English Dub Review: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba “The Smell of Enchanting Blood”

Overview (Spoilers Below)
Tanjiro quickly attempts to restrain the newly-created demon from last time. At the same time, Muzan Kibutsuji departs from the scene with his family in tow. A group of policemen arrives shortly after, believing Tanjiro to be just another drunk attacking someone. Tanjiro pleads for them to stop their attempts at removing him from the demon but to no avail. Just as the police ready themselves to strike, a beautiful array of flowers blooms out of thin air.

As it turns out, another demon conjured up the blooms to distract the cops. She takes notice in Tanjiro’s goodwill towards an innocent human-turned demon. Additionally, she states that she wants to defeat Muzan as much as Tanjiro does.
Meanwhile, after inducing a blood bath with three local drunks, Muzan summons his underlings with a snap. He instructs them to find Tanjiro and kill him through any means necessary.

After the incident, Tanjiro heads back to the Udon cart where he left Nezuko. After a few more bowls, a demon assistant who was with the flower-blooming demon arrives, wishing to bring Tanjiro to their hideout on her orders.
Once they reach the hideout, Tanjiro finds out the identity of the flower blooming demon: Tamayo. She works as a doctor, healing those in need alongside researching demons. She and her assistant Yushiro have modified themselves to consume little blood, thus blending into society seamlessly.

Seeing her healing nature, Tanjiro asks Tamayo if she knows how to turn Nezuko back into a human. She, unfortunately, doesn’t know how, but strongly believes there’s a chance. Jumping off from that, Tamayo asks Tanjiro if he’d be willing to not only let her test Nezuko’s blood but also gather blood from powerful foes closely related to Muzan. Tanjiro agrees as he’ll do anything to turn Nezuko human again.
Suddenly, Muzan’s goons show up and start wrecking the joint. In only a matter of seconds, Tanjiro’s thrown into his latest demon match.

Our Take
I can’t say whether or not blood has an enchanting smell, but this episode has definitely placed an enchantment on my being. It still shocks me how much this series nails, from the colorful atmosphere, the tense mood, and wonderfully characterized characters.

Muzan Kibutsuji continues to prove here that he’s not one to mess with, and I’m loving every minute of it. His scene with the three drunks is just as intense as that of his debut. The background score raises an intensity so thick it cannot be cut by just any sword. The movement of the animation here is fantastic, really showcasing the terror behind his moves. His grave-like tone of voice throughout adds a layer of menacing viciousness to his character as well. Additionally, the dark shadows of the back alley help set a creepy atmosphere for the scene. All of these elements combine masterfully into one suspenseful moment. He may be a villain, but I’m absolutely loving the characterization of him thus far.

A surprisingly vast amount of demon lore reveals itself this time, enticing every gear within my pink, squishy hard drive. It’s interesting to see two other demons who have seemingly blended into society through the modification of their own bodies. Not to mention how Tamayo was able to turn Yushiro into a demon as well, a power previously thought to only belong to Muzan! The powers of one of Muzan’s underlings were additionally quite impressive. I was surprised to see how he was able to track down Tanjiro and the others through footprints not visible to the naked eye. These various elements make me ponder whether or not the series will continue shedding light onto additional, unique demon cases. I’m all in for it if they continue this route. It’s energetic, exciting, and captivating to see the creativity placed into each villain here.

My only rather minor complaint is a bit of continuity error I took notice of. How did Tamayo know that Nezuko was a special-case demon, as evidenced by her knowledge of Nezuko’s two-year slumber? Tanjiro doesn’t seem to mention this at all on-screen, so it rather perplexes me as to how she got ahold of this information. Perhaps there’s more than meets the eye here and we’ll find out more next time. But as of right now, this supposed gain of knowledge lacks necessary development for it to make coherent sense.

Overall, this was another terrific entry into the Demon Slayer franchise. The lore and atmosphere pull you in like a magnet, and the characters are so enticing to watch you can’t help but let your emotions jump out of your vocal cords. This show has a metric ton of heart and soul poured into it, tugging at my heartstrings at every chance it can.