In case it wasn’t clear, I really enjoyed myself with this episode.

Kimetsu no Yaiba
Studio(s): ufotable
Genre(s): Action, Historical, Demons, Supernatural, Shounen

What else can be said, really? This episode handled the typical training arc wonderfully, and all in one fell swoop. Obviously, this isn’t the end of Tanjiro’s improvement. But this training paved the way for him to become a true demon slayer. All on the back of some solid training scenes where we get to see his struggle and get to see him actively improving. If I have any real nitpicks, the two-year passage of time didn’t seem especially evident. Had he not grown his hair in the final few scenes, I would’ve thought he’d only been training for… I dunno. A few months? Weeks?

Elsewise, the episode was funny, mostly on the back of some excellent frames of character expression, as well as some fun little interactions between Tanjiro and his mentor. Then there’s the aforementioned mentor, who I was admittedly a bit bummed to see sort of vanish, halfway through the episode. But I also get why it was done that way. It’s as he said, he taught Tanjiro everything he could. But it’s up to the student to apply what they’ve learned into something useful. And that’s what the mysterious duo in the title of the episode helped Tanjiro accomplish.

As for the two of them, I’m intrigued. Though I do kind of expect that, based on all that mystery, their actual nature is something tragic and supernatural. That just tends to be how these things go. I’ll be surprised if that isn’t the case. They didn’t interact with Tanjiro quite enough on any other level for me to be overly invested in them as actual characters. But I’m intrigued. And I feel that much was the point. Add in more extremely solid action animation – and I mean god, this show’s fight scenes are pretty – and you’ve got one damn fun episode. Just too bad Nezuko was asleep for… well… all of it. I’m sure it’s because she hasn’t eaten since becoming a demon or whatever. Either way, this is a World’s Finest approach to a training episode, and I’m stoked to see more.

What’d you think of this one? Let me know, down below. Thanks for reading, as always. Keep up the Awesome!

Take Care,
Voyager

Kimetsu no Yaiba Reviews
Episode 1 + 2