Welcome back everyone! Apologies for missing last week, I didn’t have much to say and combined with the new year just put it off until now. Is that lazy? Yes. But this is a hobby so I do what I want! That said, this week and episode 13 were pretty eventful. So lets dive in and talk about those.
First, we have a lot to talk about regarding the production of these last two episodes. Had this post just been about episode 12, I wouldn’t be very positive. The CGI models, and their compositing with the backgrounds and other 2D characters, is starting to become very noticeable here. It isn’t a massive drain on the enjoyment but sometimes I’ll see a scene and think “Oh yeah, that stands out”. But it seems that is only because Yaiba was saving a lot of its best for episode 13. Like seriously, just look at this cut by Nozomu Abe after the break. Do the CGI cloth strips stand out? Yes. Do the fire effects and Tanjiro’s quick movements look so good that I honestly don’t care about the clothing? Also yes. And that’s basically the entire episode in a nutshell. Highs so good they make me not care about the lows.
Moving on to the episodes proper lets talk about episode 12, “Things Are Gonna Get Real Flashy!!”. How’s that for a name? For me this episode was actually rather dull. Or well… maybe dull is the wrong word, it was expected. Everything that happened this episode was straight forward and didn’t leave all that much to think about. People fought, the underground room was introduced and resolved, and Tanjiro continued to fight against Daki. It was cool at times! Uzui and his wives were fun, even if they all have the same copy pasted boobs and one of them is just Zenitsu with tits. Their backstory was kind of interesting but with how the season is going I don’t think we are going to get the opportunity to really explore it. Yaiba is content to simply tell us what their relationship is and move on to the fights.
Personally my favorite part of the episode was actually Inosuke. His antics within the house, running around, busting it up and diving underground, were all amusing. And the progression of his fight underground was good! He started on the offense, had to switch to defense when the demon threatened the humans, and then got backup from the wives and Zenitsu who were already established to be there. Nothing in the scene felt like an asspull, making it one of the better set up scenes of the episode. And that’s well that’s all I have to say about the episode. Nothing else really happens worth talking about. You can see why I skipped last weeks post now, right? Luckily I can now move on to a far more interesting episode.
That’s right, it’s time to talk about episode 13, “Layered Memories”! To put it politely, this is when shit hits the fan. Tanjiro is battered and alone while Daki is starting to get serious. The slow build of her annoyance, the power increase as she gets her sashes from the food locker back, all good stuff. I especially loved how the common people got dragged into this fight. So often in these kinds of supernatural Shounen its like the monsters and your ordinary people live in two completely separate worlds. They are unaffected by the trials of our leads. But here in Yaiba we have random shop owners hearing a fight outside and coming to tell them to get bent, only to trigger the devastation of the entire street as Daki writes off their lives. Yaiba really didn’t pull any punches on the gore here and it was appreciated.
As for Daki’s power up, visually I think its a downgrade but maybe that’s just my tastes. I find the veins to be unappealing and the white hair to clash with the green ends. For the power up itself, nothing really changes. Oh she moves faster, she has more pieces of cloth, but they don’t bring anything new to the fight. Its like she got a stat upgrade rather than a new ability or tactic unlock. As far as power ups go, that’s pretty boring if you ask me. Luckily though that isn’t all Daki has going for her. Because through her we also begin to see some of Muzan’s memories. We get a peek into his past, the power of Sun Breathing, and why he seems to fear Tanjiro’s earrings so much. Considering Muzan is the most interesting thing Yaiba has, I’ll take any development we get.
About the only negative I have for the episode isn’t even completely negative, as it has to do with Tanjiro. Let me get this out of the way, visually this is stunning. The flame effects, the movement, the bloodshot eyes and his wounds. All of this looks great and I’m hyped. But from a narrative perspective I don’t really see how its working. Yeah, he gets mad that civilians have been hurt. And the MC “You hurt normal people” anger power up is a trope for a reason. But its like… Why is he able to do this now? It entirely him just not breathing/ignoring the pain because of rage? Again, it’s cool! I’m hype and having a good time! Its just that the lack of a mechanical explanation, of a change in tactics or whatever, is what separates the Shounen “good” from the “great”. Think FMA, for example.
Yaiba did try to do one cool narrative thing here though, independent of the power up, and that’s pulling out “The Unchosen One”. It introduces the idea of “Those with the red scar are chosen by Sun Breathing” and then subverts it by reminding us that Tanjiro wasn’t born with that mark. He got it from a burn and later a fight. This is a fun narrative trope, I like it! I just wish Yaiba had introduced it a bit early. Had let us live with the “Chosen One” narrative before this reveal. Because a subversion like this, a twist, it doesn’t work as well if its coming right after the introduction of the thing its subverting. Does that make sense? Yaiba told us about the rug and then immediately pulled the rug away. I just find that to be a less satisfying, if still fun, way to do it.
Finally I can’t mention power ups and not mention Nezuko. She evolved from “Nee-san” to “Onee-san”, if you know what I mean. To put it more clearly: She grew up in all the right places. Enough innuendos though, what does this mean? So far, very little. It would seem that Nezuko is physically on par with Daki now, an Upper Moon. Not only in raw speed and strength but in regeneration as well. We see this when she almost kicks off her head and instantly regrows parts of her body. The question then becomes, how? Nezuko doesn’t drink eat people, which we know is how Demons power up. Could it be because of her blood? Or because she was created by Muzan personally, like some of the other moons? Only time will tell on this front sadly. Hopefully Yaiba has a good answer for us!
So yeah all in all I would say episode 13 was much, much better than 12. From its production and action to the actual narrative being told, everything about it was simply stronger. My primary concern at this point for Yaiba would have to be its story. If we are diving right into the fight, and will be carrying this through the remaining 5 episodes, how are the character stories going to come across. Are they going to be a bunch of flashbacks, serviceable but standard? Or maybe we won’t get many at all and the focus is just going to be fight fight fight, like the Mugen Train. I know which one I would prefer. What about you? Enjoying the arc so far, blemishes and all? Or am I jumping at shadows and the “problems” I describe just aren’t issues for you? Let me know below, I’m curious!
Tanjirou can always do Dance of the Fire God and it does give him a massive power boots since it’s more compatible with him. The problem is keep it going. Right now he can only do like one move with it before his body give up and he need to catch a breath. When he fight Daki in this fights, he effectively threw caution to the wind and use multiple moves in a row.
The anime also cut some narrative involve this scene which i find kinda detrimental for the overall message. The cut narration “If human could win with anger alone, demon would not still exist” really hammer home that getting angry isn’t a good thing in this situation.