Kimetsu no Yaiba S2 – 06

「重なる記憶」 (Kasanaru Kioku)
“Layered Memories”

If you watched this with less than a jaw drop as your facial expression, you’re not an easy person to please. I think one of my favorite anime of all time is Vinland Saga. It was honestly what I would qualify as a masterpiece. The story was fantastic, the character design, music, and visual aesthetic all came together to offer the best quality anime I’ve seen in a long time. But the feelings I got from watching Tanjirou and Nezuko fight an even stronger Daki made me momentarily forget about Vinland altogether.

“What in the world did I just watch?” was perhaps the first thing that came to mind when the episode ended. I am so confused as to how Tanjirou mustered up the strength to channel the Hinokami Kagura for such a long time. At some point, he mentions how slow Daki’s movements are and that’s when it hit me that this was the first time we’ve seen him touch – no, graze – the potential strength and might that lives within his veins. Honestly, what a cool character. Driven by the sheer desire to protect people who are unable to protect themselves, he wants to prevent others from experiencing the same tragedies he and Nezuko experienced. He’s even tried to understand demons. We’ve seen him in the past try to appeal to them, even feeling compassion for them, acknowledging their pain and suffering. He tries a similar approach with Daki but quickly gives up after realizing she’s just in it for the fun of the killing. Her human side, briefly shown, makes up nothing more than a trickle of distant memories.

Something else I loved about the episode was Daki. She’s such an interesting Upper Rank demon. I knew there was something a little fishy in regards to her earlier confrontation with Tanjirou. She seemed to be holding back her strength. This episode explains that in detail. Her blood demon art is her sash, meaning they are pieces of her. The sash can navigate the city away from her body, undetected and with its own consciousness (re: episode 5) but that means that it takes part of her strength with it. So when she absorbs them all back into her main body, her true power is unleashed. Yet, even then, with Tanjirou’s ability, she was no match.

The title of the episode is ‘Layered Memories’ and I think the main reason for that is because of the mechanic that is used throughout. At various points during the battle, we’re privy to Daki, Nezuko, and Tanjirou’s memories. Daki has an instance where she returns to her human memories, revealing the trauma and pain she had experienced. The thought is juxtaposed with her current demonic existence, where she is no longer powerless and feeble. She basically drinks Muzen’s kool-aid and never looks back, drunk on power. But she also reveals a new connection between Muzen and herself. Due to having his blood running through her veins, she’s able to tap into some of his oldest memories which in turn act as a warning to her as she faces Tanjirou. Nezuko and Tanjirou also sift through their memories during the battle but they use the thoughts to fuel their strength and desire to finish off Daki. I think the mechanic works really nicely in this episode and adds more depth to something that could have just been an action sequence.

I’ll give you one guess as to what my favorite moment of this episode is, no, this season is. Nezuko. That beautiful, pale-skinned, blood-hungry chibi child turned voluptuous one-horned demon. What an entrance. The way the episode is built up, you’d think that Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Tengen would be around the corner and about to step in. But it’s Nezuko that makes an appearance and what an entrance at that! She steals the show. All the work that Tanjirou did was completely washed away when she stepped onto the screen. Sorry, kicked. Where does she get all the raw power? Daki said something really interesting. Nezuko regenerative abilities are those of an Upper Rank demon. Will Muzen figure this out and try to turn this into his advantage? I can’t remember if her potential was already discussed or acknowledged between the Upper Rank demons but they’ll be finding out soon enough after this show of force.

I’m biased but I can see why one would come to love Demon slayer. There’s so much anticipation around the release of an episode like this. The action sequence is superbly animated combining CG in such a way that it elevates the visuals rather than distract. The voice acting is captivating, especially by Tanjirou during emotionally charged events. And, finally, the story is just so poignant. I have no idea what the next episode will look like but I am so excited. It’s the adrenaline rush that I get from watching episodes like this that has me coming back to Demon Slayer.