Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 4

A Model Oiran

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 4 was definitely a better episode than the previous one. It still felt extremely short and like not much happened. But, things actually did happen this time around.

One of the things that happened is that my prediction from Episode 2 regarding Oiran Koinatsu proved to be correct. Back then, I said that I didn’t think she was a demon because she stands out a bit too much. She was too obvious.

I also said that I thought Koinatsu was going to help Tanjirou figure out what was going on within the brothel. However, I didn’t expect that to happen so soon, and for Koinatsu to help by being captured by Daki.

I had assumed that this season would have a bit more mystery to it. Tanjirou facing off against Daki in Episode 4 wasn’t part of my calculations. Hopefully, Daki escapes and the season develops more of a cat and mouse type dynamic with the Demon Slayers chasing her around the red-light district.

If that does come to pass, I’d like to see Koinatsu take on a supporting role as well by helping Tanjirou gather information on the whereabouts of demons. She’s probably my favorite character of the season so far and I want her to do more than just look pretty, get saved, and leave.

The twins who are often with Koinatsu are also characters I hope play a bigger role in the plot of this season. Not every character needs to be important, of course. But I do like it when more than just Tanjirou, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and the seasonal Hashira matter.

To be fair, though, I’m also expecting Tengen’s wives to be important. So maybe the twins and Koinatsu aren’t necessary.

Daki’s Ability

In one of my previous episode reviews, I mentioned that it was odd that the demons found within the three brothels all had the same ribbon (belt) ability. I theorized that there may be three sister demons who all share this ability, with Daki being the leader among them.

Well, that theory seems to have been disproven this week. From what we saw, Daki is the only demon around and she moves between the three brothels. Her home base is the one Zenitsu was investigating, but we saw her show up and attack Koinatsu at the brothel Tanjirou was investigating.

Now, we do see other demons in the OP for this season. So, I’m expecting there to be additional demons revealed as the season progresses. But, for now, Daki appears to be the only demon responsible for the deaths and disappearances within the three brothels Tengen’s wives infiltrated.

As for what Daki’s ability is, she can freely control ribbons, which are extensions of her own body. When Tanjirou cuts one of the ribbons while fighting against Daki, blood comes out. Additionally, these ribbons are how Daki devours her victims without leaving a trace.

We don’t yet know exactly how it works. But it seems like anyone who’s caught and wrapped up in Daki’s ribbons is slowly digested. It’s kind of like a combination of a spider wrapping up its prey in silk and a pitcher plant that digests the insects that fall into it.

Another weird property of these ribbons is that they also work as pocket dimensions. If someone or something is wrapped up in them, it can fit through any space the ribbon itself can. We saw this with Koinatsu’s body that was wrapped up in Daki’s ribbon.

Versus Upper Six

Ignoring the fact that in Episode 3, Muzan referred to Daki as “the strongest,” she’s the lowest ranking member of the Upper Six Moons. That, in turn, should theoretically mean that she’s the weakest when it comes to a head-to-head fight. So now that Tanjirou has located her, what’s going to happen?

Could Tanjirou actually defeat Daki on his own? I don’t think he could. We saw that Rengoku wasn’t able to defeat Akaza, the third of the Upper Six. So I doubt Tanjirou would be able to defeat the sixth of the Upper Six on his own.

Also, it took the combined strength of Tanjirou and Inosuke just to defeat one of the Lower Six in the Mugen Train Arc. And the Lower Six demon they fought in that arc also wasn’t the most offensive demon around. I don’t think Daki is either. But she’s an Upper Six member, so I expect more from her.

It’s fairly obvious that even if backup arrives, Daki isn’t going to be defeated just yet. We can’t have one of the Upper Six taken out within the first 5 episodes, right? I mean, if there are other demons to be introduced in this season and the season is only going to be 12 episodes, then maybe.

However, that seems like it would be a bit too fast. None of the Upper Six have been killed so far. It would be pretty anti-climactic if the first of them to fall was taken out with relative ease. The first one should be extremely hard to take down to illustrate the difference between the Lower Six and Upper Six.

But at the same time, maybe Akaza already fulfilled that role. He killed a Hashira and survived the encounter, thereby illustrating that the Upper Six are in another league.

Conclusion

What do you think of Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 4? Did you think Koinatsu was going to be revealed to be a demon? What are your thoughts on Daki’s ribbon ability? And how many episodes do you think Daki will last before being defeated? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 5 is available now.