Studio Ufotable is definitely hitting all the marks animating the latest season of Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer Hashira Training Arc has given us more insight into the pillars and their natures. Episode 7 of the season gave us the backstory of the Stone Hashira.

The Demon Slayer franchise is known for its incredibly tragic backstories. But given that the Demon Slayer-verse is terrorized by flesh-eating demons, it’s not surprising to see most of the characters having a traumatic past. The Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima is just one of many characters in the series with a past that makes fans tear up. And Studio Ufotable did an incredible job animating his past in the recent episode of the season.

The tragic past of Gyomei Himejima in Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer (Via. Ufotable)
Demon Slayer (Via. Ufotable)

Gyomei Himejima, before becoming a Hashira, lived with 9 orphan children in a rundown temple. Despite not being related by blood, Gyomei cared deeply for the orphans and would even keep himself from eating so that the children had enough on their plates. The mountain that the temple was on was well-known for its demon attacks, so Gyomei always burnt Wisteria Incense at night to ward off any demons.

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However, one night, one of the children traveled beyond the borders of the temple, getting himself caught by a demon. To save his own life, he made a deal with the demon, taking it to the temple to trade the lives of Gyomei and the other children, by putting out the wisteria incense. This led to everyone in the temple getting massacred, except for Gyomei and the youngest child, Sayo, who had listened to him and hid behind him. In order to save the child, Gyomei pummeled the demon till the sun rose up, saving at least one of the children in the story.

 

However, due to the shock that Sayo went through from the attack, she was unable to explain what had actually happened the night prior. The only sentence Sayo mustered up to say was “That man is a monster! Everyone… he… killed everyone!”. This was unfortunately taken out of context and painted Gyomei Himejima as the man who murdered the children.

Demon Slayer (Via. Ufotable)
Demon Slayer (Via. Ufotable)

Gyomei revealed that this event was what had led him to become distrustful of others. However, during the Hashira Training Arc, he starts to begin learning to make peace with the truth, finally seeing the situation for what it is. Episode 7 of the Demon Slayer Hashira Training Arc also showed a side of Zenitsu fans aren’t really accustomed to.

Why Zenitsu acted differently from his usual self in the latest Demon Slayer episode

Demon Slayer (Via. Studio Ufotable)
Demon Slayer (Via. Ufotable)

For the people who watched the latest episode of Demon Slayer, we have noticed a different air about Zenitsu. Zenitsu, who is usually quite talkative and passive, was surprisingly quiet and seemed to have an air of anger surrounding him. This is because of the letter his sparrow gave him carrying the news of his mentor’s demise.

 

The former Thunder Hashira took this drastic measure as one of his beloved students, and Zenitsu’s senior, Kaigaku, turned into a demon. This was too shameful and painful for Jigoro Kuwajima to bear, ultimately leaving him to end his life by committing seppuku.

Kaigaku is also the child who sacrificed the other children in Gyomei Himejima’s temple by putting out the Wisteria incense. Kaigaku and Zenitsu are now set on a path of collision, but fans will most likely have to wait another season for the fight to take place.

You can stream Demon Slayer on Crunchyroll.

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