Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol. 20by Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 6 The battle against Kokushibo comes to an end -- who will be left standing?While the fighting in this volume is intense (to the point of being exhausting to read), I feel let down in several ways. I knew a little of one of the character's circumstances in advance of reading, but not the hows. I'm not happy about this and another character's fate -- I don't like that kind of story, really (and didn't know enough about the series when I agreed to review it to guess that it would be this kind of story, or else I might never have started). Still, I can at least appreciate a revelation that makes it unquestionable that every demon slayer fully embraces this fate. It makes that fate a little easier to accept. At the same time, I feel like there wasn't enough of a big deal made of the fate of the characters in question (my two faves of the series!!) -- it was too quick, and shown from too much of a distance, and there was very little in the way of reaction (hopefully the next volume will change that). After all that danger, and all the perseverance, the end of this battle, and the steps leading to it, just felt kind of emotionally anti-climactic (though the moments before it were extremely, stomach-churningly horrific). And for one of them, it wasn't even clear at first if they were out of the fight or not! So that just made things even MORE anti-climactic. I feel like we should have gotten to know more about other characters involved, and their relationship to the other two (maybe we did in volumes I was not sent?), but as it was, I felt rather detached from them, compared to the other two. It doesn't help that, of all the demon backstories, Kokushibo's was the least interesting to me, being more about his brother than him. I really want to know even more about his brother, why he was the way he was, but I half-suspect we won't learn anything else. It also didn't help that there weren't many moments away from the battle, to give us a break and some variety. Kokushibo doesn't seem very nuanced or compelling compared to the other demons we've seen. Supposed different versions of his technique just seemed like more of the same, over and over, and I feel like we were told more than shown how dangerous he was. There wasn't really anything in the way of exciting twists or shifts in the tide of battle -- not in any really imaginative way, as I'd come to expect from this series. I did really like some moments, especially one between my two faves. But this volume felt at other times like the manga-ka was just going through the motions, and I'd rather the story hadn't gone in the direction it did. I'm not sure I want to read more. Written: April 2, 2021
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