Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Season 1 Episode 25 Recap – Tsuguko, Kanao Tsuyuri

Improvements

Tanjiro goes to the three girls, Naho, Kiyo, and Sumi. He asks them to flog him whenever they catch him not using Total Concentration Breathing, and they oblige happily.

The girls watch him as he sleeps, seeing how well he’s doing. Not long after, Tanjiro snores and receives a beating. Even though the pain, Tanjiro asks them to continue again and again.

Tanjiro is still the only one to show up at the Rehabilitation Training. He tries other exercises to train his Breathing; this includes rope climbs, push-ups, and boulder pull.     

That day he plays tag with Kanao once again. Tanjiro feels like he’s getting closer to her, and Kanao starts to sweat with their training.

Zenitsu and Inosuke pass by the halls, but they still won’t join.

One day Tanjiro tries blowing on a gourd with the three girls cheering him on. He manages to break a small one. After that, he’ll try for the larger gourd. His two other friends only watch with envy.

One day Zenitsu wakes up while Tanjiro is already gone for training. He feels worried that if he joins, he’ll fail miserably again. His sparrow encourages and reprimands him to do his best. He stares at his medicine and downs it. Beside him, Inosuke seems pumped.

Inspired

They go to Shinobu to ask about Tanjiro’s training. She explains to them the benefits of Total Concentration Breathing. They give it a good try but feel exhausted not long after. They then go to Tanjiro for instruction, but it still feels impossible.

Shinobu adds that they’ll have to put more effort into learning it. She encourages Inosuke since learning is second nature to him. Her pandering tone made him angry, and he resolved to do it. She goes to Zenitsu by being cute and gentle, which makes him all pumped.

That day Kanao sees them all train with enthusiasm. She knows them all from Final Selection. Hesitant, she flips a coin, and it falls on heads.

She remembers living in poverty, being beaten, and being hungry when she was younger until she lost all feeling one day. When her parents sold her off, she didn’t feel a thing.

Kanae Kocho approached her with her sister and paid for her freedom. They washed her and took her in, but her eyes stayed quiet and empty. She wouldn’t even eat. Kanae would smile while Shinobu felt stressed out. Kanae gives her a coin to help her decide. She thinks Kanao will change if she finds a boy she likes.

Gearing up

One day Mr. Haganezuka comes to bring them their new swords. The blacksmith approaches Tanjiro while brandishing a knife, angry at him for breaking the sword. Kanamori, Inosuke’s wordsmith, starts calm as he sees his blades turn bluish-grey. Unsatisfied, Inosuke takes a rock and creates teeth-like grooves on the sword. Now both swordsmiths are furious.

The three girls check on Tanjiro and notice him breathing well. The next day he feels different as he finally wins against Kanao in both tag and the tea spilling contest. Both of his friends feel the pressure as they try to catch up.

Shinobu checks on Tanjiro one day and sees he’s fully recovered and ready for new assignments. He asks her about the Dace of the Fire God and Breath of the Sun, and she only knows the Breath of Flames and suggests that Rengoku might know something about it.

Tanjiro visits a sleeping Nezuko that night. He’s worried. He tells her it’s almost time to do missions now that he’s mastered Total Concentration Breathing. The other two will probably be with them then. Tanjiro promises to collect more blood for Lady Tamayo to study.

Far away, a demon is terrorizing the passengers of a train.

Our Thoughts:

This is a middle-of-the-road episode for Demon slayer but still fun nonetheless. Nothing special here but some good old slice of life. I rate this 3.5 out of 5.