Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Yuukaku-hen (Episode 1) - Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui

Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Yuukau hen Title

Still reeling from his encounter with Akaza, Tanjiro visits Regoku’s family to pass on his dying wishes. However, it won’t be long before they find themselves working with another Hashira!

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Yuukaku-hen (Episode 1) – Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui

What happened?

Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were back at Butterfly mansion to recover from their mission aboard the Mugen Train. Not only was it take a toll physically, but it hit them hard in their hearts and minds. Zenitsu was the first to take a real look at himself. He decided to steal some bean buns to cheer up Tanjiro but when he got there Tanjiro was gone and his injuries were far from healed.

Tanjiro followed Rengoku’s crow back to his house where he met with Senjuro, Rengoku’s little brother who was still struggling to come to terms with his brother’s untimely death. Before Tanjiro could pass on the messages, Rengoku’s father appeared and started to yell at Tanjiro. That only increased once he saw his earrings. Could Tanjiro be a user of the Sun Breathing technique?

After a little fight that ended when Tanjiro headbutted Rengoku’s father, Senjuro showed Tanjiro one of their journals that might shed some light on the Hinokami technique, however, the pages were shredded and offered little to no answers. However, Senjuro was happy that Tanjiro stood up for Rengoku and for passing on his messages. He offered to find whatever information he could find about the Sun Breathing technique.

Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Yuukau hen Episode 1 Muzan Kibutsuji

Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke upped their training and began to resume active service, hunting demons. However, when Tanjiro returned from his latest mission, he found someone attempting to take Aoi and Naho. When he intervened, Tanjiro discovered that the attacker was the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui and he needed a couple of female Demon Slayers for a mission.

Of course, Naho isn’t a member of the Corps and Aoi is focused on support rather than fighting demons. Inosuke and Zenitsu returned from their missions and were quick to back Tanjiro up. They offered their services in exchange for Naho and Aoi. Tengen seemed a little confused by their offer but decided he could make it work.

He needs them to help him find the demons that are operating within the Entertainment District. Zenitsu begins to reconsider his decision but it’s too late, and nothing is going to stop Inosuke from backing down.

Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Yuukau hen Episode 1 Tengen Uzui

What did you think?

When I discovered that the Mugen Train arc was going to be converted into the first seven episodes of the new season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba I was pretty annoyed. I had literally bought the movie a couple of days before the announcement. If you’ve read my review of Mugen Train, you’ll know that I wasn’t exactly wowed by it. There was no way I was going to watch it again spread out over seven weeks!

Now that we’ve moved on, it’s time for me to return. I come armed with the knowledge that there will be a lot of annoying moments such as Zenitsu screaming or Zenitsu crying or Zentisu worrying so I’m hoping that it won’t pull me out as much this time. That said, I did enjoy Inosuke in this episode and I like all the little details where he shows absolutely no respect for anyone, such as calling Tengen “old man”.

This episode started where the Mugen Train arc ended and there was a lot less crying in the recap which felt like a huge improvement. After that, we got to see Muzan Kibutsuji’s latest form which was creepy but not nearly as cool as the two previous forms. Obviously, the word for Tengen will be flashy. I’m sure that won’t get annoying. Anyhow, it was all right. Looking forward to getting into the Entertainment District arc proper.

Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Yuukau hen Episode 1 Tanjiro Zenitsu and Inosuke prepared to go with Tengen Uzui

What have you learnt?

I still miss the days when this series was more serious. The first ten episodes were incredible and managed to blend some more comedic reactions into the dark and serious nature of demon hunting. When I compare Demon Slayer to another show that has a lot of crazy expressions, Dr Stone, I think the big difference is the tone of the story. In Dr Stone, it worked adding a bit of levity to what could be quite a dry topic. However, in Demon Slayer, I find that it detracts from the dark tone. My preference would have been for it to be a much more serious series, but that’s just me.

I’ve always enjoyed the designs of the demons and I’m certain that the Entertainment District arc will deliver some amazing designs with some flashy fights (see anyone can say flashy). It would have been interesting to see Tanjiro split from Zenitsu and Inosuke for a while. They could always get back together again later. Anyhow, it’s the lack of consistency in the tone that I find the most frustrating. I don’t know if there’s any hope of that changing, but I can dream.