Demon Slayer anime is missing one of the manga’s most memorable parts

Demon Slayer has seen massive success since the anime started in 2019, but the adaptation is missing one aspect of the manga that fans wish was more prominent.

Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps are about to face their biggest challenge in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. Finally, after years, they’re going to war against Muzan and his Upper Moons to put his demonic army to rest once and for all.

It’s been an incredible journey, full of sacrifice, heartache, and some truly epic scenes that cemented Demon Slayer as one of the best anime ever. But the show isn’t quite as scary as Koyoharu Gotouge’s original manga.

As pointed out by a thread on Reddit, Demon Slayer features a number of characters that literally eat people. The manga has scenes where we see them consuming their prey, something the onscreen version hasn’t dug into as much.

“Gyokko literally made a sculpture of melded, twisted, disfigured, LIVING humans,” one commenter states. “I would consider that a bit into the horror aspect and I think it was a good balance between showing just how awful the demons are and not making the whole show a bloodbath because it really could be.”

That’s the thing to remember: Demon Slayer is clearly designed for a wider demographic, and you don’t reach that emulating Elfen Lied or Gantz or another famously gory property. Some think Ufotable could stand to dial things back up.

“It would be cool if they added more horror aspects. At the beginning of the show, they definitely did but it seems they started to focus on other things,” another commenter adds. “Demon Slayer started with much more overt horror elements and turned into more battle shonen stuff later,” adds a third Redditor.

But then, the case could be made that the implication is enough. Our imaginations are powerful things, especially given the suggestion of something like mutilation. Nonetheless, maybe the move to the big screen for the Infinity Castle trilogy will mean we get a little more of that twisted energy.

You can check out our list of the best body horror anime if you’re a true gorehound. Have a look at our guides to Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 and the Chainsaw Man movie for what’s next in Demon Slayer’s darker contemporaries.