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「ヒノカミ」 (Hinokami)
“Hinokami”
I seldom use curse words but holy SHIT.
I wish I could have recorded my reaction to this episode, an episode I believe could be crowned the best of 2019. At the very least, the godlike sequence should be named the best animated action sequence of the year (so far).
How is ufotable going to one-up themselves now they’ve set the bar so high? Fans across the world are raving very loudly about the depth and strength this episode created for the series as a whole.
I’m flabbergasted by what I witnessed. If I’m not mistaken, back in the first episode when Giyu first met Tanjirou and Nezuko in the woods, he alluded to them being the fated siblings. Is this what he meant?
Before I get into their distinct new abilities, let’s address the elephant in the room. Nezuko has a voice! Only extremely well animated facial expressions and random muffled sounds have taught us who Nezuko is as a demon, but as of yet, she’s had little to no dialogue whatsoever. When she called out her demon blood art, shivers ran down my spine. I’m all for hearing more of her thoughts with the goal of hearing her voice a little more, which by the way Kito Akari does so well! What a great show of strength and desperation. It left a really strong impression.
But that’s not all that left an impression. Tanjirou unleashes Hinokami Kagura creating one of the most beautifully animated action sequence I’ve seen in a long while! ufotable’s work in unmistakable. One of my favourite things about the sequence though is the facial expressions of both Tanjirou and the Fifth Kizuki demon. The fear, the rage, the hatred, the determination, you can read it all with just a glimpse of their eyes. I was surprised to see Tanjirou’s unleash so much so soon. We hadn’t even seen him use the water breath technique’s tenth and final form, yet there he was, not only using it, but transforming it into a flaming breath of fire.
The quick flashback to his childhood confused me a little. Remember, I haven’t read the source material so I was holding onto the theory that his father was still alive, somewhere in hiding as to protect them. But watching this, he had no reason to walk away and didn’t seem to carry enough strength for him to desert those he loved so dearly. It’s looking more as though he passed surrounded by his children and wife which is why Tanjirou inherited his earrings. But even after his passing, Muzan managed to figure out where they were located. Is it because of this fated legend that the Kamados became Muzan’s target?
Alright, now comes Nezuko’s power. Holy mother of powers. She can make blood explode? Is this what I gather from what I just saw? Can she make all blood explode or only other demons’ blood art? Either way, it’s like the ultimate blood art can have, right? I can’t imagine anything better. Also, the fact that she can make blood explode makes me wonder if the Kamado bloodline is one of fire. The red hair, the Hinokami dance being passed through generations, etc. all allude to this. Although Tanjirou was trained by Urokodaki with water techniques, he’s probably destined to be a strong, if not the strongest, fire breath user.
I’m a little hung up by the fact that I haven’t seen Giyu and Tanjirou meet yet but given the events I just witnessed, I’ll let it pass. Something I’ve learned with Kimetsu no Yaiba is that the longer the build up, the better the reward.
ED2 Sequence
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ED2: (Kamado Tanjiro no Uta) by (Go Shiina ft. Nami Nakagawa)
THIS!
This was pure animated poetry! Visually orgasmic yet sublimely divine.
Music, choreography and effects combined into a symphony of glory.
I can already imagine what my top replayed sequence will be this year.
Right?!
Deus ex machina, or did i miss something, was there a hint for this.
It was foreshadowed multiple times that Tanjirou’s true nature is related to fire. Like when the smith expected his sword to turn red. As for how he got himself out of his predicament, after combing through his memories for a possible answer it turns out the breathing style his father used to do his kagura dance non-stop on New Years’ was applicable to demon slaying. His father passed the dance on to him before he passed away.
This was such an EPIC episode. The colors during the fight scenes were bloody beautiful. The epic music fit the fight scene so wonderfully. My absolute favorite series this season for sure.
OOF
Tanjiro masters powers of both water and fire
OP as fuck
The hints were there, with opening or ending showing the aforementioned dance, and the Archdemon Muzan reacting to the earrings that were heritage from the father of Tanjiro.
Also, best sister of the season? year?
Cute as button, can make blood explode, recharges demonic power by sleep instead of hunting.
I wonder what could happen, if Tanjiro gave his Blood to her for recuperate faster or power up.
You all sure know “Daywalker” Blade? right? He somehow could keep his sanity without bitting a human for blood. He took doses of Blood with garlic extract and that somehow let him walk in Daylight. But at some scene, the Girl he wanted to protect let him bite her so that he could recuperate from bloodless and regain his strength faster to beat the enemy…
Perhaps this idea somehow could find a point here? or course there is still the danger that both could become victims, to the demon blood or Human blood taste
this was an incredible episode, one of the best examples of peak shonen
that being said, the recency bias is really strong with this one. Are we really forgetting mob psycho 100 out out not one not two not three but 4 godtier episodes with holy shit animation all throughout the episodes instead of last 5 minutes?
for my money no other episode even comes close to mob psycho 100 2 episode 5. That is not a knock on incredible episodes like KNY19 but merely a testament to the quality of mob, bit frustrating how people are already downplaying it
I hear you. That why i said anime of the season. There were some gems this year definitly! Always dope when shows come out that have the LOOKS and the FEELS.
Either way im grateful
I think the difference is that we don’t expect anything less from Mob.
The ED is so heart-wrenching and adorable.
This episode made me both cry happy tears and smirk like a madman. I guess that means it got the job done. Can’t wait for what Ufotable is going to do next (BTW, isn’t Heaven’s Feel Lost Butterfly Blu-ray telease just around the corner?)
Nezuko mentioned in episode 1 that their father had passed away. Or you meant that he faked his death?
That’s what I assumed, so I as well was surprised to find out that he wasn’t around anymore for real.
As for best episode of the 2019, for me that crown still goes to one of the latest Shingeki episodes.
Yes, I thought he’d faked it. I didn’t want to believe he had actually died but the images we saw this episode crushed my theory.
If you haven’t noticed, the official twitter site by ufotable tweeted their thanks for all fans worldwide for watching and supporting them. https://twitter.com/ufotable/status/1161145710995099648
I’d equate the Hinokami moment to the “AVENGERS!…. assemble.” moment in Endgame. Especially with how the entire internet reacted to it.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0169/6995/7440/products/E4497_Transformers_Generations_War_for_Cybertron_Deluxe_WFC-S36_Refraktor_Action_Figure_010_2000x.jpg?v=1561728226
Water and Fire actually have a connection to Tanjirou through his family bussiness of making and sell charcoal.The extraction of water is one of the key facets of creating charcoal.
Dry charcoal is mostly carbon but contains some of the hydrogren contained in wood fibers. When ignited by the energy of fire, charcoal mixes with air and catalysis the creation of water alongside the carbon monoxide and other gasses, releasing a torrent of energy that we exploit inefficiently for our needs. When compacted, the carbon atoms realign into stronger and more ordered structures until you are left with a shining diamond that refracts sunlight beautifully.
This is deep. Thanks for sharing. Definitely giving me some good insight.
Here in old Europe and i bet even in Japan, where someones that could (and proberly) make charcoal
Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp1CepZOjmE
I *think* Nezuko’s power is to make her own shed blood combust, into a powerful inferno.
Bound up in Mr. Spider’s webbing, her own blood had trickled down the threads, and when it she used her blood-explosion power, it burnt up the webs altogether. The few droplets of her blood on Tanjirou’s sword combusted, at the end, giving his sword the power to decapitate Mr. Spider.
I definitely did not see it that way and I rewatched so many times. I assumed she ignited Rui’s blood because the webs were covered in his blood (after he strengthened them). I guess because I saw how quickly it moved down the web, I had assumed it was the other demon’s blood she was using. I’ll have to correct myself in the next post! Thanks for this.
I didn’t expect that Kimetsu no Yaiba would be the imouto anime this season was missing, even featuring the elusive imouto NTR.
Half-kidding aside, I’m hoping (probably unreasonably) that Nezuko will have regained her old personality (perhaps mixed with some oni ferocity). Well, I hope she doesn’t develop cavewoman-like speech patterns or anything.
I just imagine Nezuko with cavelike speech and it’s not a bad image. But I agree, I’d like to see her return to her former self.
Usually people using the word ‘godlike’ don’t even have a clue who God is. Such people are actually playing with fire. No, I’m not talking Jesus, he was a man who ate, slept, and walked like us, meaning he wasn’t All-Powerful. Also don’t go ‘he was 100% man, 100% god’ and ‘1+1+1=1’ illogical crap on me, you know it doesn’t make sense. The True God wouldn’t created us having such conflicting logic, we weren’t given the faculty to rationalize and reason without purpose.
Are you dumb? Please just watch the anime. The anime was significant because Tanjiro sent out a prayer as he was doing his Hinokami Dance. Just like his father he did his dance to ward off bad stuff. So there is a God who kept watch over Tanjiro. Hence his moves was GodLike because he was seriously injured and healed quickly. By the way Jesus is God.
God (kami) concept in Japan is different than Abrahamic religions. They have many gods, and all of them are not almighty
Your opinion is noted.
Unlimited Budget Works Part 2 in the making bois
Tanjiro using the water from grand blue lol
Tanjiro vs. Rui, the now and future stalwart of top 10 anime battle Youtube videos.
… Well, at least until ufotable gets their hands on some of the later fights in this series.
The breath Tanjiro used was actually Show Spoiler ▼
So yeah I binged this anime in two days! Damn, Ufotable never disappoint in term of their animation.
I’m glad you did! I’m trying to get friends to binge it but it looks like I’ll have to handhold and rewatch it all with them as motivation.
Applauding in real life cause that was fantastic. Nice to hear Nezuko actually speak too, even if it’s just internal monologue.
Shinobu kinda foreshadowed it, mentioning the theory that seeing one’s life flash before his/her eyes is a survival mechanism, searching through one’s experiences and memories, desperately looking for a clue that can help him/her survive. And it fits well in this battle of familial bonds: against a powerful enemy with a twisted view of what a family should be, Tanjirou’s rediscovers the Fire Breathing technique through a deep-seated memory of his father, while Nezuko responds to her dead mother’s calls and unleashes her Blood Art.
Something I just realized though: Natsuki Hanae’s character fights against demons and forms powerful bonds through shared adversity–> wait, we’re not talking about Sousei no Onmyouji!? 😀
The childhood flashback was exactly what Shinobu told Zenitsu about flashbacks. Tanjiro was about to die and his memories gave him one of the keys to get out. Although I suspect their mom was a demon slayer, and Nezuko surviving is proof of that.
Didnt watch this series, may this episode get me to do so.
If anyone has watched/read Saiki Kusuo, my response to this episode: “AH-MAY-ZINGU.”
I do hope Nezuko can get genuine character development as a person with more intellect and emotions that surpass loving her family and humans.
Also, am I supposed to know or is it still a secret plotline, what is the mark on Tanjiro and his father’s forehead? A birthmark? If it is meant to be revealed later, then don’t tell me.
This episode was a bonafide event.
Best anime of 2019 contender, and IMO with this, best battle/action anime of 2019. If Fire Force wants me to change my mind they better pull something epic.