The Ballad of Zenitsu // Kimetsu no Yaiba Ep. 11 Review

Tsuzumi Mansion: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 11

Otaku Voice Staff

Its south-by-southeast the crow caws at Tanjiro. That’s the destination of Kimetsu no Yaiba episode 11. Before Tanjiro is to arrive and slay the demon, he has to get past a very desperate man. A member of the Demon Slayer Corps who is in over his head.

Introducing the manic Agatsuma Zenitsu. He was technically introduced much earlier in the season, but hasn’t played a part in the story until now. He is from the same final selection ceremony as Tanjiro, and recognizes Tanjiro because of that. Even at the ceremony he was shown shivering and panicked to begin the life as a demon slayer.

Agamatsu Zenitsu & His Sparrow

I don’t mind the extreme manic behavior he has this episode. It really shows off the thought process of someone who has dug themselves in too deep with no way out. He seems unscathed by demons so far, but clearly he probably hasn’t even faced any to this point. All he wants to do is marry the first girl he sees.

I feel like this introduction scene does take a bit long. The scene doesn’t do much for his backstory except glaze over how he got into debt and ended up training to be a demon slayer. Recognizes that it does setup a lot of his character, the overall amount of time spent on him berating a random girl wasn’t wholly justified.

The part that does justify this opening scene is the sparrow. Zenitsu’s sparrow is now my favorite character in the series along with Nezuko. It is so cute hopping around in Tanjiro’s hand exasperated at Zenitsu’s behaviour. Absolute highlight of the first half of the show.

There is some funkiness with the sparrow despite its absolute cuteness. Zenitsu cannot understand the sparrow and has therefore ignored it. He can understand Tanjiro’s crow. The Demon Slayer Corps did a bad job pairing up Zenitsu with his own guide that he cannot understand, and therefore not act on the Corps’ orders. That’s definitely why he is still alive a couple weeks later.

The Haunted House

I assume based on their lucky encounter, Tanjiro is here to escort and assist Zenitsu defeat the demon that is south-by-southeast. The do come upon the monster’s house deep in the forest. Beside it are the unfortunate brother and sister of the demon’s victim.

This scene outside of the manor gets through a lot of things pretty quickly. It nicely establishes the difference between how Tanjiro and Zenitsu handle a dire situation. Tanjiro has empathy for the siblings lost outside of the house. Its his solution to assure them he is there to help, and leave Nezuko with them as their protector. Zenitsu is a coward and a scaredy cat who is going to need some more courage if he is going to survive.

Zenitsu casually reveals his super power outside of the manor. He seems to have super hearing, similar to Tanjiro’s super sniffer. I guess you need an extraordinary sense in order to hunt and kill demons. No normies would survive Final Selection.

Tsuzumi Mansion

Its very apt that an episode with a drum beating demon would properly introduce the hearing sensitive demon slayer. Zenitsu detects something from deep inside the house that Tanjiro cannot hear. The sound design of this episode is superb. The sharp light tap of the tsuzumi drum punctuates the tense nature of the episode. It is a great audio cue to the shuffling of the rooms and their orientation.

The tsuzumi demon is only briefly setup this episode, but I like his powers already. Most of the demons in the series so far have a unique an interesting Demon Blood Art magic they use, and this one seems most interesting. Using drums that are emerging from his body are absolutely metal. I am super excited to see how Tanjiro is expected to battle a demon that can fight to the beat of his own drums.

Final Thoughts

This episode is just another setup episode since it focused so much on establishing the Zenitsu character and the scenario for the next demon battle. It is a good setup episode since I am waiting with baited breath for the start of the skirmish begun in Kimetsu no Yaiba episode 11.

Boar head also seems pretty interesting. He does look like a demon with no sight of his human head. From the way he talks he must be human. His two swords are also absolutely badass with the razor-wire like cut to them.

[Source and Further Reading]
[Episode 10 Review]
[Image via Crunchyroll]