Before we shine a spotlight on this vital first episode of the Demon Slayer season 4, let’s get some details straight.
The story of this season takes place right after the story arc of “Swordsmith Village”.
The story arc of Demon Slayer season 5 is called “Hashira Training”.
Damon Slayer has been a popular series so far.
With all four Story arcs, it’s been made clear that the common enemy of mankind is “Oni'” or Demon.
All the Demon Slayers do is slay the “Oni”.
Among all the Demon Slayers, there exists a ranking system.
Top Demon Slayers in the rank system are called “Hashira”.
So before we delve into the story further, let’s do some fact check on existing active Hashiras.
Hashira
The loss of the “En Bashira” Rengoku Kyojuro in the “Mugen Train” story arc was of paramount importance.
With the early retirement of “Oto Bashira” Uzui Tengen in the “Entertainment District” story arc, only seven Hashiras are remaining.
Let’s learn about them further.
Kocho Shinobu
Kocho Shinobu is the “Mushi Bashira” or the Insect Hashira.
She uses a unique breathing technique while fighting, “Mushi no Kokyu”.
The breathing of an insect originated from the Breath of Flowers or “Hana no Kokyu”.
Breath of Flower further came from the Breath of Water or “Mizu no kokyu”.
She is also a specialist in medicine and medical science.
She is a calm, intelligent, and kind individual but scary when angry.
Tokito Muichiro
Tokito Muichiro is the “Kasumi Bashira” or the Mist Hashira.
He uses a derivative breathing style in action, “Kasumi no Kokyu” or the breathing of the mist.
It originated from the Breath of Wind or “Kaze no Kokyu”.
Aloof and lost in thought all the time, The Mist Hashira is a young prodigy.
He rose to the rank of Hashira in two short months after joining Demon Slayers.
One of his greatest achievements so far was, going up against Demon of the Upper Five in the “Swordsmith Village” arc.
Kanroji Mitsuri
Kanroji Mitsuri is the ” Koi Bashira” or the Hashira of Love.
She uses a flashy breathing style while fighting, “koi no Kokyu” or the breathing of Love.
Breathing of Love comes from Flame breathing or “Hono no Kokyu”.
She adjusted Flame’s breathing to maximize her internal strength.
She has a bubbly exterior with a shy interior. Mitsuri is one of the most flexible fighters among the Hashiras.
She has immense love for her fellow Demon Slayers.
Her tool to fight is a whip-like “Nichirintou”.
Iguiro Obanani
Iguiro Obanai is the “Hebi Bashira” or the Hashira of the Snake.
He uses a mysterious breathing style while fighting, “Hebi no kokyu” or the breathing of Snake.
The breathing of the Snake originated from the Breath of Water or “Mizu no Kokyu”.
He is the most mysterious character among all other Hashiras.
Always has a white snake wrapped around his neck and a face covered with bandages.
He hates a person of weak conviction so he remains strict to himself as well.
He uses a “Nichirintou” of a wavy shape, just like a snake.
Shinazugawa Sanemi
Shinazugawa Sanemi is the “Kaze Bashira” or the Hashira of the Wind.
He uses a typical breathing style of ” Kaze no Kokyu” or the Breath of Wind while fighting.
He is the most agile fighter among the other Hashiras and uses speed and strength to his advantage in battle.
Due to his hot-headed nature, it is hard to get along with him but he is also extremely determined to kill Demons same as other Hashiras.
Tomioka Giyu
Tomioka Giyu is the “Mizu Bashira” or the Hashira of the Wind.
He uses a typical breathing technique of “Mizu no Kokyu” or the Breath of Water while fighting.
He shows great self-control while fighting against Demons and his cool-headedness is unmatched among other Hashiras.
His calmness makes each strike more precise than others in fighting Demons.
Himejima Gyomei
Himejima Gyomei is the “Ishi Bashira” or the Hashira of stone.
He fights using the breathing technique of “Ishi no Kokyu” or the breathing of the stone.
He is the most respected Hashira among all and is often treated as a leader in practice due to the illness of the original leader Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
Gyomei is easily recognizable due to his large and strong physical structure.
Like Tokito Muichiro, he also became Hashira just two months after joining Demon Slayer Corp.
Content
The curtain rises with a chase scene.
Hashira of the snake Iguiro Obanai and Wind Hashira Shinazugawa Sanemi are chasing a Demon who kidnapped a girl and is escaping.
While decimating all the minions of that Demon, when they approached to kill the Demon.
The Demon suddenly entered into a different dimension to escape the pursuit.
Both of the Hashiras missed their prey but managed to save the girl.
On the other hand, Kanao Tsuyuri, a disciple of the Hashira of the Insect Kocho Shinobu came back from a mission.
Shinobu briefed her about the incidents that happened back at Swordsmith Village.
She told her about the valor of Tokito Muichiro the Mist Hashira and Kanroji Mitsuri the Hashira of Love and their exploits.
She also mentioned how Kamado Nezuko, the demonized sister of the protagonist Kamado Tanjiro has overcome her weakness of sunlight.
According to her, this incident may have attracted Kibutsuji Muzan.
As the leader of the Demons, he may also have wanted to overcome his weakness of sunlight.
Tanjiro was resting in the bed to recover from the wounds he got from the fight in the Swordsmith Village.
He was also listing reports on the Swordsmith Village’s current condition.
All the living Inhabitants of the Swordsmith Village were moving away to the empty village arranged by Demon Slayer Corps. in fear.
He was concerned about his sister Nezuko.
For all he could know she was either turning back into a human or evolving further as a demon as his only Demon confidant Tamayo said.
Hashira Meeting
After every Hashiras come back from their mission it is customary to hold a meeting for briefing and discussing future paths.
A meeting was due as the first meeting, which happened in the first season of Demon Slayer didn’t have any conclusive result.
This time also there were no exceptions.
A meeting was held including all seven active Hashiras.
Hashiras, Kocho Shinobu (Insct Hashira), Tokito Muichiro(Mist Hashira), Kanroji Mitsuri(Hashira of Love), Iguiro Obanai(Hashira of Snake), Shinazugawa Sanemi(Wind Hashira), Tomioka Giyu(Water Hashira) and Himejima Gyomei(Hashira of Stone)
There were two topics to discuss.
One is the detailed report on the incident at Swordsmith Village.
The new physical traits of Tokito Muichiro and Kanroji Mitsuri were also included.
Their wound recovered faster than usual.
A strange mark appeared on their body while fighting Demon with desperation. this factor increased their battle power.
Two, the steps to be taken about the sudden change in physical traits of Tanjiro’s demonized sister Nezuko.
Ubuyashiki Amane came instead of Ubuyashiki Kagaya the leader of Demon Slayers Corp.
She notified them that their leader’s health condition deteriorated.
The leader couldn’t come to meet them and give instructions face-to-face anymore.
Changes
In place of him, from then on Amane will be the leader in practice for them as stated in this episode of Demon Slayer
She showed concern for Muzan’s intentions towards Tanjiro’s demonized sister Nezuko.
That interest may cause a full-fledged war between Demons and Demon Slayers.
next, she showed curiosity about the marks that appeared on Mitsuri and Muichiro’s bodies.
Those marks increased their fighting capabilities.
According to her, when such a phenomenon occurs, it resonates with other Damon Slayers and happens to them also.
In this case, the first one with this trait was Tanjiro.
She requested them to let others know about the process to achieve such a result.
Mitsuri couldn’t fulfill that request as she was very bad at explaining, but Muichiro did that with precision.
According to him, when desperately fighting the Demon and failing he put an innocent bystander’s life in danger.
His body showed weird reactions then.
first, the body became extremely hot and the temperature was nearly 102 degrees.
Second, the heartbeat rate exceeded 200 beats per minute.
According to Shinobu, one could die in this process.
Muichiro responded by saying there is only one way to check if one has the potential to get such power or not.
The way to check is if he/she survives in that situation.
After a long conversation, everyone decided to design a joint training schedule for Hashira as well as Demon Slayer Corp.
cadets even involving now-retired Hashiras.
Only Tomioka Giyu was uncooperative in this matter.
Next…
In this episode of Demon Slayer season 4, training starts very quickly after the meeting as it was a combined result of the two important meetings.
It started just after three days.
As nobody was sure what Muzan would do in the future, they had to become stronger in the shortest time possible.
In the meantime, Tanjiro received his “Nichirintou”, the sword to slay the Demons.
The familiar crow of Ubuyashiki Kagaya visited Demon Tamayo.
The Demon had enmity toward Muzen and invited her to the headquarters of Demon Slayer Corp.
She was invited to research Nezuko’s condition together with Shinobu.
Conclusion
In this vital first episode of the Demon Slayer season 4, the strong mindset of a Demon Slayer is shown.
They overcome their fear and wounds to become better versions of themselves to fight the Demons.
Now for the next episode, we need to stay tuned…