The final chapter is approaching! Changes in the trends of “Demon Slayer”

Manamina has conducted multiple research on “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” based on data collected from people who searched for the title of the work. We will use the data we referenced in previous articles to follow the evolution of trends. See below for previous research articles.

First, here are the changes in the number of people who searched for “Demon Slayer” from November 2018 to October 2020. For the analysis, we used VALUES’ online behavioral log analytics tool “Dockpit,” which uses behavioral data that is updated monthly to analyze competitors’ websites and research trends, all within your browser.

The original “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” manga was serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump,” a manga anthology published weekly, from February 2016 to May 2020. The TV anime “Tanjiro Kamado: Unwavering Resolve Arc” was then broadcast from April to September 2019.

We can see that the number of people searching began to increase starting July 2019, shortly after the TV anime began airing. It continued to increase after the anime aired, peaking once in May 2020 when the manga ended its serialization. We can see that the public’s enthusiasm is building as the TV show approaches the final chapter of the original manga. This large increase may be the result of people who became aware of the original manga and became fans through the TV anime and went ahead to read the manga to get a head start on the story.

In the graph above, the number of people searching jumped significantly in October 2020, the final month for the airing, reaching over 900,000. This was the same month that the blockbuster movie “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train Arc” was released. This shows that this was a time when a large number of people became interested in the anime/manga, including those who had not previously been aware of it or had not yet been motivated enough to search for it.

The “Mugen Train Arc” movie was still screening for several months following strong box office sales. Looking at the graph below, we can see that the number of people searching peaked in October 2020, maintained a high level for the three months from October to December, and then began to level out after New Year’s.
(Because we are using a graph referenced in a previous article, the changes in the number of people searching for “Jujutsu Kaisen” is also included. There is also a slight difference in the search terms “Demon Slayer” written 鬼滅 (Kimetsu) and “Demon Slayer’s Blade” written “鬼滅の刃 (Kimetsu no Yaiba).”)

In 2021, the year after the film's release, the TV anime “Mugen Train Arc,” which depicts the prequel to the film, began airing in October. Then, in December, the TV anime “Entertainment District Arc” began airing.

Looking at the graph below, we can see that the number of people searching was indeed high during the period when these two works were being broadcast. However, the number of people searching peaked during this period in September 2021, the month before the TV anime began broadcasting. So what happened in that month?

In September 2021, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train Arc” was broadcast on over-the-air television for the first time, and prior to that, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Kamado Tanjiro: Unwavering Resolve Arc Special Edition” was broadcast for five days. This brewed anticipation among the public, and it is believed that people were increasingly gathering information, eager to know when it will be released. The number of people searching in September 2021 was about 550,000. This shows that active buzz was being created in preparation for the new anime.

About a year after the end of the broadcast of the TV anime “Entertainment District Arc,” the TV anime “To the Swordsmith Village” began airing starting in April 2023, and a year after that, the TV anime “Hashira Training Arc” has been airing starting in May 2024.

The number of people searching during the broadcast of “To the Swordsmith Village” peaked at about 250,000 in the first month of broadcast. As of May, there have been over 150,000 people searching the latest work “Hashira Training Arc.” Considering that over 900,000 people were searching for the series when “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train Arc” was released, it seems likely that while the film's huge success caused a temporary explosion in awareness, a “casual” segment who does not have enough motivation to continue following the series have drifted away, or conversely, there are an increasing number of fans who follow every series of the TV anime, but who are so familiar with the series that they “don't particularly look it up in their browser.”

This fan segment may be passively receiving the latest publicly available information on social media such as the official Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba X (formerly Twitter) account, which has approximately three million followers (as of June 18, 2024).

In any case, since the first season of the TV anime aired in 2019, a new work has been released every year, and the world tour was screened before the TV anime was released, so the measures taken to create buzz and maintain enthusiasm for “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” are quite impressive.

So far, we have looked at the changes in the public's interest surrounding “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.” So, have there been any changes in the search demographic since before the TV anime began airing?

First, we will look at the changes in the gender and age groups of people searching from the time the manga was serialized to the time the movie was released.

During this period, there was no significant change in the gender ratio, with men accounting for about 40% and women for about 60%.
However, there has been a change in age groups. Before the TV anime was released, people in their 20s and 30s made up nearly 30% each, making up the majority of the audience. But after the release of the first season of the TV anime, the majority of the audience was in their 20s. After that, the proportion of people in their 40s increased significantly, and by October 2020, when the “Mugen Train Arc” movie began screening, people in their 30s and 40s each accounted for 30%.

TV anime can also be viewed on VOD (video on demand) services such as Amazon Prime. And people in their 20s, who are keen when it comes to the latest things, began watching it mainly through VOD, possibly leading to a high proportion of people searching to be their 20s during the broadcasting of the early stages of the TV anime. Later, when it was made into a movie, it became more well-known among other age groups, which is likely why the proportion of people in their 30s and 40s increased.

The parents also started watching it and became addicted to it as a result of their child being a fan of “Demon Slayer.” In fact, from my personal experience, I first got hooked on it when I was in university and recommended it to my parents. As a result, we read the manga together and followed all the seasons.

Next, let’s look at how it changed from 2021 to now.

Looking at the results, we can see that the male to female ratio is about 4:6, and the majority of the people are in their 30s and 40s. It seems that the people searching have settled into this segment as a result of the movie spreading awareness of the work widely among the general public.

Lastly, we will analyze topics that people searching are interested in other than Demon Slayer by looking at the words of interest based on “Demon Slayer” searches over the past year (June 2023 - May 2024) since the broadcast of “To the Swordsmith Village" began.

We can see that the top words are related to manga, TV anime, and movies, such as “Jujutsu Kaisen,” “Undead Unluck,” “Anya (SPY×FAMILY),” “My Hero Academia,” “Ragna Crimson,” “Kitaro,” and "Frieren.” Demon Slayer fans may have a strong affinity with these works.

Names of voice actors also made the list, including “Yuma Uchida,” “Atsumi Tanezaki,” and “Saori Hayami.” These are voice actors from works such as the aforementioned “Jujutsu Kaisen,” “SPY×FAMILY,” “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End,” and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.” This suggests that people who search for “Demon Slayer” are passionate about anime and are looking for voice actors that they are interested in and that they are also a demographic with a high affinity to these works.

What did you think of the analysis of people searching for “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”?
With “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” expected to enter its final chapter, it will be interesting to see how it creates more buzz and interest in the series.

▼Data from Dockpit was used in this case study. Dockpit is an online behavior analytics tool provided by VALUES, Inc., and it allows you to access online behavioral data (updated monthly) via your browser so you can research competitor websites and investigate trends. There is a FREE version of Dockpit, so if you are interested in using it, please register below.