Overview: Izui (Ray Chase) and Tanjiro (Zach Aguilar) battle against Gyutaro (Brandon McInnis) while Zenitsu (Aleks Le) and Insuoke (Bryce Papenbrook) contend with his venomous sister, Daki (Erica Lindbeck).
Our Take: In what is a very apt episode title description, “Gathering” puts all our swordsmen front and center in the fray against that of the upper rank demons. It is a very action centric episode with us quickly getting a lens into those that inspire Uzui, beforehand, in that of the stone and mist hashira, Gyomei and Muichiro.
From here, it is pretty much a long frenetic fight with Tanjiro trying to protect while a poisoned Uzui does the bulk of the fighting with Gyutaro. One of the great things about this tag team duo fight is how much pressure is put on Tanjiro and Uzui in how they are badly wounded and pushing through the effects of Gyutaro’s poison, respectively. Making matters even more intense is Uzui and Tanjiro’s lack of coordination with one another seeing as they have never fought as a team. Gyutaro’s blood demon art also acts as catalyst for stunning visuals with his CG blood slashes rapidly dancing across the screen supplemented with gorgeous, encompassing 2D animation as Tanjiro and Uzui dodge and block their way through them.
Inosuke and Zenitsu’s fight with Daki is also impressive in its own right for the time it gets. Zenitsu’s thunder breathing gives some phenomenal fast-paced move sets with Inosuke providing backup against her demon tape. With Hinatsuru coming to Tengen and Tanjiro’s aid, she makes an opening for them allowing Tanjiro to potentially finish off Gyutaro before cutting to black and leaving on a massively exciting cliffhanger.