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All about the smash hit Demon Slayer – from the roots of popular Demon Slayer manga to its explosion into anime, movies, stage plays, video games, and beyond.

Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba manga anime movie poster

It’s one of the most popular manga series of all time – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – that began as a feature in the popular manga (Japanese comic book) Weekly Shonen Jump before spinning off its own series and into anime (a cartoon made in Japan), movies, video games, and more.

The birth of Demon Slayer manga

Nezuko Kamado from Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba anime

Manga is a Japanese comic book. It has its own style, format, and method of storytelling. For instance, manga is read from right to left, starting at the top right-hand corner of the page, and finishing on the bottom left-hand corner. It relies heavily on visual elements such as complex speech bubbles (Fukidashi) and symbols representing emotions (Gitaigo). It has become extremely popular in the United States thanks to companies such as Viz Media and smash hit stories like Demon Slayer, Naruto, and Dragon Ball.

Manga is typically broken down into four categories representing the demographic of the reader. Shōjo manga targets adolescent girls and young women, seinen manga targets young adult and adult men, and josei manga targets adult women. Shōnen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent boys.

Demon Slayer began as a series in a popular shonen manga magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, or WSJ. Novice writer and illustrator Koyoharu Gotouge had written only four other stories to date. His first attempt, Kagarigari won awards including the Jump Treasure Newcomer Manga Award in 2013.

Early sketches of Nezuko and Tanjiro from Demon Slayer
Early sketches of Nezuko and Tanjiro

Gotouge wanted to create a new weekly series and worked with an editor to produce a story that would sell. He began with a storyline titled Haeniwa no Zigzag but WJS did not pick it up for serialization. Going back to the drawing board, Gotouge decided to use elements of his hit manga Kagarigari as the basis for a new story, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Weekly Shonen Jump loved the idea and immediately added it to their weekly serial lineup.

Gotouge worked with editor Tatsuhiko Katayama who pointed out that the original storyboard concept was dark. The main character, Tanjiro Kamado, the protagonist of “Demon Slayer”, was tweaked to infuse a bit of optimism into an otherwise dismal world.

Even the name had to be softened. The original title, Kisatsu no Yaiba, contained the word “kill”. “Kisatsu” was replaced with a made-up word, Kimetsu, which looks like “to perish”, a lighter tone than “to kill”. The completed title came to be Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Selling Demon Slayer Manga to the English-speaking world (and the move from manga to TV)

In 2017, Viz Media announced they would publish Demon Slayer in English. The first three chapters appeared in the English edition of Shonen Jump and quickly became a smash hit. By this time, the Japanese version of Demon Slayer was in their sixth volume. Two years later, Viz Media launched Manga Plus, an English language version of their manga series. Via Manga Plus, over 30 titles, including Demon Slayer, would be published in Japanese and English – at the same time.

It was about this time that Demon Slayer made its appearance on the small screen. From April 6 to September 28, 2019, 25 episodes of Demon Slayer aired on television. An English dub of the series appeared on Blu-ray in 2020. It was not just a huge success – it was an international phenomenon.

The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba plot

The Demon Slayer team - Inosuke Hashibira, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Nezuko and Tanjiro Kamado

Critics hail Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba a masterpiece and for good reason. The storyline is unique with a diverse cast of characters and a plotline that walks a tightrope between good and evil. The main character, Tanjiro Kamado, a kind, intelligent young boy, helps support his family by making trips into the village to sell coal. One day he came home to find his family had been slaughtered by a demon. His sister, Nezuko, survives the attack but is transformed into a demon.

Tanjiro places a bit in his sister’s mouth and carries her in a box to keep her alive while he searches for a cure. He is recruited by a man named Giyu Tomioka to become a “demon slayer”. After extensive training in the art, Tanjiro becomes a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Characters in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba world include:

Tanjiro Kamado – the main protagonist and oldest son of a charcoal seller.

An original manga illustration of Tanjiro by Koyoharu Gotouge

Nezuko Kamado – the sister of Tanjiro who survives a demon attack but is transformed into a demon herself

Zenitsu Agatsuma – A cowardly boy who is forced to join the Demon Slayer Corps (to pay for his debts) around the same time as Tanijiro

Inosuke Hashibira – A young boy who was raised by wild boars. His mother was murdered by demons known as the Upper Moon Two.

Kanao Tsuyuri – joins the Demon Slayer Corps at the same time as Tanjiro.

Genya Shinazugawa – another Demon Slayer who joins the corps at the same time as Tanjiro. He is harsh, foul mouthed, and obsessed with demon killing.

Shinobu Kocho – the current Insect Hashira. Her happy and carefree persona masks a deep rage towards all demons.

The storylines typically follow Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps as Tanjiro begins his quest to avenge the death of this family while searching for a way to turn his sister back into a living human.

Demon Slayer anime on the big screen

Cover of Shonen Weekly Jump

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba appeared on the movie screen before it appeared on the television screen – sort of. Before their release on TV, the first five episodes of Demon Slayer anime were combined into a single feature-length movie titled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kyodai no Kizuna (Demon Slayer: The Bonds of Siblings). It was shown in 11 theaters across Japan from March through April 2019, the weeks prior to the series debuting on television. The same sort of rollout was conducted in America in late 2019 (except it premiered only in New York City).

The movie was a massive success proving to producers that Demon Slayer could hold its own in theaters. It also proved the move to anime could send a manga publication through the stratosphere. The manga version of Demon Slayer exploded during the Demon Slayer movie run. Over 10 million copies of Demon Slayer were sold by the end of the movie’s run. By early 2021, when the English version of Demon Slayer anime became available on most streaming platforms, the manga had sold over 150 million copies making it one of the best-s1elling manga series of all time.

Demon Slayer spinoffs

April 2019 – Giyu Tomioka Gaiden

The popularity of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba created a demand that could only be met via a variety of spinoffs. Gotouge wrote a two-chapter Kimetsu no Yaiba prequel, Giyu Tomioka Gaiden, which was published in the April 1 and 8, 2019 issues of Weekly Shonen Jump.

April 2019 – Kimetsu no Aima! (Kimetsu Between the Scenes!)

Ryōji Hirano created a serial, Kimetsu no Aima! (Kimetsu Between the Scenes!), that ran from April 7 through September 29, 2019, in Shonen Jump. The manga featured colorful, chibi versions (a stylized form of Japanese drawing) of the characters from the main series in a Yonkoma manga format (four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom).

May 2020 – Kyojuro Rengoku Gaiden

In May 2020, after the main series finished, a spin-off titled Kyojuro Rengoku Gaiden was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on October 12 and 17, 2020. A collected gaiden tankōbon volume, which includes Giyu Tomioka Gaiden, Kyojuro Rengoku Gaiden, and Kimetsu no Aima!, was released on December 4, 2020. Viz Media released the volume, under the title Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba–Stories of Water and Flame, on January 4, 2022.

19-page special Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba one-shot

A 19-page special one-shot chapter written and illustrated by Gotouge, centered on Rengoku’s first mission, was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on October 5, 2020. An 84-page booklet, titled Rengoku Volume 0, which includes the 19-page one-shot chapter was given to the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train theatergoers on October 16, 2020. The booklet had a limited print run of 4.5 million copies.

August 2021 – Kimetsu Gakuen!

A spin-off manga series, titled Kimetsu Gakuen! started in Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine on August 4, 2021. It follows the characters from Kimetsu no Yaiba as students and teachers.

Demon Slayer novels and books

February 2019 – Demon Slayer: The Flower of Happiness

Demon Slayer: The Flower of Happiness (Kimetsu no Yaiba Shiawase no Hana) was published in Japan on February 4, 2019. It chronicles the lives of Tanjiro and Zenitsu (another member of the Demon Slayer Corps) before the start of the main series, as well as glimpses into the lives of Aoi and Kanao. It also features a single chapter of an alternate universe where the characters of the series attend an ordinary high school.

October 2019 – Demon Slayer: One-Winged Butterfly

Demon Slayer: One-Winged Butterfly (Kimetsu no Yaiba Katahane no Chō), was published in Japan on October 4, 2019. It details the lives of Shinobu (the current “Insect Hashira) and Kanae Kocho (Shinobu’s older sister) before and soon after they joined the Demon Slayers.

July 2020 – Demon Slayer: The Signs from the Wind

Demon Slayer: The Signs from the Wind (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kaze no Michishirube) centered on Sanemi Shinazugawa and was published on July 3, 2020.

Demon Slayer Anime

In June 2018, it was announced in Weekly Shonen Jump, that an anime television series adaptation would premiere in April 2019. It ran for 26 episodes.

A second season began in October 2021 and consisted of two story arcs. The first arc was a series adaptation of the “Mugen Train” story arc. It consisted of 7 episodes and ran from October through November 2021. The second arc, Entertainment District Arc, ran from December through February 2022 and consisted of 11 episodes.

In North America, an English dubbed version of the series was licensed by Aniplex of America and released on two limited editions Blu-ray volumes: the first on June 30, 2020, and the second on November 24, 2020. The series has been streamed on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, and FunimationNow.

The 26 episodes of the first season of Demon Slayer included:

EPISODE NUMBERTITLE
1Cruelty
2Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki
3Sabito and Makomo
4Final Selection
5My Own Steel
6Swordman Accompanying a Demon
7Muzan Kibutsuji
8The Smell of Enchanting Blood
9Temari Demon and Arrow Demon
10Together Forever
11Tsuzumi Mansion
12The Boar Bares its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps
13Something More Important Than Life
14The House with the Wisteria Family Crest
15Mount Natagumo
16Letting Someone Else Go First
17You Must Master a Single Thing
18A Forged Bond
19Hinokami
20Pretend Family
21Against Corps Rules
22Master of the Mansion
23Hashira Meeting
24Rehabilitation Training
25Tsuguko, Kanao Tsuyuri
26New Mission

Demon Slayer movies

Nezuko Kamado sister of Tanjiro survives demon attack transformed demon
Nezuko Kamado – the sister of Tanjiro who survives a demon attack but is transformed into a demon herself.

On September 28, 2019, immediately following the airing of episode 26 of the anime series, an anime film titled; Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train was announced, with the staff and cast reprising their roles. The film was a direct sequel to the anime series and covered the events of the “Mugen Train” story arc.

The film grossed over US$500 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2020, and broke several box office records, including the highest-grossing Japanese film and anime film of all time.

Demon Slayer video games

A mobile game titled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Keppū Kengeki Royale was announced and then delayed indefinitely to improve its quality.

A video game titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S and Steam on October 14, 2021, in Japan. The game featured head-to-head fighting with Demon Slayer swords as Tanjiro faces demons in order to turn his sister Nezuko back into a human. It was rated “very positive” on Steam out of more than 10,000 reviews.

Demon Slayer stage plays

Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba stage play poster

A stage play adaptation of the manga was announced by Weekly Shōnen Jump in September 2019 and was performed from January 18–26, 2020 in Tokyo at the Tennōzu Ginga Gekijō and from January 31 to February 2, 2020, in Hyōgo Prefecture at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Kobe. The cast includes Ryota Kobayashi as the protagonist Tanjirō Kamado, Akari Takaishi as his sister Nezuko, Keisuke Ueda as Zenitsu Agatsuma, Yūgo Satō as Inosuke Hashibira, Reo Honda as Giyū Tomioka, Tomoyuki Takagi as Sakonji Urokodaki, Mimi Maihane as Tamayo, Hisanori Satō as Yushirō, and Yoshihide Sasaki as Muzan Kibutsuji.

A second stage play adaptation of the Demon Slayer manga was announced in the Jump Festa 2021 event in December 2020, with the cast and staff returning. It ran in Tokyo from August 7–15, in Osaka from August 20–22, and then again in Tokyo from August 27–31.

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