Old man invites the MC to stay at his house and tells him about demons and MC's family is killed by demons the very same night. That's a damn big coincidence, unless that guy knew a demon was lurking around and someone had been sent to dispatch it. I mean, it was strongly implied his family was killed by demons so it wouldn't be surprising if he had ties with demon hunters. Or maybe I'm giving the author too much credit and this was a case of bad exposition.

Animation looked really good (what was up with that super realistic CGI bird? :heh: ) as expected of Ufo, but I'm not sold on the story yet. Well, it is a shounen, they usually take a while to get going.

Going by the fact he has a super sense of smell and his scar is different in the OP, I guess the MC is from a special lineage, which also explains why his sister can maintain a bit of sanity. I guess it would be more surprising if the MC wasn't special.

I was worried this production would be taxing for ufo, but apparently they don't worry about such things.

I've been wanting UFO (& Kajiura) to do anime in serious classical Japanese setting (instead of wasting their talents for something like Token Ranbu) and it does not disappoint so far. Let's hope the quality will be as consistent as it possibly can.

More of a WSJ publishing-related question.

I understand that Kimetsu's mangaka is female. To date, have there previously been any other female mangaka who've gotten popular serialized manga on Weekly Shounen Jump?

Because I've seen most of the big WSJ names that have gotten published are male (or appear to be male), while most female mangaka tended to debut on shoujo magazines, Pixiv, or shounen/seinen magazines targeting female readers.

(Exempting Akutami Gege because she's fairly recent too.)

Ao no Exorcist certainly qualifies, just off the top of my head.

Also Hikaru no Go, Death Note, etc. because the writer of the duo was female.

Back to the episode, the OP seems to indicate that the 13 eps will cover up to the beginning of train arc (by showing a certain someone's fortress). So we'll definitely get the prostitute district arc.

Overall not a bad start. The strongest part of episode was definitely the visuals which helped constipate heavily for the rather clunky dialogue, slightly too drawn out scenes and over reliance on exposition. The basic premise is something that has been done hundred times but there is a strong emotional core behind it that can hopefully be better presented if the other issues of the writing are balanced out in coming episodes. It's got potential otherwise in spite of it being a bit rough some areas.

How long were you waiting to make that joke? XP

When the moment grabs you, you gotta roll with it.

Obata's writing partner was different for Hikaru no Go. Ohba Tsugumi has never been positively ID'd but most theories point to it being a man.

I will pass on this. I decided check manga after this episode though. It could be pretty good.

Blue Exorcist's original Japanese releases are in monthly magazine Jump Square.
I meant as in a (confirmed) female mangaka who got a serialization in the Japanese issues of Weekly Shounen Jump, who handles both the story and art.

D.Gray-man by Katsura Hoshino should fit the bill:

Shonen demographic?: check
Popular?: check
Debut & Serialized in WSJ?: check (May 31, 2004 – May 11, 2009)
Female mangaka?: check
Handles both the story and art?: check

Heh, I can see why some people are excited about this, at least it made me want to watch the next episode.

I just hope this doesn't turn out to be another black clover!

Either LiSA's singing has changed a lot or my ears are failing....couldn't tell the ED was her at all

Black Clover kinda turned me off from the beginning. I, for one, hope Kimetsu doesn't turn out like Gangsta or (to an extend) Kabaneri: hyped first episode only to go downhill for the rest of the show.

Really? I recognized her voice the moment she started singing. Probably helped that I recently saw Gundam Narrative where she sang one of the theme songs.

That Demon Hunter was pretty nice, all things considered. Not the most approachable, but he went out of his way to give the MC a leg up in his new life.

Can't actually remember whether the manga confirms it or not but that guy really does look like he's seen some shit
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First episode is lit. I had no idea that ufotable was behind this. Now it explains why the swords glisten the way they do lol. I'm looking forward to the next one!