“It treats it as something natural”: Nasu Kinoko’s Words on Demon Slayer’s Portrayal of Death Proves Why Koyoharu Gotouge’s Magnum Opus is Ways AheadDemon Slayer”It treats it as something natural”: Nasu Kinoko’s Words on Demon Slayer’s Portrayal of Death Proves Why Koyoharu Gotouge’s Magnum Opus is Ways Ahead
Demon Slayer has some of the most intense and emotional moments in anime. It is one of the most popular animes due to its interesting arcs and epic action scenes that often end with dramatic and moving deaths.
In an interview with Nasu Kinoko, the author behind Fate/stay Night, Tsukihime, and The Garden of Sinners to name a few, following the first part of Fate/Grand Order, he was asked what was his favorite content at that moment, and he replied with Demon Slayer.
Kinoko Nasu Talks About Portrayal Of Death In Demon Slayer
When asked about his favorite content, Kinoko Nasu admitted that it was Demon Slayer. He just said, “Read it and you’ll understand,” because it’s definitely interesting to those who read it and have the same sensibilities.
According to him, the author Koyoharu Gotouge, had taken great care in every aspect of the story, and he didn’t feel dislike for any of the characters, whether they were bad guys or good guys. He added that it’s a story that brings out his sensibility, so if you can understand his values, what he wants to say, his kindness, or his beliefs, it will be interesting.
When the interviewer asked him that the view of life and death in the Demon Slayer world is particularly good, this is what Nasu had to say:
There are some writers who take that view of life and death a little harder and make it more entertaining or explicit, but “Kimetsu no Yaiba” doesn’t treat death as entertainment. If you are cut down, you die. If your family is taken from you, your heart dies. It treats it as something quite natural. It’s dry and full of impermanence, but it’s also trying to convey very sincerely what we should do and how we should think in the face of such difficulties.
The manga is full of both good and bad people, but the reason why you don’t feel disgusted no matter where you look is because there is no ‘malicious intent to bring people down’ in the work. Even the greatest evil, the miserable, has no thought of wanting to defile others because they are happy. He is portrayed as an evil who simply wants to live.
He further stated, rather humorously, that he could talk about it the whole day if they wanted him to. He also said that Demon Slayer has a unique view of life and death. It’s not that dying is exciting, or that dying makes you cry, but that you have lived your whole life and that’s not an easy feeling to understand.
Kinoko Nasu Addresses The Suspension Of Disbelief In Demon Slayer
In the interview, Matsunaga stated that even though the story is grammatically digestible in Demon Slayer, the fact that the characters are going to die creates a sense of tension as well as a sense of impermanence. He said the way Demon Slayer is drawn, unless one can grasp the author’s worldview, it’s hard for the reader to predict. To this, Nasu commented that it is probably predictable. Nasu explained:
The breathing technique in “Kimetsu no Yaiba” is a “manga lie”, isn’t it? Everyone knows that you can’t do something like that even if you train your breathing, but they accept it as an absolute requirement in that world. On the other hand, in “Kimetsu no Yaiba,” the reality line is thoroughly established from the beginning.
For example, if a human’s arm is cut off, they bleed to death. For example, demons are immortal, but if you cut off their heads, they die. For example, if there is a pillar, a newcomer, and an upper string, the weakest one will die first. If you think about it realistically, that’s a given, isn’t it?
He further explained that no matter how the story used dramatic descriptions or breathing techniques, everyone was able to watch the final struggle with interest because this absolute prerequisite was well-known from the beginning. There will be fatalities in the war. And the weaker and younger ones pass away first.
Nasu concluded by saying that it is not a manga technique, but something Gotouge does not fool around with.
