Demon Slayer facts for kids
Demon Slayer is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. Not only Japanese people but also people all over the world are fascinated by the comic book.
A twenty-six episode anime television series adaptation produced by Ufotable aired in Japan from April to September 2019. A sequel film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, was released in October 2020 and became the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film of all time.
Contents
Story
Setting
The story takes place in Taishō-era Japan, where a secret society has been waging a secret war against demons for centuries. The demons are former humans who were turned into demons by Muzan Kibutsuji. They possess supernatural abilities such as super strength and regeneration. Demons can only be defeated with weapons crafted from an alloy known as Sun Steel, injected with poison extracted from Wisteria flowers, or exposed to sunlight. The Demon Slayers, on the other hand, are entirely human; however, they employ special breathing techniques, known as "Breathing Styles", which grant them superhuman strength and increased resistance. This helps them fight against demons.
Plot
Tanjiro Kamado is a kind-hearted and intelligent boy who lives with his family in the mountains. He became his family's breadwinner after his father's death, making trips to the nearby village to sell charcoal. Everything changed when he came home one day to discover that his family was attacked by a demon. Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko were the sole survivors of the incident, with Nezuko being transformed into a demon, but still surprisingly showing signs of human emotion and thought. After an encounter with Giyū Tomioka, a demon slayer, Tanjiro is recruited by Giyū and sent to his retired master Sakonji Urokodaki for training to also become a demon slayer, beginning his quest to help his sister turn into human again and avenge the death of his family.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 15, 2016, to May 18, 2020. Shueisha collected its chapters in twenty-three individual tankōbon volumes, released from June 3, 2016, to December 4, 2020.
Shueisha simultaneously published the series in English on the Manga Plus service starting January 2019. Viz Media published the first three chapters of the series in its digital magazine Weekly Shonen Jump as part of the "Jump Start" program. During their panel at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2017, Viz announced that they had licensed the manga for the North American market. The first volume was released on July 3, 2018.
Light novels
A light novel, titled Demon Slayer: The Flower of Happiness (鬼滅の刃 しあわせの花, Kimetsu no Yaiba Shiawase no Hana), by Gotouge and Aya Yajima, was published in Japan on February 4, 2019. It chronicles the lives of Tanjiro and Zenitsu before the start of the main series, as well as glimpses into the lives of Aoi and Kanao. It also features a single chapter of an alternate universe where the characters of the series attend an ordinary high school.
A second light novel, titled Demon Slayer: One-Winged Butterfly (鬼滅の刃 片羽の蝶, Kimetsu no Yaiba Katahane no Chō), by Gotouge and Yajima, was published in Japan on October 4, 2019. It details the lives of Shinobu and Kanae Kocho before and soon after they joined the Demon Slayers after Himejima Gyomei saved their lives.
A third light novel, titled Demon Slayer: The Signs from the Wind (鬼滅の刃 風の道しるべ, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kaze no Michishirube), centered on Sanemi Shinazugawa, was published on July 3, 2020.
In February 2022, Viz Media announced that they would publish the three light novels in 2022.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation by studio Ufotable was announced by Weekly Shōnen Jump in June 2018. The anime was directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by Hikaru Kondo. Akira Matsushima served as the character designer. The series ran for 26 episodes, broadcast from April 6 to September 28, 2019, on Tokyo MX, GTV, GYT, BS11, and other channels.
The second season included an original first episode, as well as new animation cuts and background music that differ from the film adaptation. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc (鬼滅の刃 遊郭編, Kimetsu no Yaiba – Yūkaku-hen), has been announced to premiere on December 5, 2021, with a one-hour special. The main staff and cast members from the first season returned to reprise their roles. The series was broadcast on 30 stations and channels, including Fuji TV and Tokyo MX, covering most of Japan.
At the end of the second-season finale, a third season covering the "Swordsmith Village" arc from the manga has been announced.
In North America, the series is licensed by Aniplex of America. It was released on two limited editions Blu-ray volumes: the first on June 30, 2020, and the second on November 24, 2020. The company also partnered with Funimation to release standard-edition Blu-ray volumes. Two volumes were released on September 29, 2020, and January 19, 2021. The series has been streamed on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and FunimationNow. Netflix also started streaming the series starting January 22, 2021 in the United States. An English dub produced by Aniplex of America and Bang Zoom! Entertainment premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on October 13, 2019. According to Jason DeMarco, Adult Swim executive producer, the success of the Mugen Train film made the series expensive to license for broadcast.
Funimation began streaming the English dub on December 8, 2020. Madman Entertainment acquired the series in Australia and New Zealand and simultaneously streamed the series on AnimeLab. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Anime Limited acquired the series.
Funimation streams Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc. Muse Communication licensed the second season in Southeast Asia and South Asia; they streamed it on iQIYI, Bilibili, WeTV, Viu, and Netflix.
Four Valentine's Day-themed anime shorts, titled Kimetsu Gakuen Valentine-hen (キメツ学園 バレンタイン編), debuted on the Aniplex YouTube channel on February 14, 2021.
Film
On September 28, 2019, immediately following the airing of episode 26, an anime film titled; Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train was announced, with the staff and cast reprising their roles. The film is a direct sequel to the anime series and covers the events of the "Mugen Train" story arc. The film is distributed in Japan by Aniplex and Toho and premiered in Japan on October 16, 2020.
The film has grossed over US$500 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2020, and broke several box office records, including the highest-grossing Japanese film and anime film of all time. The film was released worldwide digitally on June 22, 2021.
Achievements
As of February 2021, the manga had over 150 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, making it the ninth best-selling manga series of all time. Also, it was the best-selling manga in 2019 and 2020. Both the manga and its anime adaptation have received critical acclaim. The anime series has received numerous awards and is considered one of the best anime of the 2010s. In 2020, the Demon Slayer franchise generated an estimated annual sales revenue of ¥1 trillion ($8.75 billion), becoming one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Writer
The name of the cartoonist is Koyoharu Gotoge. She is from Fukuoka in Japan and was born in 1989. She has never been seen publicly, and her true identity is unknown. She started her work as a cartoonist in 2013. Demon Slayer is her fifth product. She is also called "crocodile teacher(In Japanese;Wani Sensei)" because of her self-portrait of a crocodile which wears glasses.
