Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Geiko-hen Episode 4

This season is mostly likely not gonna have too much going on besides just building up to the inevitable war between the Demon Slayers and the demons. Though I am enjoying just getting to see more of the Hashira outside of battle. It does seem like this arc is mostly taking the time to show the more lighter sides to the Hashira while also building comradery and respect with the lower ranks. Especially since a lot of the lower ranks don’t seem to understand just how much responsibility the Hashira all have to bear. So I think it’s a good thing to be able to put the Hashira and the lower ranks on the same wavelength in terms of knowing what they’re doing instead of just viewing the Hashira as an intimidating higher force. Despite their sheer amount of strength, the Hashira are still human who still deal with their own struggles. So I feel like this arc is focusing on humanizing them to the other demon slayer corp members.

Muichiro takes the spotlight this episode and man… after seeing him so impassive the majority of the last season, it feels so weird to see him emoting with so much more life. It’s not a bad thing, it’ll probably just take me a little bit to get used to it seeing as this does align with his original personality before he lost his memory. While it’s weird, I am enjoying seeing this new side of him and how he interacts with others. Especially with the other Hashira. The others seem to enjoy his company as well, especially regards in sparring matches as he IS one of the strongest Hashira. It was pretty crazy to see him hold his own against BOTH Sanemi and Obanai who have shown to be quite the powerhouses as well. I’m still a bit salty with how easily he was able to beat Gyokko since we didn’t really see too much of his strength beforehand. The build up to Gyokko’s defeat just didn’t feel satisfying. So hopefully the rest of the upper ranks of the demons don’t disappoint as much as that fight did.

I do like that we’re getting to know Muichiro a little more since I feel like we didn’t get to know him as much as I’d like to in the previous season. I feel like we only really got to know one really big facet of his character, but there’s still much more to explore. So I’m glad we’ll be getting more of him, especially since he didn’t die and brimming with newfound life. That smirk he did in his spar with Tanjiro is sure to steal a lot of people’s hearts lololol. The way he fights or I suppose the way he spars in this case, feels so much more whimsical and mischievous, adding to his much more playful demeanor. It’ll be interesting to see how this translates into his battles with demons from this point on since he was originally very straight to the point and callous. We did see a little bit of playfulness in his fight against Gyokko, but it felt like he still hadn’t fully transitioned into his original personality then. A little bit was leaking through, but he wasn’t fully himself as he is in this episode. So I eagerly await to see how he fights now with all his memories intact.

It was also cute to see that one of Muichiro’s hobbies was paper airplane making. Though I do admit that it was weird how lighthearted it got with all the demon slayer members being silly over making paper airplanes. I understand it’s probably the calm before the storm… but I’m not sure, it felt a little too childish with how it was portrayed for me. It feels more like something you’d see in a slice of life, school manga/anime or something. Not something I’d see in Demon Slayer. I like the significance of bonding between Muichiro and the other demon slayers, but I’m not sure. The paper airplane scene didn’t really vibe with me all that much. I’m not sure how to explain it.

Overall, not a bad episode, but kinda left me feeling a little iffy because of that paper airplane sequence. Though I do like that we got to see Muichiro more and how he’s settling back into his original personality. And as expected, he was absolutely thrilled to see Tanjiro and also played favorites with him compared how he treated the other slayers lol. While that’s going on, I am growing more and more concerned about the new Upper Five. Looks like the demon that has control over the disappearing castle got an upgrade last time we saw her and those thousands of eyes was definitely something I didn’t need to see. Gosh that gave me the creeps. We already knew she was powerful by the way she utilized the castle, but now with the new title as Upper Four, she is probably a great force to be reckoned with now. I do wonder if there are others that are going to replace the other empty slots. Concern continues to grow especially that she is tracking Muichiro and he seems none the wiser. A part of me had hoped he was hunting the eyeballs down because he had an idea that they were scouring the area. But alas, my worry for Muzan capturing Nezuko continues to grow.

Speaking of Nezuko, I am so happy to see that Urokodaki is not only back, but the one in charge of protecting Nezuko. While we haven’t seen his sword fighting abilities present-time and is retired, I’m sure he is still up to the task of making sure no demon gets to Nezuko. But I’m still worried. I’m sure he can handle the lower leveled demons, but if one of the Upper Moons shows up to retrieve Nezuko personally, I don’t think he’d be able to stop them. Yet another thing to leave me hanging along with all the other things the previous episodes have already left me with.

Tanjiro also has some worrying encounters ahead of him since Obanai and Sanemi are still pretty salty towards him after what he did. Once he gets past what Mitsuri has in store for him, those two are probably going to wail on him hard without mercy. It’ll be interesting to see how his interactions with them will go since so far he’s been on such good terms with the other Hashira. Though considering the next episode’s title, pretty sure it’s gonna involve Genya and in turn probably involve Sanemi. This can only end well. 🙂