Episode 43

Never Give Up (絶対諦めない) is the 43rd episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 17th episode of its second season.

Synopsis
With his friends severely wounded and left for dead and Yoshiwara in flames, Tanjiro is confronted by Gyutaro. He offers to turn him into a demon but Tanjiro takes his last stand and attacks despite his severe injuries. He catches Gyutaro by the neck and slows cuts in; while Daki is intercepted by Zenitsu's fastest form yet. Gyutaro breaks free but is met by Tengen, who stops his strike and clash with him across the city. Tanjiro summons the last of his strength and buries his sword into Gyutaro's neck, just as Zenitsu is rejoined by Inosuke and assists him to cut Daki's. The dual holders of Upper Rank Six are decapitated, but in the aftermath, Gyutaro takes one last chance at retaliation.

Plot
After seeing Tengen's unconscious body and severed left hand, Tanjiro freezes in shock and disbelief. Zenitsu warns him of an incoming attack and pushes him off the roof, as the obi rips apart their surroundings. Tanjiro apologizes to everyone for his lack of concentration getting everyone hurt, including Nezuko.

Tanjiro lands hard on the ground and apologizes again for his mistakes. Drifting out of consciousness, he sees himself back in his home's forest with Nezuko before him, as she appears before her transformation. She begs him not to apologize and asks why he keeps doing so. She reminds him their father had died of his illness but it wasn't his fault. Being human, they can never expect everything to go their way and reminds him what is most important is the now. Transforming back into her demon appearance, she asks that they fight harder and urges him to stop blaming himself, while crying out that she wants him to understand how she feels.

Tanjiro reawakens and witnesses Yoshiwara District in flames; seeing the devastation, he can't help but ask if the people living here are fine. He turns back to see Nezuko and is relieved to see her still asleep. As he reaffirms he must do what he can, Gyutaro appears before him, wondering how he is still alive. Upper Rank Six mocks him for his luck, seeing it as the only thing he has going for him, as Daki contently watches them from the rooftops. Gyutaro says he pities him for being the only survivor and tells him of his friends' fates. Inosuke lies motionless in a pool of his blood, Zenitsu is trapped underneath rubble and struggling to escape and he mocks Tengen for being weak and dying to his poison while acting proud. Gyutaro calls the four of them disgraceful, making special emphasis on him for carrying around a demon on his back and asking who she is.

Terrified, Tanjiro can only wonder why Gyutaro isn't killing him yet, while realizing he still doesn't have the strength to attack. He gives in to his question and tells the demon that Nezuko is his younger sister. At this, Gyutaro laughs and says he is disgraceful again for not protecting her. Sticking his sickles into the ground, he kneels down to his level and says it's because she is a demon and he is a human. He condescending pats Tanjiro's head and says it's his job to protect her, not be protected. He grabs Tanjiro's hand and sadistically breaks two fingers; as he reels in pain, Gyutaro laughs at his suffering and demands he listen to him. He viciously grabs Tanjiro's head and insults him repeatedly for being the disgraceful sole survivor and his weakness. Unarmed, he goads Tanjiro into killing him.

Released from his hold, Tanjiro takes Nezuko's box and runs away from him, while he and Daki watch dumbfounded. Gyutaro laughs at his crushed spirit and chases him down, before violently kicking him into a burning house. He escapes before the burning rubble can crush him and feebly tries to flee. Gyutaro walks towards him and insults him again for being disgraceful. Tanjiro desperately throws sachets and rubble at him, only for the demon to kick him in the stomach, causing him to vomit blood. Gyutaro states how despite his weakness, he doesn't dislike him, as he likes anything disgraceful, filthy and pathetic. He touches Tanjiro's scar and admires its weird appearance.

Gyutaro suddenly has an idea and believes he should be a demon too, saying he will spare Tanjiro if he transforms and threatening to kill Nezuko if he refuses. Daki overhears him and rejects his idea. Tanjiro looks into the sky and claims he has been waiting for this moment. He headbutts Upper Six in the face; Gyutaro mocks him for his weak attempt to attack but is unexpectedly unable to stand up. He sees to his horror that Tanjiro had simultaneously stabbed him with a wisteria-laced kunai. Gyutaro suddenly realizes that Tanjiro had been leading him all along, running away to find the kunai and scattering a courtesan's sachets to mask the wisteria's scent.

Gyutaro witnesses Tanjiro about to strike and cursing him for not giving up despite being so injured and weak compared to him. As he uses Hinokami Kagura once more, Tanjiro's blade ignites in fire and he brings his sword down into Gyutaro's neck. Tanjiro hears what he initially believes to be Nezuko calling out to him, only to realize it is actually Daki calling out for Gyutaro. He envisions himself in Gyutaro's place and wonders what he could have been if he hadn't remained a human with Nezuko. Imagining himself as a demon, Tanjiro believes that someone in the Demon Slayer Corps would have the mercy to kill him.

Fighting the pain, the Upper Rank attempts to grab his sickle and pull the kunai out, while the blade begins to cut into his neck. Daki sees her brother in danger and sends her obi to kill Tanjiro. At that moment, Zenitsu pulls himself out the rubble with his Thunder Breathing and destroys the obi. Seeing him again, she angrily sends the obi his way instead to kill him. Zenitsu dodges them and prepares to attack, while Daki mentions how she now knows how fast he can attack, seeing it so many times. Instead, he uses Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, God Speed. He instantly reaches Daki and catches her neck in his blade. Too stunned to react to his new speed, Daki hears the obi in her neck getting ripped by the blade. Gyutaro pulls out the kunai and recovers instantly, seeping blood blades to removing the sword from his neck.

Tanjiro fends them off but is viciously attacked by Gyutaro, the two racing across the district with Tanjiro forced on the defensive. Gyutaro quickly breaks down the poison and heals, preparing to stab Tanjiro in the eye. Without warning, Tengen appears and stops the sickle from reaching him. Shocked to see the Hashira still alive, he realizes Tengen had forced his heart to stop, temporarily stopping the poison's circulation. Tengen, still skilled with one hand at using his blades, declares to a stunned Tanjiro that he can now use his Musical Score Technique and that they will win. Gyutaro sends a giant wave of blood blades to kill Tengen, but the Sound Hashira uses his enhanced hearing to see the attack as a song he can read, skillfully destroying the flying blades with his Sound Breathing.

Tengen reaches the Upper Rank and slams down his swords in the ground, narrowly missing him. Gyutaro realizes that he turned his Rotating Circular Slashes into a song he can deflect, intensely angered he did so with one arm. The two clash head-on in a giant explosion and continue to attack each other, hurling themselves across the burning city doing so. They repeatedly trade violent blows across the district, speeding up while doing so and attacking so viciously, the city is engulfed in explosions and blood. With his Hinokami Kagura, Tanjiro catches up to the two but realizes that Tengen will reach his limit first, and he steels himself to be ready and decapitate Gyutaro. The Upper Rank stabs the Sound Hashira in the stomach and slashes upwards, cutting Tengen's left eye in half. The Hashira ignores the pain and stabs Gyutaro in the stomach, holding him in place as the two hurtle across the city. Tanjiro leaps up from behind and lunges towards them.

Gyutaro mocks Tanjiro for being too slow and stabs him in the jaw, saying he is still a loser despite Tengen's assistance and he will eventually die to the poison. Tanjiro fights the pain and successfully brings his blade down on his neck. Using the last remains for his power, Tanjiro forces himself to fight even harder, the scar on his head becoming a fiery mark. With his new strength, he cuts deeper into Upper Six's neck, who curses himself for being decapitated by a "brat" like him. Gyutaro then realizes he can still survive if Daki's head remains in intact.

Elsewhere, Zenitsu, with Daki in his grasp, races across the skies, still using his Godspeed's energy to try and behead her. He realizes he no longer has any strength left, while Daki attempts to kill him from behind using her obi. Attacking Zenitsu behind his back, the obi is suddenly destroyed by Inosuke. Surprised to see him still alive despite Gyutaro stabbing him in the chest, Inosuke responds by saying that shifting his organs is easy for him, and that growing up in the mountainside means he cannot be poisoned. Inosuke brings his blades down onto her neck, as Daki desperately begs for her brother to do something. Realizing he needs to fend them off, Gyutaro tries to summon another wave of Rotating Circular Slashes.

With the last of their power left in their swords, Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke successfully decapitate Gyutaro and Daki simultaneously. The two demons' head bounce on the ground and unexpectedly stop in front of each other. Suma, Makio and Hinatsuru watch from the roof tops, Suma in disbelief at how they managed to defeat them both. Despite this, Hinatsuru is racked with uncertainty at the situation. With the poison affecting him, Tanjiro's vision blurs and his hearing weakens, and he fails to hear Tengen warning him that the battle isn't over. The Hashira desperate urges him to run but Gyutaro's body suddenly erupts into a giant explosion of blood blades, catching Tengen, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke in the epicenter and devastating Yoshiwara.

Anime Notes

 * The manga depicts Tanjiro sitting still while being confronted by Gyutaro, whereas the anime portrays him running away to lure Gyutaro into striking range.
 * The anime shows Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed as Zenitsu moving across the skies as a lightning bolt, while the manga portrays the form as an extremely fast draw to catch Daki's neck. The manga depiction also has the clash on the rooftops, instead of mid-air in the anime.
 * The manga has Gyutaro's final attack as an enormous wave of blood blades, flying in multiple directions, whereas the anime depicts this as a titanic explosion destroying the district.