English Dub Review: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba “The Boar Bares Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)
As Tanjiro continues his battle with the Drum-Beating demon, he and the female child are suddenly teleported to another room. Tanjiro quickly smells out several different demon scents and thus leading to the conclusion that there’s more than one demon to worry about here. Tanjiro and the female child then exit the room and walk down a corridor to another room, in which they find the female child’s older brother.

Meanwhile, Zenitsu and the younger male child are aimlessly walking around, with Zenitsu still panicking. Things get worse when a tongue demon shows up and corners the two into a room. Zenitsu proceeds to faint from the fear endued by this. Just before the tongue demon is able to strike at the young male child, Zenitsu wakes up and does a complete 180, reducing the demon to dust. Soon after though, he “wakes” back up to his usual self, not remembering what he just did.

Back in another corridor, the Boar’s head-wearing guy stumbles upon another demon, which he promptly wipes out.

Later on, the drum-beating demon locates Tanjiro, the female child, and the older brother. Tanjiro proceeds to protect the two, albeit struggling due to his injuries from the Arrow Demon. He worries that he may not have enough strength to defeat the demon this time. However, in a rush of energy, he remembers a sure-fire technique that will absolutely decimate the demon once and for all!

Our Take
Well, I can’t say this was the most thrilling episode. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it. However, there seemed to be something lacking here that the previous episodes had. Come to think of it, it’s rather been that way since the beginning of this current mini-arc.

To begin with, I think the main culprit here is Zenitsu. Yes, we get it, he’s afraid. How many times must it be said before the show can relax on it? It’s not so much that I utterly despise this characteristic. It’s just one that’s way too overused at this point. It’s not really all that amusing anymore, and at certain times it even grows annoying. Still, his major badass transformation there leaves me with a bit of hope for Zenitsu. I’d much rather see these two sides of him balanced out, rather than the scales tipped in favor of one way over the other.

Additionally, the stakes here didn’t really feel all that thrilling. It almost feels like the energy’s been zapped out here. A lot of this I believe can be contributed to the fact that Tanjiro and the drum-beating demon have barely done any actual fighting with one another. Plus, Zenitsu and the Boar’s head-wearing guy fights were so quick, you’d swear you blinked and missed something. The action-packed tension of these scenes definitely adds a bit of flavor and charm to the series. Unfortunately, with this element clocking out here, it leaves something to be desired overall.

One happy thing to note of is Tanjiro’s continued care towards others. His taking care of the obviously frightened children just warmed my heart. Despite his own fears of the demons nearby, he still keeps his calm and addresses the children’s safety and well-being first and foremost. He’s most definitely putting his older sibling skills to good use here for sure! As an older sibling myself, I can definitely relate to that. You want to make their lives the best they can absolutely be. Cheer them up when they’re down, help them when they’re in need, etc. Tanjiro’s characteristic here is definitely a welcome one and one that can definitely relate back to the real world.

To conclude, the tire feels like it’s deflating, but it’ll get you a good few miles yet. This episode doesn’t feel nearly as strong as past episodes, but it still has its merits. From its beautiful looking scenery to Tanjiro’s charming characteristics, there’s still a lot of excellent elements to take in here. With the fighting between Tanjiro and the drum-beating demon finally getting underway, I have a good feeling that things will be on the upswing next week.