Edit after ep.8: This is the new measuring stick. The show rose the bar on animation quality, music, story, and direction. This is how you make anime! It puts the 5 star anime from the last few years to shame! See bellow for details.
Edit after ep.4:The anime get's even better. If they leave us with only the 4 episodes, this is still better than most anime ever. I'm not one to
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Edit after ep.8: This is the new measuring stick. The show rose the bar on animation quality, music, story, and direction. This is how you make anime! It puts the 5 star anime from the last few years to shame! See bellow for details.
Edit after ep.4:The anime get's even better. If they leave us with only the 4 episodes, this is still better than most anime ever. I'm not one to exaggerate, or heap praise, the classic water homage, the vocals, music, setting, everything is on point. Not to forget first boss battle done right in a long time. No useless power up sequences, everything was fast pace like a sword fight ought to be! Very satisfying, maybe close to original Berserk demon fights, but better animation and even less wasted efforts.
Initial impressions: If you're tired of Marry and Mark Sue characters who "awaken" and just have a super power, and are unstoppable, watch this show. Oh boy, our protagonist's road to power is highly realistic even if most of it is folklore and mysticism. At the end of the training, he would be a force akin to a demon to the layman's eye.
In one of the episodes he trains so much, he wears off the skin of his palms off. Been there, done that before a race. It happens, and it doesn't really hurt more than average durring training, but the morning after, oof, that burns! Our poor orphaned hero has just one reason to train this hard, his pure brotherly love for his sister.
The chestnut haired hero returns home to find all his brothers and sisters killed, his mother eaten half through, the shocking image sends him reeling, and he trips over his half dead sister. Throws her on his back and runs towards the town. On the way it's found out that she is a demon, so he is sent to a demon slayer trainer, as he vows to turn her back.
Simple story, told in a magnificent way. The animation is well detailed, so far the cover art shown is the same, maybe even lesser quality than the actual anime. The story is not pedantic, but it isn't simplified either. Things that must be said aren't glossed over, but aren't repeated ad nauseum either. The pace is nice, and the humor is a welcome surprise.
If you are just starting, I recommend watching episode 1, 2, and 3 together since there is a bit to unpack. But, if you can't, watch 1 and 2 at the very least, since episode one is way more sorrowful, than the anime mood in general is intended to be. Watching episode one alone is a lot like eating the mustard without the hotdog, yes some love it, but it's too much for most people.
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