How Ufotable (Accidentally) Changed Demon Slayer

[00:03] you're anything like me, you just cringed.

[00:15] channel and to another video. Today we are doing a essay style video, which was voted on by my members. So we're going to dive right into it, but before we do, subscribe to the channel, and leave a comment your thoughts. If you are

[00:28] interested in being a part of deciding my videos every week as well as some other fun perks like early release of videos and priority reply in comments, make sure you hit that join button. So I started watching Demon Slayer in 2021.

[00:41] It was legitimately right after the Mugen Train movie ended its theatrical run here in the US, but I didn't really fall in love with the story until I read the manga in 2022. Now I will say the show has to be really freaking good in

[00:56] order for me to actually want to pick up the manga. So I definitely still was drawn into the story by the anime, but when I sat down to read the manga, I actually finished it all in one night because I felt so connected to the story

[01:11] immediately. Because this was my experience with Demon Slayer and that's kind of how I turned into a fan, I've always kind of raised an eyebrow at the constant constant

[01:25] internet opinion of Demon Slayer is carried by animation. And what if I told you it's because of Ufotable? Now, don't get your pitchforks out. This is not a hate video towards Ufotable. This is not in any way, shape, or form trying to

[01:40] drag the anime adaptation of the show. In fact, I really, really love the adaptation and I think it does elevate the story quite well. What it does do is

[01:52] it diverts your attention because here's the thing, the story is not action focused. Yes, there is action as a part of the story since they're all in a military core and they are defeating demons, there has to be some kind of

[02:07] action in the story. But, these action sequences in the manga are very short. It doesn't spend a lot of time explaining the power structure. It doesn't spend a lot of time having super intricate fight sequences or

[02:20] choreography. The fight sequences are quite literally a means to an end to get to the main point of the story and that is the emotions of the characters. The heart of the story are the characters. It's why the magic system doesn't seem

[02:36] that fleshed out. It's why the fight choreography doesn't always feel that complicated because that was never the point. The point of the story is showing going through, feeling for them, understanding the theme of the story

[02:52] that is the bonds of humans. The manga doesn't shy away from backstory, from developing the characters and making you cry with them almost immediately. When I cry with them almost immediately. When I read the manga, I cried so much. I mean,

[03:07] it's kind of crazy. And for the record, I cry when the anime happens, too. But, Ufotable elevates the fight sequences so much in the anime that it sometimes diverts people's attention away from the emotions of the characters and into the

[03:23] hype of the action sequences. And this is where I say this is not necessarily a bad thing. This is not a critique on Ufotable. I think that Ufotable elevates the story in a way that can divert people's attention if they're not

[03:38] necessarily that into it, they don't feel as connected to the characters because everyone experiences a story slightly differently. A good example of this is in Entertainment District. In episode 10, we see Tengen versus

[03:52] Gyutaro. Now, in the manga, from the time that Tengen jumps in to save Tanjiro to the time that Tanjiro jumps in to finish Gyutaro off is about a page and a half. In the anime, this scene lasted around one whole minute. The

[04:09] extension of the fight was amazing. Everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats, and it made the fight seem so much more intense than it does in the manga. This episode has gone down as one of the best episodes of Demon Slayer

[04:24] ever, and you can't really blame anyone. It is 23 minutes of straight chef's kiss high-intensity fight sequences. And it also made Entertainment District go down

[04:36] in history as still most everyone's favorite arc of the story. Even though Entertainment District to me, while I do love it, is one of the weaker arcs because the character development of Tengen is not as strong as the character

[04:52] development of a lot of the other Hashiras that we get in other seasons. Entertainment District feels a little bit more like it can exist anywhere. It's simply an arc where the story progresses by the characters getting

[05:06] stronger. Daki and Gyutaro have a really great moment, but that's really the only development that I felt really reigned through in that arc. And then when Swordsmith Village came out, which is much more character driven, there's lots

[05:21] more backstory, there's lots more emotional moments. In fact, the entire climax of Swordsmith Village is more emotional than anything else. People didn't like it as much. Now, I do think there's other arguments to be had about

[05:34] the pacing of Swordsmith Village and how it worked out, cuz there was definitely some issues that I had with pacing, but it wasn't anything crazy. But it really just proved that so many people watch Demon Slayer simply because they love

[05:47] the action sequences in it. So, when you take that away and you start having a lot of character backstory, people lose interest. This is because ufotable honed in on what they're really good at and that is they are known for having really

[06:02] strong action animation. They're not trying to divert your attention. They're not trying to change the story. They are just doing what they do best. They're elevating the action sequences to make them a big spectacle. So, when the story

[06:17] takes a step back from that and focuses in on the characters, a lot of people think it's weak. But, I never felt that way. I always felt the story was stronger when it was developing the characters and when we were feeling

[06:30] they've been through. Demon Slayer doesn't follow the same hero's journey of Tanjiro that a lot of other stories do. Tanjiro is never the character that

[06:42] is the only one with the ability to defeat Muzan. He never gains enough power to take him on by himself. He has to rely on the help of everyone he loves

[06:54] to take Muzan down. And because that's the main goal of the story, it focuses a lot more on the characters developing together, learning together, growing together, getting stronger together. But, because the anime has such amazing

[07:09] action sequences, people think that's what the story is about. And the reason I think ufotable is not actually meaning for that to be the main point is because throughout the series, a lot of the more emotional moments are still some of the

[07:23] more viral moments. Think of episode 19 of season 1 when Tanjiro awakens Hinokami Kagura, that was beautifully animated, but it was also emotional. The music, the voice acting, it was something that nearly brought you to

[07:38] tears or maybe did if if like me and can cry at the drop of a hat. But the animation is just so good that people tend to tunnel vision on the animation itself. In Demon Slayer, every fight has an emotional backbone. Many of the

[07:52] fights, the characters have an emotional connection to who they're fighting. Like in Infinity Castle, Shinobu versus Doma, there's an emotional tie because Doma killed her sister. Zenitsu versus Kaigaku, there's an emotional tie

[08:04] because Kaigaku trained with him. Giyu and Tanjiro versus Akaza, there's an emotional tie there because Akaza killed Rengoku in front of Tanjiro. These fights are never about the spectacle. If they were, Tanjiro would have fought

[08:17] Kokushibo. The story always focuses on the characters, their emotions, what drives them. And because the anime elevates the fight sequences, people elevates the fight sequences, people start to see it as just action, mindless

[08:31] are two-dimensional. But it's only because you're not looking beneath the surface, because you're getting bored when we take a pause and have some character backstory. When the backstory is the heart of the manga. Again, this

[08:46] isn't ufotable's fault. If anything, it proves just how extraordinary their adaptation is. But Demon Slayer has never been carried by animation. It's been elevated by it. The animation became so good that people stopped

[09:02] noticing what was underneath it. So, I implore you to give the manga a try. Try to connect with the characters when you're not so focused on the hype battle sequences. You might uncover that the story is a lot more than you think.

[09:16] video. If you liked it, don't forget to like the video, subscribe to the thoughts, and I will see you all in the next one. Matane.