Warning: Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Episode 8 Content Revealeddemon slayer Pause the action to take a moment to delve into the story of Muichiro Tokito’s past, and he is proving to have a past even more tragic than Tanjiro’s. The assault on the Blacksmith’s Village mostly had two fronts, with Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya battling the near-unstoppable demon Hantengu. Meanwhile, Tokito had difficulty facing the Five Superior Demons alone, accompanied only by swordsmiths, who were more responsible than assets in a fight.
Hashira of the Mist spent a significant portion of his battle imprisoned in a strange pot of water, unable to breathe, but eventually escaped with the help of a village youth who gave him a little air. Tokito first began to recall his past, and in doing so, Tokito was able to release the power needed to escape. Episode 8 is about his past, and it’s just as heartbreaking as Tanjiro’s.
Tokito’s demon-slaying origins are even more tragic than Tanjiro’s
In Tokito’s flashback, it is revealed that his father is a kind man and often speaks like Tanjiro. When Tokito’s mother fell ill, his father tried to get some herbs that could save her, plunging into a dangerous storm to do so. His father passed away and his mother also died the same evening, leaving behind Tokito and his twin brother. Tokito’s older brother, Yuichiro, is often callous, and the couple live a meager life together. A woman named Lady Amane comes to check on them, encouraging them to become Demon Hunters, but Yuichiro refuses to listen to her.
One night, a demon found their shack and nearly killed Muichiro, but Yuichiro jumped out of the way and lost his arm in the process. Muichiro saw red and lost control, trying to defeat the demon without a sword, but it was too late for Yuichiro, who ended up bleeding. Tokito’s story is similar to that of other assassins, such as Genya and his brother Wind Hashira, whose mother was turned into a demon and killed some of their siblings. Like Tanjiro, Tokito was left with his siblings as the only living relatives in the world, but that period was relatively short, lasting no more than a year.
Tokito’s injury changed his personality while Tanjiro remained the same
The flashback also reveals that before losing his memory, Muichiro Tokito was actually a kind-hearted boy a lot like Tanjiro, but the trauma caused him to become the cold personality he’s shown up until now. If Tokito could have kept his siblings the way Tanjiro did, he probably would never have gone down this callous path, even if he still became a Demon Hunter. In that sense, his story is much sadder than that of Tanjiro or Genya, since he doesn’t even have any siblings to lean on. Recent revelations about the characters’ pasts have shown that only a specific type of person can truly develop into a Demon Slayer, and those are the ones with nothing left to lose.
new episode of demon slayer is currently out on Sundays at 1:45 p.m. ET, via Crunchyroll.