Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 3 — Tryhard Tanjiro

The latest episode of Demon Slayer made one thing abundantly clear: Tanjiro and especially the Hashira are in a much different league compared to other demon slayers (and he’s gotten wildly buff). This is something that we’ve always known to a certain extent, but seeing Tanjiro easily breeze through a training regimen that is absolutely destroying the average Corps member, even while being freshly recovered from a horrible injury, really reinforced the difference in strength and ability here.

Thematically, the episode did some work to lay foundation ahead of what’s sure to be a fight against Muzan and the remainder of the upper rank demons.

Last week, we were treated to a fantastic, emotional episode where we got a lot of insight into Giyu’s mindset and peered past the usual stoic air he has about him. While only involving one of the Hashira, Giyu’s brief character moment spoke to a lot of aspects of Demon Slayer that have been important throughout the series. Legacy, living for someone else, feeling you should have been the one to die when someone else does, all of these are things that have to be conquered in order to steel one’s resolve and properly fight the stronger of the demons.

While that may not seem too related to an episode mostly focusing on training, I actually think Tanjiro’s introduction to Uzui’s granted some continuity to those aspects. Overall though, the content the anime added to the story this episode left a bit to be desired. (Spoilers ahead for Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 3: Fully Recovered Tanjiro Joins the Hashira Training!!).

Flashy Training

I have mixed feelings about the message communicated by Tanjiro and the other Corps members’ training. Obviously, as the Hashira and the Corps members themselves note in this episode, none of the nameless people involved in the training are ever going to be considerable assets in a fight against an Upper Rank demon.

Even within the final fights of Demon Slayer season 3, when things like bringing Tanjiro a new sword became battle-altering, the roles non-main characters played weren’t directly tied to combat. It doesn’t feel all that purposeful to showcase morale from people who will largely be irrelevant in the fights to come.

At the very least though, this episode does do a bit to reiterate how impressive it is that Tanjiro has been able to fight against stronger demons and come out alive. When other Corps members refer to the main offensive forces, they say “Tanjiro and the Hashira.” It’s clear that not only has he reached the level of the strongest swordsmen in the series, but for the most part no one else has made those leaps.

This is why I have mixed feelings about this being an entire episode. The training was fully off-panel in the manga and nowhere near as much importance was granted to the other Corps members. While it’s obviously well intentioned to give them some screen time (and interesting to play up the idea that they’ll work to eventually get stronger), I don’t think it communicates anything new, though it does communicate what’s been getting communicated for the entirety of this season.

A Storm to Come in Demon Slayer

The one bit of new content from this episode that I definitely enjoyed was seeing Tanjiro briefly face off against Uzui. Even with his one arm and a single eye he’s still a strong opponent, and the fact that Tanjiro can keep up with even a weaker form of him is gratifying. During the Entertainment District arc it was all he could do just do sprint at the speed of Uzui’s combat movement. Now, he’s able to shock Uzui with his skill.

For the other Hashira (Shinazugawa and Iguro specifically) it’s clear that sparring against the generic Corps members isn’t satiating their desire to train themselves and get stronger in preparation to awaken and maintain a mark. I’m looking forward both to seeing more of them spar alongside Tanjiro and finally get some additional action from the remainder of the Upper Rank demons.

©Koyoharu Gotouge/SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotale