In any medium of entertainment, from anime to movies to television, it can be exceptionally difficult to find the best balance between character development, story beats, and fast paced action. If you put too much focus on any one aspect, it might just make the show lesser for it, and this is certainly something that the producer of Demon Slayer, Yuma Takahashi, has had to struggle with in bringing this popular manga series to life with the anime. We had the opportunity to chat with Yuma about the balancing act that it took to make Demon Slayer the anime that it was today.
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Yuma Takahashi: “I think both aspects (action and character arcs) are what makes Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba so entertaining. So we’re always aspiring to make the action scenes the best action scenes and the emotional scenes the most heartrending expressions of emotions. On top of that we’re constantly facing difficult decisions, such as what tempo to depict each of these facets or what is the most impactful way to illustrate these scenes. It’s these difficult decisions made with much consideration by the director and the rest of the Ufotable staff that gave way to such an extraordinary anime.”
Demon Slayer is certainly a franchise that has managed to find the “sweet spot” when it comes to showing off some heavy emotional beats on top of some fast paced swordsmanship. While most Shonen series tend to skew a bit more toward the fighting, some of the greatest anime franchises have managed to create a story where the audience is drawn closer to the characters thanks to the emotional outreach displayed by the story itself.
What do you think of Yuma’s response on the constant balance between emotion and action? How do you think Demon Slayer has done in that regard so far? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and demon slaying!
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba debuted in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in February 2016. You can read its synopsis here: “Since ancient times, rumors have abounded of man-eating demons lurking in the woods. Because of this, the local townsfolk never venture outside at night. Legend has it that a demon slayer also roams the night, hunting down these bloodthirsty demons. For young Tanjiro, these rumors will soon to become his harsh reality. Ever since the death of his father, Tanjiro has taken it upon himself to support his family. Although their lives may be hardened by tragedy, they’ve found happiness. But that ephemeral warmth is shattered one day when Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought… Thus begins Tanjiro’s request to fight demons and turn his sister human again.”
