Demon Slayer‘s Mugen Train Arc comes to a close with “Set Your Heart Ablaze,” and boy what an ending it is. Rengoku’s battle with Akaza comes to a bombastic end, and while there’s still nothing substantially new in this TV version, it makes sense.
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The end of the Mugen Train film managed to strike a phenomenal balance between action and emotion and makes the end of Rengoku all the more poignant. There’s a legitimate tension in the final episode’s action scenes, as Rengoku and Akaza use their sheer strength to grapple against each other; no special moves, no crazy attacks, just gritty strength. One of the things I find so interesting about Mugen Train is how melancholic its ending is.
Rengoku and the others successfully keep the demons from killing anyone, but it results in the death of one of the strongest Hashira of the Demon Slayer core. The final scenes even show Tanjiro and his friends wracked by despair. Tanjiro grapples with how “useless” he feels, and there’s no resolution that proves him wrong. I have to respect Mugen Train for putting such a bleak ending in, even while Rengoku provides the party with words of encouragement.
The best sequence of the entire episode is when it shows all the other Hashira learning about Rengokus death. It’s fascinating to see each one react in their own way; from the passive acceptance of Giyu Tomioka, to the sincere shock of Mitsuri Kanroji As Demon Slayer heads into its second season we’ll start seeing more of each of the other Hashira, and it’s great to see a little bit of their respective personalities come out.
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As a finale episode “Set Your Heart Ablaze” works impeccably well. The ending was already great in the film version, but now it feels like a proper finale.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
Disclosure: The critic watched the episode on Funimation for ComingSoon’s Demon Slayer Mugen Train Arc Episode 7 – Set Your Heart Ablaze review.
