So I wasn't planning on talking about Demon Slayer so early on. However, I just finished watching the finale for season 1 and oh my god, I'm too hyped not to talk about this anime right now. I mean it's so good! Now to those of you who haven't yet boarded the Demon Slayer hype train, the premise is rather simple, at least simple when it comes to The Wonderful World of Shonen Anime. A young boy named Tanjiro comes home one day to find that his entire family has been brutally slaughtered by a demon. The lone survivor of this massacre is his little sister, Nesco, who has unfortunately been turned into a demon as well. Nesco quickly proves to be different than the other demons that are out there, which prompts Tanjiro to set out on a grand quest to somehow change her back into a human. Nobody has ever been able to reverse the demonification of a human before. But Tanjiro is determined to do whatever it takes to find a way. There is so much to talk about when it comes to Demon Slayer. Whether it's the absolutely gorgeous visuals, the quick yet satisfying pacing of the story, or even debating who best girl of the show is. Spoiler alert, it's Yunozuke. There's already a myriad of video essays out there that you can and should check out. But today I want to discuss what my absolute favorite aspect of this show is, as well as give you a quick lesson on a subject that's near and dear to my heart. And that subject is mindfulness. Ever since I was a kid I've struggled with anxiety. I can distinctly recall memories from my childhood where my anxiety would absolutely consume me. Only I had no concept of what anxiety actually was, so defining the problem was rather difficult. As I got older, it became easier to define what exactly I struggled with when it came to anxiety, which allowed me to start researching ways in which I could remedy this issue. And somewhere along the line I stumbled across some information regarding the practice of mindfulness meditation. Before learning about meditation, I had the typical preconceived notions that most people seem to have about it and the culture surrounding it. That it was purely a spiritual practice with no actual real world benefits to gain from simply sitting on the floor and saying, oooom, for an hour. If you can't make me go to the Avatar state in real life, then what's the point? But the more research I did on mindfulness, the more appealing it became. Mindfulness meditation is simple in theory, but difficult in practice. You sit down in a comfortable position, whether that be on the floor or in a chair, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. As you soon find out as you attempt this, your mind is going to start wandering. You may start to think about the asshole who cut you off in traffic on your way to work this morning, or maybe you'll realize that the bottom of your foot has started to itch for no apparent reason. All of this is natural, but the important thing is that you acknowledge the thought and return your focus to your breath. Through repeating this practice, you slowly begin to realize just how much we live inside of our heads on a day to day basis, focusing too much on our future, dwelling on moments from our past. All the while, ignoring what is happening in the present moment, just like how we build our physical strength of the gym through repetition, you build the muscle of your mind to focus on just one thing at a time, rather than five things at a time. And it is a lot harder than it sounds. Demon Slayer adopts the principles of mindfulness and applies them through the technique of total concentration breathing, which is utilized by all of the main characters via different disciplines that are unique to them. Our first introduction to this concept is by watching Tonsuro learn the many forms of water breathing. By honing his focus onto a specific form, he's able to swing his sword in ways that mimic the capabilities of water, which can land anywhere on the scale between calm or ferocious. Each style enables its user to perform superhuman feats that are completely unique to them, but the core principle is exactly the same across the board. It all comes down to their breathing, bringing their awareness to their surroundings by quieting their mind and focusing on one thing. Our main trio of Tonsuro Zenitsu and Inosuke all do this, but in a really clever way that matches well with their characterization. As Tonsuro is the main character of the series, and we've spent the most time with him, it's easier to see this idea at practice. In episode 1, We're informed that he possesses a natural ability of awareness as shown through his heightened sense of smell. Sniffing the air doesn't quite help him in battle, though, so he needs to learn how to expand his awareness through breath. He spends a year and a half learning the ways of total concentration breathing. However, when approached with a seemingly impossible task, he can't quite seem to cut it, but why is that? Well, in the middle of a practice fight with his mentor, Sabeito, Tonsuro is informed that he has only memorized total concentration breathing as a fact, rather than truly allowing it to become a part of his being. It's one thing to know, but to master it involves much more discipline and willpower. Now in the case of our boy Zenitsu, his power is shocking, no pun intended. Okay, slightly intended. 99% of the time that he's on screen, he's kind of the worst. Zenitsu is a coward that has absolutely no self-confidence, yet he throws himself at every girl he comes across in hopes that they will marry him out of pity. His mind is running at 100 miles a minute and it gets frustrating for everyone involved, viewers and characters alike. There's actually a Buddhist term that I think strongly applies to Zenitsu, which is known as Monkey Mind. Monkey Mind is a way to describe the constant chatter that goes on inside of your head, which makes it impossible for you to focus in be present. The only difference here is that Zenitsu doesn't have an internal monologue because he vocalizes everything that crosses his mind. He has no filter. So how does this sorry excuse for a demon slayer even utilize a technique that requires an intense amount of focus on the present moment? When faced with an intimidating opponent, he passes out from terror, which in turn quites the rampaging thoughts that plague his mind. For Zenitsu, passing out is the only way that he can truly be mindful and present, even if he doesn't realize it at all. And as a result of this, he's able to use his thunder breathing style, becoming a human lightning bolt who slices his enemies down before they can even blink. And the animation to showcase this is always stellar. It's a shame that he doesn't even know how cool he is, but maybe as the series progresses and he trains more, he will be able to stay awake and truly deserve the Zen that is in his name. And last up, we have the self-proclaimed leader of the gang, Enozge. On the spectrum of Ego, he's a bit too high up for his own good. All this boy wants to do is fight, antagonizing and challenging almost every person or an animate object that he comes across. But that's only natural, given the fact that he spent the majority of his life isolated in the mountains, being raised by boars. Given everything that we've talked about in regards to concentration, it could be quite easy to question how this short tempered pigman is able to know anything about being present. But think of it this way, he's grown up in a very unique situation compared to everyone else. As if the boarhead that he don'ts ever so proudly wasn't enough of a hint, Enozge views himself as more of a beast than a human. Everyone and everything can be considered prey to him unless convinced otherwise. He may act on his impulses too often, but out of our trio, he's definitely the most naturally attuned to the skill of concentration and has likely been training in his discipline for the majority of his life. And yet, I don't think that he's even aware of this, despite being so confident in his skills as Enozge is... Enozge. But as far as we know, his style of beast breath is completely unique to him and him alone, even if it is a variation of wind breath. Enozge has got a lot to learn about his capabilities and will likely be quicker to learn as he begins to become more sympathetic rather than bloodthirsty. So I'm very excited to see his character progression going forward from this point. All three of these characters have an insane amount of potential to grow as demon slayers as the series progresses. What more secrets are they going to uncover about total concentration breathing as well as themselves? I don't know, and I'm excited to find out. But I just find it interesting how such a seemingly simple concept, such as controlling your breath in a specific way, can lend itself to one of the most interesting power systems I've seen in anime. Anyways, thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed what I had to say about Demon Slayer, please feel free to like, comment, subscribe, literally any support is immensely appreciated. I'm a small channel, but I have already felt so much love from all of you on my previous videos. So I just wanted to quickly take this moment to say thank you. I know in the early stages of any YouTube channel, the quality is never really the highest, but I'm doing the absolute best that I can, and you all seem to recognize that, which is just... wow. Thank you once more, and I'll see you all in the next one. Bye!