Kijin Gentôshô

Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho is a compelling blend of historical fiction, dark fantasy, and action, masterfully weaving samurai-era Japan with supernatural intrigue. The story follows Jinta, a stoic shrine guardian turned demon hunter, as he traverses centuries in his quest to fulfill a mysterious promise. What makes this series truly stand out is its seamless transition between peaceful village life and brutal, demon-slaying action. The writing is atmospheric and poetic, capturing both the beauty and darkness of its world. Characters are well-developed, with Jinta's quiet strength and sense of duty anchoring the narrative. The artwork (in both the manga and light novel illustrations) enhances the immersive experience with detailed, expressive visuals. Whether you're a fan of folklore, time-travel elements, or simply looking for a fresh take on the demon-slaying genre, Kijin Gentosho delivers a unique and engaging journey. It's a must-read for fans of mature, thoughtful fantasy with emotional depth.

At first glance i thought this was just a boring ripoff anime of mainstream ones such as demonslayer and so on. But after finishing this i have changed my opinion, this is a masterpiece the way the plots are unpredictable and plays with the viewers mind is just wow... the dilemma he faced and how he proceeds to face it is different compared to others making this a masterpiece with its own originality!

It's a series that is written like a coming of age story. From the son of a shop, to an adopted son becoming a Guardian, a ronin, a ramen shop owner, a gardener, a sealed sword and a high school student. It's a long journey and it's nice how the author weaves historical events with the story. It follows the MC from his beginnings in Kadono and to the Heisei era in Japan.

It's basically a story of accepting change. It also has a few twists and turns and one of them also explains the unanswered questions from the first volume.

I believe the first half is the strongest, and the later volumes are a bit weaker. He gets to know people and their children as well as losing those people, and the first volumes are just about loss, revenge and getting stronger.

Later on he becomes more mature throughout the series and he realises he is getting weaker. The more things the MC is carrying with him, the weaker he becomes and this weakness is also the only thing that could stop his sister.

Episode 1 is nearly an hour long, and it sets up a lot of lore, then by episode 2, there's a massive time skip, and by episode 4. You get the formula. Which isn't to say that it's a bad formula, but it is a SLOW FORMULA.

Episode 1: Brother and Sister flee from an abusive home. Get picked up by a "SENTINEL" a shinobi that's basically in charge of guarding the high preistess of the village. In the man's stead, the boy trains to be a sentinel himself so he can protect those that he loves.

The man's natural daughter becomes the new High Priestess of the village, and the boy fulfills his goal of being the Sentinel, along with another man. Things happen, and everything turns to crap. The man from the beginning loses everything when two demons come to town, one to act as a distraction, fighting the Man, and the other on a mission to find a legendary Demon of ALL DEMONS. Every bad guy fulfills their goal, leaving the man without an arm, and lost his loved one and sister in the process. Man gets a new arm after the demon he was charged with slaying gives him his arm, which turns the man into a demon, and the thing he swears to hunt.

Episode 2 and from there on: Now it becomes a hunt for the Demon of All Demons, so he goes from village to village as a Ronin, slaying demons, collecting bounties, and hopefully getting closer to finding the Demon Queen. Though, the parting gift from the demon, grants the man demonic powers, of which his is assimilation. Think Megaman. Beat a bad guy, steal his powers. AND THIS IS WHY IT'S A 7 OUT OF 10.

If you've watched enough Anime, you know where this is going, and how it's going to end, so now, if the episodic, monster of the week (or two weeks, in some cases) doesn't grab you, then you're left impatiently waiting for the end battle between Ronin vs Demon Queen.

Though, they do set up a slight twist in the first episode before the failed Sentinel leaves, one of the elders bestows upon him the village sword. Asking our protagonist; "What are you going to do, when you catch up to her?" and He says; "I'll try to reason with it, and if that doesn't work, I'll do what I must." So, you get the whole, not every demon may die and some may be reasoned with, which is a lesson they teach us by episode 3.

This only has 9 dubbed episodes, at the time, and 16 full episodes. I don't see how they sustain this. This isn't a Shoenen like Naruto, meaning it doesn't need the MERCHANDISE SALE like those do, this is an ADULT ANIME with RED blood, and everything. Though, it's not GRATUITOUS for Gratuitous sake. Blood makes sense and this is a more contemplative anime, since you try to figure out the demons' motives, and use that to take the demon down. Hence the SLOW part, it's a bit of a detective CONAN kind of... And it's ALRIGHT. Beautiful to look at, nice slower pace, fights aren't silly and over drawn out, there's some thought and thinking going on here. It's a very Japanophile show, meaning if you're into SHINTO lore, then this will sate you. If not, it will bore you. It's like Hell Girl mixed with Mushishi.

Honestly, this anime has a good storyline with many unexpected plot twists, but unfortunately, even though it's an action fantasy anime, the action scenes feel lacking. It's more like a PowerPoint animation with just zooming in, zooming out, panning left, and panning right. In my opinion, episode 21 is the worst, far inferior to Dororo in terms of action. Honestly, it's a real shame that the studio behind this anime didn't put in the effort.

What an interesting series, truly.

"Kijin Gentoshou" is a series I can't recommend to everyone.

It's slow, has average animation, and many might even say it's boring.

However, there's something about it... it's not a dark "Kimetsu no Yaiba," no, it shines with its own light.

But it's contemplative, it takes its time to tell the story... but when there's a plot twist, it's impossible not to react.

The first episode itself is a declaration of interest; the length, animation, the plots, and the final outcome left me feeling drawn in.

Later, Jinta's story, told over the years, is a delight. It shows you the inexorable path of a half-demon, who is immortal but still has the flaws of any human.

There are plots, like the one about the invisible demon, whose ending left me broken.

There's the arc of the samurai and the demon trapped in the loop, or even the ending of Jinta's father, which are very sad.

However, even though I think it's a story with tremendous potential, it's hard to get into. As I said, it's slow, boring at times, and has average animation.

I'm not trying to change the pace, which for me is a fundamental part of what we're watching; however, it couldn't hurt to have a little love.

I'm eagerly awaiting the next batch of episodes to see what's in store for us from here on out.