Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc reminds us that not all Hashira members are cold and off-putting...at least, not when they're around the forever-wholesome Tanjiro Kamado.
Episode 4 was the closure that we didn't quite get from the Swordsmith Village Arc. The previous arc ended with everyone nice and safe, but the emotional aftermath of it all was always what worried us, especially when it came to Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira.
Muichiro regaining his memories is a lot to handle. So much so that it wouldn't have surprised us if he had to sit back to recover from all the turmoil that he faced thus far. However, he was able to bounce back pretty quickly and the latest episode highlighted this.
Here's everything that went down on episode 4 of Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc!
Episode 4 reminded us that even the Hashira need a break
We begin the episode with Tanjiro arriving at Muichiro's residence ready to train.
The first thing he witnesses, however, is a familiar sight of his fellow demon slayer peers struggling to keep up with the effort required of them to succeed in this training. They're exhausted, homesick, and certainly can't take another one-on-one with the Mist Hashira. But above all, they can't seem to tolerate how harshly Muichiro talks to them, especially now that they know this Hashira is calmer with Tanjiro.
For Tanjiro, being a Muichiro's favorite absolutely comes with pretty cool perks such as getting able to see Muichiro's new stay-in swordsman who is tasked with keeping the Mist Hashira's swords sharper than ever. This lets us know that Muichiro's way of getting stronger consists of ensuring that he never has to get ready and is rather staying ready for the next battle.
After a quick tour, Tanjiro, once again, witnesses Muichiro's harsh training. This time, the soldiers ask if Tanjiro can talk to the Hashira to get him to take it easier on them. A big request from Tanjiro, nonetheless.
While the soldiers are recovering from their exhaustion at night, Muichiro is off training with his fellow Hashira members, Sanemi Shinazugawa and Obanai Iguro. He wants to stay in tip-top form and he believes that training with the weaker demon slayers just isn't going to cut it, so he spars with his peers until he literally can't anymore.
Muichiro lets Sanemi and Obanai know that Tanjiro is nearly ready to head to their respective trainings to which the two let the Mist Hashira know that they're looking forward to pushing him past his limits. (We wonder what their training will look like!)
Back at the training, Muichiro pushes the demon slayer soldiers so far that they physically cannot fight him back any longer. Rather than this being a cowardly thing, however, Muichiro lets them know that knowing when to back off is actually very wise.
Unlike the rest of the soldiers, Tanjiro actually learns a lot from Muichiro to the point where Muichiro gives Tanjiro permission to move on to the next Hashira. But before Tanjiro leaves, he wants to brighten the mood with a good old-fashioned paper plane contest.
Tanjiro makes a deal that if he wins just one out of ten paper plane matches against Muichiro, the Mist Hashira has to go easier on the soldiers. This would've been an easy feat to accomplish if it weren't for the fact that Muichiro was super skilled in sending his paper planes much further than Tanjiro.
As such, Tanjiro to Muichiro lost by a landslide.
The other demon slayer soldiers can't help but want to challenge the Mist Hashira too. And so, they all make paper planes and send them soaring through the sky. Although this isn't where the training was supposed to go, it's definitely what everyone needed, especially Muichiro.
With a fresh and renewed mind, Muichiro meets with Tanjiro one last time to let him know that he's adamant about taking down Muzan once and for all. Of course, Tanjiro agrees wholeheartedly, as the day they defeat Muzan is the day they can all live in peace.
In the next episode, Tanjiro heads off to see the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji. What this journey will entail remains to be seen. But we know it's going to be a good time!
Don't forget to catch the next episode of Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc on Sunday, June 9, at 10:45 a.m. PT (or 1:45 p.m. ET) on Crunchyroll.