Now, in the previous episode's article I expressed some concerns for whether or not this season is going to be any good, or whether they are going in the right direction or whether they are going to do this right.
But after seeing this, (almost) all my concerns are alleviated, they are doing it the way I thought they would, every episode is Tanjiro going to a particular Hashira and getting trained, and they take some time to develop that Hashira.
I am still concerned as to whether or not they will animate the side stories, but what we are getting isn't bad, it is really good actually.
This episode expands on the entire section where Tanjiro Goes to get trained by Muichiro.
In the manga, this is a throwaway line, here, there is an entire episode dedicated to it, where we see Muichiro train the other slayers and his methodology.
We also learn that apart from the daytime training that he is doing with the other slayers, he goes to Sanemi and Obanai to train with someone on his caliber so that he too can keep growing his skills while helping others to come up to his level, which, he isn't having much luck with.
The eyes that belong to upper moon four, are also once again following the slayers to figure out where the Ubuyashiki mansion is.
The question I have is, what about the Hashira residences? The Ubuyashiki residence is hidden, but why aren't the Hashira residences being attacked constantly? Why don't they hide them as well? I mean they don't seem as well hidden... or perhaps they are, and I am just not seeing it.
Regardless, the story is moving forwards, and the nighttime training sessions amongst the Hashira's is giving us something that was much needed in the Manga, more action from the Hashira, like I said, many of them were just seen in action for the first time during the final arc in the Manga.
The majority of this episode is like expected, the training, but alongside that we get these sections where Tanjiro just gets to be a kid, and we see the other Demon Slayer kids be kids alongside Tanjiro, as we see them constantly asking Tanjiro or "the favorite kid" to ask the Hashira to go easy on them.
But we do see that this Favoritism isn't without reason as Tanjiro does live up to everything that is expected of him.
And he does more, as we see him challenge Muichiro to a paper plane competition in order to get him to treat the students a bit more kinder if he wins the paper plane flying competition.
He looses but even in his loss, he reminds everyone that there is more to life than fighting and preparing for the next battle, in time such as this, it is very important to take a step back, and just... enjoy life, so he does succeed in lightening the situation a bit.
Which was much needed, especially after Muichiro made the students train with actual swords, making one give up in fear, goddamn, I get that you want them to be good and what not, but tone it down a little man.
However, this moment is really wholesome, and Muichiro, like everyone else, just gets to be a kid.
We then get a very Anakin and Yoda type sitting and talking down session between Muichiro and Tanjiro, except, here, they both are learning from each other, Muichiro learns Tanjiro's positivity and expresses his happiness at him having his brother's personality when he had Amnesia as that means that in a way, his brother was protecting him even after he was gone, which is a surprisingly positive outlook on the situation.
And we finally get a good foreshadowing moment as we see Nezuko is already with Urokudaki instead of it just being revealed midway in the final battle.
So it seems that this season has already halfway addressed many of the core criticisms of the finale of the Manga, it is now slowing down, and taking its time to establish things that will pay off later down the line.
As well, we get some returning characters, such as Kanamori, who wasn't there for this section in the Manga, I wonder if he will be of some use in the final arc as well?
Speaking of the characters, another foreshadowing moment is when Obanai and Sanemi plan their "taking down" of Tanjiro which is what happens in the arc, Obanai's training is total hell for Tanjiro and that is because of his feelings for Mitsuri and her subsequent "closeness" towards Tanjiro, which is once again emphasized as she happily calls Tanjiro into her "humble abode" which is really Mansion, for Pancakes and butter and whatnot.
She also breeds bees... Good to see someone who is a hero and also well to do.
Whilst Tanjiro is completely dumbfounded with the whole scenario as him being from a village means he has no idea about these things.
Yes, Obanai's animosity towards Tanjiro is also because he made him and his friend Sanemi look like idiots when they showed their disdain towards the Demon Nezuko for being a demon.
And so is Sanemi's so what happens to Tanjiro during Sanemi's training? Interesting question,
Spoiler Alert....
...he doesn't Go to Sanemi's training, Why you ask? Well the name of the next episode is a give away, "I even ate demons" the only character we know to eat Demons in this series so far, is Genya Shinazugawa, brother to Sanemi Shinazugawa.
What will happen shall be left to the next episode, it is not for me to spoil, although I have already spoilt quite a lot.
Considering the small role that Sanemi and Obanai play in this arc in the Manga it is interesting that the Anime chose to focus on those two this season, which don't get me wrong, is a good choice, as they are by far the most interesting of the Hashira that got little to no development in the Manga.
Especially given their backstories, which are again, for the Anime to show.
But I believe it is mostly due to Sanemi's resemblance to Kyoya Tategami from beyblade.
Both have similarly Scarred faces, are initially introduced as antagonists, control the winds for their battles, and turn out to be loveable assholes with a hardened exterior but a heart of gold who eventually develop a budding rivalry with the main protagonists and eventually help them during the final battle.
Kyoya is immensely popular, it therefore stands to reason that any Anime would try to ramp up any such similarities to bring up its own value, which I'm not complaining about, Sanemi is an amazing character, give him more screen time.
If you can simultaneously hit another bird with the same stone, then go for it, and again, we don't know if the similarities are due to the Manga, or due to the Anime or due to the Manga but ramped up by the Anime due to obvious reasons.
Regardless of the reasons, the results are undeniably good.
