Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2 Episode 17 Recap – I Will Never Give Up

Apology

Tanjiro falls to the ground and apologizes to everyone. He gets a vision of his home in a snowstorm. Nezuko asks him why he’s always apologizing when failure still comes, even when we do our best because we’re humans. It happens to all, so we must decide on our happiness in the present. She invites him to fight more and stop apologizing.

Tanjiro wakes up in a town full of flames. Thick columns of smoke engulf the once lively district. He wonders if the citizens escaped. He sees Nezuko peeking out of her box, still asleep.

Gyutaro appears and wonders how Tanjiro is still alive; he must be lucky. Daki watches from above as he tells Tanjiro that everyone is dead. Inosuke has been stabbed, Zenitsu is trapped under rubble, and the Hashira is dead from poison. The demon calls him pathetic and mocks Nezuko.

Tanjiro’s hands tremble. He tells him she’s his younger sister. Gyutaro laughs. He can’t protect her as he’s merely a human. As the eldest, he should be the one protecting her. Gyutaro twists and cracks Tanjiro’s fingers before slapping and insulting him repeatedly.

Tanjiro takes the box and dashes away. The two demons laugh in amazement at how pathetic he is. Gyutaro kicks him into a burning building. Tanjiro picks himself up and runs to the street with the demon stalking him.

Tanjiro picks up whatever he can to throw at Gyutaro. Gyutaro kicks him and continues with his barrage of insults. He mocks the scar on his forehead and invites him to be a demon like Nezuko.

Never Give Up

Daki yells in disagreement, but Gyutaro continues his spiel. The demon mocks Tanjiro as he looks to the sky. Tanjiro surprises him with a headbutt.

Gyutaro is surprised by his sluggishness after a mere headbutt but discovers Tanjiro also stabbed him with a Wisteria-laced kunai. Tanjiro raises his sword with broken fingers and slashes the demon’s neck with Hinokami Kagura.

Daki calls for his brother. Tanjiro sees the parallel between him and the demon siblings. He realizes he could have been in the same situation as they are.

Gyutaro grunts as he grips the kunai while Tanjiro plunges his blade further. Daki moves in to defend him, but Zenitsu wakes up in a flash of lightning. He uses Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, God Speed. Daki gets surprised.

Zenitsu can only use God Speed twice; the first time was under the rubble. He must decapitate Daki to not waste Tanjiro’s created opportunity. It‘s now or never for both of them.

Gyutaro continues fighting and breaks free from the kunai. He unleashes Blood Sickles and throws Tanjiro back. They clash techniques with each other, with Tanjiro not giving up and Gyutaro slowly recovering strength.

As Gyutaro almost slices Tanjiro, Tengen suddenly moves between them with one blade in his mouth. The Hashira hears the victory music and moves in, deflecting all of Gyutaro’s strikes. They clash with exploding force while Tanjiro continues to shadow them.

He jumps in to help, but Gyutaro catches him on the chin. Still, he swings his sword while Tengen holds Gyutaro. Tanjiro’s scar bleeds, and his hair burns for his final strike.

Suddenly, Inosuke appears to help Zenitsu cut off Daki’s head. They finally succeed after slashing in different directions.

The three Demon Slayers scream as they sever both enemies’ heads at the same time. The heads fall in front of each other.

Tanjiro is left struggling from the poison. Tengen tells him to run as Gyutaro’s body explodes in blades.

Our Thoughts

Demon Slayer is a masterclass in bringing our heroes down, back up again, and down. 5/5 episode.