Episode 54

Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji (恋柱・甘露寺蜜璃) is the 54th episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 10th episode of its third season.

Summary
As Mitsuri leaps into battle and unsheathes her blade, noticed by the demon of hatred, she races along a dragon’s neck and slices it to pieces to rescue Tanjiro, before making her way to save Nezuko and Genya as well. She confronts the demon and demands he relinquishes Nezuko and Genya, only for the demon to order the “shameless tramp” to silence herself, claiming only one person can order him. The Love Hashira is aghast at his insult, believing him to be the same age and size as her younger brother, whilst owning a foul mouth; she then wonders if demons actually age but pushes the question aside.

The demon unleashes Crazed Cry of Thunderdeath, summoning his dragons to attack Mitsuri with a combined blast of Sekido’s lightning and Urogi’s sonic shriek. She quickly leaps high into the air and uses Love Breathing, Third Form: Catlove Shower, slicing into the attack and dissipating it, as she declares she will no longer hold back, irrespective of his child-like appearance. While the demon is surprised to see her slash through his attack, Tanjiro is stunned by her sheer power, noting her whip-like blade’s incredible flexibility and her own impressive skill to wield it.

Using Karaku’s winds, the demon summons consecutive gusts to crush Mitsuri, but she skilfully evades them and moves to attack. A dragon charges at her, leading the Love Hashira to use Love Breathing, Second Form: Love Pangs to slice it to pieces. Another head fires Aizetsu’s spear projections at Mitsuri and she uses Sixth Form: Catlegged Winds of Love to destroy them. The demon, seeing she can keep up with his individual attacks, decides he will overwhelm her instead, using Blood Demon Art: Countless Striking Trees and creating even more wooden dragons.

As Mitsuri becomes unnerved to see such a wide attack, Tanjiro notices the wooden burl containing Hantengu discretely leaving the battlefield; he tries to follow it but has his path blocked. Initially unsure if she can defeat them all, Mitsuri flips back and uses Love Breathing: Fifth Form: Swaying Love Wildclaw; she blitzes forward and cuts through all of the dragons in a powerful flurry of slashes. She spots the demon of hatred and wraps her blade around his neck, determined to behead him. The demon’s mouth opens and glows brightly as Tanjiro tries to warn the Hashira that beheading him won’t kill him. Using Compressed Sound Waves, the demon blasts Mitsuri with an even more powerful sonic shriek, knocking her unconscious.

As Tanjiro attempts to reach her, Nezuko resorts to ripping her arm to free herself, while Genya still struggles to free himself from being trapped in the dragon's coils. Seeing the Love Hashira fall to her knees, the demon is stunned to see her body intact despite taking the brunt of his attack up close, surmising she had tensed her muscles to save herself, though he notes it still shouldn’t have survived. Seeing that her physical strength belies her body, he realizes her abnormal constitution will suffice as good nourishment to gain power, deciding to devour her instead and moving to break her skull open first with a punch.

A younger and ornately dressed Mitsuri appears on a bridge with someone, who insults her and states that only animals would be willing to marry someone like her, deriding her unusual hair color and claiming that passing it to his children would unsettle him. The man asks that she forget about their engagement and himself before leaving, as Mitsuri speaks of her canceled marriage at the age of 17. At another time, as a very Mitsuri plays with her father and attempts to flex her arm like him, disappointed by her lack of visible muscles, she reminisces on a story her mother had told about how she lifted a four kan stone at just 14 months old, shocking and horrifying her, despite Mitsuri only wanting to help in the kitchen. Her mother, who was noted for her unflappable demeanor, was stunned for the first time.

On another occasion, inside a soba shop, Mitsuri finishes a very large bowl of soba as she recalls having a large appetite even as a child. The shop owner is bemused and asks his sumo wrestling customers about how they feel being beaten by a little girl, even though they too are unable to comprehend how it was possible. After finishing a large serving of mochi, she then presents her arm as her father asks one of the sumo wrestlers to engage in an arm wrestle with her, where she quickly displays her belying strength by swiftly defeating him. As they leave, her proud father notes that her arms, despite their thin appearance, have incredible density.

As Mitsuri got older, she realized just how different she was from other girls. Unable to sleep one night and sitting upright in bed, she asks her mother if she could ever be someone’s bride, speaking about her unusual strength, appetite, and hair color. Her father proposes that she lived with them but a conflicted Mitsuri believes that women are meant to be married wives. After her marriage was called off, she resorted to dying her hair black, pretending to be weak, and eating less to appear normal, much to her family’s worry. When she eventually met someone who wanted to marry her, she questioned and became troubled about how she could live a life where she wasn’t true to who she was, wondering if there was a place where she could truly be herself and help others.

Mitsuri awakens to the cry of Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya pushing her out of the path of the demon's fist, as Tanjiro realizes they need to protect her now more than ever, having the most potential and their only chance to beat Upper Rank Four. As they carry her to safety, the demon of hatred, bemused by their desperate measures, summons up a powerful blast of lightning and brings it down onto the Demon Slayers, devastating the area. As he wonders if he had hit his mark, his eyes widen at the sound of Mitsuri's passionate thanking of her comrades. She tearfully apologizes as a Hashira for her mistake and declares the Demon Slayer Corps is the home she will protect, much to Genya's annoyance, Nezuko's awe, and Tanjiro's amazement, who realizes she had dissipated the lightning with her blade.

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Episodi 54