Demon Slayer, with its top-tier animation, fast pacing, accelerating action sequences, and gripping storyline, has undoubtedly become a mega-hit in the hearts of anime fans across the globe since its debut in 2019.
Here’s a quick recap of “Demon Slayer Season 1: The Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve arc”, which adapts the first seven volumes (chapters 1-54) of the manga.
Introduction:
As we are introduced to our protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, and his family living in snow-covered mountains. To provide for his family, consisting of his mother and four younger siblings, as his father died of a long-suffering illness, Tanjiro sells charcoal to the village at the foot of the mountain.
Scent of Blood:
Like every day, Tanjiro sells charcoal and returns to his home at night. His neighbor stops him and warns about demons dwelling at night, asking him to take refuge in his house and move at dawn. As Tanjiro accepts his request and makes his move at dawn, he nears his home, picks up the scent of blood, and finds out about the brutal slaughter of his family.
All but the sole survivor, his sister Nezuko Kamado, who turns into a demon and starts attacking him. Water Hashira Tomioka Giyu attempts to kill Nezuko. Tanjiro begs to spare her life and tries to protect her from Giyu. Failing in his attempt, Nezuko gains her human consciousness and tries to protect Tanjiro.
Seeing their bond, Giyu lets Nezuko live and sends Tanjiro to Urokodaki Sakonji for training to become a demon slayer. As Tanjiro and Nezuko leave to meet Sakonji, they come across a demon in a temple. They incapacitate the demon; however, Tanjiro hesitates to kill it. The demon dies due to sunlight. Sakonji meets the siblings and warns Tanjiro for his hesitancy, as results falter, humans will die.
Demon Slayer Training and The Final Selection:
Sakonji lets Nezuko rest and starts training Tanjiro. After six months, Tanjiro learns all forms of Water Breathing and Total Concentration. Now tasked to split a huge boulder in half, Tanjiro is confronted by Sabito and Makamo, former students of Sakonji, who aid him in training. After six months, Tanjiro reaches the stick first at Sabito and cuts his fox mask in half.
He realizes that he splits the boulder, and Sabito and Makamo disappear. Sakonji congratulates Tanjiro and prepares him for the Final Selection, telling him to come back alive.
The Final Selection:
The Final Selection requires surviving seven days on a demon-infested mountain while slaying demons. Tanjiro slays demons and comes across a Hands demon who has killed dozens of potential demon slayers. Tanjiro successfully kills it, learning that Sabito and Makamo were killed by the same demon, and they were spirits. As Tanjiro completes the Final Selection alongside three others, his sword maker comes to deliver his Nichirin Sword.
The First Mission:
Tanjiro receives his first mission from Kasukai Crow. On his mission, he discovers a swamp demon and its two clowns. Despite its powers, Tanjiro, with Nezuko, defeats the demon. While moving on to his next mission, he picks up the scent of the demon that killed his family. As he encounters the demon, it is Kibutsuji Muzan himself.
Upon confronting Muzan, he infects a passing man and makes an escape. Tanjiro swears to find and kill him. Muzan recalls a similar threat from another man wearing similar Hanafuda earrings as Tanjiro. Muzan orders two demons to find and kill Tanjiro. Back in the crowd, Tanjiro is aided by two demons named Tamayo and Yushiro. They take back Tanjiro and Nezuko to their hidden home. Tamayo reveals that she turned Yushiro into a demon to save him from a dying illness. They don’t kill for blood, and Tamayo helps humans in exchange for blood. She’s working on a cure for demons to turn them back into humans. She asks Tanjiro to collect the blood of strong demons like Muzan.
As their premises are attacked by the two demons sent by Muzan, Tanjiro defeats one of them while using Muzan’s own defense mechanism. Tamayo defeats the other one. After the battle, Tamayo and Yushiro go into hiding, and Tanjiro and Nezuko go to their next mission.
Meeting the Other Two?:
Tanjiro, on the next mission, stumbles upon another demon slayer from the final selection, Agatsuma Zenitsu, harassing a young woman. Tanjiro, with Zenitsu, heads to a mission initially assigned to Zenitsu. They head to a mansion in search of a young man kidnapped by a demon. Tanjiro leaves Nezuko in her box outside the mansion in the care of the young man’s sibling. While Tanjiro and Zenitsu go inside the mansion, they meet another demon slayer who wears a boar head as a mask with two swords. The boar head demon slayer attacks Tanjiro. However, the demon in the mansion has the ability to transport occupants to other rooms instantly. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and boar head are separated.
Zenitsu, cornered by a demon in his slumber, is able to use Thunder Breathing and kills the demon. While the boar head defeats another demon in the mansion with Beast Breathing. Tanjiro, on the other hand, faces the main Drum demon who was once an Upper Moon demon. Tanjiro, with his water breathing, defeats the demon and comes out of the mansion. As he sees that Zenitsu was protecting the box he left outside the mansion, attacked by the boar head demon slayer, Tanjiro stops him with a punch that breaks boar head’s ribs. As the mask falls off, we meet Hashipura Inosuke, who entered the final selection to test his skills.
The three of them make their way to a mansion for recovery. As night falls, Nezuko comes out of the box for Zenitsu to fall in love with her.
The Spider Family:
After recovering, the group heads to their next mission on Mount Nataguma. They were attacked by other demon slayers used as puppets by the spider demon family residing in that mountain.
Rui, the head of the family and the Lower Moon Five demon, makes the two leave Zenitsu to find out and kill the demon. Tanjiro and Inosuke find and kill one of them. Meanwhile, Zenitsu was bitten by one of the spider demons and gets infected, which will turn him into a creepy spider child. However, he’s able to kill the demon and was able to slow the poison. The spider family falls slowly. The father spider was tasked to kill Tanjiro and Inosuke. Neither of them was able to make any difference. Tanjiro gets separated by an attack, leaving the father spider to Inosuke.
Tanjiro faces himself against Rui. He and Nezuko try to kill Rui, but due to their bond, Rui gets jealous and wants to kill Tanjiro to make Nezuko his sister. Both the Kamado siblings fight with Rui. Meanwhile, Giyu and Shinobu (The Insect Hashira) arrive to assist the demon slayers. Giyu easily defeats the father spider and saves Inosuke while Shinobu aids Zenitsu with his poison. During the battle, Tanjiro recalls the Hinokami Kagura Dance performed by his father. With Hinokami Kagura and Nezuko’s blood demon art, Tanjiro beheads Rui.
It turns out that Rui knocked his own head before Tanjiro’s attack reaches him. Giyu arrives at the battle and finishes off Rui with his own Water Breathing 11 Form. Seeing Tanjiro and Nezuko, he recalls saving them and scuffles with Shinobu as he’s defending the Kamado siblings. Tanjiro gets knocked unconscious by Kanao and chases Nezuko to kill. The Kasukai Crow shows up and says to bring the Kamados to the headquarters of demon slayers crops.
The Hashira’s:
Here we meet all the Nine pillars of demon slayers:
- The Sound Hashira: Tengen Uzui.
- The Inset Hashira: Shinobu Kocho.
- The Mist hashira: Muichiro Takito.
- The Love Hashira: Mitsuri Kanroji.
- The Serpent Hashira: Obanai Iguro.
- The Flame Hashira: Rengoku Kyojuro.
- The Water Hashira: Giyu Tomioka.
- The Stone Hashira: Gyomei Himejima.
- The Wind Hashira: Sanemi Shinazugawa.
And Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the (95th) master of the demon slayers corps. As every Hashira wants to kill Nezuko because of her being a demon, Kagaya says he believes in her and Tanjiro. But if she harms any human, she will be killed. Tanjiro, Giyu, and Sakonji will commit (Seppuku) themselves. Also, Kagaya reveals that Tanjiro has met Muzan.
Tanjiro and Nezuko were taken into the Butterfly Mansion, where they meet Zenitsu and Inosuke. As the three start rehabilitation training and work on Total Concentration constant, Tanjiro and Inosuke, having lost their swords, receive new swords. Tanjiro asks Shinobu about the Hinokami Kagura dance. She recommends talking to the Flame Hashira Rengoku and also informs about his new mission, The Mugen Train, and suggests the three join him on the mission.
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