There’s a peculiar quality some series have, where even if I know nothing (or next to) about the specifics, I always feel as if I know exactly what’s coming.  And that’s certainly the case with Kimetsu no Yaiba.  Some of it is knowing the series’ general reputation, but I think mostly it’s the writing itself.  When a series is as grounded in the traditions of its genre as this one seems to be, it’s almost like watching a meticulously-choreographed dance whose steps are well-known to you.

That can be a positive or a negative, but so far it seems to be mostly the former with this show.  I’ll repeat what I said last week, this is a series that trades on execution to succeed, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as you have the chops to back it up.  I feel like if you could combine the brilliant premise of Yakusoku no Neverland and the brilliant execution of Kimestsu no Yaiba you’d have, well – something like Fullmetal Alchemist or Boku no Hero Academia, a truly great shounen in every sense.  As is, with both you sort of have half a great shounen – which is still a whole lot better than none.

I’m still not wholly convinced on this whole demon sister side of the story – stuff like “Nezuko in a basket” mostly seems designed to score moe points.  But I’ll give the story time to flesh it out and convince me it makes sense for more than convenience’ sake.  Once Nezuko’s travel arrangements are sorted the first part of this episode is devoted to a longish set piece where the siblings encounter a man-eater at a remote temple on Mt. Sagiri (where Sakurai-san sent them last week).  There’s some good action here, as you’d expect.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – what sets ufotable apart (aside from creativity in bookkeeping) is the way they can integrate CGI with solid and occasionally beautiful 2D animation in relatively seamless fashion.

The main point of this encounter, though, is to reinforce certain elements of Tanjirou’s character that were hinted at in the premiere.  He’s too kind for his own good, that much is obvious – hell, that’s the reason he’s choosing to try and keep his sister alive despite the fact that she represents a seeming threat to his life.  And the fact is, these youkai are sentient beings, with personalities much like humans (or so it seems this week) – I can’t blame an empathetic child like Tanjirou for hesitating in killing one, especially when it’s helpless.  This encounter also establishes that demons can’t be killed even by beheading, and both head and body are able to fight on afterwards (even a little sunlight, on the other hand…).

Here to reinforce the lesson is Urokodaki Sakonji (the always recognizable Ohtsuka Houchu).  He’s the demon slayer Giyuu sent Tanjirou to find, and he appears before him in a goblin mask which never leaves his face during the episode.  He puts Tanjirou through a fairly routine series of trials to determine if he’s worthy of being his disciple, which doesn’t pack a whole lot of suspense since we know how it’s going to turn out.  It’s interesting that he’s willing to play along with the idea of keeping Nezuko alive, though he makes it clear that whatever happens it’s on Tanjirou’s head.  Does that reflect a precedent in “healing” a human who’s turned into a youkai?

This all continues to work quite well in its straightforward, ducks-in-a-row fashion.  Hanae Natsuki does have a bit of the “constantly shouting WSJ protagonist” syndrome going (he’s prone to that generally), but Tanjirou is a pretty sympathetic figure on the whole.  And the world-building remains quite good, both in terms of the way the early chapters are written and the way the anime is bringing them to life – it’s an interesting and scary place that feels quite real.  I certainly wouldn’t mind if Kimetsu no Yaiba does something to wow me at some point, but what it’s doing right now is quite entertaining.