Anime Review - Demon Slayer - Season 5 - Hashira Training Arc

 

 (insert review here when finished)

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***

• Episode 1 - To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji
• The season starts with a group of the Hashira at an old abandoned castle, taking on multiple demons. Is this the Infinity Castle from the human realm? IT IS IT IS! WHEN THEY FELL INSIDE IT, THEY COULD SEE ALL THE DEMONS INSIDE. They don't seem to be thrown off by it though, not as much as I would be though. 
• How do the demon slayers know that the first demon is going to want to come and kidnap Nezuko? I don't remember them learning that that was his motive. 
• I wonder what Tanjiro's rank is now? They all keep mentioning that they took out two higher ranks in one night. 
• The Hashira have a meeting and discuss what has happened recently. The head demon slayer guy can not appear in front of them again, is he dead then or just about? They discuss the fact that Nezuko has conquered the sun and that the first demon guy will be trying to get her. They then address the marks the Demon Slayer people got while in the swordsmith village; apparently, they had never gotten them before? How come Tanjiro has been getting on from the beginning then? OH. THEY GET THEIR MARKS BECAUSE TANJIRO GETS HIS AND THEY ARE CONNECTING WITH HIM. I don't know if Pinkie Pies explanation is much better than Tanjiro's on why the mark appeared. So the Hashira are then tasked with learning to manifest the mark like the first two have done but they were informed that everyone who manages to manifest the mark will .... and then silence. I assume that is meant to be that they will die but who can really know? 
• The swordsmith brings Tanjiro his special sword back. Yellow kimono kid and boar head come back as well. Everyone starts to prepare for Hashira training, even the Hashira who have their own training to tackle. 
• Tanjiro gets a letter from the master about the one Hashira not participating in training. 
• Apparently, the master sent a crow to find the Doctor Demon. This is the crow meeting her and trying to plea his case to make a connection with her like Tanjiro. He asks her to join the Demon Slayers and continue her research in conjunction with the butterfly master to study Nezuko and what the properties of her blood truly mean.
• Episode 2 - Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka's Pain
• I wonder if the first demon and the head demon slayer guy are connected somehow. 
• Tanjiro goes to meet up with the master who is stuck in his own head. I almost forgot that this is the same demon slayer who saved him at the beginning of the series. He seems upset that Tanjiro didn't get as "good" as him to take over his role. We start to get some insight into his background and why he feels as though he is not worthy. He claims his friend is the only reason any of them survived, and unfortunately, his friend died. Half of his kimono robe is actually that of his friend's. 
• We already kind of knew Butterfly Master wasn't going to do the training because she is going to be doing research with the demon doctor lady, but what do you think the significance is of her sister's killer?
• Episode 3 - Fully Recovered Tanjiro Joins the Hashira Training
• We watch as Tanjiro starts tackling tasks like hurtling over logs, running with folks on your back, eating too much food, etc. He even talks about fighting a top 12 with the other demon hunters doing the training, and it kind of scares them off from wanting to train because he is already so much more powerful than they are and is training to do better. 
• The first training session was about stamina and was conducted with the retired jewel band master guy.
• Episode 4 - To Bring a Smile to One's Face
• In this second section of training, we work with the seaweed hair guy to improve swordsmanship. We also find out that one of the swordsmen has been invited to stay at the demon slayer temple to keep the blades sharp enough to cut through paper without any effort. 
• The Hashira are training new members during the day and themselves during the nighttime. The Snake and White Hair Hashira are also very excited to be able to train Tanjiro and put him in his place because they don't think he is stronger than them. 
• Tanjiro is getting to move on to the next Hashira. Where are the yellow kimono and the boar head guy?
• Such a cute little break with the paper airplane duel.
• Episode 5 - I Even Ate Demons
• So I guess the third training session is with Pinkie Pie? She put them into leotards and is having them do gymnastics to become more limber.
• Wait, Pinkie Pie training is over before we even get to see anything? Now he is moving on to the snake guy. He literally tied up the other trainees and is having Tanjiro hit the targets while avoiding the tied-up trainees. 
• Once Tanjiro was able to imagine it as actual fighting instead of just training in the hut, he was able to master whatever skill Snake Man was trying to teach him. We then move on to the next one and finally run into the yellow kimono boy. Our next training session is with the white hair master. 
• So, apparently, Kenya (the demon kid) is related to the white hair master and doesn't have the ability to use any techniques. Wait, why is it such a big deal to eat demons? He did it to survive. Is that how he turned demon, by eating the demon flesh? 
• Tanjiro got banned from training under the Wind Hashira. xD
• Now they are headed to the stone Hashira, which is apparently the guy with permanent tears.
• Episode 6 - The Strongest of the Demon Slayer Corps
• While training with the stone Hashira, they had to endure the freezing temperatures (they would use the rocks to warm their bodies back up), and then once they could sit under the water for 2 hours without collapsing, they moved on to the log task. It was after that when Tanjiro moved on to moving a giant boulder, that a number of the trainees decided to leave and accept that they are also just meant to be support slayers instead of Hashira slayers.
• So the lesson throughout all of these smaller sessions is that repetitive actions can make the actions easier to endure? They chant for their repetitive technique. 
• Tanjiro finally moved the boulder!
• Episode 7 - Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima
• Why doesn't the stone Hashira have pupils? I noticed it before, but I didn't want to question it because I assumed it was a recent thing...
• We got a back story for the rock Hashira, and he was originally an orphanage director and he ended up in the corp because he was going to be executed in prison after a child whom he had saved mistakenly said that he had been the one to kill all the other orphans, when in actuality, it was a matter of a demon coming around.
• I thought the Mohawk demon kid had moved his boulder? Why did he just say he hasn't? Also, poor yellow kimono kid hasn't moved his either. Yellow kimono kid got a letter? Where is he being sent off to? 
• Tanjiro went off by himself to the next training session, off to the guy who originally saved him. The wind Hashira is there though, and I thought he wasn't allowed to be near him. Is Tanjiro going to end up being the only one to actually become a Hashira? How is he only just now picking up on the fact that they were sparring and using wooden swords rather than actually fighting? 
• Demons have officially found the Hashira training grounds. I also just realized that the doctor demon lady never showed up to do the research with the butterfly girl. We also did not get to hear the story of how her sister was killed by a demon. 
• Episode 8 - The Hashira Unit
• The first demon has found them; he is coming for the head Hashira. The head Hashira really does look like he is dead. Maybe he should do like Nezuko and become a demon and then burn in the sun to become stronger. Wait, what do you mean the head Hashira and the first demon are related? Aww, he is sick because the demon exists in his bloodline? I guess Nezuko ruins Tanjiro's chances then. Same with the yellow kimono boy having kids. 
• This is a really long dialogue between the head Hashira and the first demon... DUDE. I THOUGHT THAT EXPLOSION WAS CAUSED BY THE DEMON! YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME THE HEAD HASHIRA SACRIFICED HIS OWN WIFE AND KIDS TO TRY AND TAKE OUT THE DEMON?!? That's wild. 
• THE DOCTOR! Why did they keep all this a secret from us?? This is wild. WAIT! She got the cure to turn him human?? IS IT GOING TO WORK?!? Oh baby! I doubt it will work, but it would be crazy regardless. AND NOW THE STONE HASHIRA IS INVOLVED?!? BRUH THEY DID SO MUCH PLOTTING AND WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE ANY OF IT!!
• So they need to keep the first demon busy long enough that he will burn in the sunlight because cutting his head off doesn't kill him. All of the Hashira are gathered to help. They aren't going to kill him though. What else would the movie be about if they managed to kill him? We watch as all of the demon slayer corps are dropped into the infinity castle by the drum changing thingy. 

Anime Review - Demon Slayer - Season 4 - Swordsmith Village Arc

 

 (insert review here when finished)

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***

• Episode 1 - Someone's Dream
• We are getting our first glimpse of the infinity castle and what it means for the demons. Apparently, they all get summoned to the infinity castle when a member of the top 12 is killed. We obviously also get to see all the demon lords who remain including a psychic demon, the lined face demon, a demon with splatter on him (supposedly number 1?), a demon who plays a guitar... the actual number 1 demon who LOOKS LIKE TANJIRO'S FATHER, and then of course the first demon who is not part of the top 12. 
• When the heck did the first demon guy rip the head off the psychic demon? Why did he? Because his intel is unconfirmed? What was his intel? Oh, jeez, all the demons are starting to fight amongst one another.
• Okay, so like his father is a carbon copy of him literally, but who the heck is this demon man who is also a similar look to him, and honestly has more in common. But also, that father figure is not who we saw doing the dances. 
• We are getting dialogue from one of the cleanup guys xD
• Butterfly girl feels bad because the guys went in her place, but can you imagine her trying to fight those high-ranking demons? 
• We are getting another montage of the recovery process for Tanjiro.
• Tanjiro can't get another sword. But he can go visit the swordsmith village, so this entire season is going to be him visiting? Wow. The village location is meant to stay secret, so a guide must carry Tanjiro there with all of his senses blocked. And he is swapped from guide to guide, so none of them know either. Something tells me he will still figure out where the village actually is. 
• One of the other Hashira people is in the Swordsman Village. I wonder if that one had to be carried there as well. 
• Imagine if his swordsman knew he called him cute lol.
• Pinkie Pie is a very airheaded bobble-head type of personality, and I do not like it. 
• There's another Hashira there. Why are they all here? Is this near their headquarters? 
• The red-haired mystery man shows up again. At this point, I am convinced there are like 5 different versions of him, and each one has a different reason for existing.
• Episode 2 - Yoriichi Type Zero
• OH! The red-haired mystery man in this case was not a man at all! It is a bot that was made to replicate a real person. The Hashira guy finished and broke off one of the arms. Meanwhile, Tanjiro is cheering up the little swordsman kid, and that kid has decided that Tanjiro must train with the robot now to become better than the other Hashiro guy.
• Tanjiro trains with the robot for many days, many days without food or water, and he eventually unlocks a new sense of smell, which he uses to finally land a very weak blow. He then manages to get a real blow and chop off its head, unveiling a 300-year-old sword inside the robot.
• Episode 3 - A Sword from Over 300 Years Ago
• They open the sword, and it's rusty. But then his sword master guy comes out of the forest to fix it. He gives Tanjiro a temporary one in the meantime. 
• Awwwwww, Tanjiro is braiding Nezuko's hair to look like the pinkie pie Hashira <3
• How the heck did one of the demon guys get to the swordman village?!? Tanjiro needs to take them out ASAP. Wait, the second demon split into two, so now there are three demons present? It split and multiplied again! How many are there?!? 
• I think Tanjiro got to the Hashira guy; he was discussing how his focus is the town elder first and foremost, but he still stopped to help save the little kid swordsman from a fish demon.
• Episode 4 - Thank You, Tokito
• Is that why he is generally emotionless? Because he can't remember his memories? 
• Why does the demon seem to care about how the Mohawk kid dies and if he is feeling pain? 
• Nezuko really likes to use her blood to burn the demons. Is it weird that the one demon slayer guy has a gun for his weapon of choice? I honestly didn't even think that guns existed in this world. Why don't they have some of the demon slayers stay in the village to protect it? Did they really think something like this would never happen?
• Episode 5 - Bright Red Sword
• What do the demons want with the 300-year-old sword? Is it the sword that the original, real red guy, the robot is based on, used when he was alive and not a demon? The frig is up with her wavey sword? And how is love breathing a thing?? Swords can just grow like that?
• Does this psychic demon like to create things? Is that why he lives in a pot? Also, I still wonder why he has little baby arms. Why did the other guy's sword turn red? The old demon slayer did it himself, not with the help of Nezuko, as one would think. But also, is his blade actually red or just on fire? His scar changed again? Now it's a flame like the other demon slayer guy from before, the one that supposedly isn't his dad but is totally his dad. ...His scar changed back... I don't understand.
• Kenya turned evil?
• Episode 6 - Aren't You Going To Become A Hashira?
• Does Mohawk Demon Slayer not realize he is a demon? 
• So Tanjiro was correct, there was a fifth demon, not the fifth one I mentioned before, more like a sixth one. This guy is connected to the 4 that are senses. And the other demon slayer guy, who became a demon himself, retained his humanity and is helping try to kill him. Why did his sword break trying to slice the little tiny demon? We get more of his backstory and why he comes off so cruel. Rough childhood, just like all the others. Kind of a common theme in this series. 
• How am I only just now realizing that Tanjiro's blade is legitimately red and not just the flames?
• Episode 7 - Awful Villain
• Did the little demon become a full-size demon? This big demon has the power of 5 others? He is gonna be a tough one to take out. Wait, did the demon just call them villains? Aww, the Hashira guy can't break out of the water vase prison. DON'T GIVE UP SEAWEED HAIR! Tanjiro really impacts all the lives he touches. Even the seaweed-haired man is dreaming of him as he gives up and accepts death. 
• We got a face reveal of the sword man!
• Aww, the kid swordsman died, but not before giving his last breath to the Hashira seaweed hair man
• Episode 8 - The Mu in Muichiro
• We get to learn more about the seaweed-haired Hashira and his heritage. His father was a wood gatherer, for instance. His mother died of an illness. You would think their medicine would be more advanced with as many people as they have dying, but I guess not. And his dad died getting herbs for her. Oof. Orphan status. HE HAD A TWIN?! One of them is stone cold, and the other is like Tanjiro. They got attacked by a demon, and he hulked out to kill the demon and save his brother, but he was too late to save his brother, unfortunately.
• We snap back to current events, and he has patterns that form on his face for the mist breathing. Do the patterns forming signify mastery of the skill? 
• Okay, I am lost now. Is he the brother who went Hulk, and his brother is talking to him, or is he the one who lost his arm? He has to be the Hulk one, but the dialogue there confused me.
• Episode 9 - Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito
• Is the psychic pot demon supposed to look different? 
• We get a flash to seaweed hair Hashira almost dying back when that demon attacked him and his brother, but the white haired lady came and saved him. He made it his mission to train and be the best demon slayer ever. Ooooooo, his mist-breathing form lets him create illusions of where he is. Man, he is strong strong. Maybe even stronger than the fire Hashira and the jewel band Hashira. He is crazy strong AND HE JUST DICED THAT DEMON'S HEAD IN THE AIR. 
• Dude, when did the demon Tanjiro was fighting turn into a dragon? More precisely, 5 dragons... I don't remember that in the previous episode. Tanjiro got eaten by the dragon. Time to pull a hercules and cut it from the inside. Or have Pinkie Pie do it, that works too, 
• Episode 10 - Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanjori
• We get some background on Pinkie Pie in this episode. Her betrothed declines her because of her weird hair color. Oh, also, apparently, she did not always have pink hair; it was originally black. They don't actually tell us why it changed though. Aww, she is hiding her true self so that she can marry somebody. She dyed her hair and forced herself to eat less and pretend to be weak. It's very sad. I want to know what made her decide to give up on hiding herself after all. Aww, snake master has a crush on her and got her stockings as a gift. In the current time, she uses her crazy long blade to keep the wooden dragons away while the other three run to get to the main body to kill it. She has her own version of the marks the others got on their faces; hers is on her clavicle. The demon guy called it a demon crest though. Does it give them extra strength like a demon? 
• A clip after the credits for the episode hinted that the reason her hair changed was that she ate so many sakura rice cakes.
• Episode 11 - A Connected Bond: Daybreak and First Light
• Aww, he's thinking of his friends who aren't there to help him and the advice they gave him. That's cute. Why is it so hard to cut through a tiny demon? HE GREW. Teamwork makes the dream work guys. Good job. 
• Dude, you not only ate demon flesh, but you are a demon? Aren't you? 
• Why is the sun taking so long to come up?
• Tanjiro got a special sword to finish cutting off the demon's head. Did he not finish cutting off the demon's head? No, he did, but it isn't dead. Nezuko was trying to tell him and risked her own life to help save others. She starts to burn in the sunlight. Tanjiro starts to shade her to try and stop the burning.
• Oh, I guess Kenya isn't a demon... why did he look like a demon then? 
• Nezuko makes the decision for Tanjiro when he can't decide to save her or the swordsmiths, and she kicks him toward the demon. We get a flash of everything they have been through while she lies there burning to death in the sun. Glad their whole journey was for nothing...(I actually had this bit spoiled for me, I knew that it was just burning off her demon portion and that she lives, but it's still a sad moment.) 
• How come Nezuko is burning really slowly as a half-demon, but the full demons are burning even slower? Is it because they are the top 12?
• Oh, little demon didn't get bigger; he just shielded himself with another demon. Rude.
• We get the flash of the demon's origins, seemed like he was a bad person in real life too, so I feel no remorse for him like the others. 
• I love how he tries to tell us she was turned to ash in the sun without even running to where she fell. Like bruh. You had the wrong reaction.
• Wow. Not them flashing us back to Pinkie Pie as she is about to get eaten by the dragon, and she is literally in its mouth when it disintegrates. 
• The first demon guy made the comment that they finally found somebody who could stand in the sun. Does that mean Nezuko is still a demon? That would explain why she still has some demon features, like the sharp teeth and the weird eyes. So what burned off her then if not all the demon aspects? Can she still Hulk out and get the flower tattoos?
• So our first demon was human and was too weak to survive, so a doctor made him a medicine that restored his health, but turned him into a demon that eats human flesh and burns in the sun. It's bold of him to assume that consuming the other of his kind that can walk in the sun will give him the powers.
• Nezuko still seems to retain the childlike qualities she had when she became a demon. Her original human form was definitely a lot more mature then she is now. 
• WE GET TO SEE THE DOCTOR AGAIN. They should go update her on that Nezuko can go out in the sun now. ...Especially since she just predicted it...
• Are they really still going to keep her in the box even though she can be out in the sun?