (hide spoiler)] you'll have to go to Goodreads to see this.

I've wondered for awhile why this title takes place during the Taishō era as opposed to the Meiji period or late-Edo period. I think it may be a meta-commentary on modernity, but I'm not sure. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba could be my favorite manga right now if not for the art and story-pacing. The Promised Neverland (which share the same publisher) still edges it out at both. The pacing was actually a little better here, but only by a slim-margin. Koyoharu Gotouge handles the art and story of the manga, so you can't argue that the decompressed story is the fault of differences with the creative team, but still the story is good even if it is obvious the author is writing for the trades. I'm glad I won't have to wait long for the next volume (yes I'm trying to read the English translation for this title the right way unlike the rest of the reviewers of this book (though some of y'all might be reading the actual licensed-translated chapter releases).

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