Love Demon Slayer? Can’t wait for the movie later this year? Let me introduce you to Sword of the Demon Hunter. Haven’t heard of it? Well, there might be a big reason why.
Sword of the Demon Hunter
With a premiere just a few short weeks ago, Yokohama Animation’s Sword of the Demon Hunter is the latest supernatural historical fantasy to grace anime fans’ screens.
Is it just a Demon Slayer clone?
Initially, I wrote the show off as just another Demon Slayer — not that I wasn’t interested, but I just assumed it would be similar. However, when I started watching it I realized I was sorely mistaken and while it may be a familiar setting and core concept, the two shows could not be further from each other.
The official synopsis of the show is as follows:
“In the Edo period, there was a shrine maiden called “Itskihime” in the mountain village of Kadono. Jinta, a wandering orphan who, along with his younger sister Suzune, drifted into the village and grew up to become the shrine maiden’s guardian, ventures into the forest to defeat a mysterious demon who speaks to him of the far future and the threat of a Demon God. So begins this epic supernatural historical fantasy series that follows a demon hunter through his century-spanning journey from the Edo to Heisei periods—all-the-while questioning his wielding of a sword.”
Credit: Hidive
I won’t reveal anymore than the above, because some of the twists from the first episode really do come out of left field and hit like a truck, and I wouldn’t want to spoil that for anyone.
Is it any good?
Personally, I’ve been loving it so far. I think the animation is solid and, as far as the first few episodes go, I’m pretty invested in the story and the main character.
On IMDB, Sword of the Demon Hunter has over 200 10-star reviews with an average of 7.6 out of 437 total reviews.
READ MORE: Solo Leveling: Episode 1 “I’m Used to It” Review
Why haven’t I heard of it?
Even if the show was awful and a one-to-one Demon Slayer clone, I can guarantee you’d have heard about it on Twitter at some point. But it’s not bad, and it’s not just another Demon Slayer. So why isn’t anyone talking about it?
Well, it’s likely because Sword of the Demon Hunter is not on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, or any of the other mainstream anime sites. Instead, it is streaming exclusively on AMC Network’s Hidive — another anime streaming service aiming to compete with Crunchyroll. Unfortunately, Hidive currently does not have the same brand recognition or catalog as the Sony-owned goliath.
Don’t get me wrong, Hidive absolutely has some gems, but in the current age of streaming services I don’t see existing Crunchyroll subscribers also paying for another anime subscription.
So if you’re still wondering why nobody’s talking about Sword of the Demon Hunter…it’s probably because nobody’s subscribing to Hidive to watch it. Which is a real shame because it’s a fantastic show that deserves more recognition.
Sword of the Demon Hunter airs every Monday on Hidive. Fingers crossed it comes to Netflix or Hulu soon…
Wallflower Writing 
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