REVIEW: ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc’ — Episode 2

Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is back, and the Hashira are preparing to face off against the mighty Muzan Kibutsuji. Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 2, “Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka’s Pain,” picks up right where the last episode left off, with new twists waiting just around the corner.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, shocked everyone when he reached out to Tamayo. The leader of the Demon Slayers asking to work together with a demon is a huge surprise, though it shows how important the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji is. Tamayo is shocked at first, too, but Kagaya’s crow messenger realizes it will take time to build trust.

The crow mentions that Tanjiro has gained Tamayo’s trust, which is why Kagaya is reaching out in the first place. Tanjiro’s whole mission to save his sister has drastically changed the way the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps sees demons. Demons like Tamayo and Nezuko are not the pure evil creatures the Demon Slayers previously thought they were.

By focusing on this at the start, Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 2 shows how important the upcoming battle is. Inviting Tamayo to the Ubuyashiki Mansion is an unprecedented and desperate move. Kagaya knows that Tamayo’s research can help the Hashira learn more about Nezuko’s secret. The unlikely partnership should help them greatly in the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji.

Part of Kagaya’s desperation comes from how badly his sickness has progressed. He is bedridden and can not move, and his death is imminent. This puts added pressure on the Hashira to achieve victory before their beloved leader dies. Still, despite his condition, Kagaya is doing everything he can to unite the Hashira and their allies in an inspiring way.

Meanwhile, Tanjiro is still recovering from his battles in the Swordsmith Village Arc. Kagaya asks Tanjiro to talk to Giyu Tomioka. Giyu is struggling to look ahead, so Tanjiro has to help set him on the right path. Tanjiro has always been willing to help motivate and inspire others, so it is a fitting task for him. It also gives Giyu a chance to open up more to Tanjiro, himself, and the viewers.

The problem here is that Tanjiro does not know how to reach someone who feels so alone. He wants Giyu to know he is not alone, but it can be hard to get that message through to someone dealing with so much internal pain. Especially when Tanjiro does not fully understand Giyu’s pain.

One thing Demon Slayer does really well is it makes viewers care about the different supporting characters. The different Hashira matter because we get to learn about what makes them tick. That tradition continues in Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 2 with Giyu. While Tanjiro and Giyu are trying to get to the heart of the matter, it gives viewers a chance to see what Giyu is going through and understand him better.

Giyu tells Tanjiro about his childhood friend Sabito, whom he went through the final selection process with. Sabito was the only candidate who did not survive the trial, and that had a profound impact on Giyu in the short and long term. Sabito sacrificed himself to save Giyu and the others and Giyu never knew how to healthily process the loss of his friend.

Tragic backstories are common in Demon Slayer, but they manage to have an emotional impact every single time. Giyu’s reason for keeping to himself and pushing others away makes complete sense. It is not that he hates people; he just sees himself as a failure for living and becoming a Hashira when it was only because of his friend’s sacrifice.

Tanjiro is able to relate because he had a similar situation during the Mugen Train events with Kyojuro Rengoku. Rengoku sacrificed himself so Tanjiro and his friends could live. Tanjiro knows what it is like to wish he had died instead of the person who sacrificed himself. But Tanjiro also realizes that having that mentality is not helpful. He tells Giyu that he has to keep on living and pushing forward to honor the sacrifice that was made.

The entire sequence between Tanjiro and Giyu is emotionally resonant, as are most of these types of side stories in Demon Slayer. The issue is that, by spending another entire episode focusing on someone’s backstory, the urgency of the main events starts to fade away. It is a little jarring that the first few minutes of the episode drive home how time-sensitive everything is, only to totally step away from the main story.

This entire interaction ends with Giyu willing to train Tanjiro, but it just takes so long to get to that point. In a vacuum, it is not too egregious, but in a series rife with pacing issues it would have been nice if some of the meandering could have been cut down. We are two episodes into the Hashira Training Arc, and they still aren’t training, so hopefully, the season will pick up the pace going forward.

Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 2 gives some more emotional backstory but struggles a bit with the overall pacing of the main narrative. These character moments are important, but an over-reliance on them risks making the series feel too bloated.

Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 2 is streaming now on Crunchyroll, with new episodes every Sunday.