One thing I’ll say about Kimetsu no Yaiba is that it highlights the growing gap between manga and anime.  As anime seasons continue to get smaller and more homogeneous (spoiler – more on that in a couple of days), shows like Kimetsu stand out more than they should.  When I call it “unremarkable” I truly don’t mean that as a slight – it’s a very good shounen, and a better adaptation.  But stuff like this used to be a dime-a-dozen in anime (and indeed, still is in manga), and not all that long ago either.  But because the overall level of creative ambition and, yes, quality has dropped so low, Kimetsu no Yaiba stands out as exceptional.

I don’t intend to portray this series in a negative light, because as I said, it’s as solid as it gets.  I just hate the fact that a basically boilerplate shounen fantasy is so rare in anime these days, not to mention a show with really good but not extraordinary production values.  And this was a classic, down-the-middle episode for Kimetsu, which I think does better when it doesn’t totally immerse itself in training montages and battle sequences.  Those are lovely to look at but they need to be kept a little shorter than this one, because things don’t get really interesting until they’re over.

Fortunately, the fights do resolve themselves relatively quickly here and dragging out for last week’s entire length.  Yahaba’s buzz-cut at the end of #09 didn’t quite spell his end – he knew he was done, but in the time it took him to die he almost managed to take Tanjirou with him.  As is, Tanjirou breaks a rib and a leg in the process of executing every one of his special moves in sequence trying to save himself, and has to drag himself sword-in-mouth to where his sister and his new allies are fighting Susamaru.

One thing I’ve noticed about Kimetsu no Yaiba (at least in anime form) is that it’s a bit prone to continuity or logic errors – stuff that leaves you scratching your head when unexplained.  How is it, exactly, that Tanjirou is in such terrible shape and then, moments later, is walking without a limp or any trace of pain?  Clearly there would have been no time for Tamayo to treat him (not that we’ve seen anything to indicate she can spontaneously cure broken human bones).  Details like that seems minor, but it’s not unimportant – sweating the small stuff is what sets shounen titans like Togashi and Arakawa above the crowd.

As for the B fight, it starts out with a rather rousing game of soccer between Susamaru and Nezuko, which displays Nezuko’s ability to level up impressively in the heat of the moment (and really pisses Susamaru off).  But Tamayo realizes that once Susamaru gets serious Nezuko will be overmatched, so she steps in – unleashing a frighteningly powerful blood magic that activates “the curse”.  Seemingly this turns the Kibutsuji cells in Susamaru’s body against her, and they destroy her in very gruesome fashion.  The moments in the aftermath of victory when Tanjirou watches the end of a demon tend to be among the most quietly effective in the series, and this one is no exception.

A couple things come clear in all this.  Tamayo may be a healer, but she’s clearly also a formidable warrior when she needs to be.  Also, Kibutsuji’s entire existence seems to be rooted in layer upon layer of deception.  Neither of these youkai are true members of the Juunikizuki, as it turns out – though they probably thought they were – but mere shock troops in Kibutsuji’s army.  Tamayo tells Susamaru before she kills her that Kibutsuji is manipulating all demons to perpetual squabbling so that they’ll never be able to team up against him.  Just who is Kibutsuji, and how did he come to exist as someone whose powers stand so apart from anyone else in this mythology?  That, to me, is the most interesting mystery in Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Kibutsuji its most interesting character.