Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Season 3 Episode 1 Recap & Review

Catching Up

Episode 1 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba season 3 (Swordsmith Village Arc) begins with a Kakushi, a member of the cleaning crew finding Tanjiro’s squad after the battle with Gyutaro. At that moment, the sickly Kagaya Ubuyashiki says its an omen since it is the first time in over 100 years that an Upper Rank Demon was killed. This change will help them kill Muzan, who is a blemish on his family.

It then cuts to Muzan’s lair, the Infinity Castle where Akaza, the Upper Rank 3 Demon is called in. All of the remaining Upper Rank demons are called in as well including Upper Rank 1 Kokushibo, and Upper Rank 2 Doma. It is the first time in 100 years that they have all gathered and Hantengu is worried. As they all bicker, Muzan shows up and is angry that Gyutaro was killed pointing out that Daki was his weakness.

He further berates the demons as they cannot find Ubuyashiki or the Blue Spider Lily. He adds that he doesn’t like change as it means things will decay. Hoping to curry favour, Gyokko reveals that he has information that can help but Muzan says never to give him unconfirmed information and slices his head off. He tells Hantengu to go with Gyokko to confirm the information and leaves.

Doma tries to jump in on the mission but Akaza fights him for disobeying Muzan. Much to their surprise, Kokushibo cuts off Akaza’s arm and reprimands him for always fighting with other demons. If Akaza wants the upper hand, he should rank higher. But Doma just taunts him as he points out that even though he is younger he is a rank higher.

Akaza simply tells Kokushibo that one day he will kill him and become #1 and the latter wishes him luck. Everyone leaves and Doma is left behind who sighs and is dropped home by the Biwa demon.

It changes to a flashback where a demon slayer with the same Hanafuda earrings as Tanjiro is talking to his father, Sumiyoshi. While babysitting Tanjiro who is a baby, his father thanks the demon slayer for saving his life and hopes to spread his name in gratitude. The demon slayer says he is not powerful as those who go down the same path as him, end up the same way.

Turns out it is a memory of Tanjiro which he dreams about before finally waking up after 2 months. Kanao finds him awake and is happy that he has finally recovered after the battle. At that moment, Goto, a Kakushi who had first looked after the boys when they arrived at the Butterfly Estate plans to gift Tanjiro some cake so that the smell wakes him up. He admires that the demon slayers are younger than him but stronger.

As he enters, he is shocked that Tanjiro is awake and calls everyone in and even Aoi tears up. As they catch up, it is revealed Zenitsu woke up a day before and is already on a mission much to his displeasure. Sound Hashira is fine and just walked off with his wives. Inosuke almost died but Tanjiro points out that he is on his ceiling.

Everyone is surprised to see him as he falls on the bed and reveals that he woke up a week ago. The girls bicker with Inosuke till Kanao shushes them as Tanjiro falls asleep. He is also visited by Tamayo’s cat who is glad he is alive. Goto, Inosuke and Zenitsu are all sent on missions while Tanjiro goes through his rehabilitation training.

He is excited for his new sword but he gets a letter from his swordsmith Hotaru Haganezuka saying he won’t get a sword anymore since he keeps breaking his previous ones. The girls tell him to go to the swordsmith village and convince him in person and Tanjiro cheers up. 

Located in a top-secret area to prevent demon attacks, Tanjiro is blindfolded and guided by several different Kakushis at different checkpoints. Once he reaches the village, he loudly thanks the last Kakushi and Mitsuri the Love Hashira who is bathing in the local hot spring, hears the gratitude and is excited someone new has arrived.

Tanjiro meets with Tecchin Tecchikawahara, the village chief who says Hotaru is missing. While Tanjiro is worried about him, Tecchin blames Hotaru for making faulty swords and if he cannot succeed, they will give Tanjiro another swordsmith. As Tanjiro is taken to the hot spring to recover, he hopes there is no punishment for Hotaru. 

He is suddenly greeted by Mitsuri who hugs him and complains to him that someone ignored her. He cheers her up by telling her the dinner is almost ready and sends her on her way. He goes to the hot springs and sees Genya Shinazugawa who is the one who ignored Mitsuri. He gets in and tries to bond by bringing up his brother Sanemi but Genya just beats him up like his brother and leaves while Nezuko floats in the water.

At dinner, Mitsuri and Tanjiro eat a lot and they wonder if Genya is on bad terms with Sanemi. Mitsuri plays with Nezuko as they wonder if Genya will ever show up. Worried for him, they decide to bring him some food. On their way, Tanjiro asks why Mitsuri joined the demon corps and regrets it immediately as she says she wants to find her true love who is stronger than her, which is why she joined the Hashira ranks.

They reach Genya’s room but see that he is missing. A Kakushi finds them and tells Mitsuri that her sword is ready and that she can leave in the middle of the night. Nezuko who gets attached to her doesn’t want her to leave while Tanjiro is worried.

Mitsuri advises the siblings the best type of learning is first-hand experience and hopes they fight the good fight. She says she will cheer for them and an inspired Tanjiro says he will find a way to defeat Muzan. Mitsuri is impressed and whispers to him that there is a secret weapon in the village that he should find.

The next day, while Tanjiro trains, one of the forgers tells him that they are yet to find Hotaru. As he waits for his swordsmith, he decides to look for the secret weapon. While searching, he comes across Muichiro the Mist Hashira arguing with a swordsmith. He wants a key but the swordsmith refuses. Tanjiro sees another person with Hanafuda earrings and realises he is the same man from his dream.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that Inosuke was on the ceiling for a whole day trying to wake Tanjiro up. He is touched and Inosuke tries to brush it aside.

The Episode Review

While we have come to love Zenitsu and Inosuke, we will probably not see much of them in the Swordsmith Village Arc of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, but at least we got some closure. Zenitsu is the same old snot-crying, secretly an expert demon slayer. Inosuke meanwhile pretends to be tough but cares about his friends.

We also got a glimpse of the Kakushis and the Butterfly Estate nurses who were hilarious and got to know more about them. It is safe to say that everyone is chaotic and a little wild from Genya to Mitsuri.

Hopefully, we get to see more of the Love Hashira in the coming episodes as the place that the demons need to go is possibly the swordsmith village. It would also be pretty exciting if Nezuko once again went berserk in her full demon form while trying to take down the 2 Upper Rank demons heading their way.