Warning: Contains major spoilers for the anime AND manga of Demon SlayerLike its predecessors like Naruto and Bleach, Demon slayer features some of the darkest moments in shounen anime. A world where demons lurk in the shadows of Japan, ready to torture and eat living humans completely unaware of their existence, is horrifying in itself. The rest of the film more than delivers on its bleak premise with many heartbreaking deaths.
Despite their tragic origins, demons are cruel and powerful creatures. At best, they don’t care about the pain they cause their prey; At worst, they try to make the people they pity suffer. And with someone like Kibutsuji Muzan in command, they were not kind to their fellow humans. All of this leads to Demon Slayer being one of the darkest shounen series in recent memory.
10. Kamado family massacre
Audiences learn exactly what their intentions are with this show in the first episode of Demon Slayer, appropriately titled “Cruelty.” Tanjiro lives a humble but happy life in the mountains with his mother and five younger siblings. Then one day, he returned home and found them all massacred, leaving only one person. His sister Nezuko was turned into a demon in one of the anime’s most shocking twists. The sight of the newly feral and hungry Nezuko plunging at her own confused, terrified brother with the intention of tearing his throat out with her teeth is disturbing. As if Tanjiro wasn’t already having a bad day, he’s forced to think quickly to beg Giyuu for his sister’s life while still fending her off.
9 Susamaru’s death
It became clear what a monster Muzan was only after the carnage at Kamado’s house. But the harsh rules he applies to restrain his forces show that even the lives of his own kind – of his own making – mean nothing to him. Tanjiro and Nezuko witnessed Susamaru accidentally saying Muzan’s name after being defeated.
Susamaru immediately realized her negligence and asked for forgiveness, insisting that she would never reveal her master’s secret. True enough, but that doesn’t matter: Muzan’s curse attacks and horribly kills her from the inside out. And it wasn’t just a simple kill switch: it was meant to be a cruel punishment for the fallen, as bloody and bloody as any battle, and despite having just fought for their lives spending their lives against the demon, the Kamado siblings remain terrified.
8 Natagumo Mountain Arc
There are stronger demons in Muzan’s group than the Spider Family, but few are more iconic to the series as a whole. Mount Natagumo is their domain and watching them destroy the Demon Slayer Corps trying to hunt them down in the forest is like something out of a monster movie. Each spider has different terrifying characteristics, with the spider’s body parts and abilities shown off in some of the scariest transformations in anime.
Rui is the strongest and most feared, coldly torturing and killing his “family” and enemies, but the power he bestows is no joke. Father is a huge monster with spider fangs and terrible strength, and the brothers turn humans into mindless spiders and melt them in cocoons. Tanjiro and his friends are gradually losing focus until Giyuu and Shinobu appear.
7 A happy ending
The Mugen Train arc is a harrowing battle not only for Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke, but also for Rengoku, the Flame Hashira. After fighting hard and escaping their most tantalizing dreams, they killed the low-level demon Enmu, and despite their exhaustion, they were happy to carry out a mission without casualties. Then senior Akaza appeared.
Akaza immediately demonstrates the difference between superiors and subordinates in Muzan’s Twelve Kizuki. Kyojuro gives him an incredible fight, one that even impresses the signature arrogant demon, but ultimately succumbs to his injuries. The only thing that saved the three young people was Akaza fleeing before the sun, leaving them to mourn one of the saddest deaths in Demon Slayer.
The final battle at entertainment district 6
Two of the things Demon Slayer does best are grueling battles and tragic plot flashbacks. These two come together in a beautiful and terrible way in the Entertainment District Arc, with the reveal of the demon brothers Daki and Gyutaro. Angry and cruel from their abusive childhoods, they delight in torturing and killing anyone who crosses their path.
Their war with the Kamado siblings destroyed the official district and pushed all four of them to their absolute limits. In particular, Nezuko lost control and not only beat Daki senselessly but also tried to eat those injured in the fire. Daki, no slouch, literally tears Nezuko apart and sends Tanjiro into a rage deeper than viewers have ever seen before.
5 Muichirou’s past
Many Demon Hunters enter this profession because they lost loved ones in demon attacks, just like Tanjiro. However, the fate of Tokito’s family is perhaps the most terrible. The orphan twins, Muichirou and Yuichirou, are attacked by demons, and Muichirou watches his stronger brother bleed to death while begging for Muichirou’s life.
Muichirou barely survived after being trapped on a floor filled with maggots and insects for days. He was so deeply traumatized that his brain blocked the memory of what happened and he unconsciously replaced his own personality with that of his brother as a survival mechanism. Muichirou’s youth and the fact that he forced himself to go through more pain during his training to become stronger made his background especially dark.
4 Sanemi and Genya’s past
Both Sanemi and Genya act cruelly and aggressively towards Tanjiro. However, it turns out the three have more in common than they thought. As children, Sanemi and Genya were the eldest sons in a large family, and they swore to protect their mother and siblings after their abusive father died. But they could never be prepared for a demonic attack, let alone the transformation of their own mother.
Genya, realizing that something is wrong and trying in vain to prevent his siblings from opening the door, is more terrifying than Mother Shinazugawa tearing apart and slaughtering most of her children. Worse yet, Sanemi kills the demon and saves Genya, but Genya does not realize the demon and their mother are one and the same. Because of the misunderstanding, the brothers are estranged, their relationship defined by grief, regret, and despair rather than the love and closeness that the Kamado siblings enjoy.
3 Obanai’s past
Most victims of demons don’t die quickly, and Serpent Hashira’s childhood may be one of the most tragic backstories in any anime. The Iguro clan worships a snake demon who likes to eat children, and Obanai was raised in his cell as a deliberate sacrifice. The demon’s “affection” for him manifests itself in the form of slitting his mouth and stalking him at night, causing him constant fear.
His escape saved his life and at the same time left him more traumatized. The demon killed the entire clan in anger, and a surviving cousin of Obanai blamed him for not allowing himself to be eaten. As an adult, he knows that what his family did was wrong, but still struggles with self-loathing and guilt over his upbringing and their deaths, and believes that he can only atone for his sins through death.
2 At home
It’s just Doma. Every moment Superior Number Two appears on the page or screen, something terrible is happening: both in the story and in flashbacks to tragic backstories. As a human child, Doma was subject to a cult that defrauded people out of their belongings and witnessed the murder-suicide of his parents, shaping his treatment of he was to others like an adult demon.
Doma personally ate Inosuke’s mother as well as Shinobu and Kanao’s younger sisters. He maintains his cult as a demon, considering it a help and honor to be transformed or eaten by him. Even the satisfaction of the Kochou sisters’ victory over him is undermined by the fact that he simply does not care that he is about to die: life means very little to him, how including himself.
1 Tanjiro’s transformation
Anime heroes becoming villains is one of the most shocking transformations ever witnessed: it’s even worse if it happens against the hero’s will. In defiance of the humans who eventually defeated him, Muzan forced his will onto Tanjiro, turning him into a demon. Watching Tanjiro’s eyes turn red and his smile disappear in a growl is one of the most shocking images in the manga.
Although willing to kill, Tanjiro always fights to protect others and help demons achieve a peaceful end with his sword. His corruption after becoming an eternal beacon of hope and after the deaths of so many Demon Slayers is the darkest hour of the series. As powerful as he was, he could not suppress Muzan on his own: it was the power of his loved ones coming together to protect him that turned darkness into light and destroyed Muzan forever.
An optimistic story like Demon Slayer can’t fully convey its message without significant darkness to contrast it. Horrible transformations, abusive childhoods, and demonic slaughter are the stuff of nightmares, creating life’s darkest moments. Demon slayer.