Welp. Tanjiro’s in trouble, now.

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

Tanjiro’s first mission wraps up in this episode and, I’ve gotta say, I dug it. Mostly. I do wish he’d just shut up and use his attacks instead of narrating what he’s going to do. Narrating is something one does to elaborate on tactics, not special moves. But whatever. It’s not a big deal. The demons called him on the foolishness of diving into their domain without a plan, which I was glad for. Though… I’m pretty sure literally none of that is how water works. I was more interested in Nezuko, anyway. We’ll set aside that she just magically knows how to fight, and pretty well, at that. Because this bit of development between her and her brother where he realizes he doesn’t need to protect her (as much) anymore was sweet.

The parallel with the guy, I feel like could’ve gone a bit further than just being used to show us how he and Tanjiro are similar. The audience isn’t stupid. We know the world sucks, people die when they are killed, and that Tanjiro’s down to just his sister. I do get the impression that it was more for the sake of once more showing off Tanjiro’s compassion, though. Which was nice. I probably would’ve reacted about the same, albeit with a much more sour attitude about it. Even so, I also really liked this one little bit before that, where Tanjiro was interrogating the demon and the guy was legitimately terrified to tell him anything. It’s another (vain) attempt to humanize the demons, sure, but it does further Tanjiro’s character and our understanding of how he operates.

But let’s just get to the part that everyone’s most interested in – that cliffhanger. That’s how ya hook an audience. And it wasn’t just one thing, but several compounding details that make the whole sequence of events build anticipation perfectly. The discovery of the main antagonist – the one that did this to Nezuko? Check. Nezuko being left alone in an unfamiliar place? Check. A new threat arising, right in front of Tanjiro’s eyes while he sits there and gawks like an idiot? Check (and seriously, you clown, do something). But the big thing was that radical shift in circumstances – Big Bad’s a Papa. With a cute kid and paramour, or so it seems. And after setting up all of that stuff about Tanjiro being one hell of a compassionate spirit, that is one hell of a reveal, fit to create a lot of internal conflict for the character. Excellent work, that. All in all, a Super Effective episode.

What’d you guys think? Are you anticipating episode 8 as much as I am? Let me know, down below. And be sure to check out EvilBob’s Weekly Evil recaps, for the season. As always, thanks for reading, folks. Keep up the Awesome!

Take Care,
Voyager