Demon Slayer Season 2: Homicidal Shibari With Daki And The Gang
"Things are Gonna Get Real Flashy." That's the title of the newest "Demon Slayer" episode, and boy is it accurate. Not only did we get the most action-packed episode of the season thus far, I'd argue that episode 5 of the Red Light District Arc is also one of the best episodes of the entire series. We got an amazing underground showdown in Daki's feeding chamber of doom, meaningful character introspection, and the privilege of finally meeting Tengen's super cool shinobi wives.
To me, the primary theme of the episode was the concept of self-actualization, with one side dedicated to recognizing and embracing one's unique abilities and talents in order to live up to your fullest potential, while the other was about self preservation and learning when it's healthy to quit or shift gears because you can't pour from an empty cup.
With this in mind, let's take a look at how this theme played out with our colorful cast of characters.
Tanjiro Finds His Spark
In the midst of his battle with Daki, Tanjiro has an epiphany that leads to him fully embracing his destiny. He realizes it's not that he is too weak to handle a powerful demon like Daki; it's just that he's not meant to rely primarily on the water breathing fighting style he's been using thus far.
This is a callback to what we learn in episode 1 of the Red-Light District Arc, during Tanjiro's eventful visit with Rengoku's father and little brother. While Tanjiro and Daddy Rengoku literally and figuratively bump heads, their encounter leads to Tanjiro learning about the sun breathing technique. He also finds out that this technique is somehow a part of his lineage, although the anime has yet to reveal the specific details surrounding this information.
There is also flashback to Tanjiro telling Kiyo that he's at his best when he's running a fever, which is a very nice touch that further illustrates his family's mysterious legacy as it relates to sun breathing and the Hinokami Kagura (dance of the fire god).
Armed with the full weight of this powerful realization, Tanjiro slices through self-doubt, pivoting to sun breathing in order to hold his own against Daki and unlock his full potential. Personally, I think it's nice to see a heroic character learning in real time, and in a way that is realistic on a human level — you know, minus the magical, elemental fighting abilities and all that.
Basically, Tanjiro is no doubt a skilled user of the water breathing technique he'd been relying on because he's a skilled and dedicated demon slayer in general, but he can't unlock his full potential with water breathing because it's not what he's best suited to. He's most powerful when he's using the technique he was destined to use all along, so he'd been judging himself harshly and unfairly all because he wasn't tapping into his innate abilities as a sun breather. It's like that one saying: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
Inosuke is in His Element
While Tanjiro was learning to set his heart ablaze, fighting Daki's main body above ground, Inosuke was slithering underground to fight her sentient ribbons of death — no, seriously: he slithered to the demon's lair because his unique abilities include being able to dislocate every joint in his body, meaning he could squeeze himself into a small hole and tunnel around like a worm. Realistic? No. Hilarious? Yes. Further illustrating my point about the episode being centered around the characters finding value in their unique abilities? Also yes.
Down there in Daki's "food storage" facility — the place where she's been holding humans captive for consumption, having ensnared them in her web of ribbons in a fashion that I can't help but liken to a sinister version of shibari rope bondage — Inosuke shines when he's being 100% himself, uninhibited by societal expectations and women's clothing. His sudden appearance in Daki's "food storage" area is enough to impress and frustrate her, and she clearly wasn't expecting to get her s*** rocked by a feral, "low level" demon slayer. Despite her haughty attitude, she is forced to acknowledge his skill and "razor sharp intuition," quickly discovering that she'll have to actually put in effort if she wants to keep up.
Zenitsu Catches Some Z's & Throws Some Hands
While Daki is still reeling from Inosuke's successful infiltration of her underground shibari dungeon of doom, Zenitsu appears and once again forces me to give him credit this season. In this unconscious state, he springs into action with a badass display of skilled thunder breathing that further throws Daki for a loop. While I am eager to see Zenitsu put his skills to use when he's fully awake, his swordsmanship was impressive either way. Inosuke even remarks that maybe Zenitsu should "stay asleep the whole time" because he's clearly at his best when he's not conscious enough to let cowardice override his abilities. In full drag, he deals some serious damage to Daki, buying everyone enough time to defend both themselves and the defenseless humans Daki had trapped there until Tengen shows up to really ruin the bikini-clad demon's plans.
Tengen and His Wives
We learn more about Tengen, and it's now abundantly clear that he's not just a polyamorous playboy. He cares about the safety of others, and he clearly respects and appreciates his hot shinobi wives, as one should. When we got our first spoonful of Tengen this season, I definitely expected him to be a misogynist piece of s*** to his wives, but this episode he is seen being gentle and caring towards them. He lovingly cradles an injured Hinatsuru while administering medicine to counteract the poison she ingested, then shushes her when she tries to apologize and berate herself for not doing enough (when she did more than enough).
Later, he joins Inosuke, Zenitsu, Makio, and Suma underground to help aid them in battling Daki's death belts. He apologizes to Makio and Suma for being late, and then the episode cuts to him giving all three wives a speech about how important they are to him and as individuals, telling them that while the safety of others is important, they also need to protect themselves. He states that their safe return is more important than the mission, and more important than his own life. It's really sweet, and we also get an internal monologue from Makio, who admits that she was taken aback by Tengen valuing her life because, as a woman shinobi, she was trained to see herself as expendable. She had never considered putting herself first before because she wasn't taught or shown that her own life had value outside of how she could benefit others.
Daki's Dilemma
Finally, let's dive into Daki. In previous episodes, Daki comments that non-hashira demon slayers aren't even worth her time; however, this episode proves that she either thinks too highly of herself, or this new generation of demon slayers has been working overtime to refine their unprecedented raw potential. It's probably a little of both, but either way she's in for a much more difficult time than she anticipated.
Although the episode ends on a cliffhanger as far as her fate is concerned, I suspect (and hope) that this isn't the last we'll see of Daki. It would be a waste to kill off the "big bad" of the season so quickly, and it definitely feels like there's more of her story to be explored. "Demon Slayer" also loves to give us the often tragic backstories of the villains, so I'm certain we'll learn exactly how Daki came to be such a cruel and cocky piece of work.
Bonus: Where The Hell is Nezuko?
So we're five episodes deep and Nezuko has spent all her time in that f***ing box. She's a skilled fighter and has an advantage over the others because she's a demon herself. I know Tanjiro wants to keep her safe, but it's getting a bit ridiculous when she's already proven how capable she is. It would be nice to learn a little more about her by seeing her in action or at least learning about what she does inside the box. Is she reading in there? Is there wifi? We just don't know, and I find it frustrating that's we're 2 seasons and 3 arcs and we can't even say much about who Nezuko is as a person besides Tanjiro's vegan demon sister.
We also know that Nezuko is protective, but she hasn't even been given a chance to protect anyone lately. I would appreciate even some cute little slice-of-life cutaways that show what she does all day to give us a little more characterization and screen time than what we've been getting, especially since she's such a motivating factor for Tanjiro throughout his journey.
Maybe Nezuko will finally make a meaningful appearance in next Sunday's episode of "Demon Slayer."