Written By: Koyoharu Gotouge
Illustrated By: Koyoharu Gotouge
Age Rating: Teen
Page Count: 191 pgs
Published By: Viz Media
Release Date: Out Now
After the death of his father, thirteen year old Tanjiro Kamado becomes the sole earner in his family. He leaves early one morning to go sell charcoal to the village at the foot of the mountain, in order to provide for his mother and five younger siblings. On his return the following morning, he is met with a devastating scene as he finds his family brutally slaughtered within their home. Having discovered that his sister Nezuko is just barely alive, he does his best to carry her down the mountain on his back. Here Tanjiro is faced with a startling discovery, his sister Nezuko is now a man-eating demon. Trying to save her from being beheaded by a passing Demon Slayer, Tanjiro sets on a path to become a fellow swordsman. In hopes of tracking down his familys’ murderer and finding a cure for his sweet sister.
Having already watched the entirety of Season One of the anime on the FunimationNow app, I decided to pick up the manga as well. Just like it’s animated adaptation, we begin on a snowy mountain top as Tanjiro, unknownst to the boy, is interacting with the vast majority of his family for the final time. We understand the amount of hard work he puts in to helping his family and how respected he has come to be in the village below. Having already gained a good impression of how nice this character is, it’s even more heartbreaking seeing how he is quickly left with no time to mourn his family and is so soon forced to try to protect his sister from being slaughtered before his eyes. Through this volume we see him travel through dangerous paths, encounter other demons, begin his training and set forth on his own path to becoming a Demon Slayer.
Nezuko was once a nurturing human, our only interactions with her before her transformation was when she was carrying her youngest brother on her back, in order to send him off to sleep. Now Nezuko has unwillingly been changed into a demon. Upon awakening she does go to attack her brother, however perhaps maybe she just had not fully turned or it could have been her brothers’ voice, maybe even her resolve that stopped her. Nezuko as of right now, has not eaten or killed a human. Given what was said in the manga, demons require and long to eat human flesh as the process of transforming into a demon alone takes up a good deal of their strength. More so, if the demon has already been injured. Nezuko in that regard has become more of an anomaly amongst demons.
Although we didn’t see any of the action that happened during his family’s masacre, there is indeed a fight soon after in the woods. Even here we can see how quick minded and agle Tanjiro is, even before his training began. Of course, during his time with Urokodaki he learned many new techniques and fighting styles. Many of those we don’t see him learning in the manga, this however was expanded upon more in the anime. Instead in the manga we get to see him use several of these techniques in battle. With each swing of his sword being named after a water style technique. We are left on the edge of our seats at the end of this manga, as Tanjiro is faced with his most deadly opponent yet. A towering beast that has consumed many demon slayers over the years and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was created by Japanese mangaka Koyoharu Gotóge. It began serialization in Japanese manga magazine – Weekly Shónen Jump back in February 2016. Due to its popularity, it is also being published as manga volumes with Viz Media handling the English translation and publication for Western audiences. At present there are 19 volumes out in Japan and Viz Media has already released 11 of those so far in English. The series was soon adapted into a 26 episode anime back in 2019, by Ufotable studios. Following on from the end of Season One, a sequel film named Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train is set to be released at some point this year.
To get the first volume of the manga right now, head on over to www.Viz.com where they have compiled a list of links where you can purchase it on either paperback or digital.
Here’s a link that will take you straight there – https://tinyurl.com/t75nuxw
Viz Media is a very handy website to use, so why not create your own account today so you can stay up to date on all the recent releases or catch up on past series that have become hard to find in stores. What a promising start to the series this first volume has been and I can not wait to read the next!
Overall: 9/10
