Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 11 (Fin) – Into the Darkness Together

Gyuutarou’s auto-destruct causes a huge explosion, but Tanjirou survives, and Lil’ Nezuko wakes up to purge the poison from his body with her Blood Demon Art. She then puts the immobile Tanjirou on her tiny back and dashes him across the ruins of the district, eventually coming upon Zenitsu and Inousuke, whom she also heals.

Finally, Nezuko and Tanjirou find Uzui and his wives, who are bickering with each other rather than hearing the final words he has to say. But before any of them know it, Nezuko has sidled up and envelops him in her pink flames. The wives have no idea what is happening, but when Uzui’s poison wounds vanish and he pulls through, they envelop him in hugs and sobs of relief.

Nezuko and Tanjirou then search for the heads of Gyuutarou and Daki, and find them still alive, bickering with each other over their loss to the humans as their heads slowly dissolve. When their argument escalades into saying they aren’t brother and sister, Tanjirou intervenes, saying that even if the entire world is against them, they shouldn’t be against each other; not in these final moments.

Daki then directs her ire at Tanjirou for lecturing them, but an in-depth flashback narrated by Gyuutarou shows that Tanjirou was quite correct. Long before he became a demon, Gyuutarou was cursed for being an extra mouth to feed in the poorest part of the district. When his sister, whose original name was Ume, was born, he leaned into his ugliness, found his strength, and found work as a debt collector.

Sadly, once Ume turned thirteen she joined a run-down house where her body could be sold, and the defiant nature Gyuutarou baked into her backfired. She took the eye of a samurai she didn’t want to sleep with, and was bound and burned alive while Gyuutarou was out on a job. When he grieves over her body, he’s cut down by that same samurai, but not deeply enough, and Gyuutarou in turn kills the samurai and madam.

Gyuutarou always cursed the fact that for all of the misfortune he and Ume had to deal with, the world never once cut them a break and allowed them any good fortune. The nearest thing to providence came in the form of the former Upper Six, who gave Gyuutarou and Ume blood to drink, turning them into demons. Gyuutarou never regretted being one, but did regret that Ume could never live the life she should have. We see heartbreaking glimpses of that possible life.

Now in the void between worlds, Gyuutarou doesn’t want Ume to follow him any more, and is very mean about it, telling her to go in the opposite direction, towards the light, where perhaps she might be resurrected and have another chance at that possible life of comfort and fortune. But Ume won’t go that way. She pounces on Gyuutarou from behind and reminds him of his promise: they’d always be together. She’d rather follow him into the deepest darkness than step into the light alone.

While I’m usually not a fan of filling in character backstory after they’ve already met their fate, the postmortem backstory of Gyuutarou and Daki/Ume had ample emotional resonance, and gave this finale a quieter, calmer, yet still powerful rhythm, winding down the bombastic battle of previous weeks.

All’s well that ends well, with Uzui planning to retire and spend more time with his lovely wives, confident that Tanjirou is about to reach Hashira-worthy potential. Tanjirou, Nezuko, Inousuke, and Zenitsu also share a tearful group hug, reunited and in (mostly) one piece. Yet I’m sure Tanjirou’s joy is tempered by the “there but the grace of god go us” vibe from a brother-sister pair who weren’t as lucky as they are.

So ends the Entertainment Arc, where most other Winter shows have only hit their halfway point. What’s next for Demon Slayer? No official announcement follows end credits—an extended arrangement of the rippin’ good Aimer opening theme—but I can say with certainty the Demon Slayer anime will return (Update: it will!).

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 10 – (Be)heading for Trouble

As Tanjirou lies in the rubble, bloody and exhausted, he’s briefly transported back to his snowy home, where a pre, then post-demon Nezuko tells him to stop blaming himself (as if) and keep fighting. The vision is at least enough to wake him up, but he’s almost sorry he did.

That’s because the scene around him is a hellscape of flames, and among his allies, he’s the only one still conscious. Gyuutarou spends a good half of this episode taunting him and laughing at how “disgraceful” he is, especially to have to be protected by his demon little sister. It’s a welcome change of pace from the unrelenting battles of the past few episodes, with no score and only the flickering of flames accompanying the dialogue.

When Gyuutarou eventually falls, he’ll regret wasting so much time toying with Tanjirou, who was simply playing possum and waiting for a chance to stick a poison kunai in his opponent’s leg, then using Hinokami Kagura to attempt to slice off his head. When Gyuutarou counters with his blades, they’re deflected by Zenitsu, who while still asleep is back in the fight.

As Zenitsu continues to battle Daki, Tanjirou is bailed out by Uzui, who stopped his own heart to keep the poison from getting there, and can also double-wield even with just one hand. Daki, with his second wind, goes in for the win, having charted the musical “score” of Gyuutarou’s moves. Tanjirou keeps up as best he can as Uzui and Gyuutarou exchange slashes with increasing speed and ferocity.

When Tanjirou jumps into attempt another beheading, Gyuutarou stabs him through the jaw with his poison blade, meaning there’s just that much less time for Tanjirou to fight before succumbing that poison. Still, Uzui has him where he wants him, and Gyuutarou’s neck is exposed, so Tanjirou finds yet another higher gear, his scar seemingly spreading across his face in a flame pattern.

After a lot of screaming, Gyuutarou’s head is finally sliced off. At the same time, Zenitsu, with help from Inousuke (who moved his heart so it didn’t get impaled) slice off Daki’s head. The two siblings’ heads fly gracefully through the air, then fall to the ground, bounce, and roll to a rest right beside each other.

The battle is seemingly over, and the Demon Slayers have won…but then Uzui shouts “RUN!”, for Gyuutarou self-destructs, enveloping half the district in a massive fireball. As those flames die down the credits roll with a certain finality, until the post-credits omake is handled by pre-demon Nezuko.

Assuming Gyuutarou was destroyed in that blast, the question becomes who survived. Obviously Tanjirou, Nezuko, Inousuke, and Zenitsu. I find it hard to believe two straihgt arcs would end with the death of the Hashira, and the three wives haven’t quite gotten enough development (or screen time) for their deaths to make much of an impact…so we’ll see.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 09 – Mixing it Up

Perhaps realizing it hasn’t shown that much of Uzui’s life with his three wives, the show takes us back to when the four visited Uzui’s family grave and enjoyed a meal together under the cherry blossoms. Hinatsuru cements her role as the “mature” wife, while Makio and Suma are more childish.

While it doesn’t make much sense to include these moments right in the middle of a crucial battle with an Upper Six demon, I nevertheless appreciated an extra look at the mostly-absent wives, and Hinatsuru’s mature personality explains her presence fighting by her husband’s side.

The problem is, Hinatsuru is not a Demon Slayer, and while her kunai attack momentarily turns the tables, Gyuutarou soon shakes it off and grabs her. I’m baffled why he doesn’t simply kill her right then and there, but he loses his chance when Tanjirou, finding what seems to be his eighth or ninth second wind, swoops in to save Hinatsuru from Gyuutarou’s clutches.

In a move that acknowledges she’s a liability on this particular battlefield, Hinatsuru finally departs to hide. With Inousuke and Zenitsu having no luck closing in on Daki, Tanjirou leaves Uzui’s side to help them out, in hopes that three demon slayers will be able to break through her shield of belts.

Inousuke uses Beast Breathing to launch himself at top speed towards Daki’s neck, completely disregarding defense, which is provided by Tanjirou and Zenitsu and their water and lightning breathing, respectively. It’s great to see these three kids not only near the top of their game (though Tanjirou is pretty beat up) but working as a cohesive unit.

And it works! After some effort and more Beast Breathing, Inousuke manages to saw off Daki’s head, and decides to run around with it like a rugby ball so that it won’t be able to reattach. But while Daki’s head is extremely weakened, Gyuutarou is not, and he’s mad, quickly catching up to Inousuke and stabbing him through the back.

Tanjirou, wondering where the heck Gyuutarou came from, spots Uzui lying unconscious in a bloody heap, one of his hands chopped off. Now Inouske has been gravely injured, Tanjirou has got to be running out of even his final reserves of stamina, and Zenitsu is the only member of their party not injured…but you have to think it’s only a matter of time.

Will Hinatsuru return with Makio and Suwa to try to save their hubby? Will Nezuko have to wake up and bail out her brother once more? Will another Hashira have to save the day? Will Inousuke finally have to throw out that boar mask now that it’s been stained with his life’s blood? I have no idea how many more episodes this arc runs for, but it definitely feels like we’re nearing the end of this battle.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 08 – Collecting from the Blessed

Gyuutarou deeply resents Uzui’s talent and lucky lot in life, but that makes Uzui laugh. Not only does he not consider himself talented in the least compared to some of the other amazing Hashira he knows, but he’s one of only two surviving siblings in the Uzui family, and of them, only he decided to live life as a better man and shinobi, not treating his subordinates like pawns or his wives as expendable.

At the end of the day, Gyuutarou isn’t interested in Uzui’s life story, only killing him and continuing to be ridiculously evil, so seven minutes in, the their battle continues. While Uzui’s resistance to potion is impressive, it is not absolute, and he’s definitely at a disadvantage against both Gyuutarou and Daki. So he’s happy when his underlings make flashy entrances all at once.

Inousuke and Zenitsu take on Daki on the roof, with the latter showing off some lightning breathing (there’s nothing flashier than lightning) and the former showing off…well, his usual bluster and confidence. But when Gyuutarou closes one of his eyes below them and it appears as a third eye between Daki’s, the two are suddenly in synch, with his blood slashes and her beefed-up belts packing a nasty one-two punch.

While the brother and sister are fighting in harmony, Uzui’s poisoned state combined with the others’ inexperience mean they’re totally out of synch, a vulnerability Gyuutarou can easily see and is ready to exploit. That said, Uzui, Tanjirou, Inousuke and Zenitsu still have numbers on their side, and are just able to hold of the horrifying flurry of blood and belt attacks.

Their four-on-two advantage becomes five-on-one when the still-hobbled Hinatsuru makes it to a rooftop and fires off a fusillade of wisteria-laced kunai that Gyuutarou cannot escape. Even though Uzui gets hit by some of the blades, the wisteria doesn’t affect him, while it makes Gyuutarou slow and numb.

Hinatsuru’s assist seems to be just the thing to turn the tables in the battle, as now Gyuutarou is as poisoned as Uzui, and has slowed enough that Tanjirou can come within an inch of his neck. Of course, we know that he and Daki can (most likely) only be defeated if they’re both beheaded. But as next week’s episode is “Defeating an Upper Rank”, I imagine one way or another Daki and Gyuutarou are going down, perhaps after one or two more turns of the tide. Should be fun…and flashy.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 07 – Tantrums and Lullabies

While Tanjirou is unconscious, the transformed and leveled-up Nezuko goes to absolute town on Daki, to the point where, again, I kinda felt sorry for the poor demoness. When Daki tries to counter by slicing her opponent to bits, Nezzy’s blood not only coagulates, keeping all her parts together, but burns Daki everywhere it splattered, reminding her of her human death in flames long ago.

The problem, is, Nezzy has no limiter but Tanjirou, and by the time he comes to she’s already inadvertently wounded some human bystanders (not to mention scared the absolute shit out of them). When she smells the humans’ blood, she can’t help but charge towards them. Thankfully, Tanjirou is there to stop her from killing anyone. But he calm his sister down and protect the bystanders from Daki, who is partially healed and pissed.

Things look bad for Tanjirou, but Uzui shows up just when he should, cutting all of Daki’s attacking belts in the blink of an eye. And nobody, not even Daki, realizes that he also beheaded her with that same arriving attack. Uzui doesn’t consider her an Upper Rank, as how could someone of such rank be holding their head in their hands like she is now?

Just as I love how Daki is someone with whome you can occasionally sympathize, I also love how nonchalant and casual Uzui goes about his business. When he sees a hulked-up Nezuko trying to break free from her undersized brother, he basically tells Tanjirou to get it together put Nezuko to sleep already. The problem is, Nezzy doesn’t seem to be listening to him.

That’s when Tanjirou takes Uzui’s offhand advice to “sing her a lullaby”, which he does while she struggles. Suddenly she’s transported back to better days when she was walking with her mom, who was singing a lullaby to her baby brother. Big Nezzy bursts into tears, then shrinks and falls right asleep, ending one of the many threats facing the Demon Slayers.

The next problem is that despite being beheaded, Daki’s body isn’t disintegrating. Daki doesn’t think much of this, as perhaps it will just take a while, until Daki starts having a full on tantrum about how mean everyone’s been to her. Then she calls out to her “brother”, and Uzui instinctively goes in for the kill…only for his strike to miss. A second demon sprouts out of Daki’s back and moves her to safety.

The second demon is her brother, Gyuutarou, as grotesque a demon as she is beautiful. He heals her and calms her down in much the same way we’ve seen Tanjirou calm his demon sister. What with Nezzy being almost ever-present in her box, you could say both pairs of siblings are attached by, well, not the hip, but certainly the back.

Uzui didn’t consider Daki an Upper Rank because she was so easy to behead, but beheading didn’t kill her, and now we learn that she’s not only not a single demon, but the brother within her is the demon Uzui has been searching for all along. It made me wonder if you somehow managed to separate Gyuutarou whether Daki could be redeemed, as he’s the brains behind their symbiotic existence, controlling her from within.

For now, she’s very much one-half of the latest boss, and powerful enough that even Uzui will have to break a sweat. With Inousuke and Zenitsu finally catching up and Tanjirou ready to rejoin the fray once he stashes Nezuko away (which…rats), this arc is ratcheting up at precisely the right time.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 06 – No Regard for Safety

Tanjirou continues to just keep up with Daki, until the battle in her pantry results in her absorbing the belts of her subordinate/familiar and leveling her up, complete with more veiny skin and brighter, longer hair. All the commotion finally causes one of the townsfolk to emerge from their home to complain. Daki isn’t pleased by this human’s attitude.

She demonstrates her heightened power by destroying the entire block in the blink of an eye, killing several bystanders. I appreciated that the show finally acknowledged that this wasn’t just an abandoned part of the city, but an extremely dangerous place to hold a fight with an Upper Six, resulting in horrific bloodshed. Tanjirou is slashed across his chest shielding the complaining man (who still loses an arm) and for a few moments, despairs.

Then he remembers the letter from Kyoujirou’s father apologizing for his behavior, telling him he’s actually proud of both of his sons, and saying the red mark on Tanjirou’s head means he was chosen to wield Sun Breathing. Tanjirou isn’t so sure; after all, it’s not a birthmark but a burn sustained saving his little brother, then made worse during the selection. Even so, he’s still going to fight as long as he can. He grabs Daki by the leg and the dazzling battle continues on a rooftop.

Tanjirou says things to Daki that may just be representing his own sense of justice, but they match what his father said to Muzan once upon a time. Since Muzan’s cells are in Daki, so are the memories, mixed with fuzzy memories of the destitute human she once was. Seeing this, and watching Daki waiver in the present, give her character depth and even pathos, especially as Tanjirou gets stronger and faster and cuts through her many belts.

Even so, Tanjirou is only human, and has eventually bled and exerted himself so much he can no longer move and barely breathe. The timing couldn’t be worse, as he was less than a second away from beheading Daki for good. Thankfully, Daki is caught off guard by suddendly self-KO’ed opponent. Before she can kill him, Nezuko finally, finally takes the stage in her brother’s place.

Daki quickly makes mincemeat of Nezuko, whom Muzan ordered her to kill and whom she sees as an only partially-formed demon who hasn’t eaten enough humans to be a threat. However, Nezuko is as pissed at Daki as she is at Muzan for killing her and Tanjirou’s family. That rage causes her heal as fast as an Upper Six, power up into an adult form covered in leaf tattoos, and chomps through her bamboo gag, revealing her beautiful avenging scowl for the first time in a while.

Tanjirou’s brother once told him that it scared him when Tanjirou or Nezuko got mad for their siblings’ sake, because they would lose all regard for their own safety. Now that’s basically how Tanjirou and Nezuko always roll these days, so while Nezuko is stomping on Daki’s skull now, it may only buy her and Tanjirou a little more time. Tengen, Inousuke and Zenitsu need to hurry their asses up.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 05 – The Demon’s Pantry

Tengen looks to be on his way to relieve Tanjirou from his ongoing duel with Daki, but he hears a battle going on deep underground, and also finally locates one of his wives, Hinatsuru, voiced by Tanezaki Atsum (Vivy). There’s actualy a lot of characterization packed into their little reunion moment, with Uzui clearly just happy his wife is alive, and Hinatsuru, while certainly glad to be in Tengens embrace again, feels like she failed in being useful to him.

It’s mostly okay that Tengen is indisposed, since Tanjirou changes tactics and uses Hinokami Kagura Fire Breathing instead of Water, certain his body just isn’t well-suited for the latter. Daki is surprised by how scrappy this ugly kid is, but he’s still not really giving her headaches.

You get the feeling Daki can end this fight at any moment due to their power gap, but waffles between wanting to kill Tanjirou and wanting to continue to be entertained by him. It makes sense for a high-level demon like her to want to see just how far this opponent can last. Power often breeds boredom.

Meanwhile in Ogimoto House, Inousuke scares the hell out of his co-workers while running around breaking shit and finally chopping a hole in the floor to reach the demon presence he feels. He dislocates all his limbs and worms his way into a massive demon larder, where dozens of women—and Zenitsu—are trapped in a web of obi.

Turns out this demon, which Inousuke names “Worm Belt”, because it grosses him out, is a subordinate of Daki, tasked with keeping her beautiful food fresh and safe. It’s thanks to Inousuke’s beast-like nose that he’s able to infiltrate the pantry and free the women. When the Worm Belt goes on the offense and threatens the freed women, Inousuke is bailed out by Tengen’s other two wives whom he freed: Suma (Touyama Nao) and Maiko (Ishigami Shizuka).

While they certainly give Inousuke a boost in his fight, they’re not Demon Slayers, just very strong shinobi, and can’t break the stalemate. Fortunately, Zenitsu is also free and still unconscious, which means he’s at both his least annoying and most badass and effective, launching a sixfold lightning attack that deals the Worm Belt a body blow. An assist goes to the slightly frightening Muscle Mice for getting retrieving his sword.

Of course, it’s Tengen himself, blasting through the earth above the larder with his twin blades, who finishes off the semi-boss in one fell swoop. Good to see the Worm Belt acknowledge how screwed she is once a Hashira arrives. Once the enemy is defeated, he greets his two wives and comforts them as he did Hinatsusu. Makio, for her part, has always found it odd that he values their lives above his own or even the common folk—but that’s just love, baby.

Five episodes in, Tengen has proven to be a much more interesting character than Rengoku, Daki has proven to be a much more interesting villain than the Mugen Train, and the combat animation just as creative and, shall I say…extra-flashy. The outing’s only demerit is still no Nezuko.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 04 – When Cat’s Away, the Muscle-Mice Play

When Zenitsu fails to show at their scheduled rooftop meet-up, Uzui confesses to Tanjirou and Inousuke that in his haste to save his wives, he may have made some bad decisions. That includes involving the lower-ranked Slayers to begin with. He orders them to fall back while he takes care of the district demon himself. They don’t, and instead Tanjirou agrees to meet Inousuke at his house to search for the demon themselves.

Before departing from his house, Tanjirou meets with Koinatsu, who spends most of her time early in the episode throwing death flags. Naturally, she knew he was a boy all along, but also knew he must’ve had his reasons. While there were moments when I thought perhaps Koinatsu would turn out to be a demon as well, I’m glad she’s just a very kind human.

As it’s her last night in the district (one of the death flags, along with giving her treasured hairpins to her attendants), Koinatsu is glad Tanjirou will remain to take care of the other girls, and save those who are missing. No sooner does Tanjirou excuse himself does Daki arrive in Koinatsu’s room, ready to devour her as a beauty-obsessed demoness like her only devours beautiful humans.

Tanjirou is on his way to Inousuke when that sharp nose of his picks up the sweet scent of a demon, and follows it where it leads. When he’s late for the meet-up, Inousuke drives his head through the ceiling, orders the “muscular mice” (!) ninjuu Uzui assigned to him to fetch his swords, dons his boar mask, and blasts out of there to take care of the demon problem himself.

While splitting up increased the chances someone would encounter either the demon or one of Uzui’s wives, it has the side-effect of ensuring the Demon Slayers can’t operate as a combined force. Zenitsu’s kindness led to him discovering Daki on accident, but Inousuke and Tanjirou are acting recklessly by not going to Uzui first.

This results in Tanjirou, the fourth-lowest ranked Slayer, having to confront Daki, an Upper Moon Six. Seeing poor Koinatsu absorbed into Daki’s impossibly long and twisting obi is most definitely an unsettling sight.

Tanjirou’s guard is down when Daki delivers the first blow, but unlike Zenitsu, he doesn’t lose consciousness (must be that ultra-hard head). Instead, he shakes off his body’s numbness, summons Water Breathing, and goes toe-to-toe with Daki right there in what I imagine to be one of the quieter parts of the district where no one is around to watch (or be collateral damage). A striking and fluid battle ensues.

Daki is impressed with Tanjirou’s toughness and airborne skills, and wouldn’t mind eating his pretty eyes. It’s clear she’s simply toying with him, which means unless he manages to break out some Hinokami Kagura, Tanjirou is in a world of pain unless Uzui and/or Inousuke show up soon.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 03 – Something is Rotten in Yoshiwara

After a noir-ish monochrome stinger and the new OP (which fuckin’ whips) we join Inousuke as he tries and utterly fails to conduct a discreet investigation of the woman who won’t come out of her room. He goes inside, feels wind even though the windows are closed, and provokes…whatever is hiding in the rafters to go on a wild and destructive chase through Ogimoto house. He’s like a boar in a brothel.

Over at Kyougoku House, Zenitsu puts down the shamisen, opens his ears, and comes to the aid of one of the young attendants, whom he finds with a brusie on her cheek in an absolutely trashed room. As he comforts her, the presence of a demon suddenly appears behind him. She is the courtesan Warabihime Oiran…and the arc’s main antagonist.

Sawashiro Miyuki is perfectly cast as the two-faced, two-voiced, but always imposing and imperious Warabihime, whom we learn was responsible for the murder of the madam of Ogimoto House. The minute the madam blurted out that she didn’t think Warabihime was human, her life was forfeit, as she is dropped from a great height and not eaten by the demonness, who is ranked Upper Moon Six. I’ll go on record as saying I love the character’s design, both in Courtesan or Demon Mode.

No sooner do we see her cruel and murderous side than we get a glimpse of her submissive and tender side, as Muzan makes a surprise appearance to both praise her (“keep up the evil work”) and warn her of potential Demon Slayer Corps interference. We learn her real name is Daki, and Muzan has big plans for her…as long as she keeps killing. I wonder if that’s what she really wants?

Fast forward a couple of days, and shortly after punching “Zenko” through two walls, Daki identifies him as a Demon Slayer, if only a weak one. Still, she restrains herself from attacking him further in order to maintain her cover, even as Zenitsu has blown his simply by not getting as hurt as he should have.

The cute little attendant Zenitsu saved and her two colleagues nurse Zenitsu back to health, and they comment on how they’ve never met anyone in this house who isn’t simply looking out for herself. It looks as though the episode is about to end on a sweet note…but then Daki’s snake-like obi instantaneously curl, whip, and envelop our yellow-haired crybaby.

Just like that, she has two captives, with neither Tanjirou nor Inousuke particularly hot on the trail and Suma and Hinatsuru still at large.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 02 – The Sparkling Streets

Now that’s more like it. Without further ado (aside from a brief comic scene at the Butterfly House) Uzui leads Tanjirou, Zenitsu and Inousuke to the dazzling Yoshiwara Entertainment District. Inousuke experiences full sensory overload, while Zenitsu is overwhelmed by all the pretty ladies. You really feel the density of a place like this with the teeming crowds and lights that simulate daytime. It’s a great setting filled with lush visuals.

Uzui finds an inn and briefs his three underlings on their mission: infiltrate the district, look for his brides, and find the demon who has taken up residence here. Uzui has three brides, all kunoichi who have already embedded themselves in three of the district’s brothels: Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru. I for one am glad for the sudden glut of female characters.

As for how Uzui intends to infiltrate those houses? By dressing the boys in drag and passing them off as homely prostitutes. Their makeup does them no favors, but at least once the Ogimoto House chaperone washes it off “Inoko’s” face, she sees what a looker “she” is and celebrates her shrewd purchase. “Zenko” ends up at Kyougoku House, where he impresses with his spirited shamisen play.

As for Tan-er, “Sumiko”, he ends up at Tokito House, home of the surpassingly beautiful and graceful high-ranking courtesan Koinatsu Oiran. Through some maiko scuttlebutt he learns about the rumor of Suma committing “Ashinuke”, i.e. running away before paying your debts. Tanjirou shows how hard it is to lie about anything, even being Suma’s sister in order to get any information.

A demon could spirit away a woman and easily have it look like she’s committing Ashinuke. While Tanjirou worries about Suma, Inousuke overhears two of his colleagues mentioning how Makio hasn’t left her room. Turns out he has every right to be suspicious, as in the next scene we see Makio strung up by long obis, being taunted and tortured by the district’s resident demon.

I have no doubt that Makio, along with Suma and Hinatsuru, can handle themselves in a fight, so it speaks to the power of this demon that she’s restrained. While I initially groaned at the prospect of watching the boys flail about in drag, I enjoyed the little slices of district life we got thanks to their infiltrating the three houses. Hopefully they can cut through the rumors and locate Uzui’s wives without blowing their covers.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 01 – Flash in the Pan

I’m on record as saying Rengoku wasn’t established enough as a character to warrant what felt like a 20 minute-long death scene, and that maudlin atmosphere returns to start this new arc-opening double-episode, which is really more of a grab bag of epilogues to the Mugen Train arc. It does its job: getting our demon slayin’ boys off the grief train and onto their next mission to the entertainment (i.e. red light) district. But a cohesive episode it is not.

Lest we forget how goshdarn powerful Muzan is, Akaza arrives at the mansion where Muzan is posing as the adopted son of kind wealthy couple, and has his ass handed to him. Muzan is not impressed that his underling was able to defeat one measly Hashira; he wants every last demon slayer wiped off the face of the earth. It kinda makes you wonder: why doesn’t he just do it himself? He’s clearly strong enough.

Tanjirou visits the Rengoku home to deliver a message to Kyoujurou’s family, and meets his fallen friend’s meak and underpowered little brother Senjurou and his drunken former-Hashira father. Both grieve in their own ways, but Tanjirou is not about to let the dad get away with bashing and mocking his own son, and gives him a patented Kamado Headbutt.

After receiving Kyoujurou’s sword guard and a promise from Senjurou that he’ll piece back together the Flame Hashira Chronicles his dad tore up, Tanjirou returns to the Butterfly Mansion to rest, heal, and train, aided by Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho. It’s a pleasant and fun enough way to re-introduce the cast for those who like me may not have seen them since last summer, while enabling the show to break out its comic zaniness.

Months pass, and the three lads all go off to defeat various low-to-mid-level demons in nearby villages. One such mission represents the only real non-flashback action sequence, and is also the first time we see Nezuko, which occurs halfway through this 46-minute outing. That’s too late if you ask me, but it was good to see the siblings fighting together to bring down a demon.

This new arc’s quirky Hashira character does not ingratiate himself with Tanjirou, Zenitsu, Inousuke, or me: not when he’s forcibly carrying Aoi and Naho away for some undisclosed mission seemingly requiring women. When the three lads surround him and Tanjirou says they’ll go with him in their place, it doesn’t make a lot of sense…didn’t he need women? He also spanks Aoi…for no discernable reason.

So yeah, this Sound Hashira Uzui Tengen guy seems like a real piece of work, in contrast to the brash but fundamentally decent Rengoku. I also have no idea what he’s going for in the fashion and accessory department…only that it’s a lot. Fortunately, the Aimer-sung OP shook off the cynical cobwebs and got be back into a Demon Slayer state of mind, which is to accept wild changes in tone from overcooked drama to madcap comedy and everything in between, this time in a fresh urban setting.