Alright, not gonna lie, but this episode felt like it was going a bit too fast with everything that was happening. Don’t get me wrong, the animation was absolutely CRACKED this episode, but the pacing didn’t let me breathe and really take in everything that was happening. I understand that they have a limited amount of time, but man, I feel like the things that happened would have hit even harder if given the proper pacing. Hopefully they slow down a little in the next episode. However, that doesn’t change the fact that this episode was a spectacle. Even seeing the movement early on the episode I was like: Yo they cranked the animation up a notch. I did notice that the animation last episode was a little bit lower than normal Demon Slayer quality. Guess they were saving it for the freaking fire dragon scene lol.
It’s so distressing seeing the swordsmiths get terrorized like this, especially since they have little to no fighting experience. I remember wondering why they didn’t have any demon slayers stationed just in case they are attacked. It just so happens that there WERE demon slayers in the village… they just got wiped out real fast. Thankfully Mitsuri was able to make it before too much more damage was done by the accursed pot fish. Even saving the chief just in time, which was a big relief since I feel like they can’t afford any more swordsmith deaths. We finally get to see her fight and I really like her fighting style with her whip-like sword. Seeing it in action was definitely something and we can clearly see why she’s a Hashira. No wonder it’s difficult to find a man stronger than her lol. The sound effects to her Love Breathing hits were very amusing with the twinkling noises and I can’t wait to see more of her abilities.
Unlike Mitsuri, things on Muichiro’s end is looking pretty bad. Especially with him having bumped into Gyokko when trying to get to Haganezuka who has been working diligently on reviving the old sword for three days straight. Gyokko has demonstrated to probably be the most disgusting Upper Rank so far. Not only is he just unsettling to look at, but the fact he turned a bunch of swordsmiths into an art piece all the while talking about it like these aren’t people he just butchered. I felt so distressed and terrible for Kotetsu and Kanamori as they literally had to see a bunch of their close friends be displayed in this terrible manner. Made even worse with the fact that these people seemed to still be alive with the amount of twitching they were doing. While I don’t have too many feelings towards Kotetsu, my heart absolutely went out to him when Gyokko demonstrated one of the “mechanics” to his art piece, sending the poor kid screaming for him to stop torturing them. I actually teared up a little just seeing how sickening the scene was for the poor kid. Especially since he didn’t need to see something like that. His voice actor did such a great job just portraying the horror and pain the character was feeling. This was probably the most “demonic” thing we’ve seen a demon do in this series ironically enough. It was just downright awful and sickening to see such a thing happen. Even more so than what has already happened in this series.
Muichiro is showing more and more personality with each episode. I’m surprised he actually was shown to get a bit pissed at Gyokko. Also the fact that he reacted to Gyokko essentially calling the swordsmiths empty and absurd made me think that he was actually rethinking his view on them since he also had similar feelings towards them initially. I also like how Muichiro isn’t even really concerned by what Gyokko is saying while fighting and is only focused on figuring out how to defeat him. But holy crap, the part that had me wincing out of pure discomfort was when Gyokko sent out those Goldeen lookin fish that spat needles and Muichiro ended up shielding Kotetsu and Kanamori when they were targeted. Seeing his face and body riddled with spikes was just… UGHHHHHH shudders. I HATED seeing that. This season be going above and beyond making me feel all sorts of uncomfortable with all the visceral scenes of violence and gore. Though it definitely was pretty epic of him not seeming to be that bothered by it and somehow wasn’t buckling in pain. I think seeing Muichiro’s passive response to an emotional demon is rather humorous in its own right.
And while I absolutely detest Gyokko, I have to give him credit for being incredibly formidable. Not only does he make quick getaways while also creating CG creatures from his pots, but the fact he encased Muichiro in water to suffocate him was actually genius. I totally forgot that the demon slayers’ power comes from BREATHING techniques and if they can’t breathe, they can’t use their abilities. When Muichiro got trapped, my immediate thought was to use one of his techniques to slash his way out… but after Gyokko’s explanation of the attack cutting off the demon slayer from using their breathing abilities I was like: …oh right. Things definitely aren’t looking good for him and I honestly don’t know how he’s gonna get out of this on his own. Unless he remembers something that could help, to which I have no idea what CAN help him besides another demon slayer at this point. I do hope we get to see the true extent of Muichiro’s abilities since I feel like he’s just been constantly interrupted before he can really get going and because of that, it makes him seem weaker and less dependable. Granted he is going up against Upper Ranked demons so of course they’d give him a harder time. And with how much Tengen had to go through to even be able to match Rank six’s power, Muichiro stands absolutely no chance against Upper Five all on his own.
And then there’s the part where Tanjiro popped off… again. Unlike the other times he’s popped off, I’m not sure how I feel about it this time. Especially since I feel like this one had less build up compared to the other times. Though I will say I do like the sentiment of him doing this through a combined effort with Nezuko by her essentially infusing his blade with her exploding blood technique. However, I do have to wonder how and why she decided to bring this up now. Did she just try to do this on a whim? How did she know this would work? Her abilities aren’t the issue for me, just the random initiative at times makes me unable to suspend my disbelief. Though I admit how the blade turned red from Nezuko’s blood was pretty cool. And I am a pretty big sucker for scenes where there is a visual representation of others supporting the main protagonist. But man, why they gotta do my man Rengoku dirty like that and just show just a smidge of his cloak. At this point in time, I feel like what Rengoku and Tengen have done for him outshines what Giyuu has done for him.
While it was satisfying to see him behead all three of the parts of Upper Four after all of the trouble they’ve caused him for the past few episodes, not to mention being an absolute spectacle on an animation standpoint, I hope this isn’t the end. Because if it is, that would be WAY too anticlimactic. Not to mention I don’t like the idea of Tanjiro just tanking an upper ranked demon all on his own like this. Especially since it took both his efforts and Tengen along with Zenitsu and Inosuke to defeat Upper Six. Upper Four can’t go down this easily. I’m also not sure how I feel about Tanjiro being able to tap into that super charged state so easily just by thinking about how it felt that time he beheaded Gyuutaro. It might just be the pacing, but I’m just not feeling the build up for this.
But then we don’t even have time to really see if this actually is the end for Upper Four when Genya turns around to show him becoming a demon… And I’m not sure how much I can really talk about that point lol. However, I will say that he has exhibited some demon-like behaviors prior to this transformation. Such as him being able to regenerate the tooth he yanked out, being able to heal from supposed injuries that should have killed him normally and we’ve also never seen him eat people food. Definitely something to think about and I am curious to see what happens next episode in regards to Genya. Because there are things I do know about him, but I don’t know how things will play out. So hopefully they’ll address it in the next episode so I can finally talk about him and his situation. And hopefully it will be better paced.
I just want to add that we finally see the fable red sword that was mentioned back when Tanjirou receive his first sword. So technically the swordsmith was right, Tanjirou did receive a red sword, just that it was black until it meet certain conditions, like black charcoal turn into ember red under when burned.
“like black charcoal turn into ember red under when burned”, I see a symbolism of how Tanjiro used to be a boy who sold charcoal and now became a demon slayer using the Sun Breathing.
I think Nezuko knew to douse his sword with blood because she had done it before during the fight with Rui. When she first used her Blood Demon Art, a drop of her blood was on Tanjiro’s broken sword before it happened and she happened to see her blood exploding on the broken sword as he slashed Rui’s neck.
Also, there was a reactor that had a viewer comment about how Genya had rabies and I cannot unsee.