Why is Demon Slayer so popular despite having a generic Shonen storyline?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is one of the most-watched anime series of all time, loved by millions of fans worldwide. To give you an idea of its popularity, in 2023, the show's first season was the second-most watched anime on Netflix despite first airing in 2019,with a whopping 159.4 million views. The second season ranked at No. 9 with 72.7 million views.

Demon Slayer - The Movie: Mugen Train is the highest-grossing Japanese film ever, raking in more than $500 million worldwide. And it did that in 2020-2021, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The manga by Koyoharu Gotouge has sold over 150 million copies since its debut in 2016 and is among the top 10 bestselling manga ever. The series' final volume sold a record-breaking 5.17 million copies between 2020 and 2021, outselling several other popular series including One Piece. Many consider Demon Slayer to be one of the 'Big Three' of modern anime, a second-generation version of the name (and respect) given to Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach.

But how did Demon Slayer get to these numbers?

In a world where stories (and storytellers) keep veering towards complex, layered plots, this anime remains persistent in its simplicity. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado and his sister Nezuko as they join the Demon Slayer Corps after their family gets massacred by the Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji. It is very much a typical Shonen battle anime, checking off several of the genre's common tropes: a seemingly ordinary and young protagonist with a kind heart; elaborate training scenes with a master; character flashbacks in the middle of detailed fights; tournament arcs; found family; magical techniques with names; power scaling; dragged out deaths, and so on. These elements are present in almost every anime of the genre and yet, Demon Slayer has eclipsed many of its contemporaries in popularity.

Let's take a look at the big and small ways Demon Slayer sets itself apart.

1. Top-Tier Animation

Spending around $80,000 per episode, Ufotable and its animators work hard to bring each manga panel beautifully to life, from keeping the Taisho-era aesthetics genuine to animating each breathing style in its full glory.

The signature breathing techniques are the heart of almost every battle and are remarkably well-depicted in each frame. The animation maintains an extraordinary level of detail and fluidity throughout — battle or not battle — seamlessly blending traditional techniques with digital effects. The color palette of the anime also buzzes with bright, vivid shades, especially the elemental breathing powers which look like they were created with watercolors.

At a time when several mainstream anime shows are getting criticized for less-than-impressive art (most memorably, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2's battle scene between Sukuna and Mahoraga), the effort Ufotable seems to put into making Demon Slayer is not something fans should take for granted. However, some fans say that the only reason behind the show's popularity is the breathtaking animation by Ufotable. That may not necessarily be true.

2. Tanjiro is not your run-of-the-mill Shonen protagonist

On the surface, Tanjiro is definitely like most other teenage Shonen protagonists. He loses his family, is burdened with a purpose, and sets his heart on making things right. Eventually, he shows signs that he could be the 'Chosen One' with Sun Breathing knowledge, the skill that later helps beat Muzan. But as someone who always expects Shonen lead characters to be loud and eccentric, Tanjiro's calm and kind hopefulness was a refreshing change for me.

His optimism can indeed get annoying sometimes, especially if there are no battle scenes to push him to his edge (like in the ongoing Hashira Training Arc). Regardless, it gives the anime a feel-good factor that keeps bringing a smile to our faces. When the little boy tasked by Enmu to damage Tanjiro's mind enters his spiritual domain in Mugen Train, we see that Tanjiro's soul is a tranquil blue sky, which is fitting.

Tanjiro's innate goodness pushes the story forward and creates wholesome (and sometimes hilarious) moments. In the second episode of the Hashira Training Arc, Kagaya Ubuyashiki entrusts Tanjiro to bring Tomioka Giyu around after the latter decides not to train with the other Hashiras. The whole sequence of Tanjiro bothering Tomioka is outrageous. But it shows the faith the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps has that Tanjiro is not someone who gives up on people and would go to any lengths to fix something he did not break.

My personal favorite example of Tanjiro's kindness is from the first season when he delivers the killing blow to the Mother of the Spider Demons. Seeing Tanjiro attacking from above, the terrified demon releases the threads and opens her arms to embrace death. Tanjiro, who was prepared to land his Water Breathing, First Form, notices the Mother's surrender and changes his attack style to Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After The Drought, moments before decapitating her. The change in breathing style gives the demon a painless and peaceful death.

3. Villains do not get a redemption

Unlike many Shonen anime series, Demon Slayer is not a show where the antagonist has a greater purpose behind their cruelty. Muzan is evil to his core, driven solely by his selfishness and hunger for power and immortality. It is made very clear from the beginning that he gets no redemption or forgiveness at the end of this story. The same can be said about most of the Upper Moons.

However, not all demons were born bad. The heartbreaking backstories of Rui or the siblings Gyutaro and Daki show us that many of their kind were forced to become demons due to their circumstances, or were manipulated by Muzan or the Upper Moons. Nevertheless, the story requires them to die. They do not get any mercy and they are not allowed to go on living after having killed thousands.

Demons are biologically driven to seek human blood and kill for it. Death is the only path of salvation left for them, regardless of how they became demons. The best they can hope for is that they get a kind of death as serene as the one Tanjiro dealt to the Mother Spider. In an anime accused of being simple and childish, it's fascinating that the villains having no point of return.

5. Nezuko is more than just a cute mascot

Tanjiro's sister Nezuko Kamado is the cute mascot of the anime. It's a tried-and-tested Shonen trope that has worked for several anime series. However, in Demon Slayer, Nezuko is much more than that. She is, in fact, at the heart of the main plot.

Tanjiro's journey as a demon slayer started to turn Nezuko back into a demon. Since then, Nezuko has helped him and others multiple times, transforming from a cute doll-like figure to a ferocious creature with vicious Blood Demon Art. Manga readers know that Muzan's ulterior goal for killing the Kamado family was to infest humans with his blood and hope one of them turned into a demon and conquered the sun. His experiment panned out perfectly, but it also etched his doom in stone.

Nezuko beating the sun and speaking her first words since becoming a demon was a heartwarming moment of triumph that capped off the previous season beautifully. It was a scene that fans were long waiting for and Ufotable delivered as expected.

6. Exploring the Taisho era

Despite Japan's rich historical lineage brimming with lore and legends, accurate representation of the country's distant past is scarce in the world of anime. But Demon Slayer takes the road less traveled. The series takes place in one of Japan's short-lived but eventful periods, the Taisho era.

Lasting from 1912 to 1926, the Taisho era occurs under the reign of the Emperor Yoshihito, posthumously known as Taisho. With Japan entering World War I, the era served as a turbulent but transitive time which is well reflected in Demon Slayer. International exposure brought modernization and new technologies to Japan's shores, along with evident Western influences.

The contrast can be well seen in the sequence where Tanjiro encounters Muzan in the middle of a busy street. While many passersby and Tanjiro himself are in traditional attire, Muzan is dressed in a pantsuit set with a fedora hat on his head, a look that had the fandom comparing him with Michael Jackson. The house he lives in has electrical lamps. The Mugen Train Arc is another hat tip to the period, as the Taisho era saw extensive expansion of Japan's railway network.

It might not be something that actively contributes to the anime's popularity, but it certainly adds to the dichotomous charm of the anime where a Nichirin sword fight takes place inside a coal-run locomotive.

7. First among equals

While Tanjiro is the protagonist who has inherited the secret ancient technique of Hinokami Kagura (Sun Breathing), he is not magically better than all other demon slayers. His close friends, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira, are shown to be his equals. Their chemistry depends on each of them getting to shine in their own ways. For instance, they each have unique sensory abilities: Tanjiro has a heightened sense of smell, Zenitsu has superlative hearing, and Inosuke is sensitive to touch.

The equal standing between a Shonen trio, without any discrepancies or insecurities, is refreshing to see. It is also more realistic that the characters outside the protagonist would also develop at an equal rate since they are peers.

While many Shonen anime shows talk about the power of friendship and teamwork, Demon Slayer puts it to use. In the Entertainment District Arc, Inosuke and Zenitsu were the ones to land the fatal blow on Daki while Tanjiro and Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira, finished off Gyutaro. In the Swordsmith Village Arc, Tanjiro remembered what Zenitsu taught him about Thunder Breathing and could bounce back from the brink of immobility.

8. Cultural Accessibility and Timing

Cultural accessibility and timing undoubtedly play a massive role in the humongous popularity of Demon Slayer. The anime premiered in 2019, a period when the anime fanbase was rapidly growing, facilitated by streaming platforms like Crunchyroll and Netflix. It went from being a niche genre that only a handful of people watched to a global phenomenon.

Merchandise and cosplays also helped. Demon Slayer has extremely cosplayable characters who have distinct styles and wear bright-colored clothes. The designs look great on people but also as bobbleheads, soft toys, stickers, and so on. Hailing from a place where anime was almost non-existent until very recently, the number of Hanafuda earrings or Nichirin katanas I now see around me is quite surprising.

While Demon Slayer may be considered a formulaic Shonen anime, it adds subtle touches that you fall in love with without even realizing it. While we sit and wonder what could be so appealing about the simplistic story of the anime, the answer could be right in front of us. Demon Slayer's simplicity is not its weakness, but its strength.

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