Well that was something. The title wasn’t wrong, Zenitsu literally fell asleep and became cool. What sucks is that they’re going to have to keep knocking him out just to make him help out.
Zenitsu actually got a laugh out of me this time around. He was actually trying his best to protect Shoichi, but that involved him walking very slowly, sweating waterfalls, and breathing deeply probably to the point that eventually he would have passed out. But he did feel bad that he was making Shoichi nervous in return. But as they encountered a demon, they had to run from it with Zenitsu screaming out how gross they’d taste. Once they jumped into a room and Zenitsu passed out, all of a sudden the demon’s tongue was cut off, and Zenitsu became Mr. Badass and stood up. With his eyes closed, he drew his sword and unleashed one of his lighting techniques, killing the demon instantly. Once he comes to and sees the demon’s head next to his foot, he freaks out like normal. And I admit, that was hilarious. Once I saw Zenitsu pass out, I thought that he would be one of those characters that have another personality they don’t know about and he would suddenly be a more aggressive and mean Zenitsu. But in this case, it was more like he was sleep walking/fighting because his eyes were closed the entire time. I don’t know if he was dreaming of himself being a stronger person or he has sleepwalking issues, but he was able to unleash a devastating attack that saved them and he didn’t even know it. So he definitely doesn’t know what he can really do but I wonder if he’ll show that side of him soon again.
Tanjiro has a weird time with boar head. I’m not sure what to make of this guy, he showed no concern over the little girl and only cared about fighting, switching his target from the demon to Tanjiro. Their meeting is short as the room changes, and we find out why. While Tanjiro and the girl walk around, they enter a room and find the brother with a tsuzumi. He explains what happened with him, and we get some interesting details regarding the demon and of Kibutsuji.
We already know there’s a group called the Twelve Moon Demons, but the tsuzumi demon is actually part of the Lower Six, which we can see from his eyeball. All we know about the Twelve Moon is that they’re demons good enough to be right under Kibutsuji. This current demon wasn’t good enough and he was demoted, and now he’s on the hunt for more food to make it back. But he specifically searches for “marechi”, which Tanjiro’s rude crow describes as someone with rare blood. Human blood can be categorized, and marechi means that it’s very rare and extremely nutritious for demons. Marechi blood is 10x more filling that regular blood, so it’s like a feast and that’s what the tsuzumi demon wants.
The other demons were killed by Zenitsu and boar head, so the last one is left to Tanjiro. He’s gotten the hang of the pattern, such as which tsuzumi does what but he still has trouble only because he’s still been bearing the pain of his broken bones. He’s been acting all normal but he’s still in so much pain, and he is scared. It shows what kind of person Tanjiro is for him to put on a tough front, be strong in front of Zenitsu and also to the kids to try and make them relaxed. Tanjiro always looks out for others and wishes for them to be okay, but he’s still dealing with a lot on his own. Walking around and now having to fight a demon with broken bones is not easy. And it’s normal that he feels fear during this battle, and I’m glad he does. Usually in these situations the main character is just super strong and cool and things don’t faze them. But Tanjiro admitting to his fear just makes him more grounded, and that’s something I like about him. Sure he’s strong and cool, but he’s still just a kid and human.
He’s going to bear the pain a little longer though as he prepares himself to face off against the demon. The episode was stunningly beautiful visually and just entertaining. I like the little look we got with Kibutsuji again and finding out that there’s another group of demons just beneath the Twelve, so that just means that Tanjiro won’t get to Kibutsuji just yet.
The chapters this episode actually explain how Zenitsu sleep stance work but since there no narration we can’t actually know. It explained that Zenitsu actually very capable, but he too fearful and insecure about his ability that he can never perform properly in danger situation it like public speaking, you maybe well-prepared but when on stage you might not be able to said a word. But when he unconscious, his fear and insecurity disappear allow him to fully use his strength. The fact that he don’t remember anything when he wake up actually make the situation worse since it make him never realize his ability and get over his insecure.