Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: Demon Slayer follows Tanjiro Kamado in Taisho-era Japan, a kind-hearted boy who lives with his family in the mountains. Then everything changed when his family was slaughtered by a powerful demon. His sister Nezuko was the sole survivor of the incident, having been transformed into a demon herself. This kicked off the beginning of Tanjiro’s epic quest for vengeance against the demon who killed his family. More importantly, Tanjiro won’t rest until he finds a cure for Nezuko’s demon state.

I started and finished the “Hashira (Pillar) Training Arc”—the tenth story arc of the manga series—on July 3, 2020. I thought this arc was a nice break—the pre-game—before the “Final Battle Arc”, the last arc of the Demon Slayer series. This arc centered around the Pillars and lower ranked Demon Slayers undergoing intense training sessions aimed to improve their abilities and maybe awaken the Demon Slayer marks like Tanjiro Kamado.

Anyway, Zentisu and Inosuke returned in this arc! I missed them so much during my reading of the “Swordsmith Village Arc”. This was another excellent arc that gave us character context on most of the other Pillars like Rock Pillar Gyomei Himejima, Wind Pillar Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Water Pillar Giyu Tomioka. While the backstory actually wasn’t explained for Sanemi, the arc revisited Sanemi’s estranged relationship with his younger brother Genya, which reignited the uneasy tension between Sanemi and Tanjiro.

Learning Giyu Tomioka’s backstory and seeing his softer side around Tanjiro was a bittersweet thing to behold. Also, the unexpected connection between Giyu and Sabito from the “Final Selection Arc” was heartbreaking. Giyu Tomioka was like a version of Itachi Uchiha allowed to laugh. He carried a negative outlook on life for so long, he had nearly forgotten why he was still alive to begin with. Tanjiro’s ability to break through to people will always be my favorite thing about his character.

Learning Rock Pillar Gyomei Himejima’s backstory was equally beautiful. When Gyomei learned how strong he was protecting others, which lead to him becoming a Demon Slayer and then the Rock Pillar. Gyomei’s training regimen was also ridiculously difficult, but Tanjiro and Inosuke welcomed the challenge. This arc also confirmed he was blind. I kind-of assumed he was based on the artwork of his eyes.

Nezuko was mostly absent during this arc, having been left under someone else’s care to study her blood and whatnot. Zenitsu declared—in a serious out-of-character tone—that he needed to do something, implying he was going to become stronger through an unknown method. Insect Pillar Shinobu Kocho—excusing herself from the Pillar Training—began to teach Kanao Tsuyuri, wanting her to learn how to kill the demon who killed their older sister.

Overall, the stage was set for the final battle between Demon Slayers and the Upper Rank demons and giving us as much humor as possible before the series set a course for the final arc. At the end of the “Hashira Training Arc”, Muzan had also been locating the Demon Slayers’ exact locations around Japan, which included Kagaya Ubuyashiki—the leader of the Pillars and Demon Slayer Corps. Let’s keep it reading!

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