Now, the following is obviously my own opinion; yours could vary. Overall, I will say that this has been a good show to follow this first season. We get a lot of different characters, all with their own character development and their own stories to tell; they just all happen to lead to a combined and intertwined path that will lead them to a catastrophic end. Not that we see that catastrophic end in this season, it's just something we can expect and continue to anticipate later on. Some funny little things I have picked up on throughout this season, like the fact that the scar we see on our main character's forehead changes between the first episode and the second, as well as the fact that our art style depiction of the characters adjusts to one more cartoonish and child friendly in the end compared to the crisp animation lines we saw in the pilot episode; make it seem as though there was almost a miscommunication between parties or a switch up on who was in charge, and not just once but twice or maybe more. It was not so big of a difference to make me unwilling to follow along, but it was enough of a difference to notice. The only point during this show that I really no longer wanted to watch included the 6 or so episodes toward the end of the season, when we are stuck watching the same battle drawn out over what felt like far too long a period. I also did not fully understand why we needed the full backstory of how the demon family had come together; just knowing that our main character could see and empathize with his sorrow in the human life would have sufficed, I feel like. But maybe that is just me. Again, overall, not a bad watch, enjoyed the style and the culture mixed into the fictitious storytelling. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars with a high probability of watching again.
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
- Episode 1 - Cruelty
- When starting the series, our main character already has his scar on his face; what caused his scar? He clearly cares for his family as he puts their finances and health before his own, trying to work through the snowstorm and get down the mountain to the town to earn money. On his way back though, he stops for the night at a kind villager's house, and in the meantime, his family is being slaughtered. Slaughtered by demons, demons that our main character then makes it his duty to seek revenge on. I will note, the main character does appear much older and more mature in this first episode than I have seen him depicted as in later episodes. It could just be that he is cleaner and put together here, and that he is faced with much turmoil that leaves him in disarray. He tries running down the mountain toward a doctor with the only warm-bodied member of his deceased family, but it's too late; his sister is infected. Will this series result in him finding a cure for her? Also, it's weird to think that you can be turned into a demon just as you can be turned into a zombie; are they zombies in some cultures and demons in others?
- The demon hunter that comes and seems to want to turn our main character into a demon hunter himself gives far too much advice and sympathizes too much with them; it makes him weak as well. But it's nice that he decides to let them go and help, especially since Nezuko really seems to still hold onto at least a part of her humanity and wants to protect her brother.
- Episode 2 - Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki
- Our main character stops at a farm and gets a basket so that he can continue to travel with his sister, even though she can not be exposed to daylight, almost like demons are a cross between zombies and vampires? They honestly probably lean more toward vampires; they can't be in sunlight, they can make themselves larger and stronger than their human form when they go full demon, and they are turnt by having their blood come in contact with the demon blood of another. But I don't think vampires can heal like that, so hence part zombie. Along the way to the mountain they were told to go to by the demon hunter, they came across another demon actively eating humans. Their entire interaction is so funny because the demon ends up in multiple pieces thanks to them teaming up, but the demon is still fighting and creeping out Tanjiro... Tanjiro headbutts the demon, and the demon complains ... what is so special about his forehead that it's so hard? HE JUMPED OFF A CLIFF. So the only way to kill a demon is to cut off its head and completely destroy it. Or have him burnt in the sun. Why are some of the graphics so crisp, like they should be in 4k, and others are so completely and utterly obviously animated?
- So Tangiro is put through a test to determine if he can be put into the demon corp. After getting to a hut at the base of the mountain, he is then taken through the forest and told he must make it back to the cabin on his own before morning. He must face thin air and numerous traps in the darkness. He makes it.
- Episode 3 - Sabito and Makomo
- We get to know a bit more about the demon corp, and we get to see more of his training in this episode. As the obstacles get harder and new elements get added, like using a sword. That's most of the episode, just him training and getting stronger. His final test? To cut a giant boulder into two. Where has Nezuko been this entire time, you may ask? Asleep. No idea why. They called a doctor and everything. During his time trying to cut the rock, Tajiro is visited by the ghosts of former students (although I don't think he realizes they are ghosts. But also, we don't technically learn that they are ghosts for quite some time; I just happen to know because this is a little bit of a rewatch for me.
- Episode 4 - Final Selection
- We get a brief review of our main character slicing through the boulder, and then we continue the story; we learn that the reason he cut through the boulder is because he could see the threads that connect everything, the thread that is the weak point. It is after this that we learn of the dead children and how the master did not want to lose another student, but he believes that Tanjiro is worthy and will continue to take care of his sister while he is at the Final Selection test. Also, he cuts his hair, THANK GOD. He looked off with his super-long hair. For the remainder of this episode, I would just suggest you picture the Hunger Games. They are all put into the arena and must take out a demon and survive for 7 days. They don't technically need to fight each other, just take out the demons, but they also end up fighting each other. We do get to see some of the different forms of breathing he has learned. Fourth form: striking tide. Second form: water wheel. And this is when Tangiro finally realizes that the kids were ghosts. First form: water surface slash.
- That gross demon boss he is facing has eaten all of the teacher's students and has built up some gross-looking arm tentacles that guard his neck, making it really hard to slice off his head.
- Episode 5 - My Own Steel
- He did it. Tanjiro destroys the demon, or at least his outer layer. We then get to see his inner form and how sad he was to become a demon. We see the humanity that he lost when he became a demon against his will. We also get to see all the dead students who can now pass on because the cycle has ended. It's funny that our main character got bloodied up exactly where the scar is on his head. Wonder what that symbolism could mean. The rest of the week seems to go by relatively easily for him, even though he is searching for a solution from the other demons on how he can turn his sister back.
- Out of 20 folks who went into the test, 4 of them survived. Only one girl. The yellow-robed guy has a lot of self-doubt, and the purple-robed man has a temper and really just wanted a sword. I don't think there was any reason he should have been accepted. Also, apparently there was a 5th survivor, but we only saw 4?
- Upon his return, Nezuko is awake.
- He gets his sword, and apparently, it changes color depending on the wielder, and they were hoping for red for some reason, and the sword turned pitch black, which is apparently pretty rare. Once he has gotten his sword, he gets a message from a crow with his first mission to help a nearby town where young girls are disappearing.
- Episode 6 - Swordsman Accompanying a Demon
- "I don't care if I'm destined for greatness", as he sets out to achieve greatness by turning his sister back... did his scar change shape? Eighth form: water fall basin. The demon split himself into three, and each form of him can think and speak, and act independently. Even the demons are confused as to why a human and a demon are working together. But you know what, that's fine, together they will obliterate them all.
- So the teacher guy used hypnosis on Nezuko and made her believe with her everything that all humans are her family and that if anyone tries to hurt any human, she should attack the demon because they are harming her family. This explains why she starts helping her brother fight.
- Episode 7 - Muzan Kibutsuji
- Our main character goes underground to fight the demons, and they think he is going to be slow, but he is even better down in their swamp. My issue is, if he is in their fake swamp, when he kills them, will he still be able to get out? Sixth form: whirlpool. He finally finds a demon who knows who he is talking about when he asks about the first demon, and the demon has been sworn to secrecy. As if he isn't going to die regardless, he should have just told him.
- Tanjiro immediately gets another quest from the crows to go to a nearby town for a demon, and it turns out he recognizes the scent; it's the first demon, the one who turned his sister. But he has a wife and a child, both of whom are human; this rattles Tanjiro, and the first demon then scratches a passing guy, who then immediately turns into a demon, and Tanjiro must stop him while the first demon guy gets away.
- Episode 8 - The Smell of Enchanting Blood
- While trying to restrain the freshly turned demon person, the first demon got away with his family; another demon, who seems to have quite a bit of experience, then comes to Tanjiro's aid and distracts the police, who do not seem to know what a demon is, and offers assistance because she also wants to get revenge on the first demon. She can use her blood to create hallucinations.
- The first demon assigns two under demons to attack the main character, and he identifies him by his earrings, what is the significance of the earrings? I assume a family heirloom, what's the power his family possessed that he didn't even realize? Nezuko and Tanjiro then follow the one assistant guy back to the doctor demon's secret hideaway.
- I thought only the first demon man could turn somebody into a demon? Oh, she is over 200 years old.
- The extra demons find our main characters in the hidden hospital using their blood skills to track the footsteps. They then destroy the hospital by bouncing a ball. Then the episode ends because why wouldn't there be a cliffhanger?
- Episode 9 - Temari Demon and Arrow Demon
- This episode is the fight between the first demon's minions and Tanjiro. They have some weird ball that acts like a boomerang. Seventh form: drop ripple thrust. We get our first telling of the 12 kubitsi whom the doctor lady wants blood samples from. Where does the demon girl hide her extra arms? She has six of them and six balls apparently too. Is that part of her blood skill? How do they get blood skills? Third form: flowing dance. I wonder what the medicine the doctor lady gives Nezuko has in it. Second form improved: lateral water wheel. Do you think all demon hunters have these types of moves? Do you think they can all modify their moves to face harder foes?
- Episode 10 - Together Forever
- Tanjiro looked like he had the guy demon taken care of, but then he wasn't, and he had to use all the water forms to escape. He broke his leg and a rib and decided to try and crawl his way to help the others. Meanwhile, Nezuko is playing soccer with the demon girl. xD. Oh dang, if they say the first demon guy's name, then they get ripped inside out by beast arms? At least they have her blood. If the demons were not part of the 12 Kiezuki, then why did they claim to be?
- How is it that our main character can see the original humans of the demons as they are dying?
- The doctor demon offers to take Nezuko with them a they move to keep her safe, but Nezuko doesn't want to be separated from her brother, and neither does he.
- As Nezuko and Tanjiro are leaving, they get their next assignment, and they also come across one of the guys from the "Final Selection" begging some random girl along the path to marry him.
- Episode 11 - Tsuzumi Mansion
- We literally just watch the two demon slayers walk along a path together. That is, until they get their combined assignment, and then we are watching them walk to that together. When they finally come across the house with the demon that they are meant to take care of, there are 2 little kids sitting outside. The two demon hunters then go into the house, and the kids follow them in. As they are moving around within the house, the rooms shift, the rooms change to other rooms, and there's a man with a hog mask on. It's just a lot of chaos.
- Episode 12 - The Boar Bares Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps
- We watch as Tanjiru starts to pick up on the patterns of the shifting rooms and as the yellow kimono man continues to be a coward. We also see a little bit more of the hog mask man and his ruined swords that he seems to love because they "cut flesh". Is this the kid who we didn't see but also finished the final test? So yellow kimono man finally stepped up and embodied his actual demon hunter-ness. What changed? Besides his voice, I mean. He uses thunder breathing. The hog, in comparison, uses beast breathing. As it turns out, one of the demons in the house was at one point one of the 12 kusekis, but then he was removed, and the first demon guy put a giant 'X' in his eye over his number.
- Episode 13 - Something More Important Than Life
- We get to see our main character conquer yet another demon as he still cares about humanity and respects the creations of the demon, including his storytelling. In this episode, we also get a very short look into how the yellow kimono man knew that Tanjiro had a demon with him the entire time, and yet he still opted to be beaten near death by the boar head demon hunter to protect it because he knew it was important to his friend.
- Episode 14 - The House With the Wisteria Family Crest
- In this episode, we watch as the kids get a chance to go home, and our demon slayer heroes get a chance to relax. It's weird that after sending our main character to place after place after place, fighting demons, and then suddenly the crow tells them that they can relax and heal up.
- Episode 15 - Mount Natagumo
- The group is fully healed now, and the boar-headed man seems to be chill with the demon sister now. Also, the three of them are all getting sent out on a mission together. On this quest, they come across another demon slayer who is stuck to demon threads in a forest. This mission they were sent on was first given to 10 others who had pretty much all failed. Our mains should definitely get a level up at this point because like tf you mean they are still basics?
- Didn't the doctor demon lady say that the demons aren't allowed to group up? How do we keep having family units and multiples and all that jazz?
- Episode 16 - Letting Someone Else Go First
- This episode shows the boar head guy and our main work to decipher how literal strings were attached to the demon slayers, controlling their every move and causing them to attack one another, even though it is against their code. Eventually, they get the hang of it though, and they find a way to save their friends by throwing them up over branches to dangle and wait. Except not actually, because the spider lady just gave up on them and killed them all instead. And then she kind of just gave up on living, and that left a big opening for our mains to win the war. Fifth form: blessed water after the drought.
- Episode 17 - You Must Master a Single Thing
- It looks like our yellow kimono demon slayer found the other demon that was here and needs to be taken care of. This spider demon is like an actual spider though, rather than mostly human, like the lady Tanjiro took care of. How did he not feel a spider bite him? The amount the poison has messed up his hand feels like he should've felt something.
- We got a flashback to when blondie wasn't blonde... why is he blonde now? ... Oh, he was struck by lightning. So his sleep unlocks his abilities. His single ability. We get a lot of looks into his own training and how he was taught that it's okay to cry and be scared, but to always know you are capable of doing stuff on your own, and that it is okay to only have one skill, so long as you are a master in that skill.
- Episode 18 - A Forged Bond
- They finally send in some of the higher demon lsayer corp people as they are just about finished taking out the entire spider demon family... how helpful. Also, the characters are Naruto running... why do we call it Naruto running if so many animes use it?
- Spider brother is killing his own sister. Wait, they get money for killing demons? I knew it was their job, but I didn't realize it was a paying job. There are so many spider siblings, more than I realized. And the way in which they are some mostly human and others mostly spider is really confusing to me.
- HE BROKE HIS SWORD
- Episode 19 - Hinokami
- The yellow kimono man slowed his breathing, which stopped him from turning into a spider long enough to receive the antidote.
- Nezuko came out of her box to save her brother, and now the spider guy wants to take her as his own little sister.
- Tanjiro starts to remember the sun technique.
- Episode 20 - Pretend Family
- So we thought that using the remembered sun technique killed the spider brother, but it was a rogue. The spider demon cut his own head off. Spider guy made his own family by turning the people into demons and saving them.
- We just keep getting more info about their fake family. Honestly, it's kind of boring and repetitive at this point. Just kill them already. Who cares if he wanted a fake family?
- Episode 21 - Against Corps Rules
- ...This is the backstory of the spider demon man... for what? Also, what happened to him getting blood samples?
- Just as they are going to kill Nezuko, the crows come with a message that Tanjiro and Nezuko are meant to be brought to HQ alive.
- Episode 22 - Master of the Mansion
- They want to put Tanjiro on trial. The highest-level demon slayer person comes out and states that Tanjiro and Nezuko are sanctioned in all their work, that she is helping to take out the other demons.
- Episode 23 - Hashira Meeting
- This felt like a filler episode where they just discussed how they felt the other demon slayers were weak and not useful in any regard, except for Tanjiro, whom they can use to lure out the 12 kanjiro or whatever they are called.
- Episode 24 - Rehabilitation Training
- All three of the guys have to go through rehabilitation to work on their muscles, and it's the blondie who gets the other two guys to actually start mastering stuff. But then the blondie and the boar head quit on the final task. It's only Tanjiro who keeps at it, and he eventually finds out that the secret is he needs to be able to use total breathing all day, every day in order to be a master.
- The butterfly lady wants to befriend demons.
- I feel like the graphics of the show just get more basic and childish in style the longer the show continues.
- Episode 25 - Tsuguko, Kanao Tsuyuri
- This one just seems to be them learning to do the total breathing 24/7.
- Episode 26 - New Mission
- The first demon person is a shape-shifter? He sounds male still, but looks female now. Also, he killed off a bunch of his demon minions.
- How have they never seen or heard of a train, but they have them in this world? Well, here starts their next mission, I guess. As well as the end of the first season, the longest season.
