So I was interested in this because I am a huge Demon Slayer fan. However… this just lacked what I enjoyed about Demon Slayer. The stories were… a little odd to say the least and more horror forward.

The first of our two new manga anthologies hails from Demon Slayer creator Koyoharu Gotouge. This collection is a must-have for fans for the manga or its anime adaptation, as it sheds interesting light on where and how Tanjiro’s story began. Some stories skirt the paranormal; others served as direct inspiration for the series we know and love.

The collection kicks off with Overhunter Hunter, the one-shot that led directly to the creation of Demon Slayer. This story of a one-armed, scarred swordsman singlehandedly hunting down demons changed a lot on its way to becoming a full series, but familiar threads are still there. The standouts of this volume are The Monjushiro Brothers (the start of an intended series about bug-powered siblings) and A Man Called Ribs (about a man with the power to sense emotions and a lot of emotions of his own).

I always love seeing mangaka's one shots as it shows different facets of them. It's also cool to see what influenced them and how they transformed they art style or storytelling. I recommend this for people into darker stories.

(Thank you NetGallery for the ARC).

Just like the collection of Tatsuki Fujimoto's early works, Koyoharu Gotouge's pre-Demon Slayer work is a great little volume. Outside of the one-shot that was later developed into Demon Slayer, it's fascinating to see an artist's early work, knowing how it evolved and also how they stayed true to certain elements. It's oddly reassuring to know that reading Gotouge's work makes the reader ask "Wow, seriously, who hurt you?". It's a fascinating parade of trauma processed through art, and an odd sense of justice that somehow remains a recurring theme through their work.