Season Finale Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
On another exciting episode of the Ambition Deliberation podcast, things are sizzling as we're finally hitting our season finale. We got Demon Slayer Season 3 Episode 11, a connected bond, daybreak, and first light. Right after these ads, we have no control over. Sing along if you know the words. One, two, three, it's time for animation deliberation. A conversation and a celebration of our favorite action animated series.
End of Swordsmith Village Arc
00:00:29
Speaker
Yeah, welcome back to another episode of Animation Deliberation, the podcast where we take action animation and cartoon seriously, but not too seriously. We're your hosts, I'm Zuhara Lee. And I'm Andrew Rogers. And we made it, bud. We've made it to the end of the swordsmith village arc of Demon Slayer.
00:00:45
Speaker
But why did it have to be over 11 episodes?
Pacing and Emotional Impact
00:00:51
Speaker
It's not enough. I have a lot of feelings about this that I do with my hero that everything was done so well and so emotionally packed that I just kind of needed that. Okay, at least I know this is coming back soon. They're not pulling an attack on Titan on us.
00:01:09
Speaker
I can I can just relax. Yes, that is the one true statement. And as much as I want to joke and be like, oh, it ended too soon, I did realize even with 11 episodes, it's been nearly three months that we've been able to watch Demon Slayer every single week. Not including the movie came out four months ago. I mean, movie premiere episode came out four months ago, like
00:01:30
Speaker
We've been on this train for a good little chunk of time like, all right, maybe we do need a break. Maybe it's time for other things to appear. But yeah, knowing that it's coming back is good, even though there was a lot of
Excitement for Upcoming Anime
00:01:43
Speaker
questions from this that like, it wasn't a cliffhanger. But I still walked away being like, I have so many things that need to be addressed.
00:01:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's similar to my hero again, like in case anybody hasn't caught up on that, I won't give spoilers, but just the way that they weaned out of it and the entrance of this new character was like the energy anticipation for something new, but still just kind of like we can breathe now because breathing.
00:02:09
Speaker
Um because there's also a lot of anime slated that's coming out soon and they're spaced out very well We got jujutsu kaizen coming out in two weeks as of today's recording. Oh my gosh. It's only two weeks. Oh my gosh I started season one again
00:02:23
Speaker
We got Fire Force season three, is it? Season three coming out. We have Attack on Titan at the end of the year. Now we have Secret Invasion for the Marvel side of things. So it's not like we're shy of any content to keep us busy. And that's why I'm okay with having this break because they communicate so well. And because I know that I'm not going to have to like sit and wonder what's happening.
00:02:52
Speaker
I guess now we're just going to go into spoiler stuff, but I'm not talking about the episode directly yet, but the end of this. OK, no, as soon as this episode ended, we got a teaser for what the next arc was going to be and promotional material right off the back with the Hasura training arc. And the images look stunning. The trailer had me so hyped and it's just kind of like, take your time because I know you're going to kill it. And I'm anxiously waiting. This was a March arrival, I think it was.
00:03:23
Speaker
I don't know. I don't think we have an official date. I do know they confirmed the season, but I don't think there was any like 2024. Yeah. I don't think they did anything of like, here's when you're actually going to be seeing it. If their track record stays the same, it should be early 2024 because they've been on a one year cadence, but they didn't say like, Oh, here's what it's going to be. Here's how long it's going to be. Like, we don't know if it's going to be another 10 episode thing or not. So yeah, they just said, all right, here's what's coming next.
00:03:52
Speaker
Yeah, I was two things that blew my mind about that trailer was one that Uzumi was on it. So I guess he really isn't allowed to quit.
00:04:07
Speaker
And I mean, we kind of knew that it was going to be a little bit questionable. Like, yeah, how far can he walk away, especially when they are in such a time
Characters and Weapons Discussion
00:04:17
Speaker
of need? Like, it's not even like it's a little bit of we might be short handed by one or two people. No, they were short handed before now.
00:04:24
Speaker
Well he's short-handed as well, but still yeah the way that Entertainment district ended and because of the revelations of this one I feel like the master is just on a high that he feels like we can finally go on the offensive and The second thing that blew me away with that trailer was the weapons the stone Hashira's freakin Chain and is that a called a flail?
00:04:50
Speaker
I don't know if it's a flail or a mace or if there's some other term that we don't like actually change. Let's call it a chain mace before I say the wrong thing. And the fact that the serpent Hasura has a Chris, that is the sword that I have. It was what I was gifted when I got my black belt and collie. There you go. My sword on his hand was like, oh, this is gonna be fun. I'm expecting demonstrations at that point, then I'll send you my
00:05:20
Speaker
my black belt choreography for the time being. But yeah, that's sort of wicked cool. It's just got waves on it. K-R-I-S, if anybody's interested in looking that up. Oh, yes. That's always going to have spelling. I got a history lesson last week about how Mitsuri Sword is actually based off ancient Indian martial arts. That's on the Filipino realm. I really want to just call it a flail now.
00:05:50
Speaker
Well, because I know there's a flail and a mace, but I don't know what the difference between the two. Flail is on a chain, mace is on a handle. Oh, is mace just on a stick? Okay. Ball on a stick. Ball on a stick, on a chain. One thing that I was very excited about that I almost impulsively did, but thankfully I didn't, was the Demon Slayer takeover of Times Square.
00:06:11
Speaker
having all the images and the music and all that stuff playing,
Times Square Takeover
00:06:15
Speaker
all the official content came out for that. And it looked so, so cool just having everything take over all the screens there. Yes, honestly, it seemed like everyone knew what was happening, obviously, but it was still very surreal to kind of watch and feel the energy through the videos of that happening. So cool.
00:06:39
Speaker
I guess that's it for preliminary stuff we can Hop on to the episode after I tell you why aren't you drinking enough water?
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Speaker
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00:07:31
Speaker
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00:08:56
Speaker
Alright, ready for a synopsis? Ready as I'll ever be, because I don't know if I can go any longer without spoiler talk on this one.
Episode 11 Synopsis
00:09:06
Speaker
Demon Slayer Season 3 Episode 11, a connected bond, daybreak, and first light, Tanjiro reaches the fleeing huntengu by combining his Hinokami Kagura with Thunderbreathing's technique. As he severs his neck, huntengu grows into Urami, a larger, aggressive clone of himself and attacks him.
00:09:23
Speaker
Genya and Nezuko attack Urami, but he falls off a cliff. As Urami tries to find humans to devour, Tanjiro using his combined techniques and the ancient sword provided by Muichiro decapitates him. With Don approaching, he rushes back to Nezuko to protect her from the sunlight, only for her to reveal Umuri is still alive, as it was not Hetengu, but his resentment's manifestation. Day breaks and Nezuko begins to burn. Without help, his sister
00:09:52
Speaker
Dying in his arms and Urami is still alive, Tanjiro freezes. Nezuko kicks him away and signals for him to kill the demon. Using his sense of smell, Tanjiro locates Hentengo, hiding inside Urami's heart and slices it apart, exposing him to the sunlight.
00:10:07
Speaker
Hontanko relives his criminal human life as he is decapitated and burns to ashes simultaneously, saving an exhausted Mitsuri from Zohaku-ten. I feel like this was one of the first times we got his name, so apologize for that.
00:10:23
Speaker
disintegrates as well. As Tanjiro grieves his sister's death, he turns to see the still demon Nezuko no longer burning, to much relief and joy. Through Hontango's memories, Muzan realizes his goal to conquer the sun can be achieved by devouring Nezuko. It is revealed he was a sickly young man from the high-end period. Enraged by his lack of recovery, he kills the doctor treating him, but realized his last treatment had enhanced his physical abilities and saved his life, though has left him unable to walk in sunlight.
00:10:53
Speaker
Since then, he has failed to find the Doctor's last component, the Blue Spider Lily, and resorted to creating demons in hopes that one could conquer the sun. In the battle's aftermath, Muichiro thanks Tanjiro for helping him regain his identity and Mitsuri embraces them for all surviving. As he leaves the village, the swordsmiths celebrate Tanjiro for saving them. So I feel like...
Finale's Emotional Impact
00:11:18
Speaker
I'm not trying to say I'm negative here. I feel like this episode...
00:11:23
Speaker
didn't give us as much as I thought but was long because it was adding emphasis to the emotions that it needed because like reading the synopsis right here does not add anything to how like emotional and deep and like all these scenes were so like not much happened
00:11:46
Speaker
But there was a lot to it, if that makes sense. Yes, I feel like the amount of things that we saw was equivalent to what we would normally see in like a half hour, maybe 40 minute episode. But they extended so much of it and really went into the depths of like, okay, how is this going to make us feel? What is this going to mean for
00:12:08
Speaker
all of it going forward. So yeah, it was long to be a good thing. But I also think it was long in the fact that it was basically two episodes put together. If you look at entertainment district, there was a big debate like, was it good or bad that they did the fight in the second to last episode, and then the last episode is tying up loose ends. This kind of did both of those just in a longer format. So it's like, oh, okay, this is just a best of both worlds situations where we can tie it up.
00:12:37
Speaker
without feeling let down that oh the finale was only moves on back story or something like that but i gotta say this is two episodes where would you split it. What if it was two episodes i think it would have been a cliffhanger of rate as you cut off.
00:12:55
Speaker
Hantangu's head like proper like Hantangu dead cut the episode there and then finale episode quote finale episode would have been hey guess what Nezuko's alive and also this is what it means for Muzan also hears his backstory also hears the celebration of Tanjiro I feel like that that's what would have happened and I wouldn't be surprised if they actually
00:13:18
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised if they wrote it as that originally, and then just said, But what if we put them together and air it all at once? Yeah, mine would have been when Muzan was having like was coming out of his like child body and had that revelation of like, Oh my god, there's another one, there's another one, like that would have been like the cut for me. That's pretty good. Like, I don't think either is bad. But I think the best answer is what we got. Yeah, exactly.
00:13:47
Speaker
Yeah, last week I was talking about how Twitter is finally understanding me and like throwing in some anime stuff along with the sports stuff. I regretted that instantly because I was at Awesome Con all weekend. And of course, like instinctively, I would just open up Twitter. And the first thing I saw was Thunder Breathing, X Sun Breathing. I was like,
00:14:04
Speaker
What? And then throughout the day, like instinctively, I just open up trying to be like, stop doing that. I don't need to see any more of this episode. That's one thing I loved about my hero was that it came out like at the crack of dawn. So by the time I was awake, the episode was there for demons. I have to wait until like the afternoon time to be able to watch it. It's so frustrating. So I'm glad I don't have to deal with that till next year. But hopefully they just come out earlier on the East Coast.
00:14:31
Speaker
Yeah, you're just gonna have to put some blocks on Twitter on Sundays. But yeah, just log out entirely. Yeah, log out entirely. That's just a great first note to start on was the thunder breathing. Like, they slid that in so much in all of this episodes emotion that like, Tundra is at another level now. And
00:14:51
Speaker
I think it was really cool because I feel like this confirms the conversation we had earlier in the season of are the breathing forms actual things that we see or is it just a manifestation of their power? I think this all but confirms, okay, it's just for the viewers. It's a manifestation of the power because we didn't really see Tanjiro go into thunder mode. There was the occasional little bit of lightning.
00:15:15
Speaker
But even when he was doing his total concentration and didn't say thunder breathing, it was the same pose, the same movement, but it was still fire to show, oh, this is how we make Tanjiro movies with fire, even though he's doing the exact same thing that Zenitsu taught him, which is so bizarre to say the word Zenitsu taught him anything.
00:15:34
Speaker
like was not expecting him to make his appearance like that in the season but it was awesome that he did because I kept being like when is this leg gonna come back he broke it he can't just running around yeah you fully understand something when you can learn it
00:15:51
Speaker
when you can observe it, learn it, and teach it. And Zenitsu can only do one thing, so you know he really understands it because he just did all three. So yay, Zenitsu. Thank you for being useful this season. But yeah, it was cool because we saw Tanjiro use thunder breathing twice. And the first one, he started with thunder and then finished with Hinokami Kagura. And then the second time at the bottom of the cliff is when he did both at the same time.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yes. So that was just a really beautiful use of- and he did something similar with water in Hinokami Kagura when he was saving Hinatsuru in the Entertainment District arc.
00:16:35
Speaker
Correct. Yeah, because he tried doing one and there's like, this isn't working, but water brings not gonna do anything. Let me try mixing it together. And now we see the mix of I forget the name of it too. I think it was like the flashing dance or something like that. I just remember being like super badass when he gave it a name.
00:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's just a testament to, you know, we theorized at one point, oh, is Tanjiro going to become like the avatar of this universe and, you know, control all the elements? Well, now that we know that they're not really elements, it just makes more sense. Oh, he's going to learn from all these masters. And because he has the
00:17:11
Speaker
essentially the base form of all of the breathing styles, he's going to be able to learn all of these techniques, even though he's not a trained thunder breather, he can use thunder breathing things, even though he's not trained in sound, he's probably gonna start using some fang and some sound things from uzui. So I think it's just super cool. To really know possibly, I mean, he's just got that killer sense of smell. He's got that schnoz on him here.
00:17:34
Speaker
But like how he's evolved it to be able to use it for tracking and understand like, like he used it as a freaking MRI just now, like actually seeing hunting inside of a heart of room. I was like, whoa. We did have that, like pretty much since season one, where he had to smell the traps that were set for him by the water breathing
Tanjiro's Growth
00:17:55
Speaker
master. Like that was the whole like, oh, he can smell really well. That was when we first did it. But I agree it has. We're seeing it honed in like very specifically now. Yes.
00:18:05
Speaker
He's grown. He's grown both in technique, but also visually, because those flashback scenes reminded me how much of a baby boy he was animated as in that first season, and how far he
Nezuko's Survival Discussion
00:18:20
Speaker
has come. Like, there's a stark difference, and I was not prepared to actually, like, visually see how much of a difference there was in Tangerine from season one to now, even though it's only been, like, a couple years.
00:18:31
Speaker
I think it's like what, him being 14 to being 18 now, or like 12 to 16 or something of that sort. Like we- I was about to say, I don't think he's quite 18 yet. I think we've had a significant jump. I think there's been like a four year lapse. No matter what the ages are, I think it's been a four year lapse between episode one and now. Because they emphasize all that recovery time that they need. It's not like, all right, I'm magically better. It's like, no, I still can't talk because I just got choked out. I'm still tripping because I got my-
00:19:00
Speaker
my, my ankle severed. Like the fact that all those things are a factor and matter is just absolutely incredible. One quick thing I want to touch on with the sword and how insane his freaking swordsmith is, is we got another little hint of something. Well, two, two little hints that we got from the opener as we see
00:19:27
Speaker
Toki to throw the sword. So now we know he was actually like passing it off when he was yelling because we've only heard him and like his like monotone low voice. I thought it was any two. I was like, how did he get over here? Yeah, I was like, is any two going to save the day? Yeah. But no, it was just him like raising his voice for once. So between him throwing that and Nezuko's mouth guard being on the floor was like, oh, shit, we actually did get to see both of those things.
00:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we've danced around it, but you said it. Nezuko just casually being alive. Yeah. I cannot believe it. They sold the heck out of her being dead. Like that flashback scene. Fucking Twitter. Yeah, how long Tundra was in the air was just. Oh, it was a level of like full emotion tears, just like, wow, they're really going to do this. Like I didn't.
00:20:22
Speaker
I didn't see a way out. I didn't see anything that was going to possibly save her, maybe Genya, but it was still very much like, no, we have to say goodbye. We thought Dark Deku was bad. I think Dark Tanjiro, if Nezuko had actually died, was going to be insane because I was- Oh, I need that water series. I was assuming, oh, Nezuko's going to die and the next season is just going to be Tanjiro going from Muzan's head. That was going to be what was happening.
00:20:48
Speaker
I'm happy that it came out this way and it does create an interesting story, even if it was a bit too easy. Like I was like, Oh, we just had to burn her demon away. Like what actually happened? She could just talk now. Like there was, there was a lot that was left open, but I can't complain because I think had we lost Nezuko, you were also losing viewers of the show. Like she is an integral part and I'm so happy she's still here.
00:21:14
Speaker
I don't think any show has sold to death wait as well as this in a while. Which is another reason the episode had to be so long because like I said it was the weight of the emotions that this episode needed not so much things happening. So to be able to have those flashbacks and just kind of show like we needed to see Tanjiro that angry like he was still
00:21:38
Speaker
mission focused after the decision was taken away from him. Like that contemplation. And him actually screaming, I don't know what to do. I can't decide. That's what I said about Mitsuri last week is like seeing our heroes make mistakes and have to make decisions and not know what's right and have these like moral battles with themselves.
Tanjiro's Emotional Struggle
00:22:01
Speaker
is stuff that superhero things are starting to do more and audiences aren't able to appreciate because they're so used to the good guy just being right and waiting all the time. Like content these days have more gray area and it's amazing to see, like to see him struggle to that extent to the point where the only reason that the Hashira haven't killed Nezuko in that
00:22:27
Speaker
the master hasn't ordered him dead is because she's supposed to be fighting for humanity. So she understands like we only got this far because I'm helping the Demon Slayer core. This is how I'm going to do it. And she does that by making Tanjiro's decision for him. Because this is why she's there. This is why they're there. And for him to have that decision made for him and then to go back into
00:22:54
Speaker
mission ready of he's getting close to those three I need to move now, because there's nothing else to contemplate. And the rage, the pure rage on his face of I'm fucking done with you, you're dead was incredible to see. And that's why they had to sell it so hard because as as focused as he was, he was beyond heated. Yeah, no, it was heated. It was emotional. And just him
00:23:25
Speaker
grieving on the ground after the fact was more of selling it. Like even when they switched the camera kind of to what would become Nezuko's POV, I didn't know who it was. I was like, is it going to be Genya walking up with the body? Is it going to be, you know, Mitsuri finally coming and being like, Oh, what happened to Nezuko? Like they sold it so well that you weren't expecting to turn and see her and
00:23:51
Speaker
it just layered it in more because you realize oh he did all of that for her he's even saying it in that moment like she's the reason i came this far she's the reason i joined the demon slayer corps and yeah it was so heavy and so emotional but just in the
00:24:09
Speaker
in the right way. Like I don't know how to say it any better like you just you fell in love with these this brother and sister all over again that it didn't matter how hurt he was he was trying his best to get up and go to her even and even throughout that fight they were still the brother sister duo of her like pointing over his shoulder like no you have to save those people you can't just come yeah like help me get out of the sun but
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah, I cannot believe how far she's come of that, like she's still in this childlike state, but she understands what is at risk, that it's humanity, it's not just her. I like that the other lady demon emphasized that too, when she was writing her research report, in regards to like, there's a reason that she's staying as a child, there's something that like, she's telling herself to be able to focus on this. And I know like what gets her to calm down as thinking of her mother singing to her,
00:25:03
Speaker
And even like one of the things that popped up on Twitter was their fight with Ruby the spider family and how like
00:25:12
Speaker
her mom came to her to say like, you have to protect Tundra, wake up, wake up, wake up. So there's this innocence of her being loved by her mother that's really keeping her in check right now. And I want to know if they emphasize that on that further down. Yeah, my guess as to what it was is her mind is focused on saving Tundra keeping Tundra safe, like that's where she is. So her mind is so preoccupied with that, that she can't
00:25:42
Speaker
you know, age and go forward and you know, make more happen. It's just going to be this child like Nezuko, which I think is still fun. Like even though she can talk, it's not going to be it's not going to be a new character all of a sudden that's going to have dialogue all the time. It's going to be little things coming out of her similar to her non vocal performances where it's going to be a lot of pointing and emotion and shouting and different things like that. So.
00:26:09
Speaker
It's still going to have the core of the character, but now she just doesn't have to have a muzzle. And it gets, I'm sure it's going to create some amazing, fun moments that aren't just, you know, faces with two dots on it anymore. It's going to be, you know, little jazz coming out of it. That's still when she was talking to, um, when she was talking to Muichiro and like every time Muichiro just had like, she was still mimicking that. This is so cute. Yeah. Same old Nezuko just hanging out.
00:26:39
Speaker
Yeah, seeing Muitra's reaction with them and just the level of respect that he has for Tanjiro and thanking him, even though he didn't understand, was really beautiful to see. But when Mitsuri comes in, she was like, we did it, guys! We survived! But just the way that she was freaking out, like, I was kind of underwhelmed with how that ended because they added the comedic spin to it, but it was still just really
Post-Battle Character Developments
00:27:02
Speaker
good of her. Like, I almost died!
00:27:04
Speaker
But then the relief of like, oh, we got him. And then she was hugging Kenya and Tokuto, which was really funny because Kenya was just like all the blood rushed to his head. But yeah, he was a little heated. The excitement of seeing Nezuko and then flipping out when she spoke. There's still one line and check out. Remember, I tried looking it up just now to the Japanese line.
00:27:26
Speaker
Uh, just her shock. And then with how much love that those two have for each other as practically sisters now was just absolutely beautiful. And Tundra being as broken as he was was just riding as it goes back again. Like, yeah, you guys hug because you will crack something if you touch me right now. Yeah. Is it the end of a Demon Slayer season if we don't get the chance to see
00:27:52
Speaker
Tanjiro and Nezuko's back. I feel like that's just a staple at this point of like, oh, yeah, the fight's over. So this is what's gonna happen. But nobody died. Nobody died. And I agree, it was a bit anticlimactic with the turn that they took. But I also think it was
00:28:14
Speaker
Interesting the amount of stuff that once again, it felt like they left out. We kind of talked last season, like we never got to see him say goodbye to Oozooie. And they did that again when he was leaving the village and leaving everyone. I was like, he didn't say goodbye to Nitsuri or ask Enya what was going on with his demon or I definitely need a little more clarification on that. Yeah, there was just so many like, oh, Tanjiro is leaving the village again. Doo doo doo doo doo. I was like,
00:28:42
Speaker
There's so many things. What do you mean? You just saved all these lives alongside your brothers. Like, are they OK? I'm assuming that, like, we're not going to see or not going to have Muichiro die off screen, but he was pretty worse for where the last time we saw him. So that was a help that they healed up and left the village a lot sooner than Tanjiro could. Yeah, I that was not sure they had to like get back and report. Yeah, I was wondering if they
00:29:11
Speaker
Like, because they didn't show any sort of passage of time, but it felt like there was a decent passage of time because Tanjiro no longer had a hole in him. And like, yeah, he couldn't walk, but it was still very much like he was better than he was at the end of this fight.
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah, that was really sweet how they just gained the cart in the way that they were celebrating him on the way out. Mentioning Genya seeing him catch on fire too by Nezuko, like, had to be scared for him for a little bit.
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah, he did not get to apply much to this episode, but what he did apply was awesome, in my opinion, because we skipped kind of to the middle because that's where the big chunk of things was. But I do want to go back to the beginning. That opening scene set the tone in terms of animation. We haven't talked about it at all, but holy crap. Did they pull out the stunners in this episode? All of the scenery, the trees and the mountain range with the sun coming over it, they just did not pull their punches. But on that opening scene,
00:30:14
Speaker
It was so extraordinarily reminiscent of Mugen Train. And I don't know how to read into it in terms of like, oh, what parallels they're going for. But just Tanjiro shouting after a demon running through the forest, being like, don't be a coward. You need to face what you've done felt so similar to him chasing off Akaza after he killed Rengoku. And instead of throwing a sword, you have Genya coming in, throwing trees to try and hit him.
00:30:42
Speaker
It was all so many similar notes that I was just like, they've grown because there's now a team of people doing this as opposed to just Tanjiro being emotional. Like, no, he's going to get him. He's not going to let him escape again. And I thought that was a really cool parallel, even if not necessarily what they were going for. I was getting extreme vibes of that exact feeling again. Teamwork, Dreamwork. Oh, heck yeah. And this is the best team. I don't think I have
00:31:12
Speaker
too much to add to that. I'm curious how much of other characters at their level will see, because they don't really talk about the ranks much. So it's like, I can't even remember what they're called or how they go. Well, so if we're going to talk about ranks, I do. I'm going to fan theory a bit with you here, and I want your opinions on this. So I have not watched the trailer for the next season yet. And you mentioned it is called the Hashira Training Arc.
00:31:42
Speaker
do we think that means Tanjiro is getting promoted? Because that was the one thing at the end of this that I was like, how does this boy not get promoted after this? Because we talked way back, the way that someone gets promoted to Hashira is either killing 50 demons or killing a member of the 12 Kizuki. And they mentioned at the start of this season, he did not get promoted to Hashira because he had help from Uzui.
00:32:08
Speaker
Like Uziwe was actually the one that did a good chunk of the beheading and stuff to kill Daki and Giyotaro, thank you. But this was a lot Tanjiro. Tanjiro was the one that took out Hantagu. Yes, he couldn't have done it without Mitsuri's help to distract hatred, but like... And Genia when they were fighting for...
Speculation on Hashira Training Arc
00:32:32
Speaker
don't know. There's still like an argument to be made that this would not like Mitsuri would have died had it not been for Tanjiro actually beheading the demon on time. Yeah. So do we think that's why it's called the Hashira training arc? Like, is he becoming a Hashira or is he just training with more of the Hashira? So James Ellis's email kind of helps with this, too. James Ellis, just one sentence, the demon mark will get explained in the next arc, but it's basically an adrenaline boost for the slayers.
00:33:01
Speaker
We haven't seen all of the Hashura use this, so I feel like we are gonna see that to an extent. Like I said, I feel like this is the first time that the Demon Slayer core feel like they can go on the offensive. And I think they're gonna make, they're gonna start having the Hashura push each other and really like bulk each other up. So I think we're, you know, like in,
00:33:27
Speaker
black clover when they had the captain's battle. Like the tournament with. Yes. I think that's what we're getting with the Hasura. Oh, so it's just going to be a Hasura just duke in and out being like we got a train or like we're going to see I think we're going to get a lot of them being highlighted individually and then how like they're going to set like a really high bar like we're asking like how is Tanjiro not a Hasura yet? I think this arc is going to answer that because they're going to show us like what all the Hasura are fully capable of.
00:33:55
Speaker
And I would love to do that because no offense to, I mean, they're fictional characters, but I'll preface anyway, no offense to Mitsuri and Muichiro. I don't feel like they were as over the top impressive as seeing Renkoku and Uzui was. Maybe that's because we were still kind of new to the Hashira idea.
00:34:15
Speaker
but it felt like they were on the same playing field as Tanjiro was throughout the season. And I think that's why the question is in my head of like, okay, when is it his turn? So I would love to go back to the basics, be like, all right, here's actually the skill difference between us, kid, like watch and learn. So from the rankings, Uzui is actually the weakest of them all.
00:34:41
Speaker
Right, I do remember that. And that's number six. And that's the weird thing. Because like, who's we felt more powerful than Mitsuri and Muichiro did. And maybe that's because we didn't get to highlight them as much this season. Like Muichiro's fight was such a joke because he was so powerful. So he doesn't feel powerful. Yeah, Muichiro also had a loner sword. That's true.
00:35:09
Speaker
And we saw how Tundra wasn't able to cut through with his loan or sword either. So the weapons that they used were definitely a factor in that. Okay, yeah. I mean, I could believe it. I just want... Give me more. Make them more impressive. Make it over the top. Or maybe this is just to show that the skill gap is closing a little bit. I'm not sure.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah, so we have in order of this first list that I pulled up, it's Tengen, Shinobu, Rangoku, Mitsuri, Igaro, the Serpent Hashura, Muichiro, the Mist, Gyu, the Water, Sanami, the Wind, and then Gyomei, the Stone. It's the most powerful.
00:35:57
Speaker
Yeah, and I know we talked about that because I think that was part of like why Oozoo is so flashy and he still uses smoke bombs and poisons is because like he's making up for not being quite as good of a swordsman as the rest of them. Which kind of what I said about the. The upper. Whatever the Gilco, like he's more of a stealth guy and sneak attack guy. Yes. Which is why he got, quote unquote, taken out easier.
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah, okay, I can work with that. And at the same time, the Hashira are going to have to pull themselves together because even if Hantengu and Kyoko were not as over the top as the rest, we know what Akaza is capable of. And there's still two other demons above him that we don't know what they're capable of. So that's even more terrifying to know that, like,
00:36:51
Speaker
There's really four major demons left, and they are all the most terrifying things that we have seen. So yeah, I think we're in for a lot. I think we're in for more. And I feel like there's something I'm forgetting from this episode. But God, there was so much that just happened.
Muzan's Backstory and Motivations
00:37:08
Speaker
We haven't touched on the Muzon part of it at all yet. There you go. See, I'm forgetting something. It's Muzon. I tried to split those two intentionally, too, because I felt like that was just a decent split.
00:37:20
Speaker
But yeah, it was interesting to see his backstory and the fact that he's evil just for the sake of being evil. Yeah, it's interesting that he's evil, but it's also like, I love this explanation that they're not really demons. We're categorizing them as demons because that's what the people of the world say they are. That's the only way they can explain it to themselves. It's like, oh, it's a demon.
00:37:45
Speaker
It's really a disease. Because, oh, I have the same blood as this man. That's how you would spread a disease in someone's blood. And okay, that means the start of a zombie movie. Yeah, it essentially is something along those lines. And yes, there's something bigger in the magic of their life.
00:38:01
Speaker
blood demon arts. But at the end of the day, it's not like the standard Oh, the demon came from hell, and is wreaking havoc because of that. Like, no, it's just a man who wanted more power, and tried to take it and then created an army for himself, essentially, because like, more blood made him more powerful. Do we so do we think he was the first demon?
00:38:26
Speaker
that's how I read it, was like he was the first demon and then he started spreading it to others so that he could create more demons to hopefully find the cure or the one that could walk in the sun, which also is another, yeah, I can't remember how long ago I called it, but I know there was a podcast where I was like, what if Muzan's whole thing is he's trying to get in the sunlight so that he can fight the humans in the daytime and turns out,
00:38:53
Speaker
Not how I thought we were going to get there, but we got there somehow, folks. Yeah. Yeah. I remember you saying like, imagine how terrifying he'd be if he could be out in the sun. Yeah. And I liked the callback that we had to the citizen that he clawed to distract Tondro. Yes. And the fact that he's okay now, it's like, oh, we're getting cures now too. Interesting. Yeah. Like the amount of time that you've had the disease is a factor in it.
00:39:23
Speaker
But the fact that we're like, expanding on it is very fascinating. Yeah, and it was interesting that they were able to cure the man, but there was nothing about the demon woman curing herself. Like she didn't seem to be better. I think the duration is a factor. I think there's a lot at play.
00:39:42
Speaker
And and I think they will explain it more but like Nezuko basically being like this anti demon definitely seems to have something going on. If you want to equate it back to being a virus of some kind, she would have the antibodies or the way to like keep herself cured. But yeah, I think it was her not consuming people that might have been a factor.
00:40:04
Speaker
Her not being somebody who consumes people and being the descendant of a sun breather are two things that I think are going to have something to do with it. I think it's definitely the sun breathing because it's like, I mean, there was the direct line in the woman's letter that was, I think, Nezuko is going to be able to conquer the sun. And that feels very much the parallel to, oh, Tanjiro, the sun breather, she is also of the sun breathing lineage.
00:40:30
Speaker
what that means for her. We don't really know. But I think it's I think it's an awesome through line because like Nezuko should have special powers. She's still like Tanjiro's sister. She shouldn't be out of this picture just because she's a demon. Like, no, she should have the powers. Hmm. But mostly question like the correlation between Muzan sickness and the master sickness, because they've been cursed
00:41:01
Speaker
for generations now? Yeah, I mean, maybe it's the same sickness, but the master has refused to take the medicine because he knows, oh, this is what could happen.
00:41:16
Speaker
I could see something in medicine not to change. Or maybe it's that like maybe the curse that like maybe he was attacked by Muzan and got some of his blood, but somehow managed to resist becoming a demon. And that's why he's dying is because this has to be like his great, great, great, great, great grandfather or something, because they talk about how it's like a lineage thing. Yeah, there's so many layers to that.
00:41:44
Speaker
we've I know we've argued on it because it's not clear. Like they say things. Yes, sorry. It is both a deliberation and a conversation. But blue spider. Yeah, I don't I'm very intrigued that like that just is now thrown away. Like the whole I don't need a blue spider lily anymore. I just need Nezuko. If it's a factor for the master though, it could be for the
00:42:15
Speaker
the lady demon to make some type of cure or some type of like something to something to weaponize and use against Muzan. Yeah, we need to throw it out that easily. I think the I think who's going to need it is going to be the factor. Yeah, it, it feels like it's something there. But I feel like it's definitely the idea that we
00:42:40
Speaker
Alright, we had a little bit of technical difficulty in Lost Andrew, but thankfully we didn't have too much else to add to that. Anyways, we had a phenomenal Season 3 excellent animation, excellent music, excellent sense of emotion. So we are very excited for Season 4, the Hasho training arc, to be coming out sooner than later. Again, we love Ufotable and their ability to communicate with us, so
00:43:05
Speaker
We will try to be as patient as possible as this new season to come out. We would love your feedback of the whole series. I know some people are waiting for all of it to be out. Some people are waiting for the dub to come out at whatever pace you guys are watching. We hope you enjoyed the season. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of it. Please leave us a review, five star preferably. And as always, give us some feedback so we can talk about it. If a lot of people reach out, we'll definitely do a whole episode set for that. Otherwise, keep an eye out for the This Week in Animation segments that we do when there's news to cover.
00:43:35
Speaker
If you want to reach out to us any of our social media, then Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are the places to go. Just look up Animation Deliberation, and I'm sure you'll find us. Aside from that, I know Andrew had some appearances on Source Pages for the comic coverage of Flashpoint. We are going to have our coverage with the Source Pages host to do
00:43:58
Speaker
Flashpoint Paradox versus The Flash Movie. And for J. Scottie, check out Multiverse News every week on Stranded Panda. And I actually can catch a video version of that on Spotify and YouTube, so be sure to check that out.
00:44:13
Speaker
And Binger's Assemble for the Mission Impossible coverage that's going on before the theater release of that. As for me, check out 323 with Reed Murphy. We got to do our panel at Awesome Con. That whole hour and a half panel is going to be on YouTube soon. I got some video footage of some of the incredible artists that we have over there. And we even had our Sunday hangover just kind of talking about our favorite things about it. Top five Disney songs.
00:44:40
Speaker
and just a bunch of other great content. So thank you as always for supporting us. Thank you for checking in. Be sure to tune in next time. That's T-W-O-N-I-N and as always, stay whelmed.
00:44:52
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Animation Deliberation Podcast, a proud member of the Strandepanda Network. If you would like to contact us, you can email animationdeliberationpodcast at gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at animationdelib1. For this and other great shows, you can visit Strandepanda.com or join the great community that is the Strandepanda Chat Facebook group at facebook.com slash groups slash spchat. Tune in next time and remember, stay well.