Zenitsu Stikes Back
Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 17
Was Demon Slayer going for the gross out award this week? Then again, given I’ll happily watch most horror and slasher movies, anime and anything else, it isn’t that the image was particularly graphic but more that it hit perfectly on that deeply rooted fear of the unnatural and sent shivers down my spine. Sorry, but enlarged spiders with human heads are completely creepy and gross and just plain yuck.
So, I would have to say the visuals were on point and extremely affective this week for Demon Slayer. Have to appreciate any image that can have that much of an impact on me while watching.
For once, Zenitsu’s shouting and running around and crying seemed perfectly acceptable and appropriate to the moment. I genuinely felt for him and wanted him to be able to run away from that situation because every part of me was telling me to run away as well.
And then, after a flashback where we saw Zenitsu training and getting hit by lightning, Zenitsu fainted and we had a return of the fighter version of Zenitsu. He is incredibly cool. Where Zenitsu is panicky and easily rattled, his unconscious self is calm, composed, waits for his moment, and strikes with precision and power. It is kind of an awesome contrast (if only Zenitsu wasn’t quite so annoying most of the time).
Affiliate Link – Book
Still, credit where it is due. I don’t like Zenitsu’s character and this episode focused almost entirely on his fight with a spider demon, and yet, this episode was a very solid entry into the series and up amongst the best episodes it has on offer. Primarily, that is because Demon Slayer does this kind of conflict very well and it also does creepy and unsettling in a quirky kind of way very well and the two elements combined were pretty brilliant this week.
As usual though, we ended on a cliff-hanger with the sparrow flying off to look for help (go Lassie) and Inosuke and Tanjiro encountering the mysterious ‘father’ and I think about to be in need of a rescue. I’m kind of hoping the older demon slayers show up soon or else these guys might seriously get injured or killed for real (even with main character plot armour they’d be hard pressed to survive without assistance).
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
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Karandi James
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Images from: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Dir. H Sotozaki. Ufotable. 2019.
Loved it! And the previous episode he did Rain after the Drought or w/e it was beautiful! 🙂