Episode 55

The Connected Bonds: Daybreak And First Light (繋いだ絆 彼は誰時 朝ぼらけ) is the 55th episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 11th episode and final episode of its third season.

Plot
After failing to behead Hantengu in his burl and finding him attempting to flee once more, Tanjiro pursues Upper Four through the forests, as he tries to comprehend how the demon could selfishly run from the humans he has been trying to kill, recalling the demon of hatred denouncing them as villains for attempting to kill his main body. Despite this, it is they, humans who are normally helpless in the face of demons, who battle them and never give up. As he flees, Hantengu peers behind him and sees two falling trees and Nezuko descending towards him.

After the trees fail to hits him, Nezuko lands and attempts to claw him, but only just misses. Frightened, Hantengu increases his pace and scuttles away from Nezuko and Genya, who becomes annoyed at the demon’s sudden boost in speed and their inability to catch up. Tanjiro notes that despite the Upper Rank still having strength remaining, the Demon Slayers are nearly at their limit. He looks to the sky and sees that dawn is about to break.

Recalling Mitsuri’s current engagement with the demon of hatred and knowing she will soon run out of stamina and the demons will inevitably flee from the sunlight, he resolves to hasten his efforts but becomes frustrated by the little demon outpacing them each time. He motivates himself to find the push and not let Hantengu win but suddenly experiences a sharp pain in his left leg, slowing him down to a hobble. As he tries to find a way to help him continue, he remembers Zenitsu’s words explaining Thunder Breathing’s focus on the user’s legs. Though the inner workings of muscles is not known, he recalls his “gramps” had once that it is only once someone has complete awareness of their muscles that they can achieve Total Concentration.

With this in mind, Tanjiro decides he will attempt to circulate his oxygen into each part of his muscles and blood vessels. Stomping down his right leg and leaning his weight onto it, he breathes in to build his strength into his leg and releases it with a loud thunderclap, propelling him past Genya and Nezuko and allowing him to catch up to Hantengu. The demon looks back in terror as the Demon Slayer uses his Hinokami Kagura and slices into his neck, pushing in deeper and successfully cutting half way through. Hantengu twists his neck and unexpectedly asks if Tanjiro does not pity him, before suddenly transforming into an enlarged clone of himself.

The giant demon grabs Tanjiro by the head and attempts to crush him, angrily demanding that he does not bully the weak. As his grip weakens, he nearly loses consciousness but is joined by Genya, who attempts to pull the demon’s hands away. The demon opens his mouth and uses Urogi’s sonic shriek to blast the two, causing them severe pain. Nezuko leaps up from behind and splashes Upper Four in her blood, before setting him ablaze. With the body weakened, Genya is able to break off the arms to free Tanjiro, but finds that Nezuko's flames burn him as well, as he has eaten the flesh of a demon beforehand.

Tanjiro, still holding his imbedded blade, pushes again and slashes deeper into the giant clone’s neck, who staggers back and causes the two of them to plummet off a cliff, landing with a powerful tremor; Nezuko attempts to reach her brother but falls as well. As Genya calls to the siblings, the giant demon stands up to find he cannot regenerate quickly, realizing that the demon of hatred, Zohakuten, is using too much of their shared power, attempting to find humans to eat and replenish strength. Within the demon’s earshot, Tanjiro exclaims he will not let him escape, who looks back to see the Demon Slayer is still alive and runs away, as he promises to sever his head.

Enraged, the giant demon asks how the human dares threaten him and plans to kill him quickly upon finding food, eventually spotting three swordsmiths in the distance. He notes that of his three opponents, his most troubling is Nezuko due to being a demon as well, surmising that Tanjiro does not pose a threat as he is unable to slice completely through his neck. The smiths quickly see the demon approaching and flee, with the giant demon now in pursuit of his prey. Lifting himself off of the tree branch, Tanjiro slumps to the ground and sees Nezuko is now asleep. With the demon running away, he kneels down to use his Total Concentration Breathing but hears a voice calling to him.

Amidst the cliff tops, he sees something moving in his direction and watches as a sword stab itself into the dirt in front of him; the polished ancient blade hurled by Muichiro. As the Mist Hashira tells him to use it, a less than pleased Hotaru begins to choke him and orders Tanjiro to not use the unfinished blade. With his last strength, Muichiro tells him that the sun will soon rise and the demon will flee again, giving Tanjiro his resolve to fight. The angry swordsmith then punches him in the head, causing the Hashira to lose consciousness; Kotetsu loudly accuses Hotaru of killing him, in spite of his confusion, but Kozo then explains that it was his fever and Gyokko’s poison.

Despite being unconscious, Muichiro notes that everyone’s hopes are now in the blade Tanjiro wields. With the demon in his sight, the marks appear on his head as Tanjiro empowers himself with Total Concentration Breathing and combines his Hinokami Kagura with his knowledge of Thunder Breathing, using Dancing Flash to blitz forward in an extremely fast strike that allows him to catch up to the distant demon instantly. Bringing his blade onto the demon's neck, he twists his body and is able to decapitate him. As the ground around him lights up, he looks to the horizon and realizes the sun is now about to appear. He runs back to Nezuko and attempt to warn her but is unable to speak properly.

Nezuko, with a horrified expression, suddenly runs towards him, confusing and worrying him since she is the one who is now in danger since the area is open. She reaches him and tries to make him look behind, but Tanjiro instead tries to tell her that the sun will soon appear. She points and makes him look, finally causing him to see what she was worried about. Despite its complete decapitation, the headless giant clone is still in pursuit of the swordsmiths to eat. Tanjiro looks to the severed head nearby and sees its tongue has the kanji for “resentment” etched on it; remembering that the main body had the kanji of “fear” and it is now still alive.

As he makes a move to finish the demon and his sister joins to help him, the sun finally rises above the mountains. Sunlight hits Nezuko and immediately causes severe burns on her face and arms as she tries to shield herself. Tanjiro abandons chasing the demon and attempts to cover his agonized sister as she cries out in pain, begging her to shrink herself as protection. Despite doing so, she continues to burn as he notes the severity of her burns despite the little amount of sunlight. Tanjiro looks back to see the demon continuing to chase his prey; as he tries to find help, he sees Genya struggling to climb down the cliff and Muichiro unconscious in Kotetsu’s arms, realizing they will not be able to help him now. He then notes that allowing the demon to burn will only leave the swordsmith dead by then and initially reasons he could try carrying Nezuko as he kill the demon, only to realise he would not make it in time by doing so.

Continually looking between the demon and his burning sister, Tanjiro is unable to make a decision and freezes in the moment, frustrated and angered at the impossible odds he is forced to face. As he pulls Nezuko in closer to protect her, he is suddenly kicked in the air by her, now leaving her completely exposed to the sun. In shock at her decision and watching as she continues to burn, Tanjiro sees her make the signal to kill the demon. The memories with her as a demon, from her transformation and joining him to meet Sakonji Urokodaki, to helping him in his missions, to meeting Zenitsu, aiding him when he could not face Rui alone, helping him wake up from Enmu’s spell, facing Daki, to joining him on his mission to the Swordsmith Village; he finally sees a memory of Nezuko laugh while still human, as he watches as her eyes begin to close in the sunlight.

With tears in his eyes, he lands down and resolves to kill Hantengu once and for all, detecting its scent and seeing it has not travelled far. Running across the field, he realizes that the main body is also nearby, looking at the giant headless clone and sharpening his sense of smell to triangulate its position, finally locating Hantengu inside the giant’s heart. As the demon has the swordsmiths in its grasps, Tanjiro leaps up to slice off both of its arms to save them; his furious stare striking deep fear into Upper Rank Four. Demanding that the demon atone for his sins with his life, he slices the giant’s body in half, exposing Hantengu to the sun’s light, before bringing his blade down onto his neck.

The Demon Slayer’s words cause the demon to reminisce on his human life; all of the moments he was committing numerous crimes, how he was caught each time, the moments he deflected the blame to anything but himself, his trial before a magistrate to execute him in spite of his continual plea of his innocence, meeting Muzan, and killing the magistrate who sentenced him; despite knowing he is about to be killed, the man instead tells the demon of the day when he will atone for his crimes. Confusion strikes Hantengu as he watches his life flash before his eyes. Despite a final attempt to stop him by using his giant clone’s body, Tanjiro successfully beheads Upper Four and the sunlight finally kills the demon for good.

Anime Notes

 * This episode has an extended runtime, amounting to around 50 minutes of episode content.