Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2018)

[鬼滅の刃]

Volume 11

Author/Artist: Koyoharu Gotouge
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
An already difficult battle is made all the more challenging as the Demon Slayers have to coordinate their attacks to decapitate both Gyuutarou and Daki at the same time in order to defeat them.

Story/Characters:
Gyuutarou's speed proves to be a challenge even for Tengen (the poisoning doesn't help, of course) and his Blood Art nearly gets the Sound Hashira while his hands are full with the physical attacks, but Tanjirou manages to get in there to cover Tengen's back. With everyone being injured, the momentum of the battle is in the oni's favor, so enter Hinatsuru making a desperation ploy of using this battery of poisoned kunai to shower the battlefield. The poison is designed for oni and even one as strong as Gyuutarou gets slowed down enough to level the playing field a bit. This isn't enough to get the job done, though, and Gyuutarou moves on Hinatsuru. Tengen and Tanjirou both are desperate to save her and Tanjirou manages to close the distance to by combining Water Breathing and the Hinokami Kagura. He manages to save Hinatsuru and it gives Tengen the chance to attack Gyuutarou from behind. The two make a go at his head, but he pulls off tricks like using his flesh to latch onto Tanjirou's sword and twisting his head around to catch Tengen's sword with his teeth. He takes Tengen with him as he springs away just as Inosuke and Zenitsu get knocked Tanjirou's way by Daki. The unconscious Zenitsu is not only a competent fighter but is also a level-headed tactician and the trio briefly touch base on strategy before making their next go. Tanjirou sharing what he knows about Daki and specifically the challenge of taking her head leads Inosuke to use his blades to saw through her neck rather than attempting an ordinary cut. Inosuke succeeds in taking Daki's head and runs off with it like a football (much to Daki's chagrin), but he doesn't get too far when he's run through by Gyuutarou. Wasn't Gyuutarou being held at bay by Tengen? Well, Tanjirou turns to see Tengen on the ground in a pool of his own blood short an arm. While he's distracted, Zenitsu rushes in to save him from an incoming attack, which collapses the roof they're standing on.

Things are looking pretty grim. Tanjirou apologizes to Nezuko for failing, only to have a vision of her from when she was still human, asking him why he's always apologizing for things that aren't his fault, things like them being poor, their father getting sick, etc. She doesn't want his apologies. She wants him to keep doing his best as he's always done. As she's saying this, she turns into her oni self, and then Tanjirou wakes up to see Gyuutarou looming over him. He starts gloating about how pathetic Tanjirou is, about how he can't even protect his sister, how he has to rely on his sister's strength because she's stronger than him, how he's failed in his responsibility as her brother. He starts breaking the fingers of Tanjirou's sword hand as he continues to mock him for being weak, for his scar being ugly, etc. He then proposes that Tanjirou become an oni to gain the strength to protect his sister. Daki objects, but Gyuutarou continues to push him. He thinks he has Tanjirou's spirit broken, but then Tanjirou responds with one of his patented headbutts. This manages to drop Gyuutarou, which surprises both him and Daki both, but it turns out that Tanjirou was being a little sneaky. Before Hinatsuru pulled out of the battlefield, she slipped Tanjirou one of the poisoned kunai along with a perfume pouch to hide the scent and Tanjirou used that kunai to disable one of Gyuutarou's legs and while Gyuutarou is staggered, Tanjirou goes for his head. He has a moment of pause when he sees himself in Gyuutarou, realizing that Gyuutarou is what he could've become if he became an oni for Nezuko's sake, but steeling his resolve by assuring himself that even if that happened, there would be someone from the Demon Slayer Corps to take his head. Realizing her brother's peril, Daki tries to come to his aid, but Zenitsu bursts from the rubble and unleashes the godspeed variant of his main attack, straining Daki's obi transformation of her neck. He doesn't cut through, however, and Tanjirou is having similar difficulty. This gives Gyuutarou time enough to use his Blood Art to go back on the attack. Tanjirou doesn't give up and Tengen suddenly appears to come to his aid. Turns out he wasn't so down and out after all. He takes more damage but orders Tanjirou to continue to push their advantage. Gyuutarou hooks Tanjirou under the jaw with his scythe, but this actually works against him as the distance between them is locked and Tanjirou throws his whole body into the cut. As this is happening, Daki boasts that she'll tear Zenitsu to ribbons before he can take her head, only for Inosuke to rejoin the fight. As he was supposedly stabbed through the heart, he should be dead, but he claims his body is so flexible that he can move the position of his organs at will. He then begins to saw away at Daki's neck and he manages to cut through right as Tanjirou does the same to Gyuutarou. It looks like we've won and Suma is celebrating with Hinatsuru and Makio from a distance, but Tanjirou is one the ropes, struggling to slow the spread of Gyuutarou's poison in his system. He's on the verge of passing out as Tengen is trying to warn him of a final burst of Gyuutarou's Blood Art that devastates the whole area around them.

Tanjirou wakes up in Nezuko's arms. He no longer feels the effects of the poison and figures Nezuko must have done something, but his strength is almost completely spent at this point, so he was to let Nezuko give him a piggyback ride as he goes around to check on the others, first Zenitsu, then Inosuke. Besides the hole in his chest, Inosuke is pretty bad off because of Gyuutarou's poison and Nezuko uses her Blood Art to burn it up without harming him. Meanwhile, Tengen is on Death's door and Suma is bawling up a storm, prompting Makio to tell her to pipe down and Hinatsuru trying to get both of them to settle down, all while the dying Tengen is annoyed that between his squabbling wives and the poison, he can't at least go out with some suitably flashy last words. Nezuko shows up and does her little poison-burning trick on him, and Suma freaks out, thinking he's getting an early cremation. Once Tengen seems to be fine (at least as far as the poison is concerned), Tanjirou heads out to confirm Gyuutarou and Daki's death, making a point to collect a sample of their blood for Tamayo. He finds Gyuutarou and Daki's heads bickering with each other, getting increasingly cruel with each other and Tanjirou intervenes right as Gyuutarou is about to say it would've been better if Daki had never been born. Tanjirou tells them that they're all each other have and after all they've done, the least they can do is stick together at the end. Daki then breaks down in fear and frustration and as she crumbles away, Gyuutarou calls her "Ume", prompting a flashback to their past. Their mother was a syphilitic prostitute. Even as a human, Gyuutarou was malformed and despised, but Ume was beautiful and he supported her working as a debt collector until she turned thirteen and was pimped out for the first time. She attacked her client, a samurai, and was burned alive for it and the grieving Gyuutarou was cut down as he was holding his sister's charred body. Proving to be rather tough even when he was still human, he actually manages to kill the samurai and the madam who whored Ume out in the first place. As he stumbles through the streets carrying Ume's body, he encounters an Upper Kizuki chowing on some prostitutes who offers to share some of his blood to save both of them (as Ume is still just barely alive). In their earlier argument, Gyuutarou blamed Ume for his life turning out so badly, but at this point he starts to think that he was the one who ruined her life, that if she had been raised in a better environment, things may have turned out differently for her, that she might have had a shot at a decent life. Gyuutarou finds himself surrounded in darkness, figuring he's in Hell. Ume appears and he tells her not to follow him. Thinking he's still angry with her, she starts apologizing and taking back all the things she said. He continues to try to shoo her off, saying they're not siblings anymore, but she latches onto him, pleading with him not to leave her alone. Ultimately, he gives in to her and they go on their way, likely to Hell, but at least together.

Back to this world, Iguro the Serpent Hashira shows up to offer his congratulations to Tengen for defeating the Upper Six. He asks how long it'll take him to recover and return to duty, but Tengen says he's going to retire. Iguro doesn't take this well, but Tengen assures him that there are young swordsmen rising up to replace him. We then cut to Ubuyashiki receiving the good news. His disease has been progressing further and it doesn't seem like he has much time, but he's quite confident that they'll see the defeat of Muzan in his lifetime. We then have our cliffhanger with Akaza being summon by Muzan, knowing that it must mean that an Upper Kizuki has been defeated.

Art:
The vast majority of this volume is the long, brutal, beat-down, drag-out battle versus Gyuutarou and Daki. I want to give special notice to the paired two-page spreads of Daki and Gyuutarou losing their heads. It's amusing that Ume basically looks like Inosuke with white hair, but as he's the gold standard of beauty for the series, I guess it makes sense.

Other:
We get an early concept sketch of Tengen, a two-part Q&A about the Hashira and such, some illustrations from the 2018 #6 edition of Shounen Jump, a mini comic about the gang forming a band, the lyrics for a song by said band, the arm wrestling rankings of the Hashira (with Gotouge estimating where Tanjirou would slot in), then an illustration of Shinobu consoling Iguro about those rankings (as they're at the bottom being more technical fighters than power types).

Conclusion:
We end strong with a victory won through buckets of blood, sweat and tears. If you're tired of seeing easy victories, this is some fine medicine. I do like the thematic element of Gyuutarou and Daki as a sort of mirror to how Tanjirou and Nezuko could have ended up. This was a fine arc of the story and this conclusion of it certainly warrants a place in your collection.

Rating:
Own It