Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 15 Review: Mount Natagumo

Another week, another episode, and another demon to slay. In Episode 15 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke leave the comfort of the Wisteria Inn and head to an ominous mountain. While Tanjiro and Inosuke rush ahead to do their job, Zenitsu is left behind to mull over his life choices. Let’s see how our Demon Slaying Squad fared this episode. But before we do that, fair warning, this episode is not for arachnophobes!

Japanese Original Episode Title : 那多蜘蛛山

Plot

After getting the all clear from the doctor, the Demon Slaying Squad head off to their next mission: Mount Natagaumo. Zenitsu immediately gets a bad feeling from the mountain and it proves to be true, as another demon slayer runs out of it and begs for help. Before they can help him, he’s pulled back into the mountain’s forest by invisible threads. Tanjiro and Inosuke rush in but Zenitsu stays behind, too scared to go anywhere. As the duo head deeper into the mountains, they find another slayer who requires help. He tells them he entered the mountain with nine others, but they all began to attack one another. As the bodies of his comrades circle them, Tanjiro and Inosuke quickly locate the puppet master. But it’s soon revealed they’re not just against one demon, but a family of them.

Episode Highlights

Another Butterfly Girl?: On top of seeing our old friend Giyu (hopefully a reunion is incoming!), we meet another demon slayer, a girl with a butterfly hair tie. The hair tie is very similar to that of the girl who survived the final selection; perhaps they’re related?

Eight-legged freaks: This episode gave me the heebie-jeebies with all the shots of spiders and webs!! It’s difficult to appreciate how detailed the depictions were of the spiders when you’re trying not to look too closely.

Spatial Awareness: The CG animation of Inosuke’s spatial awareness was incredible. It’s really interesting to see the unique skills Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke have and how they’re animated.

A smell most foul: Many episodes before, Urokodaki told Tanjiro that he would be able to tell if a demon had killed many people because of its smell. I’m guessing that’s the foul smell that Tanjiro has been smelling all episode: the stink of death!

Wait for me!: Aww I felt a bit sad for Zenitsu when he was moaning about being left behind, although he was definitely hoping for too much! While Tanjiro may have held his hand and given him a pep talk, I highly doubt Minsk would have been so encouraging! At least his sparrow sticks by him.

Wise words: It’s interesting to see the beginnings of Inosuke reflecting on the old woman’s words. After Tanjiro telling Inosuke that by entering the forest first, Inosuke gave Tanjiro strength, Inosuke begins to think about living life proudly and with honor. While I doubt he’ll ever lose that wild streak (which does make him loveable), we’ll definitely be seeing some changes in the way he treats those around him!

Themes & Trivia

Jorōgumo (絡新婦): Known as ‘binding brides’, or literally as ‘spider woman’, jorōgumo are a type of demon from Japanese folktale. They are spiders who have reached their 400th birthday and are then transformed into a beautiful woman. They lure people to their deaths by entrancing them with the sound of the biwa, a traditional lute.

Spiders in Anime: Spider woman have appeared in anime a few times, key examples include xxxHolic, Daily Life with a Monster Girl, and Soul Eater.

Comments

Last week I speculated a bit about Inosuke’s upbringing and while I did talk about his fighting abilities, I didn’t mention his breathing. Which sounds like an odd thing. But as we know, in this series how you ‘breath’ during your fight can improve your stamina, strength, and defense. Tanjiro spent a lot of time in the mountains training with Urokodaki specifically to master his breathing. I find it incredible that Inosuke would not only have discovered breathing techniques on his own, but seems to have mastered it. While he may seem like a dumb hot head, his instincts and fighting skills are definitely not to be underestimated!

While I’m really glad that another member has joined the ‘Nezuko Appreciation Society’, I do hope that Zenitsu reigns in the creep factor. I really thought we had gotten passed this, but the opening scene has got me a bit worried. I don’t want all the interactions between these two characters to be degraded to a creepy joke. Where one (Zenitsu) is love lorn and Nezuko is quite literally running away from the creep. Demon Slayer can and should do better than that.

Hanging by a Thread

The Tsuzumi Mansion showed us a group of demons working together, but this is the first time we’ve actually encountered a family of demons. I’m so excited to see the rest of the family and learn their backstory – we all know Demon Slayer never pulls its punches with emotional backstories! Guess we’ll have to find out next week if we’ll be needing tissues or bug repellent.

NEXT TIME: Letting Someone Else Go First

Remember to check back next week for my review of episode sixteen. In the meantime, make sure to check out the rest of our Summer 2019 reviews. This series is also part of our weekly anime previews.