Kamado Tanjiro
The protagonist of Demon Slayer. One of the best shonen manga protagonists I've ever seen in my life.
He has a perfect personality that doesn't need to grow anymore. The meta of shonen manga is to see the protagonist grow from weak to strong and have a good influence on the people around him, and to watch him grow in abilities and social skills, and to support him like a child. His fighting skills continue to improve. But you have nothing but respect for his character.
He's a good guy, but he's also the antithesis of evil to the extreme. I don't think I've ever seen a protagonist in any good vs. evil story that hates and wants to kill a villain so much. He's so kind to his allies and so angry at his enemies, and it's so true on every level that it has the effect of refuting the absurdity and bullshit of his enemies. In the morning, when he sees them fleeing, he exclaims, "I'll be damned!
**You're fighting in the darkness of night, which is always in your favor! Living humans! Wounds don't heal easily! Lost limbs never come back! Don't run away, you fool! You coward! Mr. Rengoku is much stronger than you! He's stronger! He didn't lose! He didn't let anyone die! He fought to the end! He defended himself to the end! You lost! Mr. Rengoku won!
But he's so kind to everyone around him, I realize he's really risking his life to get rid of the Oni... I come to a realization. Tanjiro's sincerity stuns you again.
He is also characterized by his lack of desire for personal glory. Not once in the 23 volumes of the manga does he say that he wants to become a pirate king or a hokage. He doesn't talk about dreams or romance. "I want all the man-eating oni to die," and "I want Nezuko to become a human." It's almost sublime.
There's a scene in the movie version of Infinite Train that stuck with me the most. When the enemy uses his powers to psychically attack Tanjiro, he infiltrates his inner world, which is described as serene and "like a spotless lake."
The enemy who attempted the mind-attack is instantly remorseful and feels a kind of warmth. Watching that scene, I was so distraught that I kept telling myself that he was actually a crazy person. That kind of personality comes from a world where the sun goes down and gaeva monsters come out and eat people.
In reality, the idea of a teenage boy being kind in a harsh world and slicing up his enemies with all his heart is so unrealistic that it's almost kitschy and insane. It's a little bit like the real vs. fake insanity meme that's been going around a lot lately, where you keep seeing people on the real side of insanity.
Problem-solving. This is a bit annoying to put in a post like this because it's so startup-y, but I'm just going to do it. If you work in a startup, you should not only watch EO, but also Nengdang Demon Blade.
It's a very fast growth story with 100% opportunity in a tricky fight at every moment. The tricky enemies in the manga have pretty complex abilities. Like... It's not easy to figure out how to break them because they split up and you have to hit the main body, When I'm fighting, I'm constantly asking myself questions, testing hypotheses, and trying to figure out the enemy's behavior. This, coupled with arousal that matches the enemy's characteristics, allows me to defeat them.
He's always empty when he delivers the final blow. He always emerges victorious with blood on his face and one broken joint. There's a very detailed scene in the second Annie where she delivers a blow to an enemy with two broken knuckles and a lot of pain, and you can't help but cringe. It's like, "This is going to really, really hurt." When you finally get past that and take down the enemy, it's the same feeling of exhilaration and ease that you get after beating hundreds of bosses in a Souls-like game, and it's also mind-blowing.
The third season of Anime, which I just finished watching, was also excellent. I loved the description of the last scene in the final episode and realized the significance of that one scene, which is a big part of the narrative itself, which I didn't realize when watching the manga. I try not to spoil anything when I write on my blog (by marking it in the title or subtitle). But what I don't want to say is that I really want you to watch the final scene of the third period anime.
I know no one will see this, but I hope you'll watch it and feel similar to me.
(End)