Episode 51

Awful Villain (極悪人) is the 51st episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 7th episode of its third season.

Summary
Tanjiro reaches Hantengu and catches the demon's neck in his blade. As he begins to cut through, he is met by a new, even more powerful emotion manifestation core to Upper Rank Four, his deep hatred. Gyokko leaves Muichiro to die and finds Kozo and Hotaru, determined to proved to the smith that he is the better artist. Resigning himself to his fate, he receives an unexpected visitor.

Plot
As Hantengu flees from Tanjiro, the Demon Slayer pursues him into a clearing, ignites his Exploding Blood Sword, and makes contact with the diminutive demon’s neck. Upper Rank Four lets out an awful screech of agony as the blade burns him but Tanjiro is determined to not let up his attempt, with his blade reaching half way through.

Without warning, something appears from behind and startles him, the new scent unlike that of Urogi, Sekido, Aizetsu, or Karaku. He continues to stand his ground but fails to cut any further into Hantengu’s neck, as Nezuko’s flames have worn off. Genya warns him to move away and takes aim but cannot fire at the risk of hitting Tanjiro. The demon forms a double-bladed dagger with his flesh and beats a drum on him, summoning a powerful shockwave that sending Tanjiro flying back.

From the epicentre, five immense wooden dragons form and take Tanjiro with them high into the sky. As he struggles to hold on, the dragons attempt to crush him in their jaws, forcing him to leap and dodge them whilst riding their necks. He soon loses grip and nearly falls into one's jaws but is saved by Nezuko shoving him away; she sustains a bite but quickly heals her arm and leg. The two lands to the ground and see a new demon before them. He denounces them as brutes who torment the weak, deeming them “awful villains”. Tanjiro is shocked to see a sixth demon but realizes he does not see or sense the other four demons. Genya becomes confused as he notes that this demon was Sekido not long ago. When Tanjiro slashed into Hantengu’s neck and he fired at the attacking Aizetsu, severing his arm, Genya turned to see Sekido raise both hands, grab Karaku and Urogi and absorb their bodies into himself. He then turned to Aizetsu to take him too, who seemed to object but was absorbed nonetheless. The demon of anger then knelt down and transformed into a new manifestation, Hantengu’s hatred. As he taps a drum and wraps Hantengu inside a wooden burl, Tanjiro yells out to object. The demon furiously stares at him, shocking the Demon Slayer silent with his overwhelming aura and rendering it difficult to breathe.

Genya too freezes in sheer terror and trembles uncontrollably at the sight of his power. The demon of hatred asks if he takes issue with his actions. Despite his fear, Tanjiro questions why he calls them the villains, to which the demon answers it is because they torment the weak, citing his example as attempting to behead the tiny Hantengu. Hearing his words, Tanjiro angrily asks the demon on how he could even call Hantengu weak, remarking that they reek of the blood of hundreds of victims and demanding they stop playing the victim. Raising his blade and denouncing their actions twisted and unforgivable, the Demon Slayer declares he will sever his head. Bemused, the demon of hatred asks if Tanjiro has finished speaking and wonders if he had devoured his relatives to get him so angry. When he does not concur, the demon believes his actions are justified and the Demon Slayer's is irrelevant. Tanjiro retaliates by saying that helping people does not need a reason, stating that someone like him could not possibly know. The insult strikes a nerve in the demon, causing him to beat his drum and send the dragons after the Demon Slayer.

Still trapped inside the water pot, Muichiro sees Gyokko turn his attention to inside the work shed behind him, wondering why it is so important and sinking back into his vase. Muichiro determines that with the remaining oxygen in his lung, he can use one more form. He uses Mist Breathing, First Form: Low Clouds, Distant Haze but the blade does not pierce through the water. Somewhat expecting to be unable to escape with a thrust due to his chipped blade, Muichiro resigns himself to his fate; he begins thinking about Kagaya, telling his leader he will die and believing he will need to find two new Hashiras because of him. Unexpectedly, Tanjiro appears and asks why he thinks so, noting that no one can be sure of what the future holds. Muichiro grows confused since Tanjiro had never spoke those words to him and wonder who did say them. At the shed, Kozo stands in front of Gyokko with a knife and attempts to prevent him from entering further. Upper Five laughs at his futile attempt to stop him and jokingly asks if he believes he could fight. The demon forms a vase in his hand and attacks the smith with powerful streams of water, shattering his knife and slashing him. Gyokko asks why he is so protective of the shed since it doesn't not hold the village chief, before looking past him and seeing Hotaru polishing Tanjiro's blade.

As the smith marvels at the steel's quality, Gyokko looks at him and determines he is not the chief due to his age. He calls out to Hotaru to get his attention but he continues his work with the blade, wondering who was the swordsmith who made it. The potted demon becomes annoyed at his concentration and remarks feeling defeated as an artist. He aims his pot and sends stream of water, leaving Hotaru with several slashes on his body, yet he continues to polish without noticing the attack, much to Kozo's concern. Stunned, Gyokko attacks again and causes even more wounds, even shattering his mask, yet the swordsmith diligently maintains his composure and continues polishing the blade.

While Gyokko is aghast at his willpower, Hotaru remarks that to have such an exceptional blade means its maker possessed incredible determination, engraving it with only one letter since it only has one purpose. As Kozo calls to him again, Gyokko becomes angered at Hotaru's lack of acknowledgement of him. Believing that killing the smith is too simple, he decides he will made him let go of the sword instead and break his concentration.

As Muichiro's vision begins to fade, he realizes he will soon die, but Tanjiro tells him he is not the one to decide when his life ends. The Hashira notes again that he had not spoken those words to him. As Tanjiro tells him to never give up and that someone will come to help him, Muichiro remarks that leaving something in the hands of others is pointless, only to be told that since a single person can only do so much, being helped by others makes it easier. Muichiro states that no one can help him since they are all weaker than him and instead, he should have done better, only to make a fatal mistake by overestimating his strength as a Hashira. Tanjiro concurs with his statement but also tells him it will turn out okay.

Closing his eyes as he succumbs to suffocation, he hears something jabbing into the water pot; Kotetsu desperately attempts to stab the pot with a knife and states he will not let him die, though he fails to cut through. Watching his attempts, Muichiro comments that the young smith won't be able to help him if even he couldn't slice it, claiming that Kotetsu should instead prioritize things other than him, such as the village chief and gathering swords to flee from the village. Suddenly, he sees behind Kotetsu is a bladed fish demon. He begins to bang on the pot to get his attention but the demon attacks, slashing Kotetsu's arms and shoulder.

Muichiro begins to panic and tries to tell him to flee but the demon stabs Kotetsu in the solar plexus. Believing he will die, he is surprised when the smith begins to walk towards him, attempting to dissuade Kotetsu from helping him and to hold down his wound. Instead, Kotetsu touches the water pot and blows bubbles into it, which reach Muichiro and allows him to gain a breath. Tanjiro suddenly appearance again, stating once more that helping others will eventually help him, before he vanishes in mist. A new individual then appearance, telling Muichiro that humans are creatures capable of unbelievable strength when helping each other; the mist clears and reveals the individual has red eyes. Now with the oxygen to unleash one more attack, the Hashira uses Mist Breathing, Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist and successfully cuts through Gyokko's Blood Demon Art. Now free, Muichiro remarks that he finally understands why Tanjiro seems pivotal to him; he possesses the same red eyes as his father.

Anime Notes

 * Zohakuten questioning Tanjiro's relationship with all the people he has consumed is anime-only.