Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9

Death Flags Galore

When I started watching Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9, noticed that the title of the episode is “Defeating an Upper Rank Demon.” I thought that was pretty strange for the events of the episode to be spoiled like that. But now I see it was a lie.

Well, it was less of a lie and more of an intentionally misleading title. What it was actually referring to was Hinatsuru’s request that Tengen and his wives retire from demon-slaying after they defeat an Upper Rank demon.

And, this reminded me that defeating Upper Rank demons isn’t a normal occurrence. Upper Rank demons have talked about how many Hashira they’ve killed. But I believe it was once mentioned that the Upper Rank demons haven’t changed in generations (of humans).

Tengen Uzui at his family's grave with his wives from the anime series Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9
Tengen Uzui at his family’s grave with his wives

Anyway, Hinatsuru’s line about retiring after they kill an Upper Rank demon was only one of the death flags to come in the first half of the episode. The other one was the episode literally opening with Tengen at his family grave talking about how one day he’ll join his siblings.

Even after knowing how the episode ended, which I’ll get to later, I’m not sure if I believe these death flags are real. They were very obvious. But that alone doesn’t mean they’re bait. I’m just not sure if killing off Tengen and Hinatsuru makes sense.

It could also lead to a fairly predictable pattern where each main arc Hashira dies in the end. Though, maybe you could argue that Tomioka’s and Shinobu’s arcs have already passed and they’re still alive. I don’t know if what we got of them in Season 1 really counts as “their arcs,” though.

New Breathing Technique?

I’ve said a few times that I thought Tanjirou would push his Water Breathing technique to the side and focus on Sun Breathing. Now, it seems that rather than doing that, he’s going to create an entirely new technique by combining Water and Sun Breathing.

To be fair, I’m not entirely convinced that this is going to develop into an entirely new technique. He may simply continue to combine the two established techniques as needed without creating something new. At this point, that makes the most sense.

After all, what would this new breathing technique be called and where would it fall on the breathing technique chart? Since it only partially relies on Sun Breathing, would it be within the first tier of offshoot techniques? That would put it on par with Flame, Water, Wind, Stone, and Lightning.

Tanjirou, Inosuke, and Zenitsu working together to fight Daki from the anime series Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc
Tanjirou, Inosuke, and Zenitsu working together to fight Daki

However, since it also uses Water Breathing, would that put it as a second-tier offshoot of Water Breathing along with Serpent and Flower Breathing? That seems kind of far down the hierarchy for a technique that directly includes Sun Breathing.

To me, it would kind of make the most sense for this new breathing technique to be on par with Sun Breathing. And that seems unlikely. So instead, my guess is that it’s simply going to develop into derivative “forms” of Sun Breathing.

I also have no idea what this new technique would be called if it did become a new technique. I want to say Steam Breathing. But that would be more of a combination of Water and Flame, not Sun Breathing. Also, none of the other techniques are combinations, as far as we know. Breathing techniques don’t seem to work like chakra natures from Naruto.

The Demon Slayers Have to Win, Right?

After Akaza escaped at the end of the Mugen Train Arc, it feels like Daki and Gyuutarou need to be killed by the end of the Entertainment District Arc. Progress has to be made. Upper Rank demons have to be killed at some point for Tanjirou to make his way to Muzan.

And in case you forgot, Demon Slayer isn’t a super long series. The manga ran from 2016 to 2020 and has 207 chapters. That’s long. But not so long that we should be able to get through two seasons and a movie without having even defeated one of the Upper Rank demons.

Of course, they don’t have to kill all of the Upper Rank demons. I can only remember two of the Lower Six being killed, although I’m sure more than that have been killed. But, my point is that they only need to kill enough to get to Muzan.

Tengen's severed arm from the anime series Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9
Tengen’s severed arm

Still, it kind of makes sense to me for an Upper Rank demon to die by the end of this arc. And, naturally, that would be the twin demons of Daki and Gyuutarou. But, why does it make sense for them to die other than because I think Upper Rank demons need to die?

Well, look at it from a character growth perspective. By the end of Season 1, Tanjirou & co. had defeated at least one Lower Rank demon. Then in the Mugen Train Arc, they defeated another Lower Rank and lost (because Rengoku died) to an Upper Rank demon.

To me, the logical next step would be to defeat an Upper Rank demon, but not easily. Perhaps Tengen and some or all of his wives will die, making the defeat of Daki and Gyuutarou a bit hollow. Or, perhaps they live, but Tengen is no longer in physical shape to be a Hashira and so retires.

To me, that latter outcome checks all the boxes without turning Hashira deaths into a series trope.

Conclusion

What do you think of Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9? Did you think Daki and Gyuutarou were going to be defeated based on the title? What should Tanjirou’s “new breathing technique” be called? And will an Upper Rank demon be defeated by the end of the arc? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 10 is available now.

2 Replies to “Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Episode 9”

  1. Muzan killed the other lower ranks in the season 1 finale other then Emmu. He was tried of replacing them as they had a high death rate. (Each of the Current Hashira had defeated one of Lower Ranks) The Current Upper Ranks have not changed in a Century.

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