Hearing Nezuko talk is like music to my ears. It was a bonus because we were also able to see her without her muzzle for once, and dammit she’s cute.
To no surprise, Nezuko refused to attack Sanemi. But it was really nice that we finally got a first-hand view of the hypnosis Urokodoki put her under. Any time we see the Kamado family, especially now with their dad, it always gets a big reaction out of me. It’s just so heartbreaking to see how happy of a family they were, with such a sweet warmth to them. The fact that they were slaughtered so mercilessly continues to depress me, and just makes me root for the Kamado siblings even harder.
Master’s decision is final, but to make Tanjiro and Nezuko being even more trusted, he asks them to kill a Kizuki. Seeing as how Tanjiro had such a hard time against one of the lower Kizuki, this task seems incredibly daunting, even suicidal. Tanjiro brazenly exclaims that he’ll take down Muzan Kibutsuji, which is such a shounen protagonist thing to say. But man was it stupid. Tanjiro said and did many stupid things in front of the Master, like wanting to headbutt Sanemi and all that. It was incredibly inappropriate, especially in that moment. Tanjiro still has so much to learn in many things, and I bet we’re also going to get one hell of a training arc next because if he wants to kill a Kizuki, he needs to get stronger. Tanjiro even said another shounen protagonist line!
“I have to get stronger.”
Though that scene was very sweet and illustrated a worry that Tanjiro hasn’t said aloud before (I think). If he doesn’t turn Nezuko back into a human, she’ll just continue to live on all alone when he dies. The love for his sister knows no bounds.
The episode was pretty standard, more of a breather this time around. The boys are back together now and we had a very loud and sweet reunion. Zenitsu is his usual self, but a little smaller now because he was turning into a spider. His sleeves being too big for him is quite cute. Tanjiro showed so much relief for his friends, but what was most telling about this scene was Inosuke. Nevermind the fact that he’s still wearing his boar mask in bed (which is kind of funny) and the fact that his voice is a little messed up. Inosuke himself actually apologized to Tanjiro for being weak back at Mt. Natagumo. The test of the episode he was quiet the whole time, which Zenitsu even pointed out. With his weakened voice, he sounded so depressed and it’s very weird. Inosuke is such a proud and arrogant person, the fact that he would apologize and even admit that he’s weak means what happened back there really affected him negatively. Inosuke isn’t my favorite but even I felt so bad for him but this can be a good start to his character development.
We see Kanao this episode again but she doesn’t even say a word. She’s kind of creepy and very mysterious. Even though she was in the Final Selection with Tanjiro and Zenitsu, it seems that she has a higher rank than them already. Master is another mysterious person. He has a very calm and soothing voice but it’s hard to read him. I’m real interested in learning about his blindness and injury and where it came from, and what his connection to Muzan Kibutsuji is because it seems personal. Also, he totally knew about Tamayo and that’s huge. That means he totally trusted that Nezuko wouldn’t harm anyone and knows good demons exist, I wonder why he never said anything to the Hashira. Also, how did he even know Tanjiro met her? So many things to look forward to, but I don’t think we’ll see that all in these last episodes.
The scene with Nezuko’s memories of her family is actually extended. In the manga, it’s only like tiny panels. I actually like the anime variation more since it shows how much her love for her family drives her willpower to not eat humans. To Nezuko, humans = family. If she eats family, she’ll never forgive herself. It also shows how much of an effect Urokodaki’s spell has on her (Urokodaki is the true MVP of Demon Slayer). She’s holding onto his words like a mantra of sorts.
I think the Master never said anything about Tamayo given how prejudice the Demon Slayers are. For all Demon Slayers, they all joined the Corps because demons affected their lives. Good demons are impossible in their books.
The next mini arc is the Butterfly Estate arc. It’s mainly a breather arc, but it gives good insight to character building.