Rookie missions, the bad guy and the doctor.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Koyoharu Gotouge
Translation: John Werry
Adaptation: Stan!
What They Say
During the final selection for the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro faces a disfigured demon and uses the techniques taught by his master, Urokodaki! As Tanjiro begins to walk the path of the Demon Slayer, his search for the demon who murdered his family leads him to investigate the disappearances of young girls in a nearby town.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Demon Slayer Corp selection comes to end with Tanjiro surviving and being initiated into the Corp. He makes it back to Nezuko and Urokodaki but is severely injured. After a couple of weeks of recovery, his sword it brought to him. The color-changing sword turns black, which is unusual. Immediately, Tanjiro is called upon for his first mission.
He is dispatched to a town where young girls are disappearing. Quickly, Tanjiro is on the job with his sister in tow. He catches the scent of the demons and engages them with the help of Nezuko. He is successfully dealing with the demons but doesn’t learn anything about Kibutsuji, the original demon who has turned all humans since into demons. His next mission is in Asakusa. It’s there that he catches to the scent of Kibutsuji, but when he confronts Kibutsuji, he has a small human child in his arms, and she calls him daddy. The fact that Kibutsuji is with and part of a human family distracts Tanjiro just enough for Kibutsuji to quickly infect a nearby human turning him into a demon. Forced to deal with the newly formed demon, Tanjiro finds himself in a tangle of the police, demon and human bystanders. Luckily Tamayo, a demon doctor, and her assistant and also a demon, Yushiro, come to help both Tanjiro and the newly turned demon. Tamayo wants to try to find a way to turn demons back into humans and wants Tanjiro to help her obtain samples of high-ranking demons’ blood. Before any more can be said they are attacked on Kibutsuji’s orders.
In Summary:
I admit it. I totally hopped on the bandwagon. I watched the anime and was fascinated by the story and characters. I also enjoyed the art style and animation techniques that were used in the series. So, when I saw that this series was not being reviewed, I jumped at the opportunity. While sometimes manga and anime can run fairly parallel at times, sometimes it’s so different that it feels like they are barely similar. This series so far is mirrored by the anime closely. That can be good and bad. I’ve watched the anime of a series, but I’ve had no desire to go back and read the manga. This is different. I already know that story, but it was still such a delight to relive it again. It’s truly a shame that there are so many wonderful manga stories out there, but they don’t receive much attention until they are animated. This a great example of it. I wish I was aware of this previously and started reading a year ago. It’s a really great story and appeals to a wide variety of interests.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: C
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shonen Jump (Viz Media)
Release Date: September 4, 2018
MSRP: $9.99
