Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019)

[鬼滅の刃]

Volume 16

Author/Artist: Koyoharu Gotouge
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
Tanjirou and Zenitsu begin their strength training under Himejima.

Story/Characters:
We start with Himejima explaining how the training works to Tanjirou and Zenitsu, that the focus is on the lower body and that the main activities are waterfall meditation, carrying logs and pushing a giant boulder. (He excludes having a fire set under the trainees as he does for himself because of the danger. What a considerate fellow.) Zenitsu faints from all this, so Himejima tells Tanjirou to toss him in the river to wake him up. According to Zenitsu, the water is colder than the middle of winter and starts panicking about his impending death from hypothermia. Murata (the guy from Mt. Natagumo way back when the Lower Kizuki were still a thing) directs Zenitsu to the rocks he and the other trainees are clinging to for warmth (or at least warmth in comparison to the river). Tanjirou, meanwhile, continues to brave the waters to meet up with Inosuke, who's been in the cold so long that his heart's stopped. After reviving Inosuke, Tanjirou takes a stab at the waterfall meditation himself, which impresses Murata. Murata explains things further over a meal of roasted fish and Inosuke posits that Himejima is the strongest of all the Hashira. Zenitsu, in typical form, starts bad-mouthing Himejima as if he can't push the boulders himself, only for him to pass by pushing an even larger boulder. We briefly cut to Tanjirou passing the waterfall and log training to move on to the boulder, which has him quite literally stuck in place. We then learn that this stage of the training isn't mandatory and anyone can drop out when they will, which we see some do. Murata later speculates that this sort of training is why so few of the Hashira have successors. No one can keep up with them.

Six days pass without progress and then Genya shows up, thanking Tanjirou for sticking up for him before and telling him about repetition as a technique to make progress, doing something like chanting sutras to better focus one's energies. This is nice and all, but they're not alone, and I don't mean Himejima eavesdropping from a short distance off either. Nakime (the "biwa lady" serving Muzan) has been sending out eyes and has found the location of most of the Slayers, but she still hasn't found Nezuko. Muzan, in a rare good mood, compliments her for her work and is fully confident that both Nezuko and Ubuyashiki will be found soon. Back to Tanjirou and Genya, we learn that memories of anger and pain are used to raise the heart rate and body temperature to bring about the conditions for the Mark to appear. Tanjirou uses memories of his family and Rengoku's death and he recalls Rengoku's words, "Set your heart aflame." It doesn't work at first, but through repetition, he finally starts to move the boulder. He realizes that he can't break concentration for even a moment and that the greater strength comes from the lower body rather than the arms. Inosuke sees this and immediately tries it himself and succeeds. Zenitsu is despairing about being left out when his sparrow arrives with a message for him.

Tanjirou finally gets his boulder pushed the required distance, but he's so severely dehydrated by this point that he thinks he might die. Himejima shows up with water, congratulating him for passing the boulder training and acknowledging him for what he did at the swordsmiths' village, prioritizing civilian lives over that of his own sister. Tanjirou refuses to take credit for the decision, saying that it was Nezuko, not him, who made the choice and that his own indecision nearly cost the villagers their lives. He asks Himejima not to acknowledge him so easily and thanks him for the training. Himejima reinforces his statement and shares his background with Tanjirou. He once lived at a temple where he took care of orphans. Following the traditions of the area, he would burn wisteria incense to ward off oni, but one of the orphans, in order to save his own life when he encountered an oni, snuffed out the censers so the oni could take the other eight orphans instead. Four were killed right off the bat and Himejima tried to let the others escape while he fended off the oni, but the three who ran were killed in short order as well. Only one child remained, a young girl named Sayo, and Himejima vowed to at least protect her. Bear in mind that this was before he became a Slayer or had any actual combat training, but he managed to literally beat a superhuman oni (albeit a jobber by oni standards) to death. When others came to the temple, a traumatized Sayo said that Himejima was the one who killed the other orphans and with the oni's body having turned to ash, there was nothing but his word against hers (and seeing him all bloodied from his fight didn't make things look any better for him). He was thrown in jail and set to be executed as a murderer when Ubuyashiki saved him and he joined the Corps. He says that no matter how good a person is, their true nature comes out when put to the test, and Tanjirou has proven himself to be exceptionally honest and upright and that he will not go astray continuing on the path he's on.

While eating after this, Genya explains that Himejima refused to make him his successor but still agreed to train him when he learned that Genya was eating oni and introduced him to Shinobu, who for obvious reasons objected to what he was doing. Tanjirou was hoping they could head back together and talk about things along the way, but Genya still has to move his boulder. On his way out, Tanjirou checks up on Zenitsu, who's strangely quiet and distant. He tells Tanjirou to focus on what he needs to do and he'll do the same, as he's finally got a clear objective in sight. The change that's come over Zenitsu concerns Tanjirou (and probably has the readers wondering as well), but he has to be on his way. He goes to check up on Tomioka and finds him sparring with Shinazugawa. Their wooden swords break amid the intense match and Shinazugawa is about to go at Tomioka bare-handed when Tanjirou intervenes. We get a comedic bit where Tanjirou thinks they're fighting over ohagi because it's Shinazugawa's favorite (guessing this because Tanjirou could catch the scent of anko and mochi rice from Shinazugawa). This silly banter puts Shinazugawa in an ever fouler mood, but the confrontation ends with Shinazugawa punching Tanjirou and storming off. When Tanjirou comes to, Tomioka explains that it's common for Hashira to spar with each other and thanks him for figuring out Shinazugawa's favorite food, thinking he can use it to mend fences later (the narration begging him not to try it). As Shinazugawa is still storming off, he manages to catch something, one of Nakime's eyes (though he doesn't know what it is). We then cut to Muzan making an appearance at the Ubuyashiki estate.

Ubuyashiki's illness has progressed so far that he's now blind and can barely rise from his futon. He has to rely on Amane to describe his hated enemy for him. Ubuyashiki explains how his bloodline was cursed on account of Muzan, but following the words of a kannushi, they devoted themselves to fighting the evil that sprang from them, marrying into priestly families to strengthen themselves, but even so, members of the family could not expect to live past thirty. Muzan mocks this belief, noting that in over a thousand years, no god or Buddha has ever appeared to punish him for all the people he's killed. Ubuyashiki asks Muzan about his dream and while Muzan is thinking, he notes that there are only four people in the entire estate, just Ubuyashiki, Amane and two of their daughters, who are playing ball as if this encounter is entirely normal. Ubuyashiki guesses correctly that Muzan's dream is to become indestructible. Muzan asserts this will happen as soon as he gets Nezuko, but Ubuyashiki is confident that she is well-hidden from him. He says that the only truly indestructible, eternal thing is human feelings. Muzan scoffs at this, but Ubuyashiki presses the issue, asserting that it's the feelings of humans, their anger and hatred of Muzan, etc., that have kept the Demon Slayer Corps going all this time, that it's his Hashira's affection for him that will make his death only motivate them further. In contrast, if Muzan were to die, all the oni would be destroyed. There's nothing and no one to succeed him. As you might imagine, Muzan doesn't appreciate a hit so close to the mark.

The crows are summoning the Slayers to respond to the attack on the Ubuyashiki estate. While they are rushing to the scene, we see a flashback of the Hashira discussing a guard for Ubuyashiki. Shinazugawa wants at least two Hashira there at all times, but Himejima explains that Ubuyashiki himself, as his predecessors, refuses a personal guard as a waste of precious resources. We cut back to a desperate Shinazugawa with the estate in sight, hoping to be there in time, just as it explodes. The explosion isn't enough to kill Muzan, but it takes him time to regenerate as he realizes that Ubuyashiki used himself as a decoy, willing to go so far as to sacrifice his wife and children just to make the attack succeed. Muzan expects there's something more and he's right as these little balls of flesh appear. He recognizes it as a Blood Art just as the balls of flesh explode into all these spikes to impale him. He thinks it's not a problem, that all he has to do is absorb them, but as he does, Tamayo appears and drives her fist into his stomach. Because he was focusing on absorbing the spikes, he's also absorbed her hand and what it was hold, a cure that will turn an oni into a human. Muzan insists it's not real, but Tamayo says that she managed to complete it. Muzan mocks her for her misplaced grudge, pointing out that she was the one who killed her husband and child. She says she would've never become an oni if she knew that was going to happen, but Muzan needles her further about all the people she killed and ate when she still served him. Tamayo doesn't try to excuse her guilt. Rather she plans to atone by the two of them dying and calls on Himejima to attack.

As Himejima smashes Muzan's head with his opening attack, he reflects on how Ubuyashiki couldn't make his usual visit to the graves of the Slayers because he could no longer walk. He remembers when he first met Ubuyashiki, after being released from prison. We then see Ubuyashiki explain his plan to act as a decoy, telling only Himejima as no one else would allow him to go forward with the plan. Back in the present, Muzan is already recovering from Himejima's attack, confirming Ubuyashiki's suspicion that cutting off his head wouldn't be enough to kill him, that their only hope is to restrain him until sunrise. As the other Hashira arrive, Himejima tells them that this is Muzan they're facing and they all come at him at once, but as they do, doors open up under their feet leading to Muzan's fortress, the Infinity Castle. Muzan mocks them, saying that instead of cornering him, he'll wipe them all out in one fell swoop. Tanjirou (who is the only non-Hashira we see at this point) vows to defeat him and Muzan gladly accepts the challenge. As Tanjirou continues to fall, he tries to brace himself for what would almost surely be a fatal landing, but Tomioka catches him before then. They get attacked by low-level oni. Tanjirou embarrasses himself a bit when they just barely avoid hitting each other with their attacks (more due to Tomioka reading Tanjirou's moves than anything else), but they move on from that as we see Iguro saving Kanroji and Himejima and Tokitou advancing. Himejima gauges the small fry as having been levelled up to the equivalent of the Lower Kizuki and Tokitou asks about Ubuyashiki. He takes the news hard but it also renews his resolve against Muzan.

Meanwhile, Shinazugawa is left dumbstruck that he wasn't able to defend his master, but quickly turns to take out that frustration on the oni swarming at him. Inosuke is enjoying the chance to put the results of his training to the test, while a very focused Zenitsu is directly pursuing the sound of "him", who has yet to be revealed. We find Shinobu walking in on Douma, who's busy snacking on several unfortunate women (likely members of his cult). He's overjoyed that another tasty young woman has appeared. We have a flashback to when Shinobu's sister Kanae died. Kanae begged Shinobu to quit the Corps and find happiness in a normal life, but Shinobu insisted on avenging her. The target of her vengeance is none other than Douma. One of Douma's victims is still alive and Shinobu tries to save her, but even after she gets the woman away from the oni, her body is still torn apart by Douma's little fan trick (which doesn't leave a scratch on Shinobu even though she was holding the victim at the time). Douma introduces himself as the founder of Bansei Gokurakukyou and that he ensures the happiness of his followers by eating them. Shinobu notes that the recently deceased didn't seem too happy, but Douma asserts that he saved her. Everyone fears death and by him eating his followers, they can live on forever through him. Shinobu insults him as being touched in the head and Douma wonders why anyone would be this prickly on their first meeting. She asks him if her remembers the haori she's wearing and he does, lamenting that he couldn't eat the former wearer because the sun was coming out. Shinobu promptly stabs him in the eye, driving the point all the way through his skull before he can stop it. Douma is impressed at the skill of her strike, but points out that a striking attack won't kill an oni. Shinobu asks if poison will do. The poison she used takes effect quickly and Douma starts vomiting blood, but it doesn't take him long to neutralize the poison. He figures out that Shinobu mixes poisons whenever she sheathes her sword and challenges her to try the next one. We get a flashback to when Douma was a child. Because of his unusual appearance, he was propped up as the figurehead of the Gokurakukyou cult and he quickly came to the conclusion that the paradise the believers sought was an illusion, that death and decay was all that awaited them, and so he made it his mission to bring them happiness (according to his own twisted reasoning). Back in the present, Shinobu's already tried five poisons with diminishing returns, and what's worse, simply breathing (the cornerstone of all Slayers' techniques) is enough to take damage from Douma's ice-based Blood Art. Douma compliments Shinobu on her speed, saying she's probably the fastest he's encountered, just as he tears open her shoulder. He laments that she can't just cut his head, but she's too small to have the necessary strength for it. She starts to think that her sister's last words were meant as a warning that she wouldn't be able to beat Douma. She then has a vision of Kanae telling her to get up, to remember her vow to win no matter the cost. She then struggles to her feet and Douma marvels at this, telling her not to push herself, that he'll put her out of her misery shortly, only for Shinobu to launch a new attack, faster that before, that eludes Douma's counterattack, slips through his defenses and sends him crashing into the ceiling. What happens next? Well, you'll have to wait until next time.

Art:
Hopefully you enjoy the antics during the training, because the visual comedy is going to be on the short side from here on out. One standout for me is the little smile Tomioka has when he seems to seriously think offering Shinazugawa some ohagi will be enough to make friends with him. On the dramatic side, a young Himejima pummeling an oni to death is an image that'll stick with you. The confrontation between Muzan and Ubuyashiki is quite striking as well, especially with how far gone Ubuyashiki is at that point. You definitely get the final boss battle vibes when the Hashira all close in on Muzan together. Shinobu gets some really good panels, too, as you'd expect since her arc has all been building up to this fight.

Other:
We get an illustration telling us how Tanjirou got the nickname "Ofukuro" ("Ma") for how he would take care of his fellow trainees, a bit of explanation about Sayo (that her words were misinterpreted and that between her age and the trauma of the attack, she wasn't able to properly explain herself and to the present day she continues to feel guilty over it), a bit about how Ubuyashiki and Amane came to be married, an illustration of Muzan and Ubuyashiki commenting on the family resemblance, an illustration of a downcast Yushirou who couldn't remain with Tamayo, the crows rushing to get into the Infinity Castle before the doors closed, Inosuke enjoying the trip down (as Nakime lured in all the other Slayers as well), some details about Shinobu's sword, and an illustration of a young Kanae and Shinobu.

Conclusion:
Even having gotten this series after it was completed, it still came as a surprise to me that the final battle kicks off this early, but here we are. We do a fair bit of building of Himejima's character, which is nice, but the two main highlights are Muzan and Ubuyashiki's confrontation and the battle between Shinobu and Douma. We've got six more volumes of this epic battle and it's off to an explosive start (quite literally). For both action and drama, Gotouge plays a strong hand for a volume that deserves a place on your bookshelf.

Rating:
Own It