Summary
Demon Slayerhas quickly become one of the biggest names in anime and manga in the past few years, tussling withEiichiro Oda’sOne Piecefor the title of the highest-selling manga of 2020 and winning by a considerable margin.
It was a hidden gem untilUfotable created a stunning anime adaptationin 2019; after that, it became extremely popular, even commanding a movie with an incredible theatre run and a video game named Kimetsu no Yaiba – the Hinokami Chronicles from Bandai Namco, the giant responsible for the top-rated Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm franchise. With all its worldwide success,Demon Slayer’sdedicated fanbase has developed different opinions on whether the manga series would have benefitted from a much longer run.
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The Numbers Behind A Highly Successful Run
The anime has already glossed over several arcs, with the Mugen Train Arc being released as a movie before later airing on TV. The recently completed Swordsmith Village Arc ended with Muzan finally witnessing a phenomenon he had been waiting a thousand years for, and it signifies the beginning of the end of the story, with only the Hashira Training Arc and the Final Battle Arc left. Like most great Shonen manga,Demon Slayergraced thepages of the Weekly Shonen Jumpfor four years between 2016 and 2020, which is a relatively short run compared to giants likeNaruto, Bleach, One Piece,and even newer series likeBoruto: Naruto Next GenerationsandMy Hero Academia,which has lasted for over twelve years.
The manga series was a huge commercial success, selling 82 million volumes in 2020, decimating the record of37 million volumes set byOne Piecein 2011. Usually, manga artists reward immense sales numbers like that with continuous releases to appreciate the fanbase’s support. Still, Koyoharu Gotouge is sticking to what he said, and the end might genuinely mean the end.
More Quantity Might Have Benefitted The Series
While the manga series only spanned 23 volumes, it told a very immersive story featuring very diverse characters with unique motivations and backgrounds that could have made for a much longer series. Introducing the Twelve Kizuki Upper and Lower Demons and their progenitor, Kibutsuji Muzan, was a massive deal because of how difficult those demons were to overcome. However, Muzan wiping out the entire Lower Rank, except the Lower One, himself was a sign of things to come, insinuating Gotouge did not want to have to create illustriousbattles between those demonsand the Demon Slayers, and that is perfectly fine because it does not exactly feel out of place, but it felt a little bit rushed.
The introduction of the Demon Slayer marks and the impending consequences on whoever activates it felt like a way to end the story and do away with many characters quickly. Still, it was also a turning point in Kokushibo’s life, whose identity background and motives will be expanded upon later in the anime for those who might not want to read the manga. Fans have argued that dedicating an arc to defeating each Upper-Rank demon would have been a good way to stretch out the series and explore each of their characters and their past lives instead of just presenting them as flashbacks.
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Gotouge and Weekly Shonen Jump have not stated any reasons why the story was wrapped up so quickly, insinuating that it was planned from the jump. The ending was still perfect, leaving no plotholes, giving most characters a good send-off, and offering an insight into what the future might look like for those who remain in the aftermath of theSunrise Countdown Arc. However, it still feels rushed, unlike its other shonen counterparts who create a more vast world by incorporating more stories.
Supportingcharacters like the Hashira, Tanjiro, and Inosuke do not get as much character development and exploration as fans had hoped, but as is the case in the anime industry, the manga artist can decide to pick up his pen and create spin-offs or a continuation at any point in time, and forDemon Slayerfans who hope for something of the sort, motivating the artist by continuing to support the franchise is a way to make it happen.
Quantity Does Not Infer Quality
Some fans believeDemon Slayerwas very well-paced and that the series had run its course, doing exactly what it had set out to do, with Tanjiro achieving all the goals he set for himself. Muzan and his league of demons were accurately depicted, and so were the Demon Slayer Corps under the guidance of Ubuyashiki, most especially the important ones like the Hashiras andthe Upper Moon Demons.
Gotouge establishes all these characters and their motivations and lets the story play out, allowing it to reach a satisfactory end without stretching out too much. With how the story ended with most of the characters in the ground and the realism depicted inDemon Slayerthat allowsthe dead to stay dead, it is safe to say Gotouge does not need to pick up his pen again for the story to feel complete.
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