Remember…these blog posts contain spoilers.

THEY DONE KILLED OFF MA BOI! 🤧😩 I knew someone was gonna have to die, every anime does it! I even said in my last post how something was feeling suspicious, off, like I had to prepare my heart, and STILL. STILL!

*sigh* let’s just get this post going though…

lower one’s end.

We see at the end of s2, e5 that Tanjiro actually does cut the neck of the Lower One Kizuki, whereas in the manga, it’s left on a cliffhanger. Again, I love seeing Tanjiro’s powers evolving, him coming up with different moves to the ones he’s learning on his own.

Also, the fact that Tanjiro got stabbed by the engineer in the last volume, and his main concern is to live so that the engineer isn’t convicted of murder 😭 the pureness of his heart shines through every time!

*side note: I’m going to have to make a list of Inosuke’s made up names for Tanjiro and Zenitsu. This volume’s one was “Santaro” 💀

Anyways, Lower One starts whining about losing, blaming every single Demon Slayer involved and Nezuko for his failures, and he hopes to kill Tanjiro while he’s on the ground trying to stay alive, but he starts disintegrating before he can. Don’t RIP, Lower One.

Akaza.

Rengoku finds Tanjiro, and gives him orders to help regulate his breathing to help him stop the bleeding from his stab wound. But of course…that peaceful moment couldn’t last.

And here enters Akaza. Aka Upper Three of the Twelve Kizuki.

Now, I’ve seen Akaza because the Demon Slayer movie released several months ago, and he was part of the promo for it. I honestly thought he was a higher Kizuki, and I was right. But I didn’t realize we’d see him earlier on in the manga/anime episodes.

Akaza is ruthless because he immediately goes after Tanjiro first, and you already know, Rengoku wasn’t going for that. But Akaza tries to tempt Rengoku into becoming a demon so he could become more powerful. Rengoku wasn’t going for that either.

Rengoku makes a lovely speech about the beauty of humanity; how even though humans seem weak because they grow old and die, that’s the value of human life. He says he won’t yield to Akaza’s wishes, and he stands up for Tanjiro saying he isn’t weak, and Akaza shouldn’t insult him 🥺 WE LOVE BIG BRO RENGOKU!

So, Akaza and Rengoku fight. I won’t get into too many details, but oh my gosh, Akaza’s power is like…Elsa’s power with a dang snowflake on the ground?!

The fight is so flawless in the anime. It was cut a little short in the manga, showing the parts when Tanjiro wants to help, but Rengoku tells him to stay put. In the manga, Rengoku says, “It’s not your time yet.” Which I feel like is a precursor to Tanjiro growing as a swordsman.

I feel like they drew the fight out in the anime episode, which breaks my heart even more when you know what’s coming. We saw in the first episode how strong and fast Rengoku is, which tells us how powerful Akaza is as a demon since he can keep up with Rengoku, heal quickly, and land hits on him. Like, the end of the fight isn’t even determined until the next episode (which ends up being the last episode of the season!)

Well, the end result of the fight is…

RIP KYOJURO RENGOKU ❤️‍🔥

I AM CRYING IN THE CLUB.

Like, seeing Rengoku breathing heavy after taking blows, and giving them to Akaza…it’s almost like he knows it’s the end too 😭😩

Rengoku’s final move…this is where the famous lines come from! When I was telling people I was reading and watching Demon Slayer, some would say “Set your heart ablaze.” ❤️‍🔥 I UNDERSTAND NOW!!!

Ugh, hearing Tanjiro cry out for Rengoku when Akaza clashes with him…I WAS SCREAMING IT TOO! 😣 The desperation in his voice broke my heartttt, PLEASE. I thought reading the manga was hard, watching it is even worse!

Tanjiro yelling into the forest at Akaza, who runs away because the sun is rising, broke me even more. Tanjiro threw his sword and hit him square in the chest! You could tell he was pissed! I was yelling right along side him because COME BACK AND FACE ME, YOU COWARD!!!

Ugh, I am CRYING with Tanjiro, but hearing Rengoku be so gentle with him…telling him not to get so worked up…telling him to talk with him one last time…even as he’s DYING…

They drew this out in the anime too, like OKAY WE GET IT, HE’S NOT GONNA MAKE IT 😭💔

In the anime, he says “set your heart ablaze” to encourage Tanjiro, when in the manga, he says “stand tall and be proud” and “keep your heart burning, and move forward.” I can appreciate the creativity on ufotable’s (the producer’s) part to coin a phrase specifically from Rengoku for Tanjiro to carry with him moving forward.

I won’t lie…at this point in the manga, I had the slightest bit of hope they’d save Rengoku. But once he saw his dead mother?! AHH I KNEW IT WAS OVER!

His last panel though?! The last smile he ever gave?!

I mean, it’s so heartbreaking Inosuke is crying. YEAH. YEAH. 💔

The end of the season is Rengoku’s crow telling the other Hashira and the head of the Hashira that he’s dead. Each of their reactions is interesting, but I’m too sad to go into it.

Season 3: enter Ten–

Okay wait, not Tengen yet, STILL RENGOKU.

Because dang, they’re picking up exactly where we left off…in the field, Rengoku’s dead, our nephews are in mourning, and the crow finally reaches Senjuro, Rengoku’s brother, to tell him he’s died. When he falls to the floor to cry…MY HEART ONCE AGAIN 💔

Tenge– no, KIBUTSUJI.

Sorry, sorry, no Tengen yet, the anime opening of season 3 shows a little boy going to a bookstore, getting a book, and walking home. The family he’s staying with brag to their friends about how he’s so bright, but can’t go out in the daylight…

AND THE BOY IS KIBUTSUJI. AND AKAZA HAS COME TO REPORT TO HIM.

Man, look, how many disguises does Kibutsuji have?! How can he go from being a man with a wife and kid, to a woman in this movable house, to a kid under this family’s roof?! These people aren’t paying attention, CLEARLY.

Akaza apparently was supposed to find a blue spider lily, but couldn’t find it. But he offers up his murder of Rengoku as “enough,” and you already know Kibutsuji didn’t like that. He didn’t kill Akaza, but he definitely rebuked him, had him bleeding from the mouth and all (THAT’S WHAT HE GETS FOR KILLING RENGOKU!), asking him why he didn’t kill our nephews too (BECAUSE HE’S A COWARD LIKE TANJIRO SAID!). Kibutsuji goes so far as to say he’s disappointed in Akaza, and that he’s fallen far in his rank.

Akaza is pissed, and he still has Tanjiro’s sword, so he destroys it in his anger; promises that he’ll remember Tanjiro’s face; and says when they meet again, he’ll kill him.

FINALLY TENGEN–nope. the Rengokus.

Tanjiro is depressed but stubborn after Rengoku’s death. He trains even though he’s supposed to be healing, and he escapes the mansion, and is led by Rengoku’s crow to Rengoku’s old house as part of his last wishes.

FIRST OF ALL, not all of the Rengoku men looking exactly alike — the yellow and red hair, all in the same style. The same eyes. Rengoku’s mother was the only one who looked different with black hair and red eyes, I believe.

SECOND OF ALL, I want to beat Rengoku’s dad’s ass for talking smack about him! YEAH, SQUARE UP, BIG DOG! YOU’RE DRUNK, AND YOU’RE CALLING YOUR DECEASED SON A WEAKLING AND A FOOL?! AFTER HE SAVED 200 PEOPLE ON A TRAIN?! PLUS OUR NEPHEWS?!?!?

takes a deep breath

Tanjiro feels the same way I do, okay? He defends Rengoku, but then Rengoku’s dad sees Tanjiro’s earrings, calls him a “Sun Breathing user”, and starts scrapping with him. So much so, he hits Senjuro, which PISSES ME AND TANJIRO OFF EVEN MORE!

Apparently, the “Sun Breathing” technique is the first one to have ever been created, but it’s THE MOST POWERFUL ONE. Every technique, no matter how powerful, CAME. FROM. SUN BREATHING. And to think that Tanjiro’s family might have come from that? Even with how sensitive and caring and pure he is (which can come off as weak to some)?! WHOA.

I feel like the “Sun Breathing” is a huge clue as to who Tanjiro is, and who is father was. We already had clues with the Hinokami Kagura dance/moves, but the fact that the earrings Tanjiro wears (handed down to him by his father) tip off Rengoku’s dad, and he starts spouting off information about it…we’re getting more pieces to the puzzle, and I LOVE IT!

But of course, learning this only hurts Tanjiro even more. Because he thinks he could’ve saved Rengoku that day if he’d been able to help. He thinks this all while Rengoku’s dad is beating him up, by the way…💀

Rengoku’s other last wish was for Tanjiro to find some writings from the last Flame Hashira that might talk about the Hinokami Kagura. But when Senjuro gives them to him, they’re all ripped up (DAMN IT, RENGOKU’S DAD!). Senjuro says he’ll do his best to restore them, and to tell Tanjiro what he’s learned.

HE ALSO GIVES TANJIRO RENGOKU’S NICHIRIN SWORD GUARD AND SAYS IT’LL PROTECT HIM SOMEDAY LIKE PUH-LEASE CAN Y’ALL HAND ME THE TISSUE BOX?!

And we finally see Rengoku’s father BREAK AND CRY when Senjuro gives him the last words Rengoku left for him “Take care of yourself.”

YEAH, GO CRY LIKE A BABY! AS YOU SHOULD!

Tanjiro also encounters Haganezuka (the person who makes his swords, remember?), who wants to kill Tanjiro AGAIN for losing his sword AGAIN.

OH MY GOSH, IT’S TENGEN UZUI!

We fast forward 4 months after Rengoku’s death (still not over it, by the way), and our nephews have been hard at work training, and going on solo demon slayer missions. They’re all grown up, mayne.

We also get to see Tanjiro on one of his solo missions with Nezuko, and that’s not in the manga.

When he returns…Aoi is getting taken by someone…and that someone is TENGEN UZUI, THE SOUND HASHIRA.

Oooo how ✨FLASHY✨ is he?!

He’s trying to take Aoi and another girl, actually, for a mission, and Kanao and the other two little girls start fighting him just as Tanjiro arrives.

Tanjiro suggests he, Zenitsu, and Inosuke go instead of Aoi, and this is where we get this famous photo:

Tengen slapping Aoi’s butt apparently brought about some controversy to the internet since she’s a young girl and he’s a grown man. People started saying Tengen was the Hashira of sexual harassment, but some people point out the historical and cultural context of Demon Slayer as a whole. Some say he’s spanking her for defying an elder, since she refused to go with him. Man, I honestly wasn’t reading too too much into it, I’m still sad Rengoku died 😭💔

I guess you can determine what you will about that scene. The Apothecary Diaries is all about courtesans, emperors with multiple young wives as well, so I do wonder if the same people who are red flagging this scene are red flagging that anime as well.

Me personally? I mean, it didn’t have to happen, but it sounds like the author wanted it to be more humorous than…gross.

Okay, that’s it for now! Onto volume 9, and a new arc!

Mishy 🦋☁️✨