Demon Sayer Corps: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 11 – The Coward and the Kids

Why hello, my beautiful people! Welcome back to the world of Kimetsu no yaiba, where us bloggers are pathetically flailing at the keyboard to try and catch up to a show that’s threatening to leave us behind. I take no part in the blame for these circumstances…

I do, however, feel no shame in admitting that I’m enjoying this show far more than I perhaps should be. It’s just excellent shounen goodness all wrapped in a beautiful bundle of swords and nonsensical powers and it’s just lovely… but enough of my drooling. You came here for a collection of dorky thoughts and half-fleshed-out answers, so here you go.

Le me of bloo

Teh Aria de poorple

El Moya in rreddd

… who is dis porson again? gren

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What are your general thoughts on this episode?[Mandatory]

Zenitsu was…way worse than I thought he’d be for the show’s humour and that sunk the show’s reputation overall. (It almost feels like every deliberate attempt at humour Gotouge takes doesn’t work in my favour, which sucks.) However, I do feel like Gotouge is building towards contrast between Zenitsu’s cowardly nature and his ability to kick butt, which is a trope I liked….6 years ago (and even then, it had to be a cowardly bishonen – I’m sorry, Zenitsu, but Tanjiro is more bishonen than you).

While I do hate Zenitsu, the drum demon is a really cool enemy, and i’m excited to see what they do with his fight. Plus, Inosuke, who is a great character! It’s all kind of just laying the building blocks of the story as a whole.

You guys all prepared me for hating Zenitsu, so when I actually saw this episode I didn’t think he was as bad as I expected. At the very least, his fear of death makes sense. His screeching (and the fact that it makes Tanjiro screech back) is quite annoying though. But yes, the enemy this time seems exciting and I look forward to how it’s resolved.

Our boi Zenitsu is here in full force! And with him, the glorious Inosuke too. Unlike most other people, I actually quite like Zenitsu and Inosuke. One of them is the voice of reason and helps root the unbelievability of the plot, the other is the embodiment of letting natural instincts take over.

Discussion:

I keep attributing Gotouge to the story because of how closely the anime adapts the manga, but if any of you caught-up-on-manga people can tell me about any differences in adaption, I’ll change it to the anime director.

Nah, it’s pretty spot-on.

I agree with Aria – the humour doesn’t work for me either. Loud and predictably dramatic reactions to everything just doesn’t cut it.

Works for me.

Did the episode fit your expectations, and in which ways did it differ from it? (If it does) [Mandatory]

The bit regarding fighting in Tsuzumi Mansion went like any other episode…but I already voiced my complaints about Zenitsu, so I won’t repeat them.

Man, the way they’re using CG for those bits of the tsuzumi control is super cool. Really gives life to what’s shown in the manga.

Pulling an Aria to #1: Zenitsu was not unbearable after all. Sure, he’s a useless and selfish person, but at least he’s very self-aware of the fact. I think the humour in his character might just work if they toned down his screeching and gave him a few clever lines.

Nice/10. Everything’s going according to keikaku.

What do you expect to happen from here on out? (and why) [Mandatory]

Kyogai’s butt’s (I heard the demon’s name is Kyogai) gonna get kicked…by Tanjiro, Nezuko and/or Inosuke…There’s very low chances that Zenitsu will do that.

Well… yeah, i already know what’s up.

Quoting the next episode title: “The Boar Bares Its Fangs and Zenitsu Sleeps.”

A very interesting and innovative fight.

Which scene got the most reaction out of you? (If any at all)

When the episode title appeared. I was surprised I recognised the kanji for “tsuzumi”, since I haven’t had to read that particular character in years.

The horror and suspense was handled pretty well, so there are a lot of moments to choose from: guy flying out the window, Tanjiro and Zenitsu entering the house, the room changing, etc. I think I’ll have to choose the moment when they first see the kids – it took me a very good look at them to confirm that they were genuine, horrified human kids rather than demons in disguise.

The disdain towards Zenitsu. Perfect, made me laugh so much.

Discussion:

For all you Japanese and Chinese non-readers out there, I’m referring to 鼓 (つづみ). However, in Chinese that character refers generally to drums, while in Japanese, it refers specifically to a hand drum.

Interesting, I didn’t know that.

Which character did you like the most this episode? Have they done anything in particular/changed?

Zenitsu’s sparrow! I don’t even have a name for our mini avian friend, yet I was enamoured with him (should I care about pronouns for a bird?) as soon as words started coming out of his beak.

I want more Inosuke! He’s a fun character that we’ll get to appreciate more in the future.

Possibly Inosuke. But also, Braids Girl who slapped Zenitsu.

Inosuke! And hot damn, harem king Matsuoka is the perfect cast. He has shown in the past that he is perfectly capable of being the crazy man. (Beetlejuice)

^It took me a bit to realise “Beetlejuice” is referring to Re: Zero.

Discussion:

Did I ever mention I love birds?!?!? 

No, I don’t think you have. But I still don’t get why the sparrow doesn’t speak like the crow, and am even more confused by why Tanjiro supposedly understands the sparrow (unless that was a joke)?

Not sure why you can suspend your disbelief for a bunch of children going around killing actual demons using swords and an athlete’s breathing technique allowing them to use supernatural techniques but not for just different birds having different speech abilities and Tanjirou being able to understand animals.

…but then, does Zenitsu understand animals?

No no no, this and that are different matters. Nowhere in the show does it suggest that Tanjiro has a superior ability to understand animals (on top of having a superior sense of smell, which could also have been set up better. If this is Tanjiro’s previously unrevealed superpower, this is an inconsistency; if this is something every Demon Slayer can do except Zenitsu, or if Tanjiro was just lying, this was an incompletely executed joke.

What’s the high point of the episode for you and why? [Mandatory]

When Inosuke bashed through some shouji to save the day. It was cool to see his weapons for the first time, even if they’re just a variant on the Nichirin swords we’ve already seen.

I’m not really sure, to be honest. 

Room changes accompanied by dramatic lighting. 

Appearance of Inosuke. Hype! And like I said in the previous question, Matsuoka’s the perfect cast, and hearing his voice I was instantly satisfied already.

What can be improved in this episode and why? (a.k.a low point) [Mandatory]

To avoid saying “Zenitsu” again, why did Tanjiro announce his name and rank? More importantly, how does Tanjiro know his rank…?

Moar Nezuko pls. Without Nezuko what is even the point of life?

Actually, There is something. In the anime (or at least the translation in the subs), Inosuke shouts out “coming through, coming through.” But in the Manga, he shouts “pig assault, pig assault.” Which I honestly prefer. But as a non-Japanese speaker, i’m not really sure what’s going on here…

(Future Aria, who’s seen episode 13: I’ve got a link that explains what’s going on here. However, the corresponding anime ep. for that manga page is ep. 13, so I’ll talk about it then.)

Too much shrieking, and worse – too much badly synched shrieking. 

Pace is a little bit slowed down compared to previous episodes, but it’s to be expected, it’s just before another fight.

Discussion:

As much as I like (?) complaining about Zenitsu, I did feel sorry for him at some points of this episode (when he was being slapped and when he was being dragged to the mansion in the eyecatch). Then again, someone – either Gotouge or Sotozaki (anime director) – had Zenitsu want to die for funnies’ sake, which brings me back to complaining about him.

I also thought it made no sense for Tanjiro to announce himself randomly.

Speaking of pitying Zenitsu, I thought he brought up a good point when he whined about getting “adults” to fight the demon because they’re all just children. I think we do need a Zenitsu to remind us that these Demon Slayers are predominantly young teens (at least, that seems to be the case in Final Selection).

Pick a situation from this episode. If you were put in this situation, how would you have handled it?

Can I just stick myself into the episode, as anachronous as that might be, and give Zenitsu a good slap? He must’ve survived Final Selection for a reason and he should be proud of that…not a whiner.

Someone really needs to actually tell Zenitsu that he, idk, doesn’t actually suck. Why does nobody actually tell him these things?

If I were Tanjiro, I would have made Zenitsu stay with the kids and brought Nezuko with me into the house. Tanjiro would have a useful partner and everyone else is happy. Problem solved.

Discussion:

I didn’t have the sound on when watching this episode, but I could still tell Zenitsu was hearing strange noises – it makes sense if Zenitsu has good hearing to go with Tanjiro’s sense of smell. I’m not sure if it’s a sign of good storytelling that I could, though…(Also, is onigiri anachronous…?)

Who watches anime without sound?????

I do…most of the time. The tl;dr is that I slept with one of my earphones in one night and haven’t gotten rid of what sounds like TV static in that ear since. Apparently that on a permanent basis means you’re losing your hearing, so I ended up developing a habit of keeping the sound off on my simulcasts as a compromise since I rely on mostly subs anyway. 

But you miss the soundtrack, the SFX, and the drama contained in the voice acting!!!

I do listen to bits and pieces of the sound (for instance, if I’m wondering if the Japanese matches the English), but only if I remember to go back for them. On the bright side, this does mean the anime I prefer are the ones that work regardless of whether they have sound or the ones with the best story + visuals, which aligns with what I already like anyway.

Good, Aria, you spared yourself lots of loud noise.

Speaking of onigiri, how the heck did the onigiri split in two so effortlessly?

And Astral, your comment about motivating Zenitsu… I’m surprised to see it coming from someone who hates him so much, but it’s very kind of you!

Well, I think he’d be FAR less annoying without the constant sobbing that he’s gonna die. A little confidence goes a long way, even with imbeciles…

Most beautiful scene?(screenshot) [Mandatory]

Please protect this precious birb.

I relate to this face greatly.

*drumbeat*

Nantou.jpg

Discussion:

The reaction face almost makes me feel like you’re judging me, Astral. Should I be worried…?

Whaaaaaat? Noooooooooo…

In 10 words, summarise what you want to say about this episode. (A good joke question?) [Could also be a haiku or other things of that creative nature, Mandatory]

Lost in a mansion

With a demon on the loose.

Watch out for that boar!

Zenitsu the dork

Really needs to grow a pair

Inosuke enters

Sure hope the manga doesn’t end with anyone marrying Zenitsu.

南~アン~東、南~アン~東~

Discussion:

I could’ve ended my haiku with “Also, cute sparrow!”, but I think I’ve driven that point home already. In my notes, I’ve got one that ends in “BOARRRRRRRR!” the same way you’d yell at a golf course (boar? Fore? Geddit…?), so I wanted to capitalise on it. 

(re: Ply – I’m going to guess this is an injoke I don’t understand and leave it at that. “Southeast” is read “nantou” in Japanese, but I don’t get why you’re saying it here.)

Aria, that’s what the crow says!

That’s what the crow was screeching repeatedly in multiple appearances…

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Astral: Well lookity here, it’s time for the Aniblogger’s Secrets! Did you know that the Summer season is chock full of a certain genre?

Nezuko: Mmm!

Astral: That’s right, Nezuko! Shounen series are all the rage, nowadays! It seems like no matter what your style, there’s a Shounen buzz for everyone!

Nezuko: Mmmm! Mmmmmmm!

Astral: What’s a shounen series, you ask? Well, A shounen anime is typically characterized by several distinct story traits, including-

*bell rings*

Astral: Oh boy, we’re out of time. Well, if you need more Shounen action in your life, check out Fire Force, Dr Stone, or maybe Vinland Saga to cover that sweet craving. Anyways, bye for now!!

Nezuko: Mmmm!