Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 1 Episode 26 Recap – New Mission

New Evil

Inosuke and Zenitsu witness an intense battle of tea spilling between Kanao and Tanjiro. Tanjiro loses, and the session ends with him winning and losing ten rounds. Tanjiro invites the others for laps around the grounds with Total Concentration maintained.

Far away, in a separate dimension of distorted space, members of the Twelve Moons gather for a meeting. The weird space was created by one of the Demon’s Blood arts, and only the lower Moons are present at this point.

A woman appears before them wearing a fancy kimono. When she speaks, they realize it’s Muzan Kibutsuji himself. He asks them to prostrate. The demons panicked as they didn’t recognize both his sight and scent. They’re terrified.

Muzan tells them that Rui is dead. He asks the Lower Moons how they could be so weak. He commands them to consume more humans so they can get stronger. For many years the Upper Moons have never been replaced. They’re the ones who can kill Hashiras.

Muzan asks them how Lower Moons are replaced. He reads the mind of a demon who exhibits doubt and kills him. He asks them if demon slayers are scarier than him.

Another demon pleads that she’ll do anything for him, but she’s killed. The next demon tries to run away, but he ends up beheaded. Muzan flaunts his superiority to all of them until only one is left.

The last demon opens his hands and accepts death joyously, and he gets stabbed and infused with Muzan’s blood instead. There’s a risk of dying, but if he survives, he’s tasked to kill Hashiras and the boy with the Hanafuda earrings.

The meeting ends, and the demon sees Tanjiro’s face flash before him.

Next Mission

A crow arrives before dawn at the estate, telling the three demon slayers to rendezvous with Rengoku. Shinobu was the one to recommend Tanjiro and the others due to his determination to improve along with his apparent goal of defeating Muzan constantly. She asks Lord Oyakata about Breath of the Sun, and he agrees that Rengoku is the best lead they have about it.

Tanjiro bumps into the scarred guy from the Final Selection. He’s grown large and strong, but he ignores him. Tanjiro goes to Aoi to thank her, but she feels inadequate for not passing the Final Selection. Tanjiro assures her that he will carry her will to the battlefield.

He then goes to say goodbye to Kanao. She flips a coin, and it goes to tails. Kanao says goodbye back to him. Tanjiro asks him about the coin; she tells him it’s to help her with her decision.

Tanjiro thinks about it, and he borrows the coin. He asks the coin if Kanao should follow her heart or not. The coin lands on heads, and Tanjiro jumps for joy. He tells Kanao that the heart is the driving force for humans as he says goodbye.

Leavetakings

The three girls cheer the demon slayers as they try to blow up the giant gourds. They all manage to do it. Tanjiro thanks Tomioka and asks him how he can repay him. The Hashira tells him to work harder.

They arrive at the train station. Inosuke is terrified and wants to fight it. Tanjiro tells him it could be the guardian of this land. Only Zenitsu knows what it is. Inosuke gives it a headbutt, but the police come to catch them. They run away and ride the train from behind.

Zenitsu asks Tanjiro if it’s fine to bring Nezuko along instead of keeping her at headquarters. Tanjiro says it’s okay and vows to be with her no matter what.

Rengoku waits inside the train while the Lower Demon looms above it.

Our Thoughts

I was hoping the season would end on an epic battle, but we are with a cliffhanger instead. Nevertheless, we have a fully recharged squad, and every fight scene of this anime has been a banger. I can’t wait for what’s next, which tells us how great this season is. I rate it a 4 out of 5.