‘Perfect Storm’ promotes Demon Slayer in comic books | Social and Cultural Affairs

Tokyo, Japan – The unprecedented success of the film Demon Slayer has helped to confirm the potential of its anime business and focus on popular entertainment, as well as boost Japanese interest as the country grapples with new cases of coronavirus.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Video: Mugen Train now has Japanese art books.

After twelve consecutive weeks at the end of last year as The most popular video in Japan – in progress – in December won the Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki as the 1st most lucrative Japanese movie ever.

He is now raising a box office in the United States, just two weeks after his release.

Japanese government spokesman Katsunobu Kato this week celebrated the Demon Slayer as “a clear statement that the Japanese mango culture has been respected around the world”.

In the 29 weeks since its release, the video has sold nearly 29 million tickets and brought in about $ 365m to the Japanese market alone.

Roland Kelts, author of the book Japamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Attacked the US, says Demon Slayer’s spectacular display is a collection of “good storms”.

One of the most important things was to “get the way out”, he said.

It started as a series of manga – Japanese toys or cartoons – in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in February 2015, before the 26-year-old TV series released abruptly from April 2019 and later aired on various platforms, only after it was a video released in October of that year. it’s over.

The additional methods allowed the noise to form more slowly.

Another thing was the timing of the video release. It came to the forefront of the COVID-19 epidemic in Japan – between the second and third waves – when the video was open but there were few videos to choose from.

The Kelts says after the release of a major movie in his hometown of Tokyo at the time it was released in October 2020 “there was no way … it was Demon Slayer all day.”

Obviously, even then the video would not have been able to do well without much interest.

“She has a beautiful young soldier who is sympathetic to others,” said Carol Hayes, associate professor of Japan at Australia National University. The problems they are complaining about are people. ”

Good vs bad

The moderator of the series, Tanjiro Kamado, is launching an event that seems to be well-known and unchanging.

He is a brave young man from that country who wants to fight against bad people and take revenge and save his family. In this way, it can be a myth from any culture at any time in human history.

We hear the hero’s words as he struggles with “the problem of distinguishing right from wrong.”

Hayes also points out that it stems from the popularity of zombie and vampire movies and because the anime was so well-received, it could attract the attention of a wider audience.

At the same time, Demon Slayer is not completely dark, as most of the characters and events are designed to make the audience laugh and maintain a clear appearance.

“They’ve tried to make this fun, and it’s a good way to deal with violence,” Hayes said.

In addition, by taking “demons” into the opposite direction, killing that happens almost anything would not be a problem in appearance.

Emerald King, a Japanese lecturer at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, adds that, beyond Tanjiro, there is “a very good group of characters and characters, and there is everyone … None of these people are lost. purpose. ”

Commenting on the claims made by some experts, Mr. King observes that while he has minor debts, women are also deeply intoxicated.

“There are very good women … they are allowed to have as many mistakes as boys,” she said.

Kamado Tajiro leaves his village to take revenge, and save his family [File: Sam Yeh/AFP]

On the other hand, those who study Japanese manga and anime also agree that, despite their success, nothing inside the Demon Slayer demons can be said to be truly destructive.

“Nothing new,” King admitted, “has taken the best of everything and has been gathering them.” This series uses “what works in other forms and [is] use it to their advantage. ”

In the process, the Kelts go so far as to say that their history may fade over time.

“I don’t think it will be honored as an anime five years from now,” he said.

Demon Slayer’s ingenuity may not be due to his creativity or depth of art, but his ability to produce exactly what he is planning.

Kelts says a lot of investment has been moving from the US to Japan in Japan over the past five years or so, meaning the studio is “forced to expand” their business from commercial.

“These companies realize that their mission is to deliver products that now have an audience around the world,” Kelts said. Demon Slayer’s masterpiece shows a very strong style.

The success of the film nationally and internationally confirms that some studios and industry partners have learned about Demon Slayer, hoping to climb the waves they have created. It will be an example of many that will follow, including, no doubt, some unspoken ones who want to make money.

Demon Slayer started as a comic book before a radio, final, video. The process helped make things better, according to experts [File: Kyodo/via Reuters]

But even the most positive things about the future anime need to feel the commercial impact that Demon Slayer has achieved, and some of the disadvantages may cry out to other groups of anime lovers.

A good storm could leave behind a change of scenery.

As an insider told Kelts, “Our generation has realized that anime is fun; it’s not a skill.”