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「柱合会議」 (Chūgō Kaigi)
“Hashira Meeting”
Even though the pace is moving at a slow crawl, things are in fact progressing. The Kamado siblings have been accepted into the Demon Slayer Corps and the Hashiras are tasked with training the next generation of demon slayers.
It’s no surprise that the Hashiras and their master are concerned with training the new recruits. The poor souls were wiped out on Mt. Natagumo before they could even make a dent. Only Tanjirou, Inosuke, and Zenitsu could hold their ground, if only just. Even so, their efforts did not go unnoticed. The issue of Nezuko now resolved, Shinobu decides to host all four members of their party in her home, the Kocho mansion.
After Tanjirou’s obnoxious request to take out Sanemi with a few headbutts was dismissed by not-so-aloof-in-the-end Muichiro, he’s carried to the mansion where he meets Tsuyuri Kanao (Ueda Reina). She’s revealed to be Shinobu’s pupil, her Tsuguko. She’s next in line to become the insect pillar, taking over Shinobu’s position. She must have shown a great deal of strength and potential to have been chosen as her Tsuguko. I wonder what events led to their paths (Shinobu’s and hers) crossing. But why is Tsuyuri being introduced as Shinobu’s possible heir? Should I be concerned here?
Moving on, Tanjirou reunites with a shrunken Zenitsu and a very emotionally, mentally, and physically damaged Inosuke in the infirmary of the mansion. Even with all the pain he’s going through, you can tell he’s relieved, even happy to be by their sides again. It’ll take a long time for them to recuperate their energy but it looks like the next episode might jump forward in time because it’ll be about their first training with the Hashiras.
The Hashiras are an enigma to me. Will we ever learn more about their backstories or will they remain one-note characters as we dive deeper into the series? Aside from Shinobu, Giyu, perhaps Sanemi, and Muichiro, the other Hashiras don’t inspire much confidence. This is to be determined of course. For the time being though, I’m not really entertained. Hopefully this upcoming episode will showcase some of their skills and have me sway their way.
With only three episodes left though, will Tanjirou and Nezuko have enough time to train and slay their first Kizuki demon? Can this series pull it all off? If you can’t tell yet, I’m unable to decipher whatever it is this episode was meant to foreshadow.
Nope, no more demon fighting for Tanjiro before the end of the season.
We’re about halfway through an arc that’s just recovery and training which they’ll probably stretch into two more episodes. After that they’ll likely use the final episode to do some stage setting for the next arc with a meeting between Muzan and the remaining lower five and then back to Tanjiro and the others getting ready to head out after their recovery.
After all the tension on the mountain I’m grateful for this down time. I look forward to Nezuko getting some training and to see some development for the Hashira. I hope we get a Season 2.
Loved the “camera work” done this episode, especially in the Nezuko scene at the beginning.
ufotable’s work is as impressive as usual.
I honestly expected Sanemi to be dickish enough to practically force Nezuko into tasting his blood. I think she would’ve resisted nonetheless, but that wouldn’t be the issue in that case. The issue would’ve been the other Hashiras (besides Giyu and maybe even Shinobu) standing by and letting it happen because that’s how deep rooted their discrimination against demons is. Call me crazy but, I really thought that was possible. Thankfully, this episode put those worries to rest.
While I like Nezuko (although I imagine everyone does), I don’t think Sanemi was being a dick there.
He had a real purpose to fulfill. If Nezuko dies, then there are no problems. If she lives and exists within the walls (or anywhere really), then she is a potential threat. The hashira would probably have to use their swords on themselves if they allowed that to happen.
It needed to be a serious test that everyone could believe in. She needed to be pushed to her limit so that they could trust her. Consider Sanemi’s reaction to her spurning his offer — she shocked him. Lots of things follow from her passing the test. Recall that prior to the test (last episode), when Kaguya asked everyone to accept the pair, five of the hashira declined. Now, everyone is in agreement, which I think is important for this type of organisation. The hashira will now let her come and go.
With Kagaya’s words, Tanjirou now has a mission of sorts, or at least a goal, as well as a path forward. He’s no longer a nameless, featureless mizunoto, who are generally disparaged by the hashira. While his skill is obviously low compared to them, they now see that he might not be worthless. The hashira cannot casually mistreat either of the siblings.
All of which means that Kagaya was able to lay some groundwork that will likely bear fruit in the future. He’s pretty clever. Even though he probably knew exactly what happened, having the doll describe the scene aloud ensured that everyone present was on the same page.
As an aside, the artwork of Nezuko just before the OP was pretty impressive. I think the artists like her too.
Perhaps I wasn’t being clear. I’m well aware of the necessity of the test if Tanjiro and Nezuko wanted to co-exist with the rest of the corps. I was just hypothesizing a crazy situation where, instead of accepting that Nezuko is highly resistant to her demonic urges (shocking though that may be) and therefore can be relied upon, Sanemi would go so far as to practically shove his blood into her mouth out of his sheer sense of inacceptance of anything demons. Again, admittedly unreasonable doubts, but they did occur to me nonetheless (thankfully the hashiras are more reasonable than that), so I’m glad this episode put them to rest.
I see your point. I just think that the test needed to push Nezuko to her absolute limit. I was kind of surprised that he stopped exactly when he did — and I think we’re talking about the same moment — and didn’t push it further. I thought he would. But, he could have done what you suggest and I still think it would have been within reason.
There is an extra layer to this situation….Show Spoiler ▼
The point was to prove that Nezuko will succumb to her demonic nature and consume blood on her own initiative, especially after being stabbed multiple times. Forcing it down her throat will not prove anything.
It about she won’t consume human even if they are bleeding in front of her. Like if in the middle of battle and some bystander or some of her allied that not her brother got injured ( which is 100% gonna happen) and she go berserk, wha gonna happen then?
love the fact that More than Half the bosses didn’t wanna go along with the masters decree.
didn’t love the fact that the larger characters looked a bit weird/stiff due to the cgi “im assuming”…but that’s nitpicking, and this studio is doing it better than most Ive seen. nice ep!
only if the anime to an little time jump and these 3 Guys are full recovered
Also, seems like the Master knows the Demon Healer Lady..
Each of the Hashiras has supposedly slain at least one of the Kizuki. They are immensely powerful, even if acting somewhat silly sometimes…
I expect we will need another season for anything like major battle with another Kizuki, and perhaps we will have chance to see some of the other Hashiras in action.
One thing that rang true is that with society modernizing, it is quite harder to recruit Demon Slayers. Few people other than families of victims even do believe in Demons anymore.
And then few of those who volunteer are match for the Kizuki.
And, I wonder how the Hashira’s get to succession – we have seen some retired ones like Urokodaki, and some are bound to end up dead in combat, but is there a fixed number of them, each being pinnacle of one school of breathing? What happens if a Hashira does retire or die without successor?
Also considering all Hashiras have at least one Kizuki kill, it seems Muzan is quick to replenish ranks by “boosting” some lesser demons…
So the only way to deal with the menace is to cut off the source, Muzan himself.
Once he is dealt with lesser demons are mop-up problem for the Hashiras.
But that means we only have 3 Kizukis left. Why would the author introduce 12 of them only to have 8 been killed off screen ?
That’s making the assumption that Muzan doesn’t refill his ranks as needed. He demoted that one drum demon from his ranks, so it stands to reason that 12 aren’t a static roster much like the Hashira aren’t. The master said that he was glad that there hasn’t been any personnel change since the previous meeting, meaning that it is a very real possibility for these 9 to be killed and replaced.
Show Spoiler ▼
Hope that season 2 is announced right after the last episode ended because all of the Pillar fights are after the Show Spoiler ▼
Speculation Time:
Show Spoiler ▼
But, as you read. This is sprang out of my mind
and Nezuko could save her Human memories. Perhaps because the “heat/warmth and smell” of her brother help her a lot to cherish them while she undergone the transformation (while caring her on his back in rush for a Doctor Episode 1)
Perhaps this “skin ship” is a part of the Key
This was a good paced episode. Pleased to see they’re sticking pretty faithfully to the source material throughout!
Show Spoiler ▼