Spoiler Free Summary: Demon Slayer Volume 16 by Koyoharu Gotouge is the sixteenth volume in the Demon Slayer manga. Tanjiro is training to become a Hashira, but that means training with several others, one of whom is Himejima, the Stone Hashira, whose tasks seem every bit as impossible as they are rediculous, but is ther ea method to the madness?
Character: This is (what I think of as) the last training volume before the big (BIG) fight. The training is comically ridiculous, and it’s fun to see the characters interact. With the main characters already developed (as far as character goes), it’s nice to see some of the other characters.
Exposition: This manga (and a few others in the later books) is probably heavier on exposition than th rest of the series as a whole. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s to an annoying degree, but it was certainly noticeable. On one hand, it’s nice that we don’t have volume after volume of back story (I actually like that), but on the other hand, the sudden exponential jump in exposition jarred me a little.
Worldbuilding: This confused me a bit. I thought one became a Hashira the moment they killed on of the upper twelve and the training isn’t really anything truly unique, just extreme. I guess one could say it was unique in how extreme it is, but I’ll admit it was a bit of a double disappointment. I expected the training, but I wish it had more content value than comedic.
Dialogue: Where the exposition and worldbuilding probably left a lot to be desired (in comparison to the other volumes), this is probably improved if not as drastically as the others shifted. The conversations are a bit more natural than normal.
Description: The art is wonderful as always. It was nice seeing more of (what I call) the training complex. So we get to see more of the landscape and world, which is nice.
Overall: This is a pretty amusing training volume that sets everything up, but I do think that it failed to meet its potential. Yes, it was fun to read and watch the characters get physically stronger, but I think this had more potential to have more depth than it did. Maybe it was too loyal to the pattern. However, it was still good to read and didn’t frustrate or annoy me. So though it could have been so much better, it wasn’t exactly bad.
Thanks for reading,
Matt
M.L.S. Weech 