If you’re searching for interesting, unique, and abundant anime merchandise, you can’t go wrong with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Since its debut in 2019, anime fans have consistently ranked this shonen series as one of their favorites. And anime merch companies responded to this popularity with a ton of goods for fans to purchase.
It’s not hard to see why. The series features excellent animation, an interesting plot, as well as fun and likable characters for fans to root for. Many of the main characters also wear color-coded outfits, which is great for merch — green for Tanjiro, pink for Nezuko, yellow for Zenitsu, etc.
Let’s look at some of the better Demon Slayer merch items.
List of Must-Have Demon Slayer Merch
1. Demon Slayer rucksack:
We’ll start this list with a practical item. You might call it a backpack or a rucksack, but either way, it’s a handy item for carrying books and stuff. The backpack comes in four styles — Tanjiro green checkerboard, Nezuko pink, Zenitsu yellow, and Giyu Tomioka’s geometric pattern. But this particular design is for Nezuko fans.
The backpack is 40 cm tall, 29 cm across, and 13 cm wide. ZenPlus describes it as “medium size,” and “suitable for middle and high school students.” But it should be big enough for adults, too.
It has a large, zippered compartment with a smaller pouch in front. The smaller pouch has three rings for hanging stuff on. It can be worn on one shoulder or with both straps.
2. Demon Slayer Othello:
This Demon Slayer board game is an anime-themed, official licensed edition of the game Othello.
Unlike the My Neighbor Totoro variant of Reversi that I wrote about in January, this version features a full-size 8 by 8 board (64 squares). The game comes with 54 blank pieces, four with the kanji for “demon (ki)” and “slayer (metsu)” on them, and 13 with a Demon Slayer character. (That’s more than can fit on the board, so you’re covered if you lose a couple.)
Othello has Japanese roots, so an anime version makes sense. The 1971 game by Goro Hasegawa was adapted from the older, similar Reversi game.
3. Nezuko felt sewing machine:
Yes, you’re seeing correctly; this is a Demon Slayer sewing machine. To be specific, this particular model is a kid-friendly, battery-operated, felt sewing machine. It uses felt, instead of thread, to make Demon Slayer-themed accessories.
The machine comes with a couple of accessory sets, which include the parts needed to sew together your own Demon Slayer merch items. The pink sewing machine also features Nezuko’s picture.
You can buy the sewing machine, and the accessory sewing kits separately, but this is a package deal.
4. Tanjiro plushie:
There’s not much to say about this happy, smiling Tanjiro plushie, except that he’s the cutest thing on this list. Tanjiro is only about 10 cm tall (or about 4 inches high). He comes with a ball chain or beaded keyring, so you can attach him to a backpack or something similar.
The ZenPlus description states that he’s a “pofutto” plush toy, which refers to a whole range of puffy, big-headed plushies.
5. Demon Slayer Tomica toy cars:
Takara Tomy has made wonderful Tomica die-cast toy vehicles since 1970. This set includes 14 Demon Slayer-themed vehicles of various makes and models. With their character-based color schemes, the vehicles remind me of the itasha anime cars seen at some conventions.
Tanjiro gets a sporty Toyota 86 (a descendant of the AE86 made famous in Initial D). Giyu Tomioka has a Toyota GR Supra, while Shinobu is a Fuji Subaru 360.
Tomica vehicles are typically 1/64 scale. That’s similar to Matchbox, although Tomica specializes in Japanese vehicles.
For some reason, the website states that the vehicles may face international shipping restrictions. (It’s hard to see why toy cars would be restricted, unless it’s a car logo trademark issue.) However, ZenPlus will check to see if the vehicles can be shipped to your area.
6. Demon Slayer snack variety set:
This Demon Slayer variety set comes with six snacks — one Baby Star ramen snack, one package of E-ma hard candy throat lozenges, and four bags of Shigekix.
Personally, I’d go for the Baby Star ramen, which is ume kombu onigiri-flavored. Rice balls show up in the series as a favorite snack of some of the characters, so it’s appropriate. (It’s also a pun, as oni-giri can be translated as “demon cutter.”)
The E-ma candies are white grape-flavor and have pictures of the characters on them. Shigekix are sour gumdrops; the Demon Slayer ones are “energy drink” flavor.
7. Tanjiro and Nezuko Pop-Up Pirate game:
If you’ve ever played Tomy’s Pop-Up Pirate game (first made in 1975), you might like this Demon Slayer version. Just like with the original, players take turns sticking swords into the barrel. Eventually, somebody will hit the unlucky slot, which causes Tanjiro (or Nezuko) to pop out. The unlucky slot is random each time.
ZenPlus sells both Tanjiro and Nezuko versions together as a set, so you can decide which sibling you’d rather poke with swords.
8. Demon Slayer candy:
Candy company UHA Mikakuto makes these soft and chewy Demon Slayer Puccho candies. Puccho is similar to Morinaga’s Hi-Chew candy. The ones shown here are grape-flavored.
One pouch contains six individually-wrapped pieces of candy, plus one random Demon Slayer sticker. The stickers feature 13 characters in all, plus three secret ones. The wrappers also have Demon Slayer quotes.
9. Nezuko tamagotchi:
This pink tamagotchi features Nezuko’s kimono pattern — although surprisingly enough, you’re not guaranteed to get a Nezuko.
You have to raise, train, and feed the tamagotchi. When the tamagotchi gets hungry, feed it a rice ball. When it gets cranky, offer it some tea. It can also get injured, and need to be healed. If it is neglected, it could die. Depending upon how you care for it, the tamagotchi will evolve into one of several possible demon slayers.
10. Demon Slayer playing cards:
Demon Slayer has inspired several different playing card designs (mostly white with pictures on them). But this deck certainly stands out. All the cards are black, with various characters in either pink or green colors.
Appropriately, main protagonist Tanjiro is the king, Nezuko is queen, Zenitsu is jack, and Inosuke is the 10. Rounding out the royal flush gang is Giyu as the ace.
We hope you enjoyed our list of the best Demon Slayer merch items to check out in 2022. Full disclosure: The links above are from our partner ZenPlus, which sponsored this content. We hope you check them out if you want to buy from Japan. We’ve been working with the company for more than a year and can vouch for their services!
