Shonen Jump's New Fantasy Isn't Its Greatest (But I Can't Stop Reading It)

Jun Harukawa’s Kaedegami is middling so far, but I’m not going to put it down. Since its June 2025 standout debut in Weekly Shonen Jump, Kaedegami has racked up seven chapters; as of the time of writing, it’s the 15th hottest series on MangaPlus, trailing behind other newer series like Ichi the Witch, Centurion, and Drama Queen. On the other hand, In the WSJ table of contents, it’s been averaging higher than other newer serializations like Ping-Pong Peril! and Ekkiden Bros, per Jajanken, a common indicator of a manga’s popularity the higher it places.

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When you read between the lines, what that actually means is that it’s doing fine: a noteworthy accomplishment at an outlet where the upper echelon are as picky as its readers. That’s the big twist here, with no sensationalism or ragebait: Kaedegami is only alright. But I consider my time and energy pretty valuable, so that usually wouldn’t cut it. Here’s why I’m going to keep paying attention to Kaedegami.

Kaedegami Feels Made for Success

Kaedegami so far feels like a beat-for-beat mash-up of Demon Slayer and Dororo. You have a historical setting and a core bond between two main characters built around a similar restorative quest. That’s fine; they’re tried, they’re tested, they’re massive successes. At a fundamental level, Kaedegami is executed well: its art is gorgeous, its writing is tight, and its villains have been fun to read, which is really what matters. Fans have also lauded its clear-cut premise and solid hook, and its first chapter is a standout debut among recent manga.

Kaedegami’s world is filled with demons called Shenguai, and its protagonist, Kou, is an orphan raised by the Shenguai god of war, Chiyou. Here’s where the “tragic past” in MangaPlus’s summary apparently comes into play. In the first battle, Kou was taunted by an enemy Shenguai who told him that Chiyou was only raising him to possess his body. It’s revealed that Chiyou’s whole body was stripped away from her, and she typically grooms humans to use as vessels.

Kou says he doesn’t care out of devotion to Chiyou, while Chiyou affirms her own unique love for Kou. Instead of a permanent possession, they enter into a special contract where Chiyou can possess Kou at will, with the side effect that their mortality is tied; Kou’s death means Chiyou would die too. After beating up the first big baddie (regaining Chiyou’s face along the way), Kou and Chiyou embark on an adventure to recover the rest of her body, slashing up Shenguai and enjoying the scenery along the way.

Kaedegami Still Isn’t Perfect

Kaedegami’s similarity to Dororo and Demon Slayer is obvious and heavy-handed. That’s as much a bad thing as a good one. Both are examples of anime adaptations that majorly outclass their manga. Kaedegami, if it ever gets an anime, might just see its manga outclassed too. Whatever, though: live and let live. As far as I’m concerned, Kaedegami doesn’t have to be a chart-topping, genre-defining story to be worth reading; it’s enough for it to be fun.

Its future isn’t guaranteed, though. Kaedegami is doing fine, but it’s still hovering uncomfortably close to the danger zone, and its latest chapter saw a dip in its ToC position. To that end, Kaedegami has two main problems that really stick out to me.

The first is its pacing. For example, if you compare Demon Slayer or Dororo to Kaedegami, one thing they both have going is that their central relationships have way more meat to them (Tanjiro/Nezuko and Dororo/Hyakkimaru, respectively). Although it’s still early in the series, Chiyou and Kou’s relationship feels much thinner, and despite Kou’s simple charisma, he’s especially thin as a protagonist. Yes, Chiyou took him in, and yes, Kou feels lovingly indebted to her. But it’s not immediately relatable like the sibling bond in Demon Slayer, nor is it given an obvious sociopolitical context like in Dororo. Their relationship needs more time and context, and Kaedegami’s Mach 5 pacing struggles to provide that.

The second is its fights. Harukawa’s intuition in drawing combat is underwhelming. The latest chapters have let us see a full-on fight for the first time, and it’s not great: the paneling, flow, and general comprehensibility are severely lacking. What actually happens in its fights is interesting, and the lead duo’s covenant dynamics are likewise fun to watch unfold. However, that just makes its confusing battles all the more disappointing.

The Big Reason I’m Still Sticking With Kaedegami

If Kaedegami were to be cancelled, I would suspect it to be out of a combination of the whiplash of its bad pacing, consequently troubled storytelling, and confusing battles. While doing my homework ahead of this article, I found that other people following the manga feel the same about those aspects. But I actually think it’s more likely it’ll squeak by and eventually get an anime. And weirdly, that’s almost a concerning thought for me.

Consider the following: Kaedegami injects its leading lady with Demon Slayer’s bold brand of sex appeal; even though its fights are messy, they’re also clearly designed to look incredible in motion; not to mention, its environmental design and detailing are gorgeous, and a wise, careful adaptation will only accent that. That is to say, Kaedegami has sensuality, cathartic action, and settings that pop off the page: the three most effective foundations for eye-candy. It’s cinematic to its core.

Here’s the catch. Maybe it’s the stylistic and narrative proximity to Demon Slayer, but I won’t lie, Kaedegami invented a new worry for me: anxiety over the possibility that Demon Slayer’s superstardom, built on the back of Ufotable’s jaw-dropping adaptation, has set a standard where manga rely on a future anime adaptation to visually stun fans into forgetting weak writing. In other words, style over substance as a viable manga storytelling ethos. Demon Slayer, like Kaedegami, was enjoyable enough to read, but it never did much to stand out as a manga. That’s partly why its blockbuster adaptation was such a surprise, back in the day.

But the thing is, I want that not to be true for Kaedegami. None of Kaedegami‘s major issues are particularly damning: fight choreography can improve if Harukawa listens to fan feedback and reflects on it. Meanwhile, as a Naruto die-hard, I’ll be the first to say that troubled storytelling is easily forgiven, although the most recent chapters have even shown that tightening up. I think Kaedegami has a really great foundation and endless runway to grow into its own identity as a story and weave a more compelling tale. I’m excited to see where it could go.

It’s charming enough that I’m willing to give it all the time in the world to get there. At the end of the day, Kaedegami is already unarguably a lot of fun to read; it doesn’t have to be a top-three Jump title to be worth your time. On one hand, although I struggle to connect with its story, I’ll keep reading because I want to. On the other hand, I’ll keep reading because I want Kaedegami to prove me wrong when I worry it’s depending on future style over present substance.

Let us know what you’re expecting out of Kaedegami‘s future in the comments! Finally, if you want to check out other ongoing Jump series, click through to the link below.