Japanese Demon Slayer fans have taken to X (Twitter) to complain about a political news alert appearing during the newest episode of the anime. According to reports online, there were two alerts that appeared during the episode, with one of them being an earthquake alert and the other being the political one in question.
The alert appeared during a very climatic part of the episode. In a screenshot that Jeffrey J. Hall has shared on X (Twitter), we can see the alert banner on a scene in which Tanjiro is desperately training with a wooden sword. The alert states that opposition-backed candidate Yasutomo Suzuki is sure to win the Shizuoka election.
To be very specific, while Suzuki won the election and became the next governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, the alert’s announcement is not that. It uses the term “tousen kakujitsu,” which means that Suzuki was projected to win at the time of the alert. He had not won yet.
Looking up “Kimetsu alert” on X (Twitter) garners many results, with most of them negative. A lot of fans were angry that a political alert appeared during Demon Slayer and noted that since they were recording the episode for later, the alert appeared in the recording as well. A user pointed out that a lot of people complaining are probably really young, but it’s a good thing that the government isn’t able to leverage anime or video games to stir political interest or sway anyone’s beliefs. Some ask why these alerts aren’t restricted to news channels or NHK.
Demon Slayer is readily available to watch on services like Crunchyroll.
