Episode 53

Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito (霞柱・時透無一郎) is the 53rd episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 9th episode of its third season.

Summary
Realizing Muichiro now poses a threat, Gyokko reveal his true form and claims he will now fight seriously. Muichiro, having held a deep rage since his brother's death, decides. Elsewhere, Tanjiro, Genya, and Nezuko are overwhelmed by the wooden dragons of the demon of hatred, who can use the abilities of Urogi, Aizetsu, and Sekido.

Synopsis
As Hotaru continues polishing the ancient blade, Kozo, hidden behind the trees, watches Muichiro confront Gyokko. The demon moves himself high up a tree and demands that the Hashira will not underestimate him. Saying he is not and is simply stating a fact, Muichiro confidently replies that he will behead and kill him, now that he is extremely focused, but Gyokko claims that he is, spitefully mentioning his tone of voice and young age. The Upper Rank changes position again and appears from the ground behind Muichiro, who mentions that he has no respect for Gyokko whatsoever due to his appearance and voice.

The demon simply claims that Muichiro cannot comprehend his beauty and insults his understanding, though the unfazed Hashira returns his insults with his own. Gyokko mocks his short arms and blade, only for Muichiro to mention that his blade has actually reached his neck and mockingly questions if Gyokko was talking about his own arms. Upper Five laughs at what he believes is a cheap insult and wonders if he is desperate to win, only for Muichiro to then look at his vase and ask if it is not symmetrical, deriding his work. With his art insulted, Gyokko finally snaps and accuses Muichiro of having rotten eyeballs. Forming ten vases in his hands, he uses Blood Demon Art: Ten Thousand Gliding Slime Fish, aiming them at Muichiro and sending countless ravenous fish in his direction. The Mist Hashira backs away and avoids getting hit, before using a tree to launch himself and utilizing Mist Breathing, Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist, cutting through all of them in an extremely fast flurry of slashes. Gyokko watches as all of his fish are sliced and becomes stunned by the Demon Slayer’s speed, wondering how his paralytic poison seems to be ineffective. Nonetheless, he remembers that slashing the fish will only release a poison that is fine enough to be absorbed through the skin and will kill him quickly. Muichiro then uses Mist Breathing, Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash and redirects the poisonous cloud away from him. He then suddenly lunges at Gyokko and makes an attempt to behead him, only for the demon to shed his skin and disappear. Now annoyed, Muichiro demands that the demon cease dodging him and climbing into the trees, only for Gyokko to laugh and claim he will now reveal his true form, mentioning he is only the third person to ever witness it. He states that once he is serious, no one will be able to survive him, leading Muichiro to show sarcastic amazement, annoying Upper Five.

Stating that his new transparent scales are harder than diamonds and that he has been refining his form inside his vase, Gyokko demands that the Hashira bow before his new body, now appearing as a humanoid, serpent-like merman. Muichiro silently stares with an unimpressed expression, causing the demon to angrily yell for him to say something, which the Hashira responds to by noting that Gyokko had told him to be silent earlier. As Muichiro claims that he is not in the least surprised by his transformation, Gyokko suddenly attacks and attempts to punch him repeatedly, forcing the Hashira to evade and leap up into a tree; he then watches as the portion of his uniform touched by Gyokko transforms into fish, as does the impact points by the demon’s fists.

The Upper Rank laughs at his opponent’s turns to hide in the tress but Muichiro claims he only did so to avoid the terrible smell of his fish. Gyokko then reveals that not only can anything he touch become fish, his new body’s flexibility allows him to move in any direction. Watching as Muichiro quietly stares at him, the demon questions if he is now afraid, but Muichiro, with a condescending smile on his face, smugly replies that even the most powerful attacks are pointless when they fail to make contact.

Recalling the moment when he held Yuichiro’s hand as maggots crawled over his body, Muichiro remembers that they even crawled onto him as he lay in the brink of death. He closes his eyes to die but opens them again when he hears a voice: Amane Ubuyashiki ordering her daughter to treat his wounds. Amane sees Muichiro barely gasping to breathe and she asks her other daughter on Yuichiro’s state, to which she replies that he is already dead. Amane holds Muichiro's hand to pray for his survival, as he recalls that he would have died had he not been found by her.

Now patched up from his ordeal, Muichiro relentlessly trains in the Demon Slayer Headquarters amidst pouring rain. Nichika, concerned that he has not fully healed, attempt to stop him but is prevented from doing so by her mother. Despite his exhaustion, he does not stop training, as Muichiro recalls that even as his memories were lost, his body still maintains a deep boiling rage since that day, one that he believes will not leave him till his death. As the only thing that kept him training even as he vomited blood, Muichiro lands down to face Gyokko as his anger to destroy all demons builds inside him. Gyokko performs Blood Demon Art: Killer Fish Scales and uses his new body to encircle Muichiro in rapid succession, moving too quickly for the Hashira to land a clean hit. The demons asks if he enjoys his movements defying the laws of nature before threatening to rip his head off and replace it with a fish. Watching as Gyokko closes in on him, Muichiro uses Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds and seemingly stops; the Upper Rank throws a punch at the Mist Hashira but is shocked to see his fist miss completely. He sees Muichiro behind him and attacks but misses again. Now seeing him in front of him, he throws another punch but once again fails to make contact. Confused, Gyokko looks all around him and sees mere glimpses of the Hashira moving in and out of his vision, as if he is shrouded in a thick cloud of mist. He sees Muichiro’s head and attacks but fails to hit anything once more. Appearing in the demon's vision, Muichiro asks a stunned Gyokko if he believed he was the only one who was not serious: he makes his way to the demon, aims his blade at his neck, and slashes upwards, successfully beheading Upper Five.

Gyokko’s severed head falls as he notices everything seems to be upside-down and he cannot sense anything. Finally able to see Muichiro in the open, he realizes he must kill him and report to Muzan, only to touch the ground. The realization of his decapitation slowly hits him and Gyokko becomes aghast he has been defeated by a child, as Muichiro walks towards him. The demon puts his inability to believe it has happened on full display, while the Mist Hashira bids him goodbye and demands he does not reincarnate again. The now livid Gyokko questions how he lost to a mere human and attempts to regrow his body, all while insulting Muichiro and boasting of his superiority.

Now entirely annoyed at his empty threats, the Hashira silences the demon by slashing the head to pieces, killing Gyokko once and for all and demanding that he go to hell already. Muichiro suddenly remembers a moment he had with Kagaya, who spoke about how he cannot be so rigid with his perception of the world, before claiming that he can become stronger once he finds his true unshakeable self. Watch as Gyokko’s remains fade to ash, he realizes his leader was indeed true about finding himself and having the strength to act, and that as long as he knows who he is, all his doubts, hesitation, and frustrations can disappear and no demon can escape his blade.

Kozo approaches the Mist Hashira and thanks him for saving their lives, before asking if he is alright. Muichiro claims he is fine and will now help Tanjiro but the swordsmith does not believe him, noting his pale skin. He replies again he is fine but suddenly begins to tremble and have trouble breathing, concerning Kozo even more so. The Hashira asks that he check on Kotetsu but suddenly begins frothing at the mouth, before collapsing face first into the ground. Kozo, horrified to see the Hashira fall, calls to Hotaru to help him, but he ignores the smith and continues his polishing. Seeing how useless he was when he was almost killed by Gyokko, Kozo ignores Hotaru and attempts to help Muichiro in any way, though he only panics when Muichiro begins to choke on the foam in his mouth.

Confused and worried, he is joined by Kotetsu, who instructs him to lay Muichiro on his side. Shocked to hear his voice, Kozo then panics at being visited by Kotetsu’s ghost, only for the young swordsmith to ease his concerns and explains he is not dead. As Muichiro wakes up from the commotion, Kozo asks how he can be alive since he was stabbed in the solar plexus and bled heavily, to which Kotetsu explains that the blood on him is from his arm wounds; he was protected from a more severe wound when the demon's blade instead hit an object hidden in his shirt. He reveals that Tanjiro had entrusted him with Kyojuro Rengoku’s tsuba, wanting to put in on his new blade. Seeing it reminds Muichiro of the time when Kyojuro had encouraged to give his all as a Hashira.

He then suddenly sees himself surrounded by his family, with his parents holding him and Yuichiro looking at him. His father tells him that trusting in someone has resulted in everything turning out well in the end, as the Hashira becomes emotional to see the faces of his father and mother once again. Yuichiro then kneels down, clutches his hand, and commends his twin for his work, bringing Muichiro to tears.

As a wooden dragon hurls him high into the air, Tanjiro narrowly avoids getting crushed in its jaws and sees that five total heads surround the manifestation of hatred, seeing that they are about 66 shaku in length. He prepares to use Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky but the demon beats a drum, causing a dragon to then blast Tanjiro with Urogi's sonic shriek, knocking him into the trees. Nezuko sees her brother downed but cannot reach him as two dragons surround her. Another dragon attempts to attack Genya, who blasts the wooden demon with his shotgun to little effect and is forced to grab hold and prevent it from biting him. Seeing the gunshots heal quickly, he then breaks apart its jaws with his bare hands to damage it instead.

Tanjiro vomits on the ground and realizes that the shriek has ruptured his eardrums, dizzying him more than ever. The demon then beats two drums and uses the dragon to summon Karaku's powerful winds, crushing Tanjiro's left foot. He beats on two more and the dragon then blasts Tanjiro with Sekido's lightning. As he attempts to flee from the onslaught, Tanjiro sees that the single demon is able to use any of the emotion manifestation's attacks and with even more power that before, as two dragons blast him with the sonic shriek. Nezuko is soon bitten down on the arm and hoisted high up while Genya finds himself being constricted in the dragon's coil.

Unable to use his breathing techniques because he has not healed, Tanjiro runs away from the dragons and evades their bites, making it far enough that he believe he is out of range and take a breather. The demon of hatred then beats on a drum and a dragon forms consecutive smaller necks from his mouth, stretching longer than before and allowing it to grab Tanjiro. As he is pulled into its jaws, Tanjiro attempts to slash it but has become too weak to do so and is swallowed whole, shocking Nezuko and Genya whilst they continue to struggle. Inside the dragon's throat, Tanjiro realizes the situation is hopeless as he is slowly crushed, with the demon declaring their struggle now over.

Without warning, Mitsuri leaps into the air and races along the dragon's neck, slashing it to pieces and breaking its head open to rescue Tanjiro. As the dragon falls to pieces and the demon realizes his new opponent is now a Hashira, Mitsuri hoists Tanjiro on her back and leaps up away from the falling dragon, speaking about her unease in seeing such a ghastly monster. As Tanjiro calls to her, she asks if he is okay and apologizes for being late. Mitsuri safely lands to the ground and puts her hands on his shoulders, before happily rocking him back and forth and telling him that he can now take a break, though Tanjiro cannot hear her with his burst eardrums. Taking her blade, she states she will now rescue Nezuko and Genya, as the demon becomes annoyed at her interference. Asking that he now leave it to her, Mitsuri rushes forward as Tanjiro warns her that the demon is an Upper Rank. Three dragons attack the Love Hashira but she wraps her blade around the leading dragon's jaws and pulls taut, enabling her to use its neck to knock down the other two, before making her way to face the manifestation of hatred.

Anime Notes

 * In the anime, Kozo and Hotaru are seen in the beginning hidden amongst the trees in safety, while in the manga, they are only first seen later on when Gyokko attempts to punch Muichiro into fish. Kozo is also seen comically lying on Hotaru as he continues to polish the blade in the manga, which is not reflected in the anime.
 * In the anime, when Muichiro evades Gyokko's Ten Thousand Gliding Slime Fish, he is additionally seen leaping back against a tree and jumping off of it to launch himself forward.
 * There is an extended scene of Amane and her daughters helping Muichiro and Yuichiro, as well as Muichiro relentlessly training whilst injured, in the anime.
 * In the manga, Gyokko's Killer Fish Scales is depicted as him moving throughout the forest in a destructive frenzy, whereas in the anime, it is depicted as him gliding abnormally up and around Muichiro in impossible directions.
 * In the manga, the depiction of Muichiro's Obscuring Clouds initially makes it seem as if he is the mist, with wisps of smoke manifesting whenever he appears and evades Gyokko's punches, before Gyokko seemingly sees himself inside a thick haze. In the anime, it more obviously depicts that Muichiro is enveloped in the mist, with Gyokko's fists hitting smoke when he fails to connect his punches. Muichiro is also seen walking towards Gyokko to behead him in the anime, whilst it is more sudden in the manga.
 * In the manga, a narration reveals the mechanics of Obscuring Clouds: the form relies on wild fluctuations in Muichiro's speed to confuse his opponents. This is not shown in the anime.
 * In the manga, Muichiro remembering Kagaya's advice about finding and staying true to himself is seen during his recollection of being saved by Amane, while in the anime, it is shown after Gyokko is killed.
 * While it is stated by Tanjiro that the wooden dragons are roughly 66 shaku (20 metres or 65.6 feet) in length, some anime scenes (excluding its consecutive inner mouths) show it significantly longer than that.
 * There is an additional scene of Nezuko getting surrounded and attack by two dragons, as well Genya attempt to shoot and break apart another before getting constricted by its neck.
 * In the manga, the dragon that swallows Tanjiro suddenly falls to pieces, before revealing Mitsuri taking Tanjiro to safety. In the anime, she leaps into the air, runs along its neck to slice it apart, and then splits its head to rescue him.
 * There is an anime-only scene of Mitsuri using her whip-like blade to ensnare an attacking dragon and pulling it down to knock down the two behind it.

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