It probably isn’t a good sign that all I was thinking of for much of this episode of Kimetsu no Yaiba was this. It was better than last week, sure, but mainly because the sheer volume of Zenitsu was less. Still, every moment he was on-screen was torture, and given that he’s considered a main character that’s not a problem that’s going away. It isn’t simply a matter of the character (and seiyuu) being incredibly annoying (though they are), but also that Zenitsu takes you completely out of the moment every time he opens his mouth. And buy-in isn’t something you can turn on and off like a light switch.
Of course there was going to be another side of Zenitsu, a hidden power (above and beyond super hearing) – that was pretty much a given. I don’t know exactly why he has this whole split personality thing, if you can even call it that – he actually seems to black out when he goes into beast mode and has no recollection of it when his whiny, cowardly self returns to power. I’m sure we’ll get an explanation for it at some point but right now Zenitsu just comes off as a silly and completely ridiculous character.
Meanwhile the parade of side characters with eponymous seiyuu continues, as the inoshishi-mask dude played by Matsuoka Yoshitsugu makes his splash. He seems to be a demon slayer as well but just kind of a berserker who wants to slash everything he sees. On the youkai side we have Kyogai (Suwabe Junichi this time) who’s a former member of Kibutsuji’s Juunikizuki who’s been demoted. The whole purpose of this tsuzumi-powered funhouse seems to be to give Kyogai a place to devour humans possessed of marechi – special blood which makes them 50X more nutritious than regular humans – so he can power up and regain Kibutsuji’s favor. But there are a couple of other demons in the house too, who seem to be rivals (one of whom is offed by sleep-Zenitsu later in the episode).
When Zenitsu was off-screen this episode really wasn’t bad (I liked that we got an explanation about Tanjirou’s injuries, but it was really two weeks too late in coming), but the mojo has been broken for me to an extent that I’m having a hard time reconnecting. As we head into the seasonal transition that seems as good a time as any to consider where I stand with Kimetsiu no Yaiba – I can say for sure a lot of the bloom has come off the rose in the past two weeks. With a cast full of unmistakable big-name actors chewing scenery, suspension of disbelief was always one of my main issues with this series – at the moment, Zenitsu has made it serious enough to be a major problem.
leongsh
June 23, 2019 at 1:04 pmZenitsu is not going to improve in just a couple of episodes. He does improve over the run of the manga. The 2nd cour will be where we get to know more about him and he grows from there. It took me a while to warm up to him to the extent that I do not dislike him. He does carry his weight, particularly in the current massive arc happening in the manga.
Archaon
June 23, 2019 at 4:19 pmI wouldn’t said Zenitsu grow that much throughout the manga, but instead we learn more about him, rather focus in his grow, the story opt for focus in his depth, his reason to be a demon hunter and how people around him make him someone like this. Zenitsu sleep state actually not a split personality, he is very skillful and have talent, but his self-preservation instinct and his low confident hold him back from using those skills. It when he lost conscious does these trait being suppressed, allow him to use his full power. The chapters this episode adapted from have a narration explained to the viewers that quirk of him but the anime didn’t keep the narrator aspect.
animealex
June 23, 2019 at 4:44 pmHm, as an anime only viewer, I found the whole stretched out feeling of episodes 9 & 10 more grating than the whole Zenitsu screaming and crying. To be quite honest, I enjoyed this episode very much. I didn’t suspect the whole sleeping/unconscious Zenitsu is a badass moment (call me naive if you like to). I expected more of an unlucky-lucky character, who gets bailed out, every time he’s cornered but over time grows into his role of a demon slayer. But damn, was that whole scene well done!
Also, something which I don’t see commented on enough: Tanjiro is a cool big brother, who also is a competent demon slayer. He’s one of my favorite shonen leads simply because he always seems so genuine when looking after others.
Kurik
June 24, 2019 at 4:37 amI would agree that the last two episodes have diminished the shine on this series more so for the two things…Zenitsu and for the unexplained recovery of Tanjiro..Overall though I find the series pretty good and apart from Shield Hero the only series I look forward to every week. So sad that I only have 2 anime to look forward to all week and one finishing next week. Sigh
sleepychemist
June 28, 2019 at 12:20 pmZenitsu gradually becomes great. It’s easy to throw hate at a character who whines a lot and combined with a seiyuu who captured the same tone. Don’t worry, in the next arc, you will see some glimpses of Zenitsu’s past: something fundamental to both his growth and his chemistry alongside Tanjiro and the boar guy (his name will be soon revealed). Trust me in trying to watch the series despite your negative reception of the past two episodes. The payoff is similar to Sanji or Usopp’s development over time.