OP Sequence

OP: 「紅蓮華」 (Gurenge) by (LiSA)

「残酷」 (Zankoku)
“Cruelty”

The premise has been swiftly laid out in this first banger episode.

It was no surprise to me how beautiful the opening scene was. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have recognized Ufotable’s subtle inclusion of CGI in the snow covered scenery. The cohesion between the soundscape and artistic direction hooked me right into the next scene where we’re introduced to main character Kamado Tanjirou (Hanae Natsuki) and his family. The family’s happy allure is established right away. As the eldest son, Tanjirou has a good rapport with each of his siblings as well as his mother. With his father out of the picture, he’s taken on the role of caretaker and provider. We find out that he’s resourceful and very well loved by the people of in the village below the mountain.

This whole sequence reeked of death to me. The soundtrack made it so chirpy I could feel the cringe swell from deep inside me. It was giving off the ‘it’s too good to be true’ vibe. Knowing where this was headed made it even more difficult to watch, especially after Tanjirou’s oh-too-happy narration where he says: “We don’t have an easy life, but we’re happy.”

I love watching anime with gore but when the blood and destruction involves a family that I happen to fall in love with within the first five minutes of an episode, it sucks. The only thing redeeming enough to truly appreciate the unfolding scenes, however, were Tanjirou’s deep wails and lustrous tears. The despair is so well expressed (as expected from Kaneki and 9S’s seiyuu), you can practically see his heart exposed on the ground ready to take the final blow, especially when he begs Tomioka Giyuu (Sakurai Takahiro) for his sister’s life. It’s so emotionally charged!

I’m looking forward to his personal growth. He’s not only smart but actually quite good with his hands. With a strong sense of smell as an asset, I assume he’ll have a somewhat smooth physical evolution as he trains to become a demon slayer. What I’m most looking forward to though is his psychological growth. His world has been turned upside down and it might take every ounce of strength he has for him to overcome what’s happened to him and his family. He’ll also have to learn how to deal with his sister Kamado Nezuko (Kito Akari) who has now been turned into a demon.

Honestly, even though I knew exactly what would unfold throughout the entire episode and there wasn’t much new information, it was so well built that I was pretty much on the edge of my seat the whole time.

As for what’s to come, this brother-sister duo has a long way to go. With what the OP is teasing, it looks like it’s just going to get more interesting as the series progresses. There’s a whole roster of characters waiting to be introduced and we still have a lot to learn about their world, so things are really just looking up from here.

If you can’t already tell, I just jumped neck deep into the Kool-Aid and it tastes good.

24 Comments

  1. Yeah, a strong first showing.

    Hoping the remaining episodes will be as strong. The foreshadowing at the
    old man’s house where he stayed was a little much – you knew right then and
    there calamity unfolded for his family. Seems the old man knew something…

    mac65
  2. I waited for the anime because the manga’s art was a bit hard for me to appreciate, glad it didn’t disappoint. The vibe I got was a cross between D.Gray-man and Claymore. Totally agree that the OP has me excited for this.

    Player
  3. The visuals are god-tier, but what really gets your attention is are the monologues, exposition, dialogue… and for me it was “bad”.
    Very disappointing desu.

    And then people showed to me this image comparing with the manga. It’s practically a copy and paste, which is a bad sign, that the manga isn’t better and the anime didn’t try to improved.

    1. I kind of a agree with you that the dialogue is currently the weakest point of the episode. I didn’t want to get too into it in the hopes that it gets better in the coming weeks. I’m hoping that the episode was more of a book cover than the book itself, you know?

      MissSimplice
  4. @Kimetsu no Yaiba

    – Good one
    – Their CGI is well embed that only an trained eye will notice it. Good one
    – Music is on sync. It show the “ears” what the “eyes” can not see. Building up Emotions

    Passed with “God speed” 1/3

    – Now lets see in how the Story carry this anime

    Worldwidedepp
    1. and as you see, this seems like an “Vampire” monster. She struggles to hold on her Human Soul because of her bond with his Brother

      Let’s hope she win the fight against her inner demon… yes “Claymore” vibes. Where the Boy/Brother is the Anchor of her Humanity

      Worldwidedepp
      1. – but this is not the modern time where Blood packs are the “fruit and Nectar” for friendly Vampires in the Neighborhood. Lets see how he solve that problem. in “Interview with an Vampire” Tom Cruise’s avatar survived this many years because he drank blood of “Rats and other little animals” that no one miss them

        Worldwidedepp
  5. This is like the only show of the new season that has aired so far that is not complete trash, i am really disappointed right now, first few days of new shows and practically all shit.

    Poring
    1. In other news… I’m sure what makes all this worse for Tanjirou is the thought that if he’d just taken his family into town with him, this wouldn’t have happened…

      Wanderer
  6. This is a series I’ve always been meaning to try, since it’s the up and coming shounens of the era currently, and the art is quite stylish. Stoked that Ufotable are in charge to make it look good at least, let’s see how the tropes hold up with the storytelling!

    Bambi
  7. Ep 02:

    – The Camera is good, an mix of CGI Background and animated characters
    – Seting me likes
    – i think i got hooked right now

    Would i like to watch this anime? Yes

    i want to watch this “mature” anime alone for the siblings duo and the world. even if i need to get used to Nippon old Demos tales

    Worldwidedepp

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