Demon Slayer:Kimetsu no Yaiba (anime)

Based on a 2016 manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, the 2019 anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba(Kimetsu no Yaiba, literally Blade of Demon Destruction), is the tale of a charcoal seller and his hot sister.

Tanjiro Kamado is just a poor coal seller living a mountain on Japan. His relatives and neighbors tell him scary stories about onis, aka demons, human-eating creatures who walk at night, but Tanjiro doesn't believe on them. However, one day, arriving late at his home after selling charcoal because a neighbour advised him to not walk outside at night, he finds his family slaughtered, presumably by demons. His sister Nezuko, however, is still alive.

While taking an unconscious Nezuko to the nearby village, however, Tanjiro is attacked by Nezuko, that is revealed to have been turned into an oni. A demon hunter appears and tries to kill Nezuko, but Tanjiro resists and when said demon hunter tries to stop Tanjiro so he can stop interfering, Nezuko rushes for his aid, a behaviour the demon hunter considers a proof she still has some of her human nature and isn't a complete demon yet. Revealing his name to Tanjiro as Gyuu Tomioka, he tells Nezuko and Tanjiro to seek the help of an elder called Sakonji Urokodaki, that lives on the bottom of the mountain.

After paying respect to their dead family, Nezuko and Tanjiro depart to the bottom of the mountain, with Tanjiro hopeful that Nezuko can be cured of the condition of being a demon.

Animated by Ufotable. Produced by Aniplex and Shueishs.

Tropes used in Demon Slayer:Kimetsu no Yaiba (anime) include:

• Adaptation Expansion: The Ufotable anime adds some more meat to the story:
  • The scenes depicting Nezuko and Tanjiro's lives right before the murders of their family and Zenitsu's training with Jigoro were longer. Zenitsu's sparrow Chuntarou also got more screentime.
  • Nezuko's own thoughts, child-like as they can be, are featured more frequently.
  • In the Natagumo arc's manga rendition, other Spider Demon siblings (two younger brothers, a little sister and an elder sister) are shown in a panel. There's a whole anime scene depicting how bleak life is for them when under Rui aka the Youngest Son's thumb... The Elder Sister and the Older Sister try to run away, but when Rui finds them the Older Sister backstabs the Elder to save her own ass, and the Elder is executed by being beaten to near death and then hung with strings until the sun rises and kills her.
  • The Kimetsu Academy Yonkoma and foot notes, plus the Taisho Secrets Author Notes, become mini-sections at the end of some episodes. Kimetsu Academy itself would later become a Spin-Off on its own right.
  • In the manga, there was an allusion to Kagaya talking to the Hashira after the Kamados's trial. The anime shows the reunion in itself and what they spoke about -- more exactly, the current situation with Muzan (since Tanjiro did meet him face to face, albeit briefly) and the future of the Corps as a whole.
  • Kanao's Dark and Troubled Past was featured in a bonus manga chapter released alongside chapter 59 rather than in the manga proper, but the anime inserted it in the Butterfly Mansion arc as her inner thoughts.
  • The scenes right before the Mugen Train movie/TV series where Giyu drops by the Butterfly Mansion and speaks with Tanjiro, Shinobu chats with Kyoujuro in the headquarters and later gives a report about Tanjiro to Kagaya are anime-only.
  • The TV rendition of the Mugen Train arc has a whole episode worth new material, with Rengoku first befriending a bento maker named Tomie who twenty years ago was rescued by his father Shinjurou and her granddaughter Fuku, then investigating the Mugen Train itself (and catching a demon that others mistook for a Serial Killer) before it starts its voyage.
    • Additionally, in the manga Tanjiro simply sought Rengoku out to ask him about the Hinokami Kagura and had Zenitsu and Inosuke follow him so they wouldn't styay in the Mansion. Here, they're explicitly assigned to help Rengoku in his mission.
  • The beginning of the Entertainement District arc stated that Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke had to go into solo missions once in a while. The anime shows one of Tanjiro and Nezuko's missions - they're seen hunting down a demon together and killing it before the people in a house it tried hiding in even noticed its presence.
    • The scene where Haganezuka chases after Tanjiro AGAIN for breaking the nichirin swords he makes him and then is seen eating his favourite food mitarashi dango is followed by one where the Team Mom Aoi and the nurse girls sneak Tanjiro inside the Butterfly Mansion to help him dodge Haganezuka's fury. It also inserts a bit of Ship Tease between Aoi and one of the boys (Inosuke: she explains that Haganezuka was last seen eating dango, he says he wants to eat dango too, and Aoi smiles a bit and promises to make some for him)
  • Mitsuri's backstory is also expanded, especially by making her Good Parents Ascended Extras.
  • In the very first episode of the Hashira Training arc, there's quite the additional scene... Sanemi and Obanai are paired up in a mission to rescue a kidnapped woman from a VERY strong demon that uses a Haunted Castle as its lair... and as they kill its companions and chase after him, the two manage to briefly find their way towards the Infinite Castle itself and almost get in...
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Tanjiro never dreamed of being a hero, or even think onis were real, and was perfectly content with being a charcoal seller, but then demons attacked his home and killed most of his family.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Though his physique gives away his gender, Inosuke is noticed by several characters to look pretty much like a girl thanks to the curves of his face.
• Exclusively Evil: Demons are heavily implied to be this because Gyuu was willing to kill Nezuko on the spot, though the fact she was attacking Tanjiro didn't help. She of course immediately averts this trope.
• Fan Disservice: Nezuko in a kimono and with her legs and thighs exposed in Episode 1 should be an alluring sight, but the blood all over her mouth and her unnaturally grown fangs detract away from it.
• Healing Factor: Demons have that, all of them. That is why using sunlight or special swords to decapitate them is the only method to kill them.
• Hero Antagonist: Gyuu just wanted to kill Nezuko because demons are Always Chaotic Evil, and therefore he saw no choice but to kill her to save more lives. Once he sees she retains part of her humanity, he ceases to be an antagonist and guides Tanjiro and Nezuko.
• Horror Hunger: Onis/demons are said by Gyuu to develop quickly a hunger for human flesh that can only be placated by consuming it. Nezuko being able to overcome those instincts to hunt humans to protect Tanjiro is something Gyuu is surprised at seeing.
• Mutual Kill: Gyuu realizes in Episode 1 after defeating Tanjiro non-lethally that the boy's plan to defeat him hinged on this, with Tanjiro being decapitated and a distracted Gyuu being hit by an axe that was falling towards him.
• The Not Love Interest: There is no question Tanjiro would move heaven and earth for Nezuko, that he deeply loves her and, humorously, he is furious at the idea anybody would think of her as ugly, finding her extremely beautiful. But she is his sister, so all of those feelings are strictly platonic.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Onis are killed by sunlight, feed on humans, and can convert others into one of them by having their blood enter their victims.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: The demon hunters apply this policy to humans. Gyuu doesn't lethally attack Tanjiro even if the boy was helping some demon clearly hungry for prey, what ends up saving Gyuu and Tanjiro's lives.
• Training from Hell: To start Tanjiro's training on demon-slaying, Sakonji makes him climb down a mountain while trying to escape from painful traps, so Tanjiro learns how track him by scent.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Tanjiro's default outfit include earrings with the Rising Sun, the naval flag of Japan.