English Dub Review: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc “I Even Ate Demons”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
After completing Mitsuri’s training, Tanjiro heads to train with Iguro.  When he arrives at the training site, Iguro is waiting for him, visibly angry.  Will he be able to complete this horrifying training where he’ll have to fix his sword skills?

Our Take:
Our next stop in the Hashira Training is another session from a Hashira whose cheerfulness is as powerful as her sword skills.  Mitsuri’s stage, flexibility, is much more calm and elegant than the previous training stages, but that doesn’t make it less painful.  Fortunately, that’s not the main focus of the episode.  Unlike the previous ones, which focused solely on one Hashira training, “I Even Ate Demons” was kind enough to display three training sessions in a single package.  Considering the season’s short length, this was needed to avoid emphasizing its narrative repetition further.
Following Mitsuri’s training, Tanjiro trains under the two other Hashira, who have something in common: they both despise Tanjiro.  Iguro Obanai’s swordsmanship stage has Tanjiro spar with him without hitting the bound trainees.  This has Tanjiro learning to focus on his target instead of his obstacles to avoid hesitation, leading to an action sequence boasting a splendid art-like color palette.  Afterward, Tanjiro gets more than he bargained for while training under Sanemi with Zenitsu.  Unfortunately, their training was suspended after getting involved in Sanemi’s sibling rivalry with his younger brother, Genya.  It also doesn’t help that Genya admits he ate demons to win Sanemi’s respect.
“I Even Ate Demons” sought to keep the narrative going by going through three training sessions instead of one, which helped the season’s pacing.  However, this one doesn’t have a happy ending compared to the previous episodes, with the reasons being Iguro and Sanemi being hot-tempered assholes toward Tanjiro and Genya, mainly Sanemi.  It’s hard to ignore Iguro and Sanemi’s incredible sword skills, but their attitudes got on my nerves outside of that.  At least Muichiro knows how to change his attitude immediately, unlike those two.  Hopefully, Tanjiro’s final training session with Gyomei Himejima will take our minds off Sanemi’s cranky mood.