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.