Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories”: Nezuko To The Rescue! [Spoilery Anime Review]

Tanjiro gets into some serious trouble in Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories”. Fortunately, he has an adorably badass little demon sister for backup.

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” is the 6th episode (spoilery reviews #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 here) of the Entertainment District Arc of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime series, which is itself the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Koyoharu Gotouge. This particular episode features Jun’ichi Minamino as the director, with Takahiro Miura responsible for the storyboards. Haruo Sotozaki is still the overall director of this anime. Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina are still responsible for the wonderful music we hear throughout the anime. Ufotable is still the animation studio behind this anime. Finally, Aniplex of America is still responsible for bringing this anime to North American shores.

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” premiered on January 9, 2022. You can watch the episode on either Funimation or Crunchyroll, and only in Japanese audio with English subtitles because that’s all we have right now. Normally, I would direct you all to Crunchyroll if you want to watch it for free with ads. However, Crunchyroll has locked all of their Entertainment District Arc episodes behind a paywall. It’s Funimation that’s offering the episodes for free with ads. Don’t ask me why, because I have no idea. I just work here.

Warning: spoilers for Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” below. If you want to watch Nezuko be a badass for yourself, stop here, and come back once she’s done kicking.

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” ~ Plot Summary

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” picks up where we last left off on the Entertainment District Arc, where Tengen Uzui has just arrived at Warabihime/Daki’s underground food locker. The arrival of a Hashira causes the creepy obi sash intelligence to beat a hasty retreat and leave behind its stored prey. Tengen quickly decides to follow it through, taking Inosuke and the still-sleep-fighting Zenitsu with him. More or less, since the latter two are madly running/sleep running after him across the rooftops.

Meanwhile in Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories”, Tanjiro ends up being in a bit of a pickle, even with Warabihime/Daki not using her full strength against him. She is an Upper-Rank demon after all. Unfortunately, things get worse for Tanjiro when the obi sashes from the food locker fly back to Warabihime/Daki, and somehow recombine with her. This causes her to basically go Super Saiyan. She uses her newly recombined power to rip out the surrounding buildings, killing and injuring a whole bunch of bystanders in the process, before calmly walking off to go after the Sound Hashira.

Beware the Nice Ones

Fortunately, seeing her so casually and thoughtlessly kill so many bystanders for no reason causes Tanjiro to fly into basically a Tranquil Fury. He goes full berserk on Daki/Warabihime, somehow using the Hinokamikagura despite the effect on his body, and actually driving her into a corner. He almost even lands a killing blow on her due to her not taking the fight seriously enough until it was too late when a vision of his deceased little sister screams at him to breathe. As it turns out, Tanjiro had been casting from hit points, and he’d just run out of hit points. Tanjiro collapses to the ground, only able to gasp for breath, as Warabihim/Daki laughs at her good fortune and prepares to execute him.

Fortunately, Nezuko comes to Tanjiro’s rescue. By kicking off most of Warabihime/Daki’s head to boot. It doesn’t kill her, but it makes her pause. Nezuko then goes into Super Saiyan mode herself, putting the beatdown on her. Will Nezuko get to slay Warabihime/Daki? Well, that’s what we’ll find out in the next episode of Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc.

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” ~ The Good

Tanjiro’s struggle against Warabihime/Daki was definitely one of the highlights of the show, despite how futile it initially seemed. In fact, that’s exactly why it was so satisfying to see that Tanjiro’s struggle wasn’t entirely pointless. It also shows just how arrogant Warabihime/Daki had become in her undefeated reign, that she’d almost allowed a rank and file Demon Slayer to slay her. Maybe that’ll teach her not to underestimate even the grunts next time, assuming that there is even a next time once Nezuko has finished with her.

Speaking of which, Nezuko’s appearance was the most satisfying thing about Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories”. Even compared to Tanjiro’s struggle, really. It even fits within the whole series thematically. Tanjiro has been protecting Nezuko 24/7 right up until that point. Now it’s Nezuko’s turn to protect her dear older brother. It’s both heartwarming and pretty awesome to see Nezuko turn into an adult-like that to go Super Saiyan.

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories” ~ The Bad

6 reviews in and you have no idea that I’m a devoted Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fan who finds it hard to find anything to criticize about this wonderful and beautiful anime series? Shame on you. I suppose that if I had to find something to nitpick about Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc Ep. 6 “Layered Memories”, it’d be how long it took for Nezuko to make an appearance. To be fair, that whole fight scene between Tanjiro and Warabihime/Daki probably only took a few minutes in real-time. It probably took that long for Nezuko to waffle between following her big brother’s orders and wanting to help him out since he’s obviously in trouble. Fortunately, she chose the latter, and the rest is history.

Source: Funimation, Crunchyroll