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If you want a one-stop shop for everything that happened during the Swordsmith Village arc, look no further and get yourself caught up.
Episode 1: Someone’s Dream
The first episode boasted an impressive length of nearly fifty minutes, so we have plenty of content to break down. The episode opened in Infinity Castle, which acts as a sort of HQ for Muzan and the demons. Upper-Rank Three, Akaza, is one of the first to arrive after Muzan, the demon king, summons them for a meeting. He has a quarrel with Upper-Rank Two, Doma, after the latter wouldn’t take his hand off Akaza’s shoulder. Muzan expresses his anger towards his demons for being unable to find the Blue Spider Lily after all this time, and for being unable to wipe out the Ubayashiki family. Muzan then dispatches Upper-Rank Four and Five, Hantengu and Gyokko, to the Swordsmith Village.
We get a look at a short flashback scene to the past, where Sumiyoshi Kamado (Tanjiro’s ancestor) is speaking with Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Sumiyoshi tells him that he will pass down his name to posterity, but Yoriichi responds that there is no need to do such a thing, as his name is worthless due to his failure to protect those around him. We then cut back to the future as Tanjiro awakens at Butterfly Mansion.
Tanjiro heads out the front of Butterfly Mansion after some recovery time from his previous battle (against Gyutaro and Daki). He meets a guide who has been sent to take him on his next mission to the Swordsmith Village. After being passed from guide to guide to ensure no one knows where the village is located, Tanjiro arrives and removes his blindfold to see a bustling village full of swordsmiths. It is then revealed that the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, is also currently at the Swordsmith Village. Tanjiro meets her and they catch up before parting ways, Mitsuri then leaves the village. Genya is also in the village and Tanjiro bathes in the hot springs with him.
The episode closes out with Tanjiro spying on a mysterious but familiar-looking boy arguing with a young swordsmith.
Episode 2: Yoriichi Type Zero
As it turns out, the boy looked familiar because he’s a Hashira. More specifically the Mist Hashira – Muichiro Tokito. Tanjiro arrives to help the young swordsmith out and it turns out that Muichiro wants the swordsmith to give him the key to a strange box that stands behind them. The young swordsmith refuses, and Tanjiro gets up in Muichiro’s face – telling him to stop being so harsh. Muichiro tells Tanjiro to shut up and knocks him out cold. It is also implied that Muichiro has trouble with his memory.
When he awakes, Tanjiro is told that there’s a doll in the box that is modeled after a swordsman from 300 years ago. The doll is called Yoriichi Type Zero, and Muichiro is currently training against it. The young swordsmith tells Tanjiro that his name is Kotetsu and that his ancestors built the Yoriichi Type Zero. He becomes angry at his own inability and Tanjiro cheers him up.
Once Muichiro leaves, Tanjiro trains against the Yoriichi Type Zero and manages to take off its head using a sword that Kotetsu gave him. Protruding from where the head was is a sword stuffed inside the doll. Tanjiro and Kotetsu exclaim that this sword must be from at least 300 years ago.
Episode 3: A Sword From 300 Years Ago
Haganezuka arrives and steals the sword away from Tanjiro so he can perfect it. Meanwhile, the demons are closing in on the Swordsmith Village. Tanjiro talks with Genya for a while before the scene cuts and we see Tanjiro sitting with Muichiro and talking while Nezuko sleeps. As they talk, Hantengu crawls into the room and Muichiro quickly reacts by launching an attack. Hantangu dodges, and Tanjiro joins the fight by using Hinokami Kagura.
Hantengu creates his four clones – Sekido, Aizetsu, Karaku, and Urogi. The battle ensues against them and Muichiro is blown away into the forest. This leaves Tanjiro and Nezuko against Sekido and Karaku. Genya joins the battle and begins to battle against Aizetsu. Urogi uses his flying capabilities to snatch Tanjiro from the battle and take him to the skies. Before he is taken from the battle, Tanjiro instructs Nezuko to help Genya in their fight.
Episode 4: Thank You, Tokito
Muichiro lands in the forest after being blown away and finds young Kotetsu being cornered by a fish-lookalike demon. He saves Kotetsu and kills the demon. Elsewhere, Urogi puts Tanjiro down and the two of them begin their one-on-one fight. Tanjiro lands attacks but also takes damage from Urogi’s claws. Tanjiro makes his way back over to Nezuko and Genya while fighting Urogi.
The demon slayers are overpowered by the demons. Tanjiro and Nezuko are beaten to a pulp and left lifeless on the floor.
Episode 5: Bright Red Sword
While attempting to lead Kotetsu to safety, Muichiro encounters the Upper-Rank Five demon, Gyokko, in the forest. Gyokko immediately starts hurling insults at Muichiro as an attempt to irritate him. Muichiro begins his fight against him, but gets trapped in a ball of water that Gyokko created.
We cut to the Swordsmith Village itself, which is under attack by demons. Mitsuri arrives and saves the village chief from a demon by using her love breathing.
Back at the main battle, Tanjiro gets back up to fight some more. He uses Hinokami Kagura and decapitates three out of the four Hantengu clones. The fourth clone, Aizetsu, has had his head eaten by none other than Genya. After doing this, Genya’s appearance is similar to a demon’s – frothing at the mouth and black, evil looking eyes.
Episode 6: Aren’t You Going To Become A Hashira?
This episode focuses mainly on Genya’s past. Genya’s older brother is Sanemi, the current Wind Hashira, who is known for his aggressive nature. In the past, Genya and Sanemi lived together with their parents and many siblings. Their father was abusive towards all of them, and was killed by someone from his past who he angered. Genya and Sanemi swore to protect their mother and siblings from harm now that their evil father was out of the question.
A demon struck late at night, killing all of Genya’s siblings and almost killing him. Sanemi tackled the demon out of the window and saved Genya’s life. When Genya caught up with Sanemi, it turned out that Sanemi had killed the demon but sustained injuries. The problem was – the demon was their mother. The only family that Genya and Sanemi now have left are each other.
Cut back to the present, Tanjiro yells at Genya and tells him to keep control of himself. It takes a while, but Genya begins to tear up at Tanjiro’s words.
Episode 7: Awful Villain
In this episode, Hantengu calls all of his four clones to merge into one being, a being named Zohakuten. The demon takes the form of a child but possesses incredible strength. Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya give it their best shot to defeat him but he is too strong.
Meanwhile, Muichiro is still locked in battle against Gyokko. He is stuck inside a water ball and struggles to get out. Inside a nearby shed, Haganezuka is hammering away at the 300 year old sword that he is getting ready for Tanjiro. Gyokko notices him, and begins ruthlessly attacking him from behind. Muichiro recalls words that he thinks Tanjiro once said to him. His memory corrects itself, and he remembers the person who said such words to him – his father. He breaks out of the water ball and confronts Gyokko again.
Episode 8: The Mu In Muichiro
This episode gives us an insight into Muichiro’s past. Muichiro had an identical, twin older brother named Yuichiro. After their father died attempting to get medicine for their sick mother, Yuichiro began to despise him for dying. Muichiro, the kinder brother, couldn’t understand this. Soon after, their mother succumbed to her illness and passed, leaving Muichiro and Yuichiro alone together.
A demon attacks their home, and Yuichiro is injured badly. Muichiro goes on an uncharacteristic, violent rampage, killing the demon. When he returns to the house, Yuichiro has lost too much blood and dies, his final words being a prayer to God to save his brother Muichiro.
Cut back to the present, now that Muichiro has regained his memories, he can attack Gyokko freely without restraints. He slices off one of Gyokko’s arms easily, and Gyokko notices a shift in ability coming from Muichiro.
Episode 9: Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito
Feeling confident after regaining his memories, Muichiro calmly and precisely attacks Gyokko with his mist attacks. Many connect, but one clean slice decapitates Gyokko, and puts him down for good. Gyokko’s body disintrgrates and Muichiro takes a breather after the tough battle.
Elsewhere, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Genya are still failing to defeat the unimaginably tough Zohakuten. They get back up after every blow, but Zohakuten’s tree trunk-like attacks keep on beating them down. When hope seems lost, Mitsuri joins the battle. She gives the three of them some encouraging words and gets ready to fight.
Episode 10: Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji
Mitsuri charges at Zohakuten, she slices through the tree trunks and gets to Zohakuten first time. Unfortunately, she gets caught by a massive energy blast directly from Zohakuten’s mouth. She’s shocked and paralysed after this, so the other three needed to regroup and attack fast, before Zohakuten finished the job.
Before we see what happened, we get a flashback to Mitsuri’s past. Mitsuri originally had black hair and we find out that her signature pink and green hair was caused by her eating too much sakura mochi as a child. While Mitsuri was always trying to find a partner, her strength and excessive eating habits were not viewed as ladylike, so she had a lot of trouble in that department. The reason she joined the Demon Slayer Corps was to find someone strong who she can marry.
Cut back to the present, Tanjiro and Genya formulate a plan to chase down and kill the tiny Hantengu who is creating the clones in the hope that doing so will also kill Zohakuten.
Episode 11: A Connected Bond: Daybreak and First Light
The final episode is even lengthier that the first, at fifty-one minutes in total. The episode begins with Tanjiro, Genya and Nezuko chasing down Hantengu while Mitsuri keeps Zohakuten at bay. Hantengu sets his sights on three young swordsmiths, and chases them down in an attempt to eat them and regain strength. The problem is – the sun is rising. And Nezuko isn’t in her box. Tanjiro is faced with a decision – go back and save Nezuko, or kill Hantengu and save the young swordsmiths. Tanjiro tries to shield Nezuko but the sun shines through and burns her skin. After she pushes him away, Tanjiro finishes Hantengu off for good, which also kills Zohakuten.
Mitsuri comes running over and hugs everyone, stating how lucky they are to be alive. They all share shock at how Nezuko can now walk freely in the sun without being disintegrated. Before his death, Hantengu managed to convey information regarding Nezuko’s immunity to sunlight to Muzan, who is overjoyed that the one to resist the sun has finally become.
Tanjiro gets ready to leave the Swordsmith Village and many swordsmiths thank him for his efforts and for saving their home. He heads away from the village, and the credits roll.
Conclusion
And that brings us to the end of the Demon Slayer anime so far! While you’re here, check out our other posts at LAN. We cover everything anime related and are always doing our best to bring you the latest news and episode reviews! Today our recommendations are: Our Favourite Anime Waifus Of 2023, New Fist Of The North Star Anime Is In Production and Board Game-Style Demon Slayer Video Game Is Coming Next Year.
