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Sword of the Demon Hunter episode 1, unofficially titled Demons and Humans, aired on March 31, 2025, with a special one-hour-long first episode. While the anime itself had minimal hype building up to its release, the first episode managed to deliver a much more grounded story on human-demon relationships. It also introduced interesting characters.
One of the main characters, Suzune, managed to depict what would’ve happened in case Nezuko from Demon Slayer were to become evil. This is a fan question that has been floating within the fandom ever since Demon Slayer’s rise to popularity.
Despite competing with returning giants like One Piece and numerous popular sequels, many fans have expressed how they’ll be regularly following Sword of the Demon Hunter weekly.
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Disclaimer- This article contains spoilers for Sword of the Demon Hunter episode 1.
Sword of the Demon Hunter episode 1 delivers the Demon Slayer what-if that fans have been asking for
Sword of the Demon Hunter anime adaptation was first announced in September 2021, with the supposed release window of Sword of the Demon Hunter episode 1 being June 2024. Given the series’ rather less known origins as a novel, with even less popularity within international audiences, it maintained a minimal amount of hype building up to the release of its first episode.
While the series’ trailer did paint the series to be similar to Demon Slayer, with Jinta and Suzune being alternate versions of Tanjiro and Nezuko, episode 1 managed to deliver a much different story. This was mainly due to Suzune vowing to destroy the world.
Due to its strong start and underdog status, many fans have expressed their desire to follow the story weekly, despite the season being full of much more popular sequels.
Fan reaction to Sword of the Demon Hunter episode 1
Few fans took note of the special one-hour-long first episode and its attempt at serving as a complete introduction to the series. It also introduced the main conflict. Fans also praised its slow tension buildup that peaked towards the final few minutes, resulting in a complete tonal shift between Jinta and Suzune.
"Sword of the Demon Hunter, aka Demon Slayer if Nezuko became evil,." one fan said.
"Demon Slayer if it was a SEINEN instead of SHONEN XD," another fan claimed.
Given the popularity of Demon Slayer and Sword of the Demon Hunter's similarity to the former, few fans expressed how the story essentially became a "What-if?" centered around the question of Nezuko becoming evil. A few fans also claimed the story to be a seinen version of Demon Slayer.
"And this is how you start an anime ! Sword of the demon hunter >>> the storyline is crazyyyyy . Thinking outside the box," one fan chimed in.
"This might just become the highlight of the season. The fact that the story will change genres from the next episode," another fan said.
Many fans took note of the series' potential, claiming it to be the next highlight of the season. They also brought focus to the tonal shift that will be happening in the next episode.
Related links:
- New digital manga platform Manga Mirai announced for the US
- Wind Breaker Season 2 complete release schedule
