This whole episode had me on freaking edge. Granted, things did get a little better to some extent, but things are still looking pretty bad. Since in this battle they feel like they’re outnumbered. With Daki and Gyuutaro, the two were incredibly powerful and even when they had numbers on their side, they just barely made it out. But here, there are the ones who are severely outnumbered and they are dealing with ranks higher than the two demon siblings. Which is probably why things feel a lot more hopeless in this situation.
We get to learn a little more about Muichiro and his circumstances. While we still don’t know the full story, the guy seems to have developed a form of amnesia where he easily forgets things. I also like the little detail of when showing his memories, it’s laced in this fog/mist, connecting it to his style and just how everything to him probably feels foggy due to his condition. However, I think it’s safe to say that the guy went through a pretty terrible situation to leave him bed ridden and covered in bandages. Because of the Master having taken him and took care of him in this state, it makes perfect sense why Muichiro respects him so much and only got annoyed with Tanjiro when he was interrupting him back during the meeting in season 1. I am starting to like Muichiro with every episode so far. I found him endearingly cute with how contemplative and confused he was over Nezuko in the previous episode. When he questioned himself about whether he would have time save Haganezuka and the village before telling himself he could do it because the Master recognized him, I felt a lot of respect for him. Despite Tengen recognizing him as a genius and everyone around him claiming him to be one, he isn’t conceited and is able to find the determination to get everything done because he knows others, especially the master has faith in his abilities.
Also I just noticed in the OP that the sword thrown by Muichiro had a flame/wave pattern on it and considering he is going to where Haganezuka is, there is a high chance that this is the sword that he’s working on. So this part in the OP might be referencing Muichiro successfully delivering the new sword to Tanjiro, which is followed up by him striking out with his Sun Breathing technique. I initially took this scene as him just throwing his swords since he threw his sword at Tanjiro in the second episode because he broke it. It’s all starting to come together…
The situation with the Upper Four felt like it got a little better, but still terrible. Especially with the new information that if they are cut further, they won’t split off into more powerful emotions anymore and will just be smaller bits that are weaker than the main bodies. Which is still disturbing how those mini parts of Joy kept going after Tanjiro. While we know a small weakness to the Upper Four, we still don’t know how they can be killed if chopping off their heads don’t work. Though it seems like there are only four main emotions and don’t seem to split off into any more emotions as shown by Genya blowing Sorrow’s head off and no new emotion popped up. Though maybe it was because the head wasn’t completely severed from the neck? However, it does seem like they take a moment longer to recover when their tongues are damaged. There are still quite a few mysteries surrounding the Upper Four so I guess I’ll have to wait and see just how he is defeated in the end.
I honestly really love the instances where Tanjiro is shown to be incredibly innovative and isn’t just powerful for the sake of being powerful. Even from episode one, we’ve seen how much of a quick thinker he is even in the heat of the moment. I love how you can even go back and see when he chops off Joy’s leg so he could use it to protect himself against Rage’s lightning. The fact he was able to catch that when Wrath and Pleasure first showed up and Wrath used his lightning on the entire field, but Pleasure was fine was great attention to detail. Though it was definitely risky, but thankfully it paid off in the end. Though I did find it odd that Tanjiro didn’t use any breathing techniques. It makes me wonder if it’s because this sword isn’t specifically tailored to him so it would be easier for him to break if he’s not careful, which is why he’s refraining from going all out in his fight with Joy. It would make sense since he ended up nicking his sword early on when fighting with Daki in the previous season.
But Holy crap. Was it just me or are these fights getting more and more gruesome? I literally gagged when Nezuko got stabbed in the neck and the fish regenerating its head was just all kinds of gross for me. I can take a certain amount of gore, but even I had to glance a way a few times during his episode with all of the limb and neck ripping. Also the visual and thought of Wrath’s staff just lodged through Nezuko’s body while being electrocuted made me shudder. I can’t even imagine the sort of pain Nezuko must have been in during that whole thing. We don’t even know how long she was like that too.
Though I am curious as to why Nezuko was able to stay in control while in her demon form this time. It was cool to see her fight and hold her own, but I do have to question the reasoning behind her staying coherent. Was it because she was just so enraged in her battle with Daki that she lost herself to it? Hopefully it gets addressed.
And then there’s Genya… which I feel like I can’t talk about that much because I know too much about his circumstances. Though from what we’ve seen of him, he seems to have some form of regenerative powers as he got his tooth ripped out in the first episode and his wound seemed to have closed up after being stabbed, which was why Sorrow was having a hard time pulling out his staff. But man, he sure can take a beating considering he was stabbed, struck by lightning and then got his ribs broken but still gets back up. Though I do wonder about him mumbling prayers of some kind and if that holds any significance. I forgot about it until someone brought it up that he may just be taking a page from Himejima, who he seems to be training under and that guy is constantly crying while saying prayers. Also it may be his voice actor, but he literally just feels like Bakugo from My Hero lol. It is rather hilarious seeing people love Genya now just because of his fighting style. But I do admit the fact he fights with both a gun and a sword is pretty cool.
Just when things were starting to look alright, the Kamado siblings just get slammed to the ground and are knocked out. Which is REALLY BAD given the circumstances right now. When the village sounded the alarm, I totally thought that they were sending help there way… but no, they’re preoccupied by a freaking goldfish invasion thanks to the Upper Five. This village could really use at least a few demon slayers stationed here JUST IN CASE. I understand why they wouldn’t since the village has been hidden for over a hundred years, BUT STILL. I’m not sure how the Kamado siblings are going to get out of this mess. Either Genya makes a comeback or Mitsuri makes it in time to save them. Speaking of which, the entire time I was like: WHEN IS MITSURI COMING BACK??? Thank GOODNESS she’s heading back right now and she was already stationed nearby. But girl feels WAY too upbeat about going into a battle lol. We need a LITTLE more urgency here. Also Mitsuri’s crow is so freaking cute. I love the little headpiece she gave it and it’s voice is just adorable.
There were a lot of things going on in this episode and it had me on the edge of my seat. I’m still very worried for the villagers since they are incredibly important and don’t have the skill to use the swords that they crafted. Hopefully Mitsuri makes it before there are too many casualties. Hopefully we get to see Muichiro and Mitsuri more in action since I feel like we’ve only gotten just a small crumb of their fighting capabilities. Though I guess not so much Mitsuri since we’ve never seen her fight yet. Despite that, I’m sure both are total beasts in their own rights. If anyone are going to give these demons a run for their money, it’ll be the two Hashira.
I actually thought of the possibility that they might censored some of the more gruesome scenes with something else, but no, Ufotable still went along with them. I also looked away at certain scenes because I couldn’t handle it and also lowered the volume because I couldn’t handle the sound and voice as well. It makes me wondering if in the future episodes I have to prepare for this again.