It’s another stellar episode of Demon Slayer action as things go from bad to worse for Tanjiro and the crew. Unlike a lot of the more action-heavy episodes, this week’s actually does a decent job of providing some character development at the same time.
During the opening minutes, we get some vital backstory on Uzui and his wives, providing a window of insight into why they joined up with the Demon Slayer Corps, and it’s a surprisingly poignant and tragic twist. Hoping to make amends for all the people they killed as Shinobi, the quartet felt that doing good as Demon Slayers would at least redeem them in some way. This helps add some interesting dimensions to characters that, otherwise, felt fairly one-note.
The real stars of the show this time around, however, are Inosuke and Zenitsu, who finally get their time to shine. Even though he has to be asleep to do it, we’re starting to see some of the “cooler” side of Zenitsu.
While the first season of the anime paints him as that typical loud and whiny archetype, fans of the manga will know there’s a bit more to Zenitsu than that. It’s great to see the anime give Zenitsu even more of an active role. The same goes for Inosuke, who uses a delightfully ridiculous move to finish off Daki. It seriously could be the highlight of the entire season so far. As you’ve probably come to expect from Demon Slayer, of course, the fight’s not quite over.
“Defeating an Upper Rank Demon” doesn’t quite hit the thematic heights that some of the earlier episodes do, but it comes incredibly close. Now we just need to hope that the finale can properly deliver on everything the Entertainment District Arc has been building.
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.
