Saw Demon Slayer over the weekend, despite knowing zero about the series and having seen nothing about the film itself besides the fact that it took over Spirited Away's #1 spot.

It wasn't awful. I thought the mix of animation styles (there had to have been at least five) was pretty cool. One thing I did not understand: Is this series a satire? Most of it was so over the top cliche that I figured it must be. My girlfriend actually binged the series after seeing the movie and said she doesn't think it is, though.

It's not a direct satire, though obviously the main characters especially are very over the top and comedic (particularly Zenitsu and Inosuke). I have no idea how you can watch the movie with no knowledge of the series, though. Unlike stuff like DBZ or My Hero Academia, this is basically a direct continuation of the series and not a side movie.

It's about as cliched as any other SJ series, with the usual main character growing stronger tropes but with a different setting and some twists. I don't think the manga was really super popular until the anime came out, though, the quality of the anime basically elevated the popularity immensely.

I did liken it to watching Endgame with zero Marvel knowledge haha. I got the gist pretty quick, although I had like zero connection to any of the characters.

My experience with the shonen genre is mostly DBZ and friends talking about Naruto and Bleach. I've of course seen some seinen and tokusatsu stuff, as well. "Have a strong fighting spirit, having friends makes you stronger, etc..."

I guess my lack of knowledge about the series, coupled with it being insanely popular, made me look for some kind of hook. Like why would this movie unseat Spirited Away (besides inflation) and not something like My Hero Academia (which I was actually aware of). Beyond the animation, nothing seemed exceptional, so I thought there must be something I was missing. Since there were other comedic elements, I thought the whole thing was one big gag.

I thought it was incredibly boring and way too long.

Definitely too long. The two main demons should have been a single character/face off, I think. I think watching it a second time I'd be super bored, but trying to decipher the franchise kept me pretty engaged.

I'm curious as to why it was so popular in Japan. It's got a lot of visual spectacle, but it struck me as pretty derivative and filled with overwrought dramatics. I kept thinking of other anime as I watched it, esp. Dragon Ball Z. And haven't there been demon slayers in anime for decades now?

YES! OK, thank you. I know you're much more versed on this stuff than I am, so I was hoping you'd chime in.