Category: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome one and all to what I would describe as the first concerning episode of Kimetsu no Yaiba! This time we have a lot of reused footage, a beautiful muscle bound woman and a fun fight. Lets dive in!

Starting off, repeating sequences aside, Production is the one area Yaiba had no issues in. It looks fantastic. Yeah, sure, the CGI was noticeable. You could tell when Tanjiro’s face became a static 3D model and such. But the actual movement in those sequences looked fantastic. Using the full environment, holding the shot as Tanjiro jumps off the wall and twists around the screen. It all looked very fluid, however noticeable the change in medium was. The water effects also continue to impress. The stark blue, and thick black lines really make it stand out beautifully on screen. All in all I loved it. Before jumping into spoilers this week though, I want to thank commenter Revokkin, for correcting me on Yaiba’s composer. As it turns out Go Shiina is also responsible for the music with Yuki Kaijura. So we have to thank them both for this great OST.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 9 [Temari Demon and Arrow Demon]” →

Welcome, one and all, to another fantastic week of Kimetsu no Yaiba! This time Muzan’s voice gets sexier, Yaiba gets trippy and Nezuko becomes the cutest little thing ever. Lets dive in!

Recently I have been skipping the visual aspect of Yaiba, because I gushed about it often. This week Yaiba managed to stand out beyond the norm though. It was simultaneously beautiful and horrifying, comedic and somber. The flower sequence at the start was beautiful, flowing across the screen like water. I would love to know how much of that was computer generated digital effects vs hand-drawn. Meanwhile, Muzan’s sequence in the alley with the woman was terrifying. Ufotable left nothing to the imagination with that, and as horrifying as it was, I couldn’t look away. I was enthralled with how they depicted a person literally melting. The only downside to the whole episode were 2, 3-4 sec sequences at most. Involving CGI walks that really exist only to save them time on the most minor of shots. It’s a nitpick, and one I will gladly ignore for everything else.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 8 [The Smell of Enchanting Blood]” →

Hello all, and welcome to a big week for Kimetsu no Yaiba. This is the week where I move it up from a “Competent” Shounen to a “Good/Great” Shounen. You see, Yaiba finishes up another arc, Nezuko kicks some butt and Tanjiro meets the big bad 8 episodes in. So let’s jump into it!

Starting off, production. Yaiba was as consistent as it always is on this front, beautiful with the occasional odd CGI walk. However it also had one of my favorite cuts this week. That being the flashback to the mountain, with Tanjiro running through the forest. I thought the camera movements/tracking and CGI was fantastic. Yeah, it wasn’t perfect but boy did I love that scene. On top of that, once again I want to bring up Yuki Kaijura. She really nailed the unease and tension of the 2nd half of the episode. Really elevating the emotions of a scene. There are some small gripes, for instance I think Yaiba wasted some potential in the underwater scene. And it was also overly dingy and dark. But it does its job, and with how good everything else is around it, that’s good enough. The story however, does far more than that.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 7 [Muzan Kibutsuji]” →

Welcome everyone to another episode of Yaiba! We are 1/4th of the way through now and Yaiba is 3 arcs in, with no plans of slowing. We arrive at the town, a hunt ensues and combat begins with our first super powered Demon. Lets jump in!

As always, production first. I could go on and on about how pretty Yaiba is. How much I love the water effects and uneven line work, etc etc. I have done that every week though, so this time let’s talk sound design, cause whoo. It’s good. Not only is it a Yuki Kaijura OST, always a plus, but Yaiba is just nailing the folly work. Seriously, whoever did the sound of the gnashing teeth deserves a raise. That was a suitably creepy and hair-raising, a unique sound I have no heard before in anime. As a whole it all comes together for a simply fantastic sounding episode. My only real complaint with it is the CGI crowds/walking. Yaiba is finally starting to show some cracks in the CGI, with the wide shots. Luckily all of the closeups are still 2D. That aside though, onto the story. Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 6 [Swordsman Accompanying a Demon]” →

Another week, another saturday morning cartoon episode of Yaiba. This week we finish up the exam, Nezuko wakes up and Tanjiro gets a fancy sword. Lets jump in!

As always, the visuals are great. Ufotable does right by Yaiba every week on this front. I have gone over the big stuff multiple times though, so instead, I want to take not of some smaller details. For instance, I love how Yaiba is employing the masks. They inform a bit about a person’s character, and also saves them time on animation. Letting them instead do a lot of character animation, such as Haganezuka’s waving arms. It’s something I think is worth pointing out. Another detail was the sound design this week, specifically the music. There were a lot of moments that were enhanced by it. I can’t comment or not on how “traditional” it actually is, but I quite enjoyed the string’s aspect of it. With Yuki Kaijura at the helm here though, this isn’t really surprising. However repetitive her style can be, fact is, it’s a good style.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 5 [My Own Steel]” →

Hello and welcome to Kimetsu no Yaiba’s strongest week yet! Training concludes, the Yaiba starts the Selection begins and Tanjiro shows off his skills. Lets jump in!

Starting off, production! This was a good week for Yaiba, it looked and sounded fantastic. I’ve gushed about the animation/art before, so I’ll keep that part short this week. The water effects on Tanjiro’s sword were beautiful, and I love the thematic nature of them, as I don’t believe they have actual water powers. What I really want to talk about here though is the sound design. Both the VA’s and the music were fantastic, with Midorikawa (of Dio Brando fame) nailing it as the Demon. His whole counting sequence, and insane breakdown as to the era were chilling. Yaiba just had a lot of fun with everything this week, and as a viewer you could tell. Even going to far as to pay homage to the Dio Brando walking shot the internet loves so much. This isn’t the only place Yaiba excelled though, the story did as well.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 4 [Final Selection]” →

Welcome to Kimetsu no Yaiba, the premier Saturday Morning Cartoon of the season! This time we burn through a training arc, meet some ghosts and learn the arcs end-goal. Lets jump in!

Starting off, like always, the production. Yaiba does a great job here, like usual, looking fantastic. Assume you like digital effects that is. I myself have no problem with them, and so for me, I find it quite fun to look at. It’s not just the digital effects though, Yaiba has a ton of small-details throughout. There are two specifically I want to call attention to though. The first, are the animated jaws. Yaiba animates the jaws of characters with masks as they talk, helping sell it. This is nice because most series wouldn’t take the effort, using the masks to save on animation of the mouths. That Yaiba refuses to do this is a nice touch. The other is another small detail, of the calluses on Tanjiro’s hands. We see them when writing his journal, and it’s just a nice small detail visually telling the story.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 3 [Sabito and Makomo]” →

Welcome one and all to the 2019 Spring Season! My name is Lenlo, and I am Shounen Trash. This, is Kimetsu no Yaiba, now with cute demon sisters, mysterious old men the the high possibility of developing a drool fetish. Sounds weird? Good, lets jump in!

First off, production. Its Ufotable, obviously Yaiba looks fantastic. It has the Ufotable style of heavy digital effects of course, it’s all very flashy. Yaiba isn’t as unique as Mob Psycho was. But you can’t deny the actual technical skill put into Yaiba. You just need to look at the CGI cut throughout the episode for proof of that. The last time CGI was done this well was Houseki no Kuni, and there it was the entire show. For instance, Yaiba gave us multiple shots of running through a CGI forest or mountain, with lots of 2D layered in there. It all looks great, in a much more traditional sense than Mob Psycho does. Naturally this means more static shots or less expressive faces/bodies. But the filters and effects at least make those very pretty stills. Think Violet Evergarden vs Mob Psycho, shoved into a traditional Shounen.

Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 2 [Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki]” →