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EP. REVIEW: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc


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WizardOfOss



Joined: 19 Jun 2018
Posts: 76
Location: Oss, Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:22 pm Reply with quote
James summed up pretty well my own feelings about this episode, so no complaints about that. The series isn't doomed, but this wasn't exactly KnY at its finest.

I liked the first season, thought of it as one of the better series of the year. But not without its flaws. It's rather mediocre shonen material elevated to great heights by Ufotable. The movie to me felt rather disappointing. But I feel it could have been quite a bit better if they would have included both the extra material from the first episode of the Mugen Train series and the aftermath with the Rengoku family to make that more of a complete arc for that character. Inevitably some stuff would have been cut to fit that all in, but since the movie dragged quite a bit that should not have been a problem at all.

And with that part out of the way, we could have dived straight into the new arc, instead of what indeed felt like mostly filler. The bit with Muzan was fine, but otherwise I was mostly waiting for anything interesting to happen. It also relied way to much on humor, which has never been the strongest point of KnY. A no-stakes fight that at least gave Ufotable an opportunity to shine for a few moments. And then another (so far) rather annoying one-note Hashira. Why was this even a double length episode?

Well, I guess (and hope) episode 2 will be the true start of the season....
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
Posts: 5500
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:01 pm Reply with quote
Dab1za9 wrote:

Yeah the highest grossing anime movie of all times built little emotional connection with the viewers, you didn't even pass it as an opinion here but you acted like no one cared about Rengoku which is absurd.



I don't think this argument is as strong as you think it is considering James Cameron's Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time for over 10 years even though it is largely agreed to be pretty mediocre at best and most likely owed its success to the buzz about its visual prowess. Ironically, the latter is something that could possibly be said about KnY too, since it was ufotable's treatment of the material what catapulted it to its massive success-
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Eddy564



Joined: 14 Sep 2008
Posts: 340
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 2:15 am Reply with quote
CrowLia wrote:
Dab1za9 wrote:

Yeah the highest grossing anime movie of all times built little emotional connection with the viewers, you didn't even pass it as an opinion here but you acted like no one cared about Rengoku which is absurd.



I don't think this argument is as strong as you think it is considering James Cameron's Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time for over 10 years even though it is largely agreed to be pretty mediocre at best and most likely owed its success to the buzz about its visual prowess. Ironically, the latter is something that could possibly be said about KnY too, since it was ufotable's treatment of the material what catapulted it to its massive success-


Decent comparison but let’s not forget that Avatar benefited heavily from the visual technology it showcased. It was something people hadn’t seen before. Mugen Train is literally Rengoku’s movie. He is the core of the film. And if he didn’t resonate with a good portion of viewers then there’s no way the film would have grossed as much as it did. Have we forgotten that there’s tons of one-note anime archetypal characters that are extremely beloved despite their lack of depth? Sometimes simplicity works. And in Rengoku’s case it worked for me. If you’re on Twitter, especially as the movie was airing in the US, the reaction to Rengoku’s demise was very much a topic of conversation. But not only that, people were lamenting how short-lived his character was. So, yeah. I definitely disagree with James statement about Rengoku not resonating. But I can easily see how someone would think the opposite.
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Dab1za9



Joined: 27 Mar 2016
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:25 am Reply with quote
CrowLia wrote:
Dab1za9 wrote:

Yeah the highest grossing anime movie of all times built little emotional connection with the viewers, you didn't even pass it as an opinion here but you acted like no one cared about Rengoku which is absurd.



I don't think this argument is as strong as you think it is considering James Cameron's Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time for over 10 years even though it is largely agreed to be pretty mediocre at best and most likely owed its success to the buzz about its visual prowess. Ironically, the latter is something that could possibly be said about KnY too, since it was ufotable's treatment of the material what catapulted it to its massive success-


One look at Mugen Train reception and you would know it an absurd comparison.
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WizardOfOss



Joined: 19 Jun 2018
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Location: Oss, Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:20 am Reply with quote
CrowLia wrote:
I don't think this argument is as strong as you think it is considering James Cameron's Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time for over 10 years even though it is largely agreed to be pretty mediocre at best and most likely owed its success to the buzz about its visual prowess. Ironically, the latter is something that could possibly be said about KnY too, since it was ufotable's treatment of the material what catapulted it to its massive success-
Dare I say Avatar was a much better movie than Mugen Train? Or could that get me killed? Laughing

Eddy564 wrote:
Mugen Train is literally Rengoku’s movie. He is the core of the film.
Was it really? For the entire "train" part of the movie he was mostly just a side character, with Tanjiro and Inosuke doing the heavy lifting. Only for the last part (I wouldn't even call it a finale since it had hardly anything to do with everything that came before) they whipped out another demon out of the blue to give him a chance to shine.

Like I said before, I think the movie would have worked better if they included the first episode of the series. That would have given him at least some characterization beyond being strong and shouting Umai! a lot....
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 7:18 am Reply with quote
I think Demon Slayer also benefits quite a lot from ufotable's visual style. It is quite distinctive and not something people really see outside of the DS universe; not as completely new-just-for-the-film as Avatar's was, at the time, maybe, but the parallel between the two seems pretty strong, to me. DS just has a healthy franchise, and had a lot of pent-up pandemic demand, to build on top of as well.
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 1:44 pm Reply with quote
NeverConvex wrote:
I think Demon Slayer also benefits quite a lot from ufotable's visual style. It is quite distinctive and not something people really see outside of the DS universe; not as completely new-just-for-the-film as Avatar's was, at the time, maybe, but the parallel between the two seems pretty strong, to me. DS just has a healthy franchise, and had a lot of pent-up pandemic demand, to build on top of as well.


Yeah, that's exactly what i mean. Let's face it, Kimetsu no Yaiba as a manga was pretty popular before its anime adaptation but it was ufotable's animation and adaptation choices -notoriously the climatic battle with the spider demons- that turned it into the massive phenomenon it is now. I'm not comparing it to Avatar to say it's mediocre -i don't think it is, like i said i thought the movie was fine-, but to point out how saying "this sold a lot" isn't really a great argument to prove something's "objective" quality or ability to connect with its audience.*


*if such a thing can be objectively measured to begin with

Eddy564 wrote:
Mugen Train is literally Rengoku’s movie. He is the core of the film.


I'll second the doubt on this assertion. For how heavily he was featured in the promotional material, Rengoku's role in the Mugen Train portion of the movie was secondary at best, he really only took over the movie in the last 20 minutes or so when the train was already destroyed. Tbh that was a big strike against the movie for me since I found Rengoku very likable so it was disappointing that he ended up featuring so little in the movie as a whole.

I have to say i feel a big disconnect between the choice of calling it "Mugen Train" movie and also "Rengoku movie" when those two elements barely coincided on screen. It's a semantic disconnect at best but it's still a bit jarring to see that the main character of the poster spends the entire titular part of the movie standing quite literally in the background. Maybe if what became this season's first episode had been made part of the movie it would have made Rengoku's connection to the train more visible. Or they could've changed the title of the movie to "Set your heart aflame" or something else that better encompassed what the movie was about
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ZiharkXVI



Joined: 29 Jan 2009
Posts: 348
PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 7:20 pm Reply with quote
I want to say that this episode was really entertaining to me, and I don't even laugh at the juvenile-style comedy relief of Inosuke and Zenitsu. I think it definitely needed to be there because of how this is set up (it could easily slip into a too dark of tone that would turn some away), but what I find most fascinating is the idea of this place. The whole place is lit up and spectacular. It's true darkness is disguised under the glitz and glamour. Nothing good or wonderful is actually occurring in this place. My hats off to ufotable to get that theme in there with the visuals. For a minute, you want to go there. To experience it. It actually takes more than a second (and by design, more than an episode), to remember that this is all a facade and you then remember what this place is really all about. And with DS throwing a literal demon at the heart of this place, pulling the next best thing to "strings"...the setup is perfect.

Now I'm excited to see how they are going to find and confront this demon.

CrowLia wrote:
I'm not comparing it to Avatar to say it's mediocre -i don't think it is, like i said i thought the movie was fine-, but to point out how saying "this sold a lot" isn't really a great argument to prove something's "objective" quality or ability to connect with its audience.*


*if such a thing can be objectively measured to begin with


I mean, apparently I'm not allowed to use the "O" word, so clearly some disagree, lol. But I'll keep my thoughts to myself on popularity as a measurement of quality.
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 7:22 pm Reply with quote
I sort've continued not to be fond of this episode. The humor was a bit better than median for DS, but the jokes and dialogue writing are still DS-quality. I hope they get into some pretty action scenes soon.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3627
PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:45 pm Reply with quote
Uzui knocking out Zenitsu when he was screaming was definitely the episode highlight for me.

Still, enjoyed the episode despite how unbelievable it would be that those 3 wouldn't be found out the second their makeup was removed.

They might not be well known, but shouldn't Uzui's wives be using something other then their real names?

While I understand it's "for the mission", I hope we get some back and forth about Uzui sending his wives to infiltrate the red light district by becoming prostitutes.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:43 am Reply with quote
Uzui Tengen is a nice change of pace

We even laughed when he slapped Aoi's butt while holding her on his shoulders Laughing


Covnam wrote:

Still, enjoyed the episode despite how unbelievable it would be that those 3 wouldn't be found out the second their makeup was removed.

While I understand it's "for the mission", I hope we get some back and forth about Uzui sending his wives to infiltrate the red light district by becoming prostitutes.


Ninjas, like spy agents, are known to do anything for their missions (ask Double-O Seven) Laughing

But yeah, how the boys walk --not to mention the presence of Adam's Apple on their necks-- would've given them away
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Dab1za9



Joined: 27 Mar 2016
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 2:56 pm Reply with quote
[quote="WizardOfOss"]
CrowLia wrote:

Was it really? For the entire "train" part of the movie he was mostly just a side character, with Tanjiro and Inosuke doing the heavy lifting. Only for the last part (I wouldn't even call it a finale since it had hardly anything to do with everything that came before) they whipped out another demon out of the blue to give him a chance to shine.

Like I said before, I think the movie would have worked better if they included the first episode of the series. That would have given him at least some characterization beyond being strong and shouting Umai! a lot....

[quote="CrowLia"]
NeverConvex wrote:


I'll second the doubt on this assertion. For how heavily he was featured in the promotional material, Rengoku's role in the Mugen Train portion of the movie was secondary at best, he really only took over the movie in the last 20 minutes or so when the train was already destroyed. Tbh that was a big strike against the movie for me since I found Rengoku very likable so it was disappointing that he ended up featuring so little in the movie as a whole.

I have to say i feel a big disconnect between the choice of calling it "Mugen Train" movie and also "Rengoku movie" when those two elements barely coincided on screen. It's a semantic disconnect at best but it's still a bit jarring to see that the main character of the poster spends the entire titular part of the movie standing quite literally in the background. Maybe if what became this season's first episode had been made part of the movie it would have made Rengoku's connection to the train more visible. Or they could've changed the title of the movie to "Set your heart aflame" or something else that better encompassed what the movie was about


Have you guys ever talked to someone who like kimetsu or anything like that ? Rengoku is the core of the movie and is why it was so successful, when the movie aired on TV, Rengoku name was literally trending from the morning and was higher than the series name "鬼滅の刃" , I think the real disconnect here is people who are lukewarm on the series trying to analyze its appeals.

Like i think it would blow your minds to know the first episode of Mugen Train TV was disliked by the fans especially Japanese since they found the writing to be weird compared to Gotouge(because contrary to what some would say, Gotouge writing is very unique) and didn't capture Rengoku character well.
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 4:05 pm Reply with quote
Dab1za9 wrote:

Have you guys ever talked to someone who like kimetsu or anything like that ? Rengoku is the core of the movie and is why it was so successful, when the movie aired on TV, Rengoku name was literally trending from the morning and was higher than the series name "鬼滅の刃" , I think the real disconnect here is people who are lukewarm on the series trying to analyze its appeals.

Like i think it would blow your minds to know the first episode of Mugen Train TV was disliked by the fans especially Japanese since they found the writing to be weird compared to Gotouge(because contrary to what some would say, Gotouge writing is very unique) and didn't capture Rengoku character well.


Rengoku being what people like most about the movie is not the same as him being the narrative core of the movie. If the movie had been 20 minutes shorter, Rengoku would've had three-five minutes of screentime at most, of which more than walf were comedic bits. His contributions to the battle were quite literally off-screen and in the back of the train. Narratively, Rengoku isn't important in the Mugen Train portion, and the fact that his 20 minutes of post-train spotlight resonated more with the audience (myself included) than any of the train stuff actually supports the idea that Mugen Train arc was rather weak overall.
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 14 Dec 2012
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 4:10 pm Reply with quote
Dab1za9 I think you need to just move on man. You've spent nearly a full month trying to...I dunno, I guess "prove" people wrong for not liking the Mugen Train arc? At some point your argument needs to be something besides "well DS is super popular so your opinions are WRONG" and start actually engaging with people's posts. Otherwise I don't know what you're doing here besides trying to defend the honor of one of the biggest media franchises in the world right now.

Anyway, I'm already enjoying this arc more than the last, if just because the characters have more time to interact, and there's a goal for them all that doesn't immediately resolve itself. Still wish the anime could move a little faster during the comedy bits, as they still feel too dragged out compared to the manga.
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Dab1za9



Joined: 27 Mar 2016
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2021 3:19 pm Reply with quote
You know for an episode with great storyboard and directing, it is weird how there is absolutely no mention in any of that.
having someone as Takashi Suhara talking the storyboard this season(for all the new episodes so far) made this season an upgrade over the last though it is still slow adapting 2 ch/ep, honestly probably the worst thing about the adaptation.


CrowLia wrote:
Dab1za9 wrote:

Have you guys ever talked to someone who like kimetsu or anything like that ? Rengoku is the core of the movie and is why it was so successful, when the movie aired on TV, Rengoku name was literally trending from the morning and was higher than the series name "鬼滅の刃" , I think the real disconnect here is people who are lukewarm on the series trying to analyze its appeals.

Like i think it would blow your minds to know the first episode of Mugen Train TV was disliked by the fans especially Japanese since they found the writing to be weird compared to Gotouge(because contrary to what some would say, Gotouge writing is very unique) and didn't capture Rengoku character well.


Rengoku being what people like most about the movie is not the same as him being the narrative core of the movie. If the movie had been 20 minutes shorter, Rengoku would've had three-five minutes of screentime at most, of which more than walf were comedic bits. His contributions to the battle were quite literally off-screen and in the back of the train. Narratively, Rengoku isn't important in the Mugen Train portion, and the fact that his 20 minutes of post-train spotlight resonated more with the audience (myself included) than any of the train stuff actually supports the idea that Mugen Train arc was rather weak overall.



oh whatever, just fyi people still like the other parts, people preferring the climax doesn't mean the other parts are bad.

lossthief wrote:
Dab1za9 I think you need to just move on man. You've spent nearly a full month trying to...I dunno, I guess "prove" people wrong for not liking the Mugen Train arc? At some point your argument needs to be something besides "well DS is super popular so your opinions are WRONG" and start actually engaging with people's posts. Otherwise I don't know what you're doing here besides trying to defend the honor of one of the biggest media franchises in the world right now..


I never said people were wrong for no liking Mugen Train, we have people giving excuses about why "other people" like it and discrediting the mangaka work, like it or not the manga and the story is the reason why the series became so big and comparing it with a movie that was a technological revolution while it is just a good looking movie, anyway can't imagine people going "oh the animation is great let's go and buy the manga and make it the biggest in Japan history" this is only thing i have problems with and given that i don't really spend much time writing these post, i think i will continue doing that.
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