Sanemi's Blood Test Puts Nezuko on the Spot
The episode's tensest stretch is a test that Nezuko never agreed to take. Tanjiro has been hauled before Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, and grilled about the demon he carries around in a box. Wind Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa settles the question his own way: he slices his left arm open and dares Nezuko to come and drink. "Come on out, demon. It's the human blood you love so much," he taunts, while Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro pins Tanjiro to the ground.
Nezuko crawls out of the box breathing hard and glaring at him. Japanese viewers quoted in a roundup by Japanese anime news site Anime Anime treated it like a live sporting event: "Don't lose, Nezuko!" and "Hang in there, Nezuko!" One fan pointed out that Sanemi has the rare blood type demons find irresistible, so the starvation pull on her would be brutal.
She holds. Memories of her old life surface, along with the words her trainer Sakonji Urokodaki left her: all humans are your family, so protect them. Nezuko turns her face away from the arm with a small grunt, and Tanjiro breaks free of Obanai's hold. Online, fans praised her: "Nezuko really did her best," "You held out, Nezuko!" and one fan marveling that even blood strong enough to affect an Upper Rank demon couldn't move her.
Mitsuri Can't Keep a Straight Face
Ubuyashiki declares the matter settled: Nezuko has proven she won't attack a human. He also warns Tanjiro that some in the corps still won't accept her, and hands him a concrete goal. Defeat a member of the Twelve Kizuki, and the weight of his words will change.
Tanjiro answers by bowing deeply and then swinging for the fences. He and Nezuko, he vows, will defeat Muzan Kibutsuji and cut the chain of sorrow. Ubuyashiki's reply is gentle and devastating: the Tanjiro of today can't do that, so start by beating one Twelve Kizuki. Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji bursts out laughing and spends the next several seconds visibly fighting to stop, while Insect Hashira Shinobu Kocho giggles beside her. The Anime Anime piece treats Mitsuri's struggle as the episode's comic highlight, right down to its headline.
Ubuyashiki also does a little parenting on both sides. He tells Tanjiro to watch how he speaks to the Hashira, then tells Sanemi and Obanai not to bully the younger members so much. Tanjiro, meanwhile, notices that the man's voice leaves his head feeling oddly floaty.
The Kamaboko Squad Gets Back Together
Tanjiro is placed in Shinobu's care at the Butterfly Mansion, and viewers quoted in the roundup immediately anticipated "the fun chaos" to come. He first spots Kanao Tsuyuri, the silent swordswoman Shinobu is raising as her successor, whom Tanjiro glimpsed back at Final Selection. Then Aoi Kanzaki, who works at the mansion, briskly herds everyone inside. Fans enjoyed the contrast between the two: "Kanao is beautiful and cute," "Kanao still has zero emotions at this point," and "Aoi's efficiency stands out precisely because Kanao is like this."
The sick room holds the reunion the episode has been building toward. Zenitsu Agatsuma is already there shrieking, his limbs shrunken after nearly turning into a spider on Mount Natagumo. Inosuke Hashibira lies in the next bed, hoarse and uncharacteristically quiet after being strangled and then screaming his throat raw in the same fight. When Tanjiro apologizes for not coming to help, Inosuke manages only a croaky "It's fine, don't worry about it."
The three together, nicknamed the Kamaboko Squad by fans, got the warmest response of the episode. "Zenitsu is as loud as ever, lol," "Hearing Zenitsu's grating high notes is somehow reassuring," "A quiet Inosuke is genuinely rare," and "Seeing the three of them lined up puts me at ease." One viewer noted this is the first time Inosuke has considered that he might not be as strong as he acts, having nearly died and then watched the Hashira work. Nezuko gets her own room, too.
Nine Hashira, One Room
The closing stretch is the meeting of the title. Ubuyashiki tells the assembled Hashira that demon attacks are rising, and asks for their views. Sanemi complains that the quality of new corps members has dropped unbelievably, which sent Japanese fans straight to a running gag: "I wonder who trained Saikoro Steak-senpai," a nickname for an infamously short-lived corps member from earlier in the season.
The overall mood, though, was reverence. "All the Hashira in one place, precious," "The Hashira together are overwhelming," and "This meeting scene gives me chills" all came up. One viewer got emotional realizing this is the only time in the story that all nine Hashira share a scene, and another observed that everyone Tanjiro touches, Kanao and the Hashira alike, ends up changed. Ubuyashiki closes by calling each Hashira by name and telling them, as "my children," that he expects great things.
For readers new to the rerun: the Fuji TV Sunday-morning broadcast began on April 5, 2026, and is working through all five TV arcs, from Tanjiro Kamado's Unwavering Resolve through the Hashira Training Arc, in the 9:30 AM slot. The ufotable-produced series first aired in April 2019, and the studio has since taken the story to theaters with the Infinity Castle trilogy, whose first chapter, Akaza Returns, opened on July 18, 2025. Koyoharu Gotouge's original manga runs 23 volumes at Shueisha and has passed 220 million copies in circulation.
Looking Ahead
ufotable's post-broadcast thank-you on X confirmed the next rerun installment: episode 24, "Rehabilitation Training," airs next Sunday, September 20, 2026, in the same Fuji TV slot.
International fans don't need to wait for a rerun. The full TV series streams on Crunchyroll and Netflix, and Gotouge's manga is available in English from Viz Media, with all 23 volumes out and a complete box set on shelves.