2019 is a good year for Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Besides its anime adaptation being a resounding success, the manga was also recently announced to be a bestseller as well! Manga publisher Shueisha announced this Monday that Gotouge’s epic tale of the Kamado siblings has recently become the company’s second highest-selling manga for 2019.
According to their announcement, Demon Slayer sold 10.8 million volumes from the period of November 19, 2018 to November 17, 2019—second only to Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. The latter sold 12.7 million volumes in the same period of time.
This September, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was announced to have a stage play adaptation next year. The adaptation will run in January in Tokyo and Hyogo prefecture. Kenichi Suemitsu, who wrote the script for the 2017 anime series Ballroom e Youkoso! (Welcome to the Ballroom), is set to write the script and direct the play. Music composition will be done by Shunsuke Wada.
A sequel film was also green-lit for the franchise. The film will be entitled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-Hen (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Demon Train Arc).
The TV series’ cast and staff will be returning to the movie. Haruo Sotozaki (Tales of Zestiria the X) will be directing the film, while Akira Matsushima (Maria Watches Over Us) will still be in charge of character design. The film will still be animated and produced by studio ufotable.
Main cast Natsuki Hanae, Akari Kito, Hiro Shimono, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, and Satoshi Hino will still be voicing their characters (best boi) Tanjiro, (best imouto) Nezuko, (french fries-haired) Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Kyojuro, respectively.
The manga’s story is described by Anime News Network as such:
“Since ancient times, rumors have abounded of man-eating demons lurking in the woods. Because of this, the local townsfolk never venture outside at night. Legend has it that a demon slayer also roams the night, hunting down these bloodthirsty demons. For young Tanjiro, these rumors will soon to become his harsh reality. Ever since the death of his father, Tanjiro has taken it upon himself to support his family. Although their lives may be hardened by tragedy, they’ve found happiness. But that ephemeral warmth is shattered one day when Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought. Thus begins Tanjiro’s request to fight demons and turn his sister human again.”
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a shonen manga series written by Koyoharu Gotoge. It was first published in February 2016 in Weekly Shonen Jump up to present, with Shueisha publishing the series’ 16 tankobon volumes. The manga’s English license is currently held by Viz Media.
Source: Anime News Network