“Demon Slayer,” or “Kimetsu No Yaiba,” is a one-of-a-kind shounen anime adapted from the manga of a similar title written by Koyoharu Gotouge and is one of the finest works that came out of Nihon in recent times. This is a great release from studio Ufotable with great visuals, and the first episode of season 3 is here. And in terms of visuals, this is as delicious as ever. Additionally, this episode finally introduces us to a fraction of the league of antagonists, Jnikizuki, aka the Twelve Kizuki, and talks about the problems Tanjiro is about to face on his journey forward.
Spoilers Ahead
What Are The Kizuki Up To?
The episode starts with a glimpse of the last fight and Akaza entering their secret base, a gravity- and dimension-defying space, where he is greeted by Gyokko, the current Upper-Rank Five, while the Biwa demon plays an instrument. Gyokko tells him that he is meeting it after ninety years, but Hantengu, the upper-rank four of the Kizuki, corrects him by telling him that it has actually been over one hundred and thirteen years since they were last summoned by Muzan. Ignoring their banter, Akaza directly asks Biwa if Muzan or the Upper Rank One has arrived, but before she can answer, Doma, the Upper-Rank Two greets him by placing a hand over his shoulder.
Enraged by this infuriating gesture, Akaza punches him in the face, and Biwa reveals that the Upper-Rank One, Kokushibo, is the first to arrive, and by the time he checks him out, Muzan appears on the scene and declares that Gyutaro is dead. As it was Doma who introduced Gyutaro to his master, he apologizes to him, but Muzan does not seem to care. He is more upset about the Kizuki not being able to eradicate the Ubuyashiki family and find the blue spider lily yet. He even questions the purpose of their existence. While everyone apologizes to him, Gyokko claims that he has some information for the master.
But Muzan does not care for their excuses and is pretty upset after losing upper-rank demons consecutively for the first time in the last hundred years. And as Gyokko reveals that his information is still unconfirmed, Muzan berates the demon and asks Hantengu to go with him to confirm his claims. When Doma shows interest in going with them for the mission, Akaza destroys his head, as Muzan had not asked him to do so. Seeing this, Kokushibo intervenes and cuts Akaza’s arm off. Kokushibo is a true believer in the ranking system among the Kizuki and asks Akaza to battle Doma if he is that eager to get his spot as Upper-Rank Two. Doma tries to calm him down by saying that Akaza won’t be able to defeat him as he is much stronger than the number three. Akaza’s ill-treatment towards him is just a manifestation of his jealousy, as he could not beat Doma in terms of ranking, despite Doma joining the Kizuki much later than Akaza. He even says that he allowed Akaza to be violent with him so that they could get along.
Kokushibo warns Akaza once again before leaving abruptly, and Akaza also promises that he will beat both of them one day. After a few moments, Gyokko and Hatengu also leave for their destinations, and Biwa sends Doma back to his cult, where he is worshipped as a kami.
Dream Or Real?
The scene cuts to a man who is sitting on the porch, and a different man, Sumiyoshi, brings him some food and beverage. Sumiyoshi apologizes to him again because his wife fell asleep, and his guest has to babysit his child. The guest thanks him for his hospitality and asks forgiveness for the intrusion. He feels guilty about receiving free food from them, but Sumiyoshi assures him that this is not a problem for them as his entire family is still alive only because of the guest. He promises the guest that he and his entire family will always tell tales about his bravery, as the guest does not have a successor to pass it down. But the guest tells him that Sumiyoshi is wrong for thinking so highly of him, as he was unable to protect what was most important to him, and he also adds that he does not need a successor who will share his blood, but he is looking forward to someone who will share his will to protect humanity from the demons.
But it turns out that it was Tanjiro’s dream all along, as he wakes up from a two-month coma after the fight with Gyutaro in the entertainment district. He is heavily bandaged and only finds Kanao standing beside him. Seeing him wake up, the soft-spoken girl cheerfully announces that she is glad that Tanjiro is finally awake.
What Happened To Tanjiro After The Battle Of The Entertainment District?
Goto, a Kakushi, can be seen walking through the corridor. He went to the entertainment district as a medic to help Tanjiro and his friend. He clearly remembers the amount of pain and suffering the kids had to go through. He brings a plate full of castella to finally wake Tanjiro with its smell, but after finding he is already awake, he scolds Kanao and calls up Kiyo, Aoi, Naho, and Sumi. All of them are really glad after seeing him well. Tanjiro inquires about his friends and, surprisingly, finds Inosuke hanging from the ceiling. He comes crashing down on Tanjiro and berates him for waking up after him. The girls also informed us that Zeintsu only had some minor injuries and was sent on a solo job, which he cryingly accepted. Tengen left with his wife after the fight was over, and Inosuke survived a near-death experience as he has natural poison resistance and thick, armor-like skin like a honey badger, which makes him quite incurable by the medicines too. Then Inosouke starts a commotion by gloating about being immortal while Aoi and the others try to stop him. Then Kanao informs them that Tanjiro has fallen asleep, and this is probably the only instance we see her screaming.
What Is Tanjiro’s Next Mission?
Inousouke accepts another job, while Tanjiro makes a full recovery. While training, he asks the girls about his sword, and they inform him that Hotaru has sent him some letters that are oozing with hate and vulgarity directed towards Tanjiro. The girls tell him to go and meet Hotaru in person at the Swordsmith Village in order to get his new sword.
Kagaya finally allows him to go there, and a Kakushi is sent to carry him inside the village with blindfolds, noseplugs, and earplugs, as the location is purposefully kept hidden from the prying demons. One after the other, a different Kakushi carries Tanjiro, who is carrying Nezuko himself, from one checkpoint to another. To keep the location of the village secret, security is so tight that even the crows are swapped throughout his journey. And upon reaching his destination, he loudly conveys his gratitude towards the Kakushi, and his voice echoing through the mountains reaches Mitsuri Kanroji, The Love Hashira, who is taking a bath in a hot spring.
Tanjiro goes to the leading figure of the swordsmith village, Tecchikawahara Tecchin, and after seeing Tanjiro’s well-mannered attitude, he tells him that Haganezuka has been missing for some time, and the leader blames his craftsmanship for Tanjiro’s sword. He assures Tanjiro that they will find Hotaru and fix his sword too, and Tanjiro goes for a dip inside the hot spring to heal himself.
Mitsuri comes crashing down on Tanjiro, complaining about a boy who did not reply to his hello, and Tanjiro diverts her mind by saying that there will be Matsutake Mushroom in the dinner, and the childlike Hashira leaves for the mansion. Upon reaching the hot spring, Tanjiro finds out that the boy Mitsuri was talking about is Shinazugawa Genya, and he is quite surprisingly uprooting his teeth for no particular reason. Tanjiro hears about him from Naho, and he tries to greet him by asking whether he is the brother of Sanemi, as they both have the same last name. Hearing that question, he gets enraged and tries to drown Tanjiro.
Later that day, he and Nezuko share a lovely meal with Mitsuri. They mostly talk about some personal stuff, like what kind of men Mitsuri likes,among other topics. Before leaving, she tells Tanjiro to look for a secret weapon inside the village that can enhance the power of its wielder and is practically an invincible weapon.
Tanjiro bids her goodbye and goes to train to look for the weapon that Mitsuri talked about in the mountain region, but to his surprise, he finds another Hashira arguing with a boy about a key. The man is Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito, and he also finds a man standing beside them who has a similar appearance to the man from his dream.
Differences From The Manga
The episode is made by adapting manga chapters 98, 99, 100, and 101, respectively, and there are no major differences in the episode from the source material except for a few scenes, like when we get to see a scene in the beginning from the point of view of a Kakushi. We also get an elaborate tour of the Infinite Castle, which was not in the manga. And we also see a scene where a swordsmith can be seen making a sword, which was also not in the manga. But the rest of the episode is a faithful adaptation, even down to the blocking and the dialogue. The episode is titled “Someone’s Dream,” which is directly taken from chapter 99.