Episode 38

Things Are Gonna Get Real Flashy!! (ド派手に行くぜ‼) is the 38th episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 12th episode of its second season.

Synopsis
After gaining information about Warabihime Oiran from the master of the Kyogoku House, Uzui suspects that she is a demon. While continuing to search for a sign of the demon, he rushes to find Hinatsuru, who has moved to a different place for her sickness, and discovers that she has been captured by Daki’s belt. Meanwhile, facing an uphill battle with Daki, Tanjiro must try to break through the situation by using an advanced Technique...

Plot
Running across the rooftops, Tengen reaches the Kirimise section of Yoshiwara. He quickly sees his unconscious wife Hinatsuru, still bound by demonic sashes. He cuts them away and gives Hinatsuru an antidote to help recover her as she apologizes. She states that she suspected Warabihime to be a demon but that she soon became suspicious of her too. She had drank poison in order to leave the Kyogoku house, only for a belt that had been gifted by Warabihime to prevent her from contacting Tengen.

Hinatsuru quietly asks him to leave her and battle the demon, having heard the battle. When he asks if she will be okay, Hinatsuru silently answers before apologizes for being of no use. Tengen silences her and instruct her to leave Yoshiwara the moment the antidote works, to which Hinatsuru complies.

He leaps across the rooftops of the district to scan for a demon; he hears something and triangulates its position, getting close to the ground and detecting the sound of an underground battle. He unsheathes his blades and uses Sound Breathing, First Form: Roar, causing a large explosion. The shockwave is heard by Daki. Annoyed at another interference, she asks Tanjiro how many of them are there, to which he refuses to answer.

She offers to spare his life if he answers, noting that their short clash had already damaged his Nichirin Sword. Hearing her mock Haganezuka's craftsmanship, he rebuffs her claims and declares he is amazing. Another explosions rattles the district, causing Daki to grow more annoyed and declare she will instead kill him. Realizing subpar usage causes swords to get damage, Tanjiro admits his body isn't suited for Water Breathing and realizes he is simply stronger using Hinokami Kagura.

He recalls a moment of training in the Butterfly Mansion. As Inosuke spars with Zenitsu, Zenitsu asks if he could slightly suppress his ferocity, to which Inosuke claims holding back is no way to train. Suddenly, they hear Tanjiro attempting to train with Hinokami Kagura. Though he successfully performs the FoRm 4Dance, swinging again to try Clear Blue Sky hurts him greatly, causing him to drop his sword and collapse. As his friends rush over to his aid, Tanjiro internally voices that he can't slash continuously due to its sheer force. Now facing Daki, he commits himself into using it. Remembering Kyojuro's words to "set your heart ablaze". Tanjiro swings at Daki's approaching obi and performs Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun. She becomes startled by the sudden change and realizes his skills have just sharpened. Tanjiro charges towards the Upper Rank and uses Flame Dance, narrowly missing her neck. Daki retaliates by stabbing her obi through his throat, only for the Demon Slayer to suddenly vanish. She loses track of him as he had used Hinokami Kagura: Fake Rainbow. He senses the Opening Thread at her neck and uses the Hinokami Kagura: Fire Wheel; Daki reacts in time and swats him away with her obi.

Suddenly, his body feels the fatigue of using multiple Hinokami Kagura forms and Tanjiro collapses. Seeing him on the ground, Daki rushes towards him, dragging her obi to rip him to shreds. He quickly uses Recovery Breathing, building the strength to parry the attack and escapes. She sends multiple obi at him and he desperately blocks the blows, realizing the overwhelming attacks are preventing him from dealing a clean strike. He surmises he needs to raise his body temperature and breathes in the style of Hinokami Kagura.

Previously, Kiyo had worried about his rising temperature and believes consulting Shinobu to be the right measure. Tanjiro tries to calm her down and claims he is alright. Kiyo notes his temperature is 100.4° Fahrenheit, having been so for the past two days. She begins to cry and claims that since something must be wrong, only Shinobu can help him. Realizing his worsening condition is upsetting Kiyo, Tanjiro states that it is only when he has a fever that he perform at his best and begs her not to tell Shinobu for only slightly longer. Kiyo relents and allows him to not lower his fever.

Tanjiro backs away and realizes his body temperature is indeed rising, giving him the motivation to use his Hinokami Kagura again.

In the Ogimito house, a girl screams about a monster boar inside, to the bewilderment of her peers. At that moment, Inosuke erupts out from the floorboards, scaring them. He rips a hole in the floor and spots a hold leading underground, though it is only small enough for only his head. Undaunted, he dislocates the joints in his body and slithers down the tunnel, reaching a chamber littered with bones and covered in obi; the sashes containing Daki's victims. He realizes the people within them are still alive, before spotting Zenitsu's image on one of them. Just them, a sentient obi confronts him for entering the chamber. It attacks Inosuke and forces him to defend the incoming blows.

He slashes the obi and unknowingly frees the people within them. Unable to deal with his razor sharp intuition and keen senses, the obi halts for a moment and tries to plan something. It hears Daki's voice, instructing it to capture him for his appearance, adding it may kill everyone but the ten most beautiful people. The obi speeds towards Inosuke, who swings his swords to slice it. Unexpectedly, it wriggles when his blades touch, preventing good contact. He tries again and uses Beast Breathing, Sixth Form: Palisade Bite but fails to cut it. The obi decides to retake the people he freed, making him realize that he needs to battle it and protect its victims at the same time.

Suddenly, knives fly from behind him and stop the sashes, thrown by Makio and Suma. The two slice the sashes up but the battle is set back slightly by Suma's cowardice and Makio snapping at her in annoyance. Learning that the main body of the demon isn't nearby, Inosuke realizes the battle might not end. To his shock, Zenitsu appears and uses Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Sixfold, speeding around the chamber and slicing numerous sashes at once. Infuriated by the appearance of another Demon Slayer, the obi remembers it heard two distinct noises, one being Zenitsu's attack. It realizes too late that the second sound is from above, as an explosion erupts from the top of the chamber's ceiling. To the relief of everyone inside, Tengen emerges from the dust cloud and rushes around the chamber, cutting all the remaining sashes instantly. Tengen apologizes to his wives for being late and speaks of his relief in seeing them. Makio recalls that Tengen previously wasn't like he is now and remembers her past.

As a kunoichi among other shinobi, dying never scared her since she expected to be killed and she trained to give her life in battle. When Tengen first met the three of them, he immediately instructed them to think about their lives, to the shock of the young women. Above all, their priority is to return to him. To Tengen, how they should live their lives is first about them, second is being respectful citizens and thirdly is focusing on him.

And to himself, though he knows to protect the public as a Demon Slayer, he places the three of them as more important to him. Unable to believe what he is saying, Makio talks to Hinatsuru about his advice, as she knows it contradicts their line of work. Hinatsuru reassures her that if Tengen is content with it, she is too.

Tengen approaches them and playfully pats their heads, complimenting their work as "flashy" and happy that, "You are my wives, all right". Makio tears up and Suma loudly wails upon realizing Tengen does love them. He flamboyantly spins his swords in a display of skill and proclaims, "Starting now, things are going to get real flashy!".

Anime Notes

 * There is an extended scene involving Tanjiro's struggle to use consecutive Hinokami Kagura forms in the anime; it also depicts Inosuke and Zenitsu sparring. In the manga, it only shows a pained Tanjiro being aided by his friends.

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Episodi 38 第5話（遊郭編）