After the events of the last episode of Demon Slayer, Tanjiro is now knee-deep in training with the remaining Hashira. And now that we’ve finished our time with the former Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui, Tanjiro is off to train with Tokito in “To Bring A Smile To One’s Face.”
What Happened in Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 4?
Much like the last episode of Demon Slayer, “To Bring A Smile To One’s Face” is an entirely anime-original episode where Tanjiro reunites with Tokito and undergoes his special brand of training. This episode also serves as a follow-up on the events of the divisive last season, mostly in regard to how Tokito has grown as a person. Your enjoyment of this episode is almost entirely going to hinge on how much you like Tokito as a character, which is a pretty big ask. Tokito has been aloof, rude, and unlikable at several points, so seeing an entire episode centered around his development is one of the last things I wanted out of this season.
When Tanjiro walks in on Tokito training the Corps members under him, Tokito is curt and emotionally distant, mostly content with berating them about how much they would have died from his onslaught of attacks. Sure, Tengen said similar things to the Hashira he was training, but he wasn’t as unapproachable as Tokito.
When one-on-one with Tanjiro, Tokito is somewhat more pleasant and not as insufferable. He’s friendly and smiles, and he goes so far as to show Tanjiro his sword collection and how Kanamori has taken up a permanent residence in Tokito’s quarters to take care of his swords. That being said, the moments where Tokito instantly switches from kind and friendly to dispassionate and dour toward his trainees are worth a chuckle. But sadly, that’s about the best thing this episode has going for it. Tokito has never been the most charismatic or likable character, so having an entire episode dedicated to him isn’t exactly riveting television.
In fact, most of the episode is pretty bland. Tanjiro doesn’t have as many interactions with the corps members as he did in the last episode, and when he does, it’s mostly the corps members begging Tanjiro to try and talk to Tokito on their behalf to ease up on the training. Tanjiro says something similar to what he learned last week regarding Tengen’s training. Tengen trained the corps members as strictly as he did because he cared about them and wanted them to survive, so seeing that exact same lesson imparted here feels redundant, especially when it isn’t really the focus of their concerns.
The closest Tokito gets to having some depth is when we learn about how much he likes paper airplanes. Tanjiro challenges Tokito to a paper airplane throwing contest where, if Tanjiro wins, Tokito will go easier on the people he’s training. Tanjiro fails miserably, but this inspires the other corps members to bond over paper planes, making Tokito crack a smile and go somewhat easier on them. This then culminates in a full minute of watching all the corps members fly their paper planes and stare at them after they’ve launched. It’s about as riveting as it sounds and grinds an already slow and dull episode to an absolute halt.
The only real moment of action comes when we see Iguro and Shinazugawa follow up on their vow to train at night by fighting each other in mock battles. Tokito visits them and asks to fight as well, with the three all agreeing that these mock fights are where the Hashira can actually improve their skills, which is, once again, another theme that we established in the last episode. We get a glimpse of a cool fight, but most of it is shrouded by dust, and we cut to the aftermath. While they’re resting, we learn that Iguro and Shinazugawa both disdain Tanjiro and want nothing more than to break him during their respective training regimens.
Again, most of “To Bring A Smile To One’s Face” feels redundant compared to the last episode, made even worse by how much obvious padding there is here. We see that the new Upper Moon 4 is spying on the Hashira as they train at night, and we once again hear another conversation saying that Muzan is preparing for something, but no one is exactly sure what that is. At this point, it feels like there should be a drinking game whenever someone mentions Muzan is preparing for something and adds nothing else to the conversation. The only new bit of information we learn is that Nezuko is currently being looked after by Urokodaki, so at the very least, Nezuko is being protected by a former Hashira. Next week’s episode of Demon Slayer is going to center on the Love Hashira, Mitsuru Kanroji, so her bright and bubbly personality will hopefully lead to some different dynamics and moments that will break up the tedium.
And that’s what happened in Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 4! Come back next week for a look at the next episode of the season!
Demon Slayer is streaming now on Crunchyroll.
Published: Jun 2, 2024 11:41 pm