1x03 Sabito and Makomo

"I am a trainer. I literally train swordsmen." — Urokodaki

Something tells me the Japanese word doesn't translate well into English.

This episode is strange because I like it more than the previous two, but it's got some weird flaws holding it back. I'm going to go through them now, but please note that I can criticise something I like; it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. Anyway, let's dive right into my first problem.

The first is Sabito's dialogue.

"A man shouldn't whine. It's unseemly. ...No matter how you suffer, bear it in silence... if you're a man. If you call yourself a man. Slow. Weak. Immature. That's not what you call a man."

Now, I don't mean to sound like an SJW, but these kinds of comments (verbal abuse) can be pretty harmful. Especially since this series' target demographic is 12-18-year-olds, who might have a lot going on physically and mentally, lines like, "A man shouldn't whine." and "bear it in silence." are unhelpful. Please, if you're struggling with something, whether that be physically, mentally or both, seek help: talk to your friends, close ones, your family, or seek professional help. I was hesitant to criticise this element at first, but seeing how it got Tanjiro to complete his task, I see this as a ruthless fantasy that will only harm adolescents in the long run. It makes this plot so straightforward, anyway.

The next is a less extreme, but still one that's more of a personal distaste: burn-out. Overworking yourself can kill you. The director of my favourite Ghibli film, Yoshifumi Kondō, died due to overwork.

"Doctors said that the aneurysm had been brought on by overwork." - Wikipedia

His death made it very clear to me that by pushing your body and mind to the brink, you can "work yourself to death". So don't do what Tanjiro did; you may end up doing more harm than good. I'm not saying you should never push yourself, but if you think you should take a break, or find people worried about you, then maybe you should. Again, it makes the plot so straightforward; just work harder, and you can do anything!

The last is a minor nitpick, but it made the episode somewhat unsatisfying for my taste, and this one is the off-screen development. Missing out on Tanjiro's one year of training with Urokodaki was okay because it doesn't tie into his character development. But when he's training with Sabito and Makomo, I want to see how he improved. Otherwise, we're missing out on seeing his growth. Instead, we only see the aftermath. So it's a little unsatisfying when he trains off-screen and challenges Sabito one day and wins straight away. Ever heard the saying, "it's about the journey, not the destination"?

Despite my complaints, this is still my favourite episode so far. It actually tries to get Tanjiro to do something other than walking to a place but shows him taking the time to improve. Although it falls flat for me, that's not to say I didn't enjoy this episode. I'll say that these episodes are getting better, but I've yet to see one that doesn't have issues like these.

TECHNICAL SCORE: 6/10
ENJOYMENT SCORE: 7/10