After nearly a year delay, Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho finally started airing this season. The episode being an 1-hour special set the journey of what’s to come.

First Impressions on Sword of the Demon Hunter

Visually, it looks amazing with flashed out character design and beautiful background. In certain moments, the animation kicks up a notch and delivered some cool scene. The soundtrack however failed to stand out to me and felt there could’ve been much better. Although, it sits well enough for such dark story.

Synopsis

The story starts off with two main characters Jinta and Suzune, the two siblings running away from their abusive family and later found by a swordsman, who is a sentinel and hunts demons. The siblings is taken into his family and grows along with his daughter Shirayuki. Years passed, the man who saved Jina and Suzune is killed by a demon and Shirayuki is forced to be a pristess, serving the village’s shrine.

Later, Shirayuki is arranged to be married off to the village’s chief which crushed the innocent heart of Suzune who really wanted her brother to be with her. A group of demons took adventage of this situation and poisoned Suzune’s mind into chaos that led the love of siblings into hatred and the demise of Shirayuki. Jinta swors to find Suzune and make her pay.

Initial Review

The story itself is pretty solid. It’s set in an old time with demons roaming around then you’d have to deal with various social norms set by the sceptical geezers. But, I keep getting a feeling that it’s missing something. It starts slow with some tragic events that just casually passes by. It lacks an impact that would hook us with the story. Either it be funny or laid-back or emotional or interesting, it just fails to connect with the audience. Or I’m just not used to the seinen formula.

The first episode sets up well as a prologue to what’s to come. The world feels much bigger, there are lingering thoughts on how the demons operate, there’s a theme of serving their purpose (on both human and demon’s side), and the finale being confronting Suzune. It’s dark and profane. There are clearly some censorship to hide the nudity so take advice before jumping into this anime.

About Sword of the Demon Hunter

Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho is a Japanese historical fantasy novel series written by Moto’o Nakanishi and illustrated by Tamaki. Initially serialized online from January 2013 to May 2016 on Arcadia, it later continued on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website from December 2015 to October 2016. The series was then acquired by Futabasha, who has published fourteen volumes between June 2019 and November 2023. A manga adaptation, illustrated by Yū Satomi, has been serialized by Futabasha since September 2021 and compiled into seven tankōbon volumes. Both the novel and manga are licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime adaptation by Yokohama Animation Laboratory debuted in March 2025.

Afterthought

Initially, I thought this would be like Demon Slayer but for seinen (adult demographic). The both have some similarities, except for two siblings sticking together, they turn enemies. It’s not hype filled or funny, it’s just a tragic tale with harrowing characters. Can’t say production-wise and directory aspect would improve from what we’ve already seen. How the story will unfold from here on now, only time will tell.

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