Tanjiro Holding a Katana - Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 6

Nezuko’s Return // Kimetsu no Yaiba Ep. 6 Review

Swordsman Accompanying a Demon: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 6

We are definitely getting to the meat of the series here in Kimetsu no Yaiba episode 6. Now that Tanjiro has graduated from the Final Selection, its time to actually face his demons, literally.

This episode is really the start of Tanjiro’s journey. So far, everything has been him trying to become strong enough to pass a test of strength. Now he is really out there fighting demons and making his way towards his ultimate goal, saving his sister. He is going to have a tough time, if most demons are like the one he fights this episode.

Before Tanjiro heads out to the Northwest town, he has a one on one with Urokodaki. It turns out that swordsmen with a black blade are rare and so little it known about them that is is believed they aren’t long for this world. It looks like Tanjiro is going to have a tough time with his black colored blade. Urokodaki has also fashed a few things for Tanjiro to help him survive. His new outfit is woven to be light, fast, and protect against weak demon attacks. He has also built Tanjiro an ultra-light wooden box to carry Nezuko to the next town.

Three Headed Demon

In the Northwest town, a number of very young sixteen year-old girls have been disappearing. Its obvious to the Demon Slayer Corps that there is a demon about, and they have sent Tanjiro to sort it out. Its his first mission out in the wild. A young man who was in the presence of a missing girl is Tanjiro’s first clue to finding the demon. Retracing their steps, Tanjiro hones in on the demon.

The first demon Tanjiro faces off against as a fully fledged member of the Demon Slayer corps is a pretty unique one. It has two Demon Blood Arts; The first allows it to dive into the shadows and appear out of nowhere; The second splits the demon in three, including some variance to his personality. Tanjiro finds the demon not long after sunset, just in time to save a sixteen year-old girl about to be taken and eaten.

There is a very human side to Tanjiro in this battle. He recognizes that with a demon that can appear out of any surface, nowhere is safe. He also has two civilians to contend with. If Tanjiro takes too many steps away to attack the demon with a full swing, the other part of the demon will take the other humans away. As long as he is within striking range of the the young man and girl, he can’t fully use his water breathing techniques. He keeps the killing blow because of this.

Nezuko’s Chance to Shine

Its been a few episodes since Nezuko has mattered much directly to the plot of an episode. She was sidelined as soon as Tanjiro began training under Urokodaki and has been missing from the forefront every since. She means a lot to the overall plot, and is the crux of Tanjiro’s ultimate goal. Its just been a few episodes since she made a difference. This episode is Nezuko’s time to shine.

I really like that they are giving Nezuko an opportunity to stretch her legs, both metaphorically and literally. That poor girl has been stuck inside of a box or basket for far too long. Tanjiro has a great advantage over other demons. He has a demon willing to fight alongside him. Urokodaki reveals to Tanjiro that he has been subtly trying to get Nezuko to side with Tanjiro in the time he has been away. I really don’t feel like that was really the reason she is willing to fight Tanjiro. She showed within the first two episodes that she recognizes Tanjiro and doesn’t want to hurt him. Even in the third episode she helped fight the first demon they found together.

There is apparently a lot that Urokodaki went over off-camera as we can see from Kimetsu no Yaiba episode 6 beyond Nezuko’s deep sleep training. Even the ultimate villain of the series is just casually mentioned in a flashback with not much other context to the scene. He has a cool spiffy modern western outfit for a thousand year old demon. Let’s spend some time to get to know the villain before we just mention him once and not again this episode. This episode is to get Tanjiro into the game of slaying demons, and overall did a great job at that. He is now in the thick of it, and really holding his own.

[Sources and Further Reading]
[Episode 5 Review]
[Images via Crunchyroll]

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