August 11th, 11:00 PM.
Shiga Taka sat in front of the TV and started watching episode 19 of "Demon Slayer."
He hadn't really been that interested in this anime at first. Having watched so many animations, he really couldn't keep up with this kind of traditional, hot-blooded shonen series anymore.
However, since this anime aired on Sunday nights at 11:00 PM, even though he had to work the next day, it was only 11:30 PM when it finished, which wasn't too late, so it wouldn't affect him.
He didn't know what else to watch anyway, so he just decided to watch it casually.
That was the mindset he had when he started watching it.
And then, after following a few episodes, he discovered that this anime was unexpectedly quite good.
It didn't completely captivate him, but it also didn't make him want to turn it off.
He couldn't say he loved it that much, but it was pretty good for passing the time.
Especially as the combat scenes in the anime increased, the main character's decisiveness against enemies and the strengths of the anime's special effects were displayed very well, to the point where he gradually developed the intention of watching it every week.
Of course, that was also because the plot of the anime was quite tight.
Overall, it really didn't have any new ideas, but the pacing was controlled very well, and every episode had highlights, which was why he had unwittingly gotten hooked.
By the time he came to his senses, he had already finished watching episode 18.
The first episode mainly covers the protagonist's family being wiped out, with only his sister, Nezuko, left, who had been turned into a demon. After meeting the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, and fighting him, he received a recommendation from Giyu to seek out the former Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki, to become his apprentice.
Episodes two and three were about his apprenticeship, and episode four was about taking the Demon Slayer Corps selection exam.
Once he passed the exam and began carrying out missions, the protagonist gradually gained a clearer understanding of the enemy. He learned that the big boss among the demons was Muzan Kibutsuji, the very enemy who had wiped out his entire family.
In addition, he learned about the "Twelve Kizuki," which includes the Upper Rank and Lower Rank demons, the most powerful beings under the big boss, Muzan Kibutsuji.
Besides learning about his enemies, he also naturally met his companions, including Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira.
Once the main group was assembled, they immediately entered a new arc—the Mount Natagumo Arc.
The mountain was filled with spiders, and there were also the fake "family" members composed of several demons. Many members of the Demon Slayer Corps who entered the mountain were killed.
The main protagonist group didn't think much of it at first, until they later discovered that there was actually a demon from the Twelve Kizuki on the mountain.
After some fighting, the mini-boss of Mount Natagumo emerged. It was neither the "father" nor the "mother," nor the "brother" or "sister," but the youngest member of the spider demon family, named "Rui," who held the rank of Lower Rank Five.
However, at this point, the male lead had already been separated from Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira, with only his sister, Nezuko, remaining with him.
The male lead fought against Lower Rank Five, but before he could even touch his enemy, his sword was already broken by the enemy's "spider threads," which leads to the events of episode 19.
At first, facing the enemy's attacks, the male lead could only dodge desperately.
With nowhere left to run, at a critical moment, his sister, Nezuko, rushed out from the box and blocked a strike for him.
Then, this pair of siblings—one human and one demon—shocked the mini-boss, Rui.
After his initial shock, Rui offered the male lead a way out, on the condition that he hand over his sister to him.
The male lead naturally refused, and so the battle continued.
Soon, Nezuko was captured by Rui.
The male lead fought desperately, using one move after another from the Water Breathing technique, but still couldn't injure Rui, and even found himself in mortal danger.
Then, just as he was on the verge of reliving his life through flashbacks, he suddenly found in his memories a new technique he could use to save himself—a technique inherited from his father: the "Hinokami Kagura."
The special effects in the preceding content were already incredibly spectacular.
In episode nineteen, when the Hinokami Kagura is unleashed, the effects are even more breathtakingly magnificent.
What's even more crucial is that it's not just about the effects; the accompanying BGM is also fantastic. Instead of the high-octane, intense music typical of such passionate scenes, it unexpectedly uses a more "gentle" insert song called "Kamado Tanjiro no Uta" (Tanjiro Kamado's Song). Far from diluting the intensity, this song seems to harmonize with it, making the scene even more stunning.
That's not all. Nezuko, having been bound by the Lower Rank Five demon Rui's "spider threads" and fallen into a coma, wakes up upon realizing her brother Tanjiro is in danger. She uses her "Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!" to burn through the threads, saving the male lead from mortal peril and giving him the chance to charge forward and strike the enemy's vital point.
Then, before the enemy can even react, the male lead swings the remaining broken blade in his hand toward Rui's neck, cutting it off in one go.
During the strike, the male lead shouts an incredibly impassioned line: "The bond between Nezuko and me... is something no one... can ever sever!"
With a slash of the sword came incredibly magnificent special effects, leaving Shiga Taka, watching in front of the TV, with his blood pumping.
By the time the main content of episode nineteen finished airing, Shiga Taka couldn't help but mutter to himself: "A legendary episode! The production for this one is simply god-tier!"
The first half was nothing special, but the second half—it was truly powerful, making one feel fired up and emotionally stirred.
It wasn't that the anime's plot was that strong, but rather the production was so good that it single-handedly made the entire sequence exhilarating.
It truly lived up to being LSP's flagship anime for 2019; you have to admire it.
After watching this episode, Shiga Taka truly fell in love with this anime.
He couldn't help but love it.
After such stunning special effects and such spectacular audiovisuals, the plot didn't even matter anymore. Besides, while the plot didn't have much novelty, no other anime had ever managed to create such powerful audiovisual effects with such an ordinary story before.
With production quality that pushed the boundaries like this, who even cared about the plot?
It didn't matter if the plot was mediocre; as long as it wasn't outright bad, there was absolutely no problem.
"I never would have guessed that a work so poorly received could turn out this well."
The more Shiga Taka thought about it, the more amazing he found it, and the more his heart raced with excitement. So much so that after the entire content of episode 19, including the ending credits, finished airing, he hurriedly took out his phone, ready to go online and properly rave about this episode of Demon Slayer.
In reality, however, it wasn't just Shiga Taka who was blown away.
Almost everyone following episode 19 of Demon Slayer was stunned by the quality on display, so much so that shortly after it finished airing, it even surged onto the trending lists of major online platforms.
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