English Dub Review: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba “Letting Someone Else Go First”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Tanjiro and his fellow Demon Slayers head further into the infamous forest of Mount Natagumo as they try to solve the demon problem that’s quickly growing out of control. Inosuke’s spatial awareness abilities allow them to locate the “Mother” demon spider who’s at the center of all of these problems and holding many other Demon Slayers hostage. Tanjiro and Inosuke head forward to take out “Mother,” while Zenitsu stays behind in favor of less interesting (ie. fewer chances of fatality) activities. Tanjiro and Inosuke face “Mother,” but not before they’re forced to fight against more controlled Demon Slayers. Emotions rise as glimpses of “Mother’s” past are shown as well as vastly growing body count, which pushes Tanjiro to execute the threat before more damage can be done.

 

Our Take:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has never hidden the fact that it’s a dark series. In the show’s very first episode Tanjiro is orphaned as the bulk of his family meets a gruesome end. Right from the beginning Demon Slayer hasn’t been afraid to wallow in material, but “Letting Someone Else Go First” is perhaps the show at its bleakest and most depressing. Last week’s episode didn’t struggle when it came to highlighting the creepy nature of Rui and his spider demon family, but this installment really explores how these demons operate and allows their cruel abilities to make quite the impression.

The previous episode of Demon Slayer introduced the frightening idea of being controlled by “Mother” as one of her unwilling puppets. Tanjiro and Inosuke had to fight against many innocent Demon Slayers who have literally gotten tied up in “Mother’s” web. That dread is still present in this entry, but it intensifies even more. These manipulated Demon Slayers beg Tanjiro for a swift death so they can stop hurting innocent people and be at peace. They’ve become completely hopeless and the treat the idea of death as a hopefully freedom due to how much they’ve become controlled. On a psychological level all of this is incredibly powerful and the weight of it is felt on Tanjiro and Inosuke as they wade these complicated waters and figure out how to properly fight against these “enemies.”

At the same time, “Mother” keeps an eye on all of this and decides to punish her webbed Demon Slayers by breaking their bones, subjecting them to graphic pain, and basically turning them into real-life marionettes. All of this is already a lot for Tanjiro to take in, but the final blow comes when “Mother” callously snaps all of these possessed Demon Slayers’ necks at once. It’s one of the more evil acts that’s been performed in the series, it establishes just how far gone “Mother” is, and it forces Tanjiro to deal with an unforeseen level of failure. The sound design alone when “Mother” mass executes everyone is sickening on its own. It’s easy to see how this pushes Tanjiro into a level of rage and aggression that even freaks out Inosuke.

On that note, “Letting Someone Else Go First” isn’t so much interested in building suspense over whether Tanjiro will be able to defeat “Mother” or not. It instead wants to fan Tanjiro’s flames of aggression as much as possible and then set him off. The battle itself is incredibly quick, but it’s easily one of the most beautiful sequences that the series has pulled off. Not only is the moment elegantly framed and animated, but it hits even harder knowing the emotion and backstories behind “Mother” and Tanjiro. If circumstances were just slightly different and “Mother” wasn’t treated so poorly then perhaps all of this could have been avoided and she’d have actually been an ally in their journey.

Up until this point Demon Slayer hasn’t had any issue with (appropriately) demonizing its demons, but to see more of an empathetic—even human—quality enter these characters will only benefit the series’ storytelling. “Letting Someone Else Go First” cleverly paints “Mother” as a victim of abuse and somewhat of a punching bag within her family. Her story becomes more complex. Her mass acts of vengeance make it much easier for Tanjiro to strike, but the audience is still left to process the message of all of this. If you squint really hard, you can even see parallels between Tanjiro’s arc and the lot that befalls Rui in this episode. They’re both turned into unwilling victims of circumstance as their families get taken away from them.

Tanjiro doesn’t struggle to take out “Mother” on his own, but before that point this episode makes great strides towards Tanjiro and Inosuke’s capacity for teamwork. They’re a highly efficient demon slaying machine here and it’s satisfying to see how the two of them compliment each other’s attack strategies. Admittedly, Inosuke brings more of a raw aggression to his fighting, while Tanjiro is more levelheaded and values a good strategy. However, these roles are also in flux and already the two of them have a good sense to step in when the other needs their help. As impressive as the dynamic is between Tanjiro and Inosuke, unfortunately it’s kind of the opposite for Zenitsu. Zenitsu’s whole hypochondriac shtick is already wearing thin and he’s really not adding much to the picture beyond extraneous comic relief. Similarly, Nezuko’s absence is becoming more apparent as Inosuke and Zenitsu step in to fill in the gap. It’s these characters dynamics that remain the most awkward in Demon Slayer’s new arc.

“Letting Someone Else Go First” is another extremely enjoyable installment of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and even though it contains a few questionable decisions, they’re not substantial enough to holds things back (although if they don’t get put in check soon, they definitely will). The expansion on the “Mother” spider demon is as creepy as expected, but also surprisingly emotional. There’s a lot for the characters to process in this episode and Tanjiro sees a new side of himself. Demon Slayer neutralizes the threat of “Mother,” but it looks like Tanjiro and company aren’t quite out of the woods yet, both literally and figuratively. There seems to be an even more ferocious spider demon out there and this one may know better than to keep their neck so heavily exposed.