He’s kind, but that kindness never backfires, which makes no sense in the world of Demon Slayer.
Summary:
- Tanjiro is incredibly kind, and that makes it hard to dislike him as a person.
- However, that kindness never stops him from going all-out against his enemies.
- Fans are unhappy that one of his core traits never results in him making a mistake.
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) has been criticized for many things. A lot of viewers say it is only carried by its animation, and that the actual story isn’t that interesting. While definitely somewhat generic, it’s still executed fairly well.
However, there are some legitimate criticisms to be made about Demon Slayer — and one of the main ones involved the protagonist, Tanjiro.
It’s hard to dislike him as a person
Technically, it’s really hard to hate Tanjiro — at least as a person. He’s kind-hearted, compassionate and determined — and he’s not afraid to show his emotions. Overall, he’s a very likable person and arguably an example of all the good traits in a battle shounen protagonist. That, however, makes him too perfect.
Tanjiro performs his role in the story very well. He gets stronger, he struggles, he grows as a person — but at no point does he ever make any mistakes. Even considering the fact that he feels compassion for the demons he kills, he still doesn’t hesitate — and that makes the story a little unbelievable.
He’s compassionate, yet he never hesitates to kill his enemies
On the one hand, yes, Tanjiro is kinder than many others. That’s part of his character — and that’s the reason why he tries to understand demons. His own sister being turned into one also helps with it.
That said, it never actually matters. Tanjiro feels sad when his enemies die — perhaps the biggest examples are Gyutaro and Daki from the Entertainment District Arc. He feels bad for them after they’re killed, and his kindness never makes him hesitate even for a second — which makes no sense to many.
After all, if Tanjiro is so compassionate, that compassion should play against him in combat. However, it never does: the only mistakes he makes are tactical and don’t result from him being too kind to his enemies.
This trait of his has no consequences
In the end, while Tanjiro’s kindness is a nice throwback to battle shounen protagonists being good guys, it does more harm than good to the series. It makes him extremely likable, but the way it is written doesn’t influence the story whatsoever, making many upset about the lack of consequences for the way he behaves.
No one really wants Tanjiro to suddenly become more cruel and cynical, no. However, it would be nice to see his opponents taking advantage of his kindness once in a while — the closest to that we’ve had was Episode 19 of S1, and even then, that ended up not mattering at all.