here are some of my favorite moments during my watch (˶' ꒳ '˶). during the scene where giyuu got his demon mark, someone in my theater said “that’s my husband! (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)” which (≧ᗜ≦) was so funny. because (⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝) same, he’s my crush too. another moment was during the scene where tanjiro was right behind akaza for the perfect sneak attack. someone said “that’s it, you got it boy!” then, when tanjiro exposed his position, everyone, and i mean everyone (≧ᗜ≦), collectively had a “agh!”, “come on!”, “no!”, or audible gasp. i actually had a reaction too, but everyone beat me to it, so i ended up just laughing along (which was great because, according to my sister, i was crying non-stop since five minutes into the film (ᵕ,—ᴗ—,). the final memorable moment i can look back on is when akaza returns and cries in koyuki’s lap (this scene itself is a masterclass because i just looked at the manga panel and i can now hear the scene. not even five seconds passed since i saw it and instantly started crying again ಥ﹏ಥ) i didn’t feel like holding back my tears because the audience was also crying. so it allowed me to comfortably (still on the quieter side) ball my eyes out. plus the added “awwws” from other people. overall, for a first-time anime movie theater experience, this was a very memorable one, and i hope for similar ones in the future.

then the moment where gyomei and tokito are about to take care of a D tier demon, the mizunoes come together and fend off the demons so the Hashira can find muzan ｡°(°¯᷄◠¯᷅°)°｡ such a small moment but literally got me crying again. those were the little moments i enjoyed, so let’s move on to the arcs.

let me say it now, didn’t like this arc in the manga don’t like it now. this is mainly for a character thing. i will say, i’ve never liked zenitsu’s character, but when i started demon slayer, i was hoping there would be growth for him. if this is it then i can’t change my mind. it’s a poor direction in writing. my hope for zenitsu would be for a boy who went from being fearful of fighting and a weakness when facing the unknown, to a person who grew a least a bit fearless and stronger. what i mean, is that this growth should’ve been shown gradually. not a “he goes from point A to C” but also reverts back to A once it’s over ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,). there are moments where he shows his compassion and kindness, but they are gone once he returns back to “normal” there is not shift. here’s his arc. he meets tanjiro in s1, is all about nezuko ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,), weak but loyal to friends, lacking in skill when awake but not when asleep. mugen train, slight upgrade but still only when asleep. s2 majority asleep and then the rest lamenting about fighting and getting hurt/be jealous of tengen. s3, non-existent. s4 trains like everyone else, but complains like the others. there is a small moment on the outside where we get a hint of the letter that’s going to be shown in this movie. so…how much has he changed in the material we got? zero, that’s what. what annoys me is that it’s like we forgot to make zenitsu grow so we speed run his arc in i think 30-ish minutes? that’s not going to make me like him nor make him a well written character when he’s far from it. so kaigaku, a senior we’ve never heard of till now has existed. great, so why was he never mentioned before? why was there not even a moment where he spoke with tanjiro that, that is his resolve. like this drive existed BEFORE kaigaku turned into a demon?! it just suddenly happened? or let me guess…it happened ⊹₊⟡⋆off screen⊹₊⟡⋆. (ㆆ_ㆆ) wow…love that.

all this time apparently, zenitsu has been developing the seventh form? since when? how? don’t know ¯\ (ツ)/¯. if i dislike zenitsu this much, it’s worse for kaigaku. now, kaigaku is already an antagonist so i’m not supposed to like him, but man i really hate kaigaku. zenitsu is only above him because of the smidge of emotional depth compared to kaigaku. if “i want power” was a walking monologue, then it’s kaigaku. literally, i stopped crying during this segment because of how much kaigaku was yapping his head about hating zenitsu and wanting power. like i wanted zenitsu to end it just to hear this guy shut up. his character is worse in a sense that he feels like a joke antagonist. see, never heard of him till this movie. never knew his ties to zenitsu till this film. no backstory beyond hating zenitsu and gaining power. “oh i struggled to live” ok, so you represent the selfishness of survival in a human, big deal. all these aspects together make him a put together “villain” to rush zenitsu’s growth in a short moment. now, someone did mention he’s existed before as he was one of the orphans gyomei took in before he joined the demon slayer corps. okay, that just makes it more confusing. because no one would know that unless they match the visuals, since gyomei just names him as a “disobedient kid” with no name. which just brings more question than answers. did gyomei know the kid who lured the demons to his temple joined the demon slayer corp? did kaigaku just renounce that part of his life? did that guilt eat up kaigaku? is that what made him train under thunder breathing? why can’t he do the first form? there is no reason, just that he can’t. his character is treated even more so as a joke when yushiro tells murata that zenitsu only defeated kaigaku because he was a recently promoted demon. meaning muzan just chose whatever to fill upper rank 6 because it’s the lowest overall anyway. so he’s an upper rank in name but not skill, otherwise zenitsu would’ve been wiped. “oh? so, it’s not even a full showcase of power?”

overall, this fight was the least entertaining because all i could do was nitpick writing choices. it’s a speed run, character development, ‘let’s slap two birds with one stone’ style. it’s like they didn’t know how to write his character to rise from fear without giving him some tragedy. there was absolutely no reason gramps needed to die. again! it’s like they did it because zenitsu didn’t have tragedy in his life and they didn’t know how to write him to get on his feet without some tragic past. if he was meant to be like this since the beginning then it should’ve been shown, but alas, speed run…again.

now, let me preface by saying, i couldn’t take half the things douma said seriously (˶ˆᗜˆ˵) because i was fangirling over the fact he’s voiced by the one and only, mamoru miyano (voiced light from death note, dazai from bungo stray dogs, rin from free, & tamaki from ouran hshc; to name a few). douma is actually a double-edged sword and will (spoilers) play a role in inosuke’s past too. but, i’d say he is really evil for evil’s sake. by that, i mean his demon form. his humanity didn’t allow him to have a sad life or empathy like other demons. he had shitty parents and from a young age he was basically a fake idol to feed their cult. so it’s expected why he’s like the most expressive upper rank, but the most dangerous due to his lack of emotion beyond joy in eating corpses and killing, and sarcasm.

as for shinobu, she’s my second favorite hashira (⚬◜ᴗ◝⚬) so it was hard to see her go (╥﹏╥). spoilers, she’s not done with douma yet so i can’t wait for his karma. but, i mean her inner turmoil of never feeling like she can be enough with herself. she pours herself into her work, whether healing or making poisons, because she always feels like she’s not doing enough. kanae, being the sweeter, taller, stronger, and kinder sister left her feeling like she was walking in a shadow. it’s a wonder how she never got burnt out. her determination is so strong because it’s a mix of fear and approval. she’s afraid of never being enough. that when she saves people she isn’t judged as incapable. she’s shorter, slightly weaker (i’d say she’s still hella strong), and quite judgmental when it comes to world view. but she uses her strengths and amplifies them, like her speed, to make sure she can provide in any aspect. it’s a fight of self worth. but, i’d say it’s a fight of grief. the determination of justice, though suppressed for a long time, was her source for fighting. it’s why beyond the weakness she see’s in herself, she’s upset that she can’t follow her resolve of her promise.

i felt the hopelessness. she gives and gives 200% in everything, for the sake of everything she loves and holds dear, but she can never see herself be the one to be the one who comes out on top. the one who can stand alone and finish the job. i’m just happy she went out on her terms of giving it everything she has, so shinobu can go out without any regrets of determination.

i will preface by saying, what i disliked about this is how the movie showcases memory. this is totally separate from the fight, as this is about after shinobu’s devoured. when the crows announce her death to tanjiro and giyuu, there’s a glimpse of shinobu with aoi, kanao, sumi, kiyo, and naho and her smiling to the distance. now, the camera pans to tanjiro’s face making the audience think this is his memory. however, in the novelization (not the manga) which is basically a script version of the manga that details scenes that the visuals can’t, it says that that memory is from giyuu’s mind. that he was the one who pictured her smile and tanjiro was to the side just welling up. this is more of a small tangent on my side, it’s not going to influence the overall plot. i’m just upset as a romance girly, if you know what i mean (⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝).

alright, i’m gonna say i was very uninterested in the fight this time around. to clear some air, i know there were so many people that was upset with tanjiro exposing his position ((≧ᗜ≦) even giyuu said so) but there is a reason. now, does that mean i’m not upset too? no. this is just to explain why he did that. tanjiro revealed his position to akaza because for his character he wants to have an even fight. it was seen as an looked down upon act to commit a sneak attack like that. also, it just goes against is morals as a character. as for the fight itself, i will say, i’m sad this is where giyuu gets his demon mark.

the downside to giyuu’s demon mark reveal is that everyone else (minus tanjiro) got theirs after feeling the burn from their past coming crashing back in or just unlocking the code early on (this only applies to gyomei). but, giyuu’s past has been told in length already, so the other time to use it would be to make his body reach a certain level to unlock it. even though, the fight between him and akaza went hard, it felt unearned or slapped on to be like “oh, wait. i forgot to give giyuu his demon mark. when should i make him unlock it?” then play inne minny mo to make him unlock it whenever. yes, he was pushed to his limit because it’s his first time fighting an upper rank, but he gets pushed around a couple times, tells akaza he pushed his senses to the limit and that’s what unlocked the mark for him? (｡· v ·｡) ? it’s not even that giyuu was the one who ended the fight, heck even tanjiro had to use his mc privileges to figure out the transparent world and actually find a way to behead akaza. so it’s like…what was the purpose of giyuu getting his mark other than checking a box and dragging out the fight a bit.

for akaza himself, i will say i balled my eyes out during his backstory. not just balled, but silently wailed too ｡°(°¯᷄◠¯᷅°)°｡. man has every reason to be feared. he is if fighting was on steroids. man was fighting long before he even got demon blood. but, for this sake i will be separating akaza from hakuji. let’s start by saying, a lot of people don’t forgive him or say they didn’t care for his backstory because they’re still upset over rengoku’s death. i’m not saying on whether people should or shouldn’t forgive him, but separating the identities. akaza is just the demon soul and hakuji is the original source and a dormant human soul. two souls that occupy one entity. i would say the person who killed rengoku is akaza, not hakuji, since hakuji died the day he avenged koyuki and keizo. i would like to use the darth vader effect. he is in the body of anakin skywalker but he is visually different from anakin. same as how akaza is hakuji’s body but visually different from hakuji. both of these boys were struck down twice due their environments till pushed to their breaking point. it’s just how they went about things that make them slightly different. anakin lost his mother after leaving her. feeling powerless he unleashed it on the village of tusken raiders. hakuji’s father died after he left on another day of being beaten by police & and scraping for any medicine and money he could get his hands on. so he unleashes his pain on any man that comes to face him about those discrepancies. now, they’re both different circumstances but the basis and losing a parent are the same. so, they both lost hope, but then someone comes along to hone their skill because they’re special. hakuji learns to hope again under keizo’s training and koyuki’s love. as did anakin gain someone to protect again through his wife. but, in the end, they lose their second hope too. this being, their final breaking point.

aside from crying from the firework scene and confession from koyuki, it’s pointed out tragedies always struck when hakuji wasn’t around. that’s what made it more painful. he wasn’t around to see his father make that decision and he wasn’t around to save koyuki and keizo in time. the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming at this point. it’s actually a wonder how hakuji pulled it together, though i’d say he’s more depressed than anything. he had every right to unleash hell on the next door clan. petty af to use a backhanded method because they can’t be bothered to fight face to face. i’d say, if muzan wasn’t there that night, hakuji would’ve off-ed himself somewhere, somehow. he literally, said to muzan “i don’t care anymore” so i’d like to think that hakuji died that night and akaza was born. after all, hakuji said when it happened all human memories disappeared and only tiny fragments stayed subconsciously (which is why in the manga it’s revealed he doesn’t kill women or children). so yes, i don’t forgive akaza’s actions, but i will for hakuji because he had every right and if anything he was taken advantage of and abused by muzan for 200 years. also, props to the voice acting (akira ishida), absolute tears hearing hakuji crying for forgiveness. i don’t even need to see the scene, hearing it is enough to make me cry each time. this is probably my favorite demon backstory and the most understandable.

to wrap things up, i would say i don’t mind that akaza off-ing himself was the way he died. however, i find it funny it’s announced he was “defeated” by tanjiro and giyuu. like, yes, in a way, but if hakuji didn’t find a way to return, in that moment the fight definitively would’ve prolonged. though i will give credit that if akaza threw in the towel tanjiro and giyuu would’ve been the one’s to rightfully defeat him. this is just nitpicking, after all, the crows can only know so much and it’s faster to alert the others (plus it would all sound impossible to the others). the final aspect I will talk about is the hell or heaven thing. i think it’s up to interpretation, but i’d say it’s akaza that burns in hell and hakuji that is reborn and sent to heaven with koyuki. the fire is like a wall of separation. after all, even though emotionally, hakuji was speaking with keizo and his father, he wasn’t physically/wholly hakuji. heck, even after all that muzan was trying to have his way. it took koyuki stepping in and closing akaza’s ears to block out muzan for good to make hakuji return. so when keizo says “it’s to bad you can’t return with us” i’d think he’s speaking to akaza. the half baked hakuji at the time. speaking of koyuki, that forgiveness/lap hug scene will forever be engraved in my mind. just peak cinema.

honestly, with this being a three parter, this will unfortunately be at the bottom compared to what’s coming. besides the fact i know what’s going to happen, this part lacks in comparison the the fights and stories coming up. but, i will give the film its flowers. after all, this is probably the longest cry i’ve had in a movie (i’m scared of what i’m gonna be like in part 2 and 3 (ᵕ,—ᴗ—,). like five minutes in and already tearing up and just kept crying with maybe two semi 5 minute breaks. so the movie does illicit a lot of emotion, which is a good thing (either that i’m being overly emotional than usual). i will say, this could’ve been a season, easily. the arc moments i mentioned above, did impact my thoughts on the runtime for sure. but, overall, a good film with show stopping animation and voice acting (∩˃ᴗ˂∩)✧