Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - "Hinokami" [3/7]

[Nobodyman]

So I guess that's what everyone was hyped about.

Well, I won't deny, it was an incredibly well-animated action sequence.

Did Nezuko talk or was that in her mind?

And special end credits!

 

[Space Cadet]

Oh wow, the animation has just stepped up to a 100 now. It's soooo fluid.

Brother and sister for life, nothing can stop it.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Did his sword grow back, or did it just turn into a light saber?'

So everybody gets an upgrade. Except for the baddie, who just gets decapitated.

 

[Mr. Anime]

And that is how you win the popular vote among viewers!

Interesting details in that battle:
1) Tanjiro jumped into Nezuko’s blast. Which means her art only hurts demons. Not humans.
2) Some of Nezuko’s blood was on Tanjiro’s sword. Her blood detonating on the blade gave him the push to cut Rui’s neck.

 

[TheVileOne]

Eat your heart out Castlevania.

 

[Yojimbo]

lol, Gifu tells Inosuke to just train more then tied him up super fast so he'd stop aggravating his injuries.

Yay, Zenitsu is cured!

Rui wants Nezuko to be his sister and thinks a bond of terror will suffice? Uh, no, Rui, that's not how family works...

HOLY... That's lot to unpack. Somehow Kie their mother appeared to Nezuko and she suddenly performs a blood art to vaporize Rui's threads. Tanjiro's life flashes before his eyes and he sees his father. His father. A fire hashira? Who went all out in a battle - against Muzan?! - and got sickly for the rest of his life? Passed down his greatest technique to Tanjuro without him knowing it? Nezuko's blood activating on the broken sword was the edge he needed to decapitate Rui?

That final scene was freakin' epic. Epic. WOW! All centered on the bond of a true family.

Quick, get the blood sample, Tanjiro -- credits, ah.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. Inosuke wanting to battle against Giyu only for him to brush it off was pretty funny. I kind of figured that the father demon wasn't one of the twelve demons. I'm positive that they won't have anyone besides Tanjiro defeat them. It seemed a bit odd to just tie Inosuke in a tree like that, but it did prevent him from chasing after Giyu with those injuries. Plus, the fact that he was able to do it without Inosuke being aware of it was pretty funny.

Even though his sword was broken, Tanjiro was still able to barely dodge the thread. Rui was still quite ruthless towards his sister during the battle to the point where I wonder if he was going to kill her himself. Nezuko jumping in front of Tanjiro to protect him was expected. I was wondering if or when she'd show up during the battle. Rui being so determined to take that bond for himself was rather strange. Since he was so set on getting different demons to fit certain roles of a family and believed that bonds made out of fear would work, it does make me wonder if he just lacked any kind of loving family in his human life. Seeing Nezuko being caught up in those threads was quite brutal. Rui continuing to treat Nezuko as an object was also quite bothersome.

Tanjiro suddenly remembering his father's dance and breathing technique right when he needed it bothered me a bit. I guess it wasn't a deus ex machinca exactly when they kind of alluded to it with that theory on why people's lives flash before their eyes as they're dying earlier in the episode, but since Tanjiro's father has barely been mentioned in the series, it felt a bit too convenient, even if it did make it more dramatic. The animation for when Tanjiro's father was dancing was quite impressive. It was so fluid and realistic. Their mother talking to Nezuko was interesting. We already know that ghosts exist in this series due to Tanjiro's training, but it really makes it seem like the spirits of their family members are watching out for them if they try to warn Tanjiro and Nezuko when they're about to die.

Tanjiro's water dragon turning into fire was pretty awesome and the visuals during the last stretch of the battle were pretty cool too. Nezuko learning her own Blood Demon Art was pretty great too, especially when I was getting annoyed at how she was seemingly just going to be a meat shield for this battle. She ended up playing a more major role than I expected and her blood on Tanjiro's sword gave him the extra power to finally cut off his head. I really do like how Tanjiro won through the bond from his family. Tanjiro deeply cares for Nezuko and wants to avenge the rest of his family as well. Using what he learned from his father combined with Nezuko's newly acquired Blood Demon Art to defeat Rui, who firmly believed that family bonds could be forged through anger and fear, adds some more emotional weight to the victory. The song and the ending theme with Tanjiro's family members were also quite nice.

Overall, it was a pretty good episode. Although, I don't think that it lives up to the hype. The visuals here are quite impressive and are quite possibly some of the best animation seen in the series thus far, but I don't think it stands out to me that much. I think this is mainly because the strong visuals, particularly during the fights, have been one of the main selling points for Demon Slayer from the start. It is extremely well animated, but I don't think that it's mind blowing when good animation for the fight scenes has been featured before. Much like the series itself, I think that this specific episode being hyped up so much kind of backfired for me in a way. It wasn't a bad episode by any means, but when this episode was put on such a pedestal and made people start treating Demon Slayer as a masterpiece, it can make it harder for it to live up to such huge hype. I still think that Demon Slayer is overrated, but I do want to be clear that it isn't a terrible series. It isn't the most overrated anime I've seen or even the most overrated anime currently airing on Toonami. So far, I'd say that Demon Slayer is firmly in the good, but not amazingly good level for me. A part of me kind of hoped that this episode would help to make the series live up to its hype for me a bit more, but I think it would require more than a single episode for that to happen at this point.

Even with my mixed feelings on how Tanjiro suddenly remembered what his father taught him right when he needed it, I still really like the emotional weight of Tanjiro and Nezuko using their sibling bond to defeat Rui. I also hope that this means that Nezuko can be more involved with the fights. She did help out more in some of the earlier battles, but she was still often outmatched by the more experienced demons. Now that she has her own Blood Demon Art and might have regained the ability to speak, maybe she can be more effective in future demon battles.

 

[Yojimbo]

Plus, since the start, I've been wondering when they would start to talk about Tanjiro and Nezuko's father. Muzan recognizing the hanafuda earrings in a past episode felt like a tell, seeding that Muzan and their father fought. I also just recalled it was said those with a black sword don't live long, I wonder if their father also had a black sword and his ailment was a result of using it when he was a slayer. Maybe even the black sword allows for the use of really powerful attacks but the trade off is it affects the user's health and life span. Which... not good for Tanjiro if true.

 

[Endeavor24]

In case anyone want to know whats the name of that beautiful song its official name is "The Song of Tanjiro Kamado". Quite the fitting song for him don't yall think.

I can't speak for anyone else but the reason I like this episode is that it surprised me on how many right buttons it pressed. I was just casually watching this series for the good animation and manga readers hyping it up but I couldn't stop thinking it's not doing anything new. I like the series but also thought that it's just generic. This episode showed why these tropes are popular in the first place and somewhat change my first opinion of the series. This show just knows how to execute the generic tropes pretty well.

Tanjiro is the compassionate shounen protagonist and I thought he will make the same annoying mistakes as those types....but he didn't. He doesn't let his emotions miss the chance to kill his opponents with serious consequences attach like I have seen thousands of times. He acknowledged their humanity while still carrying out his job in the most painless way he could. Isn't it just sad that it' surprising to see that there is this sort of balance for his type of protagonist? Extra points that he actually uses his head in fights and his goal is relatable, which brings:

I really do like how Tanjiro won through the bond from his family. Tanjiro deeply cares for Nezuko and wants to avenge the rest of his family as well. Using what he learned from his father combined with Nezuko's newly acquired Blood Demon Art to defeat Rui, who firmly believed that family bonds could be forged through anger and fear, adds some more emotional weight to the victory. The song and the ending theme with Tanjiro's family members were also quite nice.

This is what I made this series click for me. This is not a story of someone trying to reach a goal as grandiose as being the wizard king but that of a brother and sister both protecting the only family they have left. This theme is why this fight is a memorial for me. Tanjiro and Nezuko won this fight because of the support of their family. The Hinokami breath purpose was to push the dancer to continue dancing in extreme conditions. Instead of using it for the dance like he was taught, Tanjiro uses it to fight. Considering that dancing is the furthest from one mind when fighting demons it makes sense this breath was in the back of his mind.

In addition, He still would have died if their mother had not woke Nezuko up to back him up (I still can't believe she actually spoke). This fight is more personal because Rui's twisted idea of a family literally threatened Tanjiro and Nezuko's last one. The idea alone that their parents had helped them despite their own passing tugged on my heartstrings a bit. This, in addition to the song and the credits of the family being happy really add to the tragedy of what happened to them, instead of it just being used as background information.

This arc really did step everything up, didn't it? Honestly, if it wasn't for pure luck all four of the main characters would be dead by now. This is easily my favorite arc so far and I had heard from manga readers that the quality of future arcs is even better with each one. If that's true, then it's unfortunate that the season is almost over(Black Clover seriously had 48 for their first season-_-). Because of the manga readers hyping this series up before it started its no surprise that people were disappointed with some of it. Especially since it feels likes we just got past the introductory stage of the story. The last two protagonists were just introduced in the last arc, and most of the series spent time setting up characters and plot points that obviously won't happen until the future.

Considering that the manga is ending maybe it would have been better to hold out on the adaption until its done. Since this series is such a hit there no way there won't be another season after the movie. I wonder if Toonami will air the movie considering it adapt the arc after this season but I don't remember the last time Toonami aired a movie. I do miss movie nights -_-.

 

[PicardMan]

Not really sure that this fight was the best in the show as the demon with the beach ball thing seemed the most impressive, but the show's fight are pretty consistently good. Sad Nezuko hasn't got to have an uninterrupted solo fight as even Zenitsu has had the opportunity to kill demons on his own. Why can't Nezuko?

If that's true, then it's unfortunate that the season is almost over(Black Clover seriously had 48 for their first season-_-).

Having a 26 episode season means that we get as high quality animation as we got. Besides waiting until the manga ends for season 2 will help the animation team know how to pace it. It's worth the wait.