Before you know it, we’re back into very familiar territory. We’re now in the throws of the events of the movie and this second episode wastes no time in really getting things into motion. I mean, things were already in locomotion, but the story… that’s what I’m getting at.
Our trio of Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke meet Rengoku aboard the Mugan Train, who is enthusiastically eating his bento from the previous episode while continuously and loudly announcing how delicious it is every few moments. All while staring off into the middle distance. He’s a weird guy, but a loveable one.
Like I pointed out in the last part; while this is a fun introduction to Rengoku in the movie, it leaves him a little shallow for the events that are about to transpire. That previous episode did so much good to show us who is he and what he’s about so that this meeting of him being weird can come off as funny, rather than just being weird.
Also, might I add, there’s something so wholesome to me about how excited Inosuke gets about being on this train. I’m so used to him being the angry and shouty guy, seeing him so happy about something so childlike is really cute. I guess I can see why some of the people I follow on twitter have a weird obsession with him now.
Upon meeting, and commenting on Rengoku’s strange habit of just staring off into space when he’s talking to someone, Tanjiro gets right to the point and asks about his father’s fire dance he manifested during his battle with Rui in the spider forest. A quest that seems to have fallen flat on its face at the very first hurdle. Rengoku excitedly announces he’s never heard of any “Hinokami Kagura” fire dance. Instead he just offers to take Tanjiro on as an apprentice and teach him Flame Breathing.
It occurs to me that we’ve never really seen anyone talk about swordsmen using multiple breathing styles simultaneously before. I even hesitate to call what Tanjiro did in the forest a breathing style as its always described as a dance in the show itself. We learn that all breathing styles are derived from the four basic elements of Stone, Water, Wind and Fire (also Thunder) and that all other styles are derived from those.
Rengoku also states that Tanjiro doesn’t know what style he wants to master. That’s kind of news to me, I was under the impression he has become a pretty fine practitioner of the Water Breathing Style. During this conversation, a very tired looking train conductor shows up and starts stamping tickets. At which point I realise that Tanjiro never bought a ticket for Nezuko total criminal! Although I think that ends up becoming a plot point, it’s been a while since I saw the movie.
Anyway, with their tickets stamped, the demon’s plan is in action and the slayers all fall into a deep sleep. A revelation we don’t get until after a cool as hell action sequence where we see Rengoku dispatch two demons aboard the train in his dream. I can’t get over how good the action sequences in this show are.
Thus we’re introduced to Enmu; the final remaining of the lower twelve demons after Muzan’s culling of them during the finale of the first season. A twisted individual who seems to be in a constant state of ecstatic bliss. While he doesn’t seem to be the most powerful demon on his own, he appears to be a master manipulator in a class all his own. He has gathered desperate, insomniac humans and bribes them into doing his bidding in return for putting them to sleep and letting their escape into their dreams.
It doesn’t sound like the worst way to go to be honest. I mean, if you absolutely had to go. There’s almost a kindness to it, that being said. I also wouldn’t be surprised at all if Enmu is the cause of their insomnia and desperation in the first place. He’s just a massive creep anyway, so on second thought I want nothing to do with him.
Of the sleeping characters we only really get a real insight into Tanjiro; with him being reunited with his family that was taken from him at the very beginning of the series. It’s a super emotional moment for him, one I feel the show really sells. Tanjiro is such a pure, good soul and that I really do feel happy for him in these moments, even if it may be a lie.
One thing I wonder about is if the series is going to give a little more insight into the dream of Zenitsu and Inosuke, or if they’re just going to remain comic relief. We all know what Tanjiro is about, and I remember we get a look into Rengoku’s past through his dreams and his problems with his father; the previous Flame Hashira.
From what I could tell, there was basically no original content in this episode compared to the movie. I’m just going to keep my eyes peeled at all times to see if I can spot anything new over the coming weeks.
Yeah baby, Demon Slayer is back! Roll on the Wednesday reviews again!
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 