I know I shouldn’t fixate on the production values with Kimetsu no Yaiba when even a bad day for ufotable would be a good day for most series.  Still, it’s quite striking how many low-rent moments we’re seeing this season.  It’s a reminder, I guess, that no matter how successful a franchise the budget (both in terms of money and time) is not infinite.  When there’s no new manga to promote maybe the incentive to be lavish declines just a bit, and you get something that looks like- well, like Katanakakaji no Sato-hen.

Technically we have a two-on-two hashira vs. upper rank battle here (now that the second hashira has officially arrived).  But with Tanjirou present that’s a bit deceptive.  Tokitou is primarily engaged with Gyokko – first through his fish demons and eventually the Upper Fifth himself.  Tanjirou has been doing battle with Hantengu (Genya is also tied up in that battle).  That leaves defense of the village itself (and the Chief) to Kanroji (Hanazawa Kana).  She’s another of those characters that’s appeared in the series before about whom I remember nothing at all, butI know she’s all over the OP/ED so she’s obviously going to be important here.

It’s kind of hilarious how differently a female hashira is portrayed than all her male counterparts, but that does fit with Kimetsu’s general attitude towards its female characters.  She has the classic shounen costume (nothing specific to KnY there), and here “love attacks” or whatever she calls them are pretty demeaning.  Plus everyone seems more interested in her appearance than her ability (which is clearly formidable).  Including the Chief, whose ass she just saved from one of Gyokko’s stronger fish heads.

As for Tokitou, he continues the slow transformation to empathetic carer-nurturer, the Tanjirou effect.  And Gyokko especially pushes those buttons, because he’s comically sadist and vain.  Unfortunately Kotetsu and Kanemori are clearly a liability, and he takes a torso full of goldfish needles protecting them before they scurry to safety.  Swordsmiths are not swordsmen, but the inability of these guys to protect themselves is pretty striking.  Considering their importance you’d think they’d merit even more attention from the slayers’ association than they do (since as I understand it, two hashira – and effectively a third – are here now only because they have swords being made).

Finally, there’s Hantengu, who I find much the more interesting of the two upper ranks at this point.  Obviously being comprised of several distinct emotion-avatars, his actual personality is harder to pin down.  But he’s thoughtful at the very least, and not all of his clones are into chewing the scenery.  He seems as if he’d definitely be too much for Tanjirou alone, but whenever that happens you can pretty much bank on Nezuko having a random power-up, and so it is here.  She imbues his sword with flames and basically turns Tanjirou into the embodiment of Tsugikuni Yoriichi – he of the fighting doll – who was apparently the one who came closest to taking out Muzan.  Hantengu will have survived that attack (especially judging by the state of Genya) but it definitely got his full attention.