C&C - Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - "Mount Natagumo" [2/8]

[TheVileOne]

A moment of peace and happiness for the boys before the horrors that are to follow.

The fact that Inosuke can even say or comprehend the word spacial is astounding. He has the attention span of a goldfish.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was okay. So I assume that Tanjiro explained his backstory and his motivation to find a cure for Nezuko to at least Zenitsu off screen. Inosuke could have easily forgotten all about the box and never learned anything about Tanjiro, which would honestly make sense based on what we've seen of his personality thus far. If that is the case, then I think that I officially loathe Zenitsu. Instead of using this knowledge to bond with Tanjiro or Nezuko, it's used as another running gag because Zenitsu was so clearly running low on those. Apparently Nezuko being turned into a demon or the fact that she clearly isn't interested in this stranger gushing over her doesn't bother Zenitsu. All he sees is a pretty girl and knowing that she is just Tanjiro's sister probably made him think that he had a chance with her. Maybe this wouldn't be bad if Zenitsu hadn't already been primarily just the comedy relief, but this still kind of sours his determination to protect Nezuko's box for me. Instead of leading to a nice bonding scene or payoff to showing how caring and brave Zenitsu can actually be, it's just used as another running gag.

Maybe the whole crush thing wouldn't be too bad if it happened a bit more naturally and he wasn't already off the scales annoying for me, but at this point, it will be a miracle if Zenitsu becomes half-way tolerable for me. So far, the only episode where I could somewhat deal with him was when he had minimal screentime, which is not a good sign. Does Zenitsu ever become not annoying? I'm serious because at this point, I don't know if I'd want to watch whatever continuation this series has if he's always going to be like this. I'm not at the point where I want to drop the series because of Zenitsu. I still like most other aspects about it, despite feeling that the series is pretty overrated, and we're over halfway through the season anyway, but Zenitsu is just insufferable and downright unlikable for me at this point.

Inosuke is still pretty clearly an idiot, but his gags are at least funny. Plus, the theory that he may have been isolated in the mountains for most of his life makes more and more sense with each episode. His reaction to the woman's kindness and words made me think that he was slowly confused and then frustrated over what he couldn't understand. At least they had more time to recover from their injuries. Tanjiro definitely needed that at least when he had a lot broken bones.

Of course, Zenitsu was too scared to go up the mountain. Admittedly, it did look pretty intimidating, but since he screams and yells over everything, it was much harder to empathize with him. Thinking about how his friends abandoned him afterwards frustrated me, mainly because the whole notion that he would have gone if his friends encouraged him was an obvious lie. Plus, they rushed off to see who was in danger. The scene might have been more worthwhile if it led Zenitsu to realize that he is the problem instead of putting the blame on other people, but then he only needed to remember that Nezuko was in the box and he rushed over to protect her.

The whole using spider thread to control a bunch of Demon Slayers was pretty intimidating though. Most of the people there already looked like they were killed and a demon with that kind of power is already pretty threatening. It looked like Inosuke's special power might have been a result from whatever training he had as a Demon Slayer. He announced the technique in a similar fashion that Tanjiro calls out his attacks. It could be that these demons found a way to survive without eating humans and want to kill off the Demon Slayers so that they can live in peace. Overall, it was an okay episode.

 

[TheVileOne]

Zenitsu is still 16 years old. I don't really expect him to act like a mature adult. I thought his reaction to Nezuko was adorable. Clearly he understands she's Tanjiro's sister now. Probably took about 30 seconds to explain offscreen, and now he's acting all lovey dovey for her.


He's arguing with a sparrow that somehow has the intelligence of a human and understands what humans are saying.

 

[Light Lucario]

Zenitsu is still 16 years old. I don't really expect him to act like a mature adult. I thought his reaction to Nezuko was adorable. Clearly he understands she's Tanjiro's sister now. Probably took about 30 seconds to explain offscreen, and now he's acting all lovey dovey for her.

I don't think that Zenitsu being sixteen years old is a good excuse here. I'm not saying that he has to be a mature adult. I am saying that having a crush on her as seemingly his only reaction to Tanjiro's backstory and Nezuko's situation just comes off as poor tastes. Instead of seeing them bond with Tanjiro explaining more about his past and why he was traveling with a demon, especially when he wanted to wait to listen to Tanjiro's explanation when Inosuke was trying destroy the box, Zenitsu' seemingly only reaction is "Oh great. This girl is pretty and Tanjiro's sister. Now I have a chance to get with her." He doesn't have any reaction to her being killed alongside her family and being revived as a demon. None of that seemingly matters because she's a pretty girl that he can potentially be with.

Admittedly, it did seem like they were in the mansion recovering for awhile, so it's possible that Zenitsu had a different initial reaction to Tanjiro's story and that's assuming that Tanjiro told him more about what happened too. He may have stopped listening the moment Tanjiro said that Nezuko was his sister because then he'd realize that she'd be available, which would also be pretty bad. The problem is that this is the first interaction Zenitsu has with Nezuko, so it leaves a really bad impression for me. Instead of leading to a nice character moment for Zenitsu or giving more weight to his friendship with Tanjiro, it's just another running gag for Zenitsu and in my opinion, they've already gone overboard with his comedy relief antics since his debut. I still think that the crush might not have been so bad if it happened more naturally over the course of a few episodes, even though it might have also been hard to pull that off considering that Nezuko can't talk, but basically giving Zenitsu something else to scream and yell about is not particularly appealing to me.

 

[Lawren22]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. Even though Tsukasa knows that Senku is alive now, at least he won't kill his friends since they can't quickly communicate with each other. Waiting through the winter does give Senku and the village more time to prepare for the battle. I didn't see the cotton candy machine coming, but it made sense. They needed to perfect the step for the gold wire and they couldn't afford messing up the gold, so cotton candy was a good way to test it out.

They were definitely going for some Food Wars style reactions to the food. But in this case, it actually made sense when the villagers never had candy before. Not making it sound like everyone was having sex over the taste of food was also an improvement in my book. The sketch comedy bit was kind of sudden, but it was funny, especially with how Senku figured that his father would have left something like that in the one hundred stories. It was nice that Senku left some cotton candy to Homura. She is their enemy and letting her know that they're aware of her spying on them may backfire, but it was just kind of a nice gesture. I also liked how she took awhile to try it and enjoyed it in a more calm manner than expected.

Chrome and Kaseki building a water wheel was really impressive. They both wanted it to be a brand new invention that Senku hadn't heard of, but being able to make one still showed how smart Chrome is. Plus, they got a hydroelectric generator from it, which should help them along with their project immensely. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.

In this season he definitely doesn't get better.I'm neutral on him and most of the characters on this show tbh but if you find him annoying now that definitely isn't going to change much in future episodes of this season. In the final episodes he might even get a bit more annoying because they have more on his comedy relif in the last couple of episodes. In the future thought I'm not completely sure because I haven't read the manga but I known some people who do and say he's one of their least favorite characters so it doesn't sound like it.

 

[Light Lucario]

In this season he definitely doesn't get better.I'm neutral on him and most of the characters on this show tbh but if you find him annoying now that definitely isn't going to change much in future episodes of this season. In the final episodes he might even get a bit more annoying because they have more on his comedy relif in the last couple of episodes. In the future thought I'm not completely sure because I haven't read the manga but I known some people who do and say he's one of their least favorite characters so it doesn't sound like it.

Well that's unfortunate. It isn't at all surprising given that he probably wouldn't get that much focus or development within the last half of the season, but a part of me hope that he would get at least more tolerable. At this rate, there's an excellent chance that he'll bring the series down a considerable amount for me, which is kind of a shame. I thought that this series was overrated well before Zenitsu showed up, but he does make it harder for me to enjoy the series.

 

[Lawren22]

Well that's unfortunate. It isn't at all surprising given that he probably wouldn't get that much focus or development within the last half of the season, but a part of me hope that he would get at least more tolerable. At this rate, there's an excellent chance that he'll bring the series down a considerable amount for me, which is kind of a shame. I thought that this series was overrated well before Zenitsu showed up, but he does make it harder for me to enjoy the series.

While I dont think it annoyed me as much as you,Zenitsu did lower the show a little bit for me because I didnt think his type of comedic relief fit the tone of the rest of the show. I definitely agree it's a bit overrated so far. It's a standard shonen with really good animation ,nice fight scenes and good atmosphere but I dont think the story or and even the characters that are likeable is all that interesting,maybe that will changed in future arcs that take place after this season.

 

[Yojimbo]

I'm still curious to see how long Zenitsu can stay in that alternate slayer mode and when the others will witness it. Or if eventually, the creator plans to merge them both in the long run. That alt version's reaction to Tanjiro and Nezuko's backstory would probably be more on the ball. I've made my peace that the regular Zenitsu is overwhelmed by his emotions and lacks any control of them unless he's in his alt. mode. There's a lot of psycho babble out there. It could be BPD, emotional hypersensitivty, dysregulation, etc. But again, Tanjiro is the star. We started the show with him. We didn't get to see how it started for Zenitsu or Inosuke yet. If this is the last mission of the season, I could see them doing brief flashbacks during the battles and shifting back and forth between the trio as they battle the demon family.

 

[Light Lucario]

While I dont think it annoyed me as much as you,Zenitsu did lower the show a little bit for me because I didnt think his type of comedic relief fit the tone of the rest of the show. I definitely agree it's a bit overrated so far. It's a standard shonen with really good animation ,nice fight scenes and good atmosphere but I dont think the story or and even the characters that are likeable is all that interesting,maybe that will changed in future arcs that take place after this season.

While I agree that it doesn't fit with the rest of the show, I can kind of see why they'd want to include a comedic relief within the cast. The show has been pretty serious from the start with the violence and deaths. Introducing a comedy relief character would allow them to lighten the mood a bit for the audience, which isn't an inherently bad idea. The problem is that they just go way too far with Zenitsu's gags, so that makes him stick out more like a sore thumb as far as the tone is concerned. This is a big reason why I can't be invested in him so far. He isn't written to be endearing or sympathetic. He's written primarily to be the loud comedic relief and if it isn't funny or entertaining for you, then it's most likely going to fall flat.

I like Tanjiro and I think Nezuko has potential, although I still hope that she'd get some kind of training for her demon powers so that she could be more effective in battle, but that's about it. It's still a bit early to gauge my feelings on Inosuke, but he isn't anywhere near as annoying as Zenitsu is for me, so that's a promising sign. The visuals, fights and animation are so far the highlight of the series for me. I think that Demon Slayer is good, but based on what I've seen thus far, I don't really see how it became the next big popular series. That might become clearer by the end of the season though.

 

[Yojimbo]

I like Tanjiro and I think Nezuko has potential, although I still hope that she'd get some kind of training for her demon powers so that she could be more effective in battle, but that's about it. It's still a bit early to gauge my feelings on Inosuke, but he isn't anywhere near as annoying as Zenitsu is for me, so that's a promising sign. The visuals, fights and animation are so far the highlight of the series for me. I think that Demon Slayer is good, but based on what I've seen thus far, I don't really see how it became the next big popular series. That might become clearer by the end of the season though.

Reading this made me think back to when I read Dragon Ball from the start and had the same feelings, guys like Oolong and Yamcha annoyed me, and it wasn't really until the Red Ribbon arc that I got invested in the series. I'm thinking it's the same here for me: lot of great action, comedy is hit or miss for me and kinda sticks out at times, but once it hits a certain point, I think this series will be a winner for me. I can kinda see the foundations being set. Idk, that's just my 2 cents. lol.

 

[TheVileOne]

I don't think that Zenitsu being sixteen years old is a good excuse here. I'm not saying that he has to be a mature adult. I am saying that having a crush on her as seemingly his only reaction to Tanjiro's backstory and Nezuko's situation just comes off as poor tastes. Instead of seeing them bond with Tanjiro explaining more about his past and why he was traveling with a demon, especially when he wanted to wait to listen to Tanjiro's explanation when Inosuke was trying destroy the box, Zenitsu' seemingly only reaction is "Oh great. This girl is pretty and Tanjiro's sister. Now I have a chance to get with her." He doesn't have any reaction to her being killed alongside her family and being revived as a demon. None of that seemingly matters because she's a pretty girl that he can potentially be with.

Why the heck is that in poor taste? The dude risked his life to protect the box simply because he knew just by listening to the sounds Tanjiro made that Tanjiro was a pure and virtuous person even though he knew it was a demon the whole time. Also, we don't even know what Tanjiro told him about their backstory anyway.

I think what you're missing here is that Zenitsu is accepting of their situation. Even though Nezuko is a demon and he knows it, and Tanjiro travels with her, and he knows it, he knows she's not "bad." He accepts her as a person. I doubt other Demon Slayers would have the same opinion.

If Zenitsu was an awful person, he'd be trying to scheme or torture or kill Nezuko instead of chasing her in circles and trying to flirt with her.

Bad taste would be him trying to grope her or cop a feel like Master Roshi.

Admittedly, it did seem like they were in the mansion recovering for awhile, so it's possible that Zenitsu had a different initial reaction to Tanjiro's story and that's assuming that Tanjiro told him more about what happened too. He may have stopped listening the moment Tanjiro said that Nezuko was his sister because then he'd realize that she'd be available, which would also be pretty bad. The problem is that this is the first interaction Zenitsu has with Nezuko, so it leaves a really bad impression for me. Instead of leading to a nice character moment for Zenitsu or giving more weight to his friendship with Tanjiro, it's just another running gag for Zenitsu and in my opinion, they've already gone overboard with his comedy relief antics since his debut. I still think that the crush might not have been so bad if it happened more naturally over the course of a few episodes, even though it might have also been hard to pull that off considering that Nezuko can't talk, but basically giving Zenitsu something else to scream and yell about is not particularly appealing to me.

Personally, I think it's rather sweet that rather than treating them with kit gloves, he's actually being nice to both Tanjiro and Nezuko rather than walking on eggshells that he can playfully have fun with them rather than be a depressing presence.

I doubt Tanjiro is going to look back on moments like this and be sad. After everything that happens, he finally has a friend in the Slayer corps he can trust who won't try to kill him and Nezuko for breaking any possible sanctions.

My major takeaway from this interaction is that Zenitsu is treating them like human beings rather than being repulsed by them. I find that rather sweet and cute. To call it bad taste...that's just like...what? I can't even comprehend that.

 

[Light Lucario]

Why the heck is that in poor taste? The dude risked his life to protect the box simply because he knew just by listening to the sounds Tanjiro made that Tanjiro was a pure and virtuous person even though he knew it was a demon the whole time. Also, we don't even know what Tanjiro told him about their backstory anyway.

It's in poor taste because he's gushing over Nezuko when she's clearly not interested in him. It was played for laughs, but chasing her around a circle when she seemed uncomfortable or at least not interested just annoyed me. He risked his life to protect the box, but the first thing he does upon seeing that it is a cute girl is get upset at Tanjiro for traveling with a girl after he ruined his chance to get married. There's kind of a tonal whiplash between those two scenes that just doesn't work for me.

That is a fair point that we don't know what Tanjiro told him, but that's also kind of the problem. It would potentially help with their relationships to know what he told Zenitsu. Having that done off-screen in favor of more running gags seems like a waste to me.

I think what you're missing here is that Zenitsu is accepting of their situation. Even though Nezuko is a demon and he knows it, and Tanjiro travels with her, and he knows it, he knows she's not "bad." He accepts her as a person. I doubt other Demon Slayers would have the same opinion.

That is a nice reading and I can see where you'd get that impression. I think that the problem for me isn't that I'm missing it, but just that I don't think he has accepted her as a person. That isn't really the impression I got from this episode at least. He's just gushing over her because she's a pretty girl and he wants to get married. They've already established that he has a tendency to do this with women and this gag with Nezuko seems to be a variation on that. This is another reason why learning what Tanjiro told him would have been nice. For all we know, Zenitsu stopped listening the moment he found out that Nezuko is Tanjiro's sister, so he has a chance. He doesn't seem to care that Nezuko didn't like that he was chasing her around before and already became possessive enough over her that he was upset at Tanjiro for taking his Nezuko into a dangerous area. It was all still played for laughs, but it still gave me the impression that Zenitsu sees Nezuko more like an object rather than a person.

If Zenitsu was an awful person, he'd be trying to scheme or torture or kill Nezuko instead of chasing her in circles and trying to flirt with her.

In order to scheme, torture or kill Nezuko, Zenitsu would have to be a completely different character considering that he's still seemingly unable to fight without being knocked out. I should also stress that I don't think Zenitsu is an awful person. I think he's awfully annoying, but he isn't a heartless monster. However, I think that by skipping over Tanjiro explaining his backstory or possibly not doing it at all, I'm just left thinking that he's comfortable with Nezuko simply because she's a pretty girl that he has a chance with. I don't think he'd be more willing to harm her if Nezuko wasn't traditionally attractive. At most, he might be more nervous around her, but it seems like he only values her because she's attractive. That is just the impression I've gotten here and that could change, but I don't really think he accepts her as a person per say.

Bad taste would be him trying to grope her or cop a feel like Master Roshi.

That's a pretty low bar to reach. Of course Zenitsu chasing around Nezuko is not on the same level as sexual assault. That doesn't mean that it is okay, especially when Nezuko was clearly not into this stranger chasing her around. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad if this wasn't their first interaction, but it just left a bad impression on me that kind of cemented my hatred for Zenitsu.

My major takeaway from this interaction is that Zenitsu is treating them like human beings rather than being repulsed by them. I find that rather sweet and cute. To call it bad taste...that's just like...what? I can't even comprehend that.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it makes Zenitsu look shallow to me. Despite his efforts to protect Nezuko before, he doesn't seem to care that she doesn't want to be around him, which kind of reads as shallow to me. Or possibly more tonal whiplash since it's seemingly just another running gag for Zenitsu instead of offering something more meaningful. I know that you read it as a sweet moment, which is fine and I can kind of see why you'd get that impression, but like nearly everything about Zenitsu, it's written and treated more like a running gag instead of anything more meaningful to me.

 

[TheVileOne]

It's in poor taste because he's gushing over Nezuko when she's clearly not interested in him. It was played for laughs, but chasing her around a circle when she seemed uncomfortable or at least not interested just annoyed me. He risked his life to protect the box, but the first thing he does upon seeing that it is a cute girl is get upset at Tanjiro for traveling with a girl after he ruined his chance to get married. There's kind of a tonal whiplash between those two scenes that just doesn't work for me.

I apologize Light Lucario, but you and I have very different definitions of bad taste. You're acting like Zenitsu wants to assault Nezuko.

That is a fair point that we don't know what Tanjiro told him, but that's also kind of the problem. It would potentially help with their relationships to know what he told Zenitsu. Having that done off-screen in favor of more running gags seems like a waste to me.

The gags were necessary. It gave everyone a chance to unwind and like I said, have a moment of peace before the horrors that are about to follow them. Also, if Nezuko was really upset and scared about Zenitsu, I feel like we would know it.

That's a pretty low bar to reach. Of course Zenitsu chasing around Nezuko is not on the same level as sexual assault. That doesn't mean that it is okay, especially when Nezuko was clearly not into this stranger chasing her around. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad if this wasn't their first interaction, but it just left a bad impression on me that kind of cemented my hatred for Zenitsu.

It's your opinion. And can't change how you feel. Fair. That said, I think calling what happened in this episode poor taste is a low bar to reach for the meaning of poor taste.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it makes Zenitsu look shallow to me. Despite his efforts to protect Nezuko before, he doesn't seem to care that she doesn't want to be around him, which kind of reads as shallow to me. Or possibly more tonal whiplash since it's seemingly just another running gag for Zenitsu instead of offering something more meaningful. I know that you read it as a sweet moment, which is fine and I can kind of see why you'd get that impression, but like nearly everything about Zenitsu, it's written and treated more like a running gag instead of anything more meaningful to me.

Zenitsu is a flawed character and characters should be flawed. His shallow interest in girls and wanting to marry any cute girl he meets I'd say is a character flaw. But it doesn't make him an awful character or person IMO.

 

[Yojimbo]

After everything that happens, he finally has a friend in the Slayer corps he can trust who won't try to kill him and Nezuko for breaking any possible sanctions.

Hmm, begs the question if Giyu and/or Sakonji told the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps about Nezuko or not. If the latter, that will make for some drama. I mean, they're Demon Slayers so there should be a lot of bias against demons and they'll only see Nezuko one way. But with Tanjiro, I'm sure they'll change some minds... hopefully.

It's in poor taste because he's gushing over Nezuko when she's clearly not interested in him. It was played for laughs, but chasing her around a circle when she seemed uncomfortable or at least not interested just annoyed me. He risked his life to protect the box, but the first thing he does upon seeing that it is a cute girl is get upset at Tanjiro for traveling with a girl after he ruined his chance to get married. There's kind of a tonal whiplash between those two scenes that just doesn't work for me.

I don't think any of those have a deeper meaning to hate him over, just kid stuff and puppy love. Nothing nasty. Just too show between missions, they're really just kids and act like them. I'd guess they're barely teenagers even. 15 or 16 at most. And we're only 15 episodes in and of that 15, Zenitsu and Inosuke have been around for 5? Then there's 11 left this season. Let's see how things play out for both. Tanjiro's got a lead on them in episode count and that much more development after all. I get we're in that age where audiences want a character to be a grand slam hit after the 2 or 3rd episode but manga/anime development can be a slow burn. Tanjiro, off the bat, had a good head on his shoulders while clearly Zenitsu and Inosuke don't and have a way's to go yet still have some sparks of goodness in them so far but yes, kinda outweighed by the flaws. Far for me to say I'm sold on them either but I suspect like Black Clover, it's going to take me more than season 1 to get a feel for them. At least this case, it's not a bunch of different squads and characters which is kinda overwhelming at times. It's a smaller cast, which is nice.

The gags were necessary. It gave everyone a chance to unwind and like I said, have a moment of peace before the horrors that are about to follow them. Also, if Nezuko was really upset and scared about Zenitsu, I feel like we would know it.

Yeah, pretty much. We would, like with the sparrow there'd be a 'sit, Inu!" kinda moment, imo.

 

[Light Lucario]

I apologize Light Lucario, but you and I have very different definitions of bad taste. You're acting like Zenitsu wants to assault Nezuko.

Not really. I even said that this isn't on the same level as sexual assault. I just really think it gives a bad first impression when Nezuko clearly isn't interested in this person chasing her around. If this wasn't their first on-screen interaction, maybe it wouldn't bother me as much. Although, Zenitsu continuing to chase Nezuko after Tanjiro told him to stop didn't help matters either.

The gags were necessary. It gave everyone a chance to unwind and like I said, have a moment of peace before the horrors that are about to follow them. Also, if Nezuko was really upset and scared about Zenitsu, I feel like we would know it.

I disagree. I understand that was part of the intent with these gags, but I don't think that they were necessary. The show has had more intense and horrific moments before without easing the audience with comedy relief bits before. As intimidating and threatening as the spider demons are right now, I don't think that they're so terrifying that the audience needed to have a moment of peace before getting to them, especially when the previous episode itself was pretty much a breather episode. The show has had far more horrific death scenes that didn't require them to use some comedic gags to balance things out or help ease the audience into the more intense scenes. I think it would have been better to actually see Zenitsu's reaction to Tanjiro's backstory instead of just jumping ahead a brief amount of time to where he's gushing over Nezuko.

It's your opinion. And can't change how you feel. Fair. That said, I think calling what happened in this episode poor taste is a low bar to reach for the meaning of poor taste.

That doesn't make any sense when you don't agree with my use of poor taste. It just comes off as belittling. When I said that it's a low bar to reach, I wasn't trying to belittle your opinion, but say that the notion that Zenitsu isn't a terrible person because he didn't sexually assault Nezuko is a low bar to for him to reach. It doesn't take much for a character to not be a terrible person because they didn't sexually assault someone else.

Zenitsu is a flawed character and characters should be flawed. His shallow interest in girls and wanting to marry any cute girl he meets I'd say is a character flaw. But it doesn't make him an awful character or person IMO.

Apparently, I'm not being clear. I don't think that Zenitsu is an awful person because he has flaws. Obviously characters need to have flaws so that they can ideally over come them and become more developed. The problem I have with this notion is that his shallow interest in girls and wanting to marry any cute girl he meets isn't really written or at least treated as character flaws. It's treated as a running gag. It's used for comedy relief. Like I said before, this is a huge reason why I can't like Zenitsu when he's written primarily to be the comedy relief. He's flawed, but they're so over the top with his yelling, screaming and now obsession with Nezuko that the audience is clearly supposed to laugh at him more so that anything else. Maybe they'll treat these gags as flaws down the road, but I have my doubts on that.

To be clear, I don't think that Zenitsu is awful person. He isn't heartless and shows that he does care about other people. But he's been so off the scales annoying for me pretty much since his debut. The bulk of his screentime thus far have been about him yelling and screaming that I just find him insufferable and unlikable at this point.

I don't think any of those have a deeper meaning to hate him over, just kid stuff and puppy love. Nothing nasty. Just too show between missions, they're really just kids and act like them. I'd guess they're barely teenagers even. 15 or 16 at most. And we're only 15 episodes in and of that 15, Zenitsu and Inosuke have been around for 5? Then there's 11 left this season. Let's see how things play out for both. Tanjiro's got a lead on them in episode count and that much more development after all. I get we're in that age where audiences want a character to be a grand slam hit after the 2 or 3rd episode but manga/anime development can be a slow burn. Tanjiro, off the bat, had a good head on his shoulders while clearly Zenitsu and Inosuke don't and have a way's to go yet still have some sparks of goodness in them so far but yes, kinda outweighed by the flaws. Far for me to say I'm sold on them either but I suspect like Black Clover, it's going to take me more than season 1 to get a feel for them. At least this case, it's not a bunch of different squads and characters which is kinda overwhelming at times. It's a smaller cast, which is nice.

I dont' think that it was anything nasty, but it just made Zenitsu even more annoying for me. If they didn't establish that Zenitsu had a history of begging random women to marry him, I think it would be a lot easier for me to see it as just puppy love. It still might have annoyed me if everything else about Zenitsu was the same, but I think it would be easier to read his crush on Nezuko as being genuine as opposed to another running gag. It still gives me the impression that he just likes her because she's a pretty girl, which is shallow.

I'd be more willing to see how things play out for them if Zenitsu wasn't already insufferable for me despite being around for only a handful of episodes. Maybe things will get better for him, but it doesn't sound likely based on what has happened and what I've heard. That is a fair point that Tanjiro has a lot more episodes under his belt, but I wasn't expecting a grand slam for Zenitsu. I was hoping that I'd like him or at least not hate him, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Since they are introduced about halfway through the first season, I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be more fleshed out in a possible season two and having a smaller cast might help the series out in the long run, but I just wish Zenitsu was at least tolerable for me. At least I wouldn't be annoyed with nearly all of his scenes.

 

[Yojimbo]

If they didn't establish that Zenitsu had a history of begging random women to marry him, I think it would be a lot easier for me to see it as just puppy love.

Did they? Or did he just panic about his first(?) mission and ask one woman because all I saw so far was him asking one woman to marry him. That's hardly a "history." I thought the sub text of that was as far as his upbringing, he believed before a man dies, he should marry a beautiful woman so implicitly he doesn't understand the concept of love which is easy to accept because he's a kid and that he could be from a rich family that does those arranged marriages since we are in a classic era of Japan more or less. And he could be a product of his environment. That doesn't excuse it, but could be a interesting plot point later on. Like he got booted from his family for some fiasco, ended up in whatever that situation was that he racked up a gambling debt and ended up being trained to become a Demon Slayer because the trainer saw something in him.

 

[Light Lucario]

Did they? Or did he just panic about his first(?) mission and ask one woman because all I saw so far was him asking one woman to marry him. That's hardly a "history." I thought the sub text of that was as far as his upbringing, he believed before a man dies, he should marry a beautiful woman so implicitly he doesn't understand the concept of love which is easy to accept because he's a kid and that he could be from a rich family that does those arranged marriages since we are in a classic era of Japan more or less. And he could be a product of his environment. That doesn't excuse it, but could be a interesting plot point later on. Like he got booted from his family for some fiasco, ended up in whatever that situation was that he racked up a gambling debt and ended up being trained to become a Demon Slayer because the trainer saw something in him.

I'm pretty sure that the little bird told Tanjiro that Zenitsu has asked random women to marry him before. We've only seen him ask one woman to marry him so far, but that wasn't the first time he pulled that stunt. I don't think that it has anything to do with his upbringing. We admittedly don't know much about Zenitsu' childhood yet, but I don't think that would necessarily factor into this behavior. He's terrified of dying while fighting demons and wants to be married so that he doesn't die alone. That's why he begged a woman who just asked to see if he was okay to marry him.

I honestly don't think it's supposed to be a flaw or a potential insight into how he was raised. It's so over the top that I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to just make Zenitsu the clear comedy relief. It is early enough to where these could become plot points down the road, but it seems pretty unlikely to me right now.

 

[TheVileOne]

Personally, this just brings a smile to my face and warms my cold heart.

 

[Yojimbo]

I'm pretty sure that the little bird told Tanjiro that Zenitsu has asked random women to marry him before. We've only seen him ask one woman to marry him so far, but that wasn't the first time he pulled that stunt. I don't think that it has anything to do with his upbringing. We admittedly don't know much about Zenitsu' childhood yet, but I don't think that would necessarily factor into this behavior. He's terrified of dying while fighting demons and wants to be married so that he doesn't die alone. That's why he begged a woman who just asked to see if he was okay to marry him.

I honestly don't think it's supposed to be a flaw or a potential insight into how he was raised. It's so over the top that I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to just make Zenitsu the clear comedy relief. It is early enough to where these could become plot points down the road, but it seems pretty unlikely to me right now.

Perhaps, the sparrow did talk English or Tanjiro translated aloud in its 1st appearance I think. I was just speculating on my part. But to circle back, yes, I agree with you in that I'm not a fan of the over-the-top persona/voice of Zenitsu but I'm still on the fence about the character overall. The shouting persona seems to be a trend in anime. I'm sure you'd be repeating yourself in the Dr. Stone thread, too, if Taiju were still around, lol. I kinda wonder what the origin of this persona is? Is it from Jump or is it beyond that like kabuki theater? Hmm.

 

[Light Lucario]

Perhaps, the sparrow did talk English or Tanjiro translated aloud in its 1st appearance I think. I was just speculating on my part. But to circle back, yes, I agree with you in that I'm not a fan of the over-the-top persona/voice of Zenitsu but I'm still on the fence about the character overall. The shouting persona seems to be a trend in anime. I'm sure you'd be repeating yourself in the Dr. Stone thread, too, if Taiju were still around, lol. I kinda wonder what the origin of this persona is? Is it from Jump or is it beyond that like kabuki theater? Hmm.

I can understand being more on the fence about him. If he didn't already annoy me so much, I might be more willing to see where he goes before judging him too. I actually like Taiju. I kind of miss him and Yuzuirha as well. He could be loud and over the top too, but I feel like that fits more with Dr. Stone than it does with Demon Slayer. Despite most of humanity being turned into stone, Dr. Stone can be pretty light hearted and silly. There's a robotic Senku explaining science to the audience, there was a Food Wars inspired scene of everyone eating cotton candy for the first time and most episodes involve some comedic scene or gag in general. It isn't a full on comedy, but it does have comedic elements woven into its tone so those moments don't feel jarring or forced. Plus, Taiju has serious moments to make him endearing, like how his desire to confess to Yuzuriha kept him awake for thousands of years and then deciding to not tell her because it wouldn't be fair in their current situation.

Demon Slayer is a lot more serious tone wise, so having a more loud over the top comedic relief character is kind of more distracting in a way. I think that a more fitting comparison would be with Ginro. He's similar to Zenitsu in the sense that he's the comedy relief cowardly character of the group. Ginro can be annoying too, but he has gotten some nice moments like overcoming his fear of that poison gas to help his friends and refusing to cut the rope while Kinro was barely handing onto it. Zenitsu protecting Nezuko's box does show that he can be brave too, but I feel being so loud and annoying stills overshadow it for me. It may not be a fair comparison considering that Ginro has had more appearances, but that's the best one I could think of. Ginro is still annoying and probably is my least favorite of the main cast thus far, but he fits more with the general tone of Dr. Stone than Zenitsu currently does with Demon Slayer. It also helps that he's a supporting character, so that does limit his screentime by comparison as well.