Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 1: Cruelty
It is the Taisho Period (i.e. 1912-1926). Tanjiro Kamado is living a modest but blissful life in the mountains with his family. One day, when he returns from selling charcoal in town, he finds the remains of his slaughtered family in pools of blood after a demon attack. Tanjiro rushes down the snowy mountain with the sole survivor, his sister Nezuko, on his back. But on the way, Nezuko suddenly snarls, turning on Tanjiro.
Full recap
In the Taisho era, Tanjiro Kamado lives a modest, happy life on a snowy mountain with his mother and five younger siblings, including his sister Nezuko, supporting them by selling charcoal in a nearby town despite the harsh weather.
The next day, as he climbs home, Tanjiro detects a strange smell of blood on the path. He finds Nezuko wounded and unconscious outside their door, then discovers his entire family slaughtered inside in pools of blood, victims of a demon attack.
Carrying the barely breathing Nezuko on his back, Tanjiro rushes down the mountain toward town for help, struggling through deep snow as the cold burns his lungs. Nezuko suddenly convulses, they tumble off a low cliff into soft snow, and she snarls aggressively, her eyes changed and fangs bared, attempting to bite him with unnatural strength—her scent now demon-like. Tanjiro blocks her with his hatchet, begs her not to fully transform, and sees tears fall from her eyes as she hesitates.
A swordsman suddenly appears in a blur, snatches Nezuko, and pins her down, declaring himself a Demon Slayer whose job is to kill demons. He explains that demons inject humans with their blood to multiply, and Nezuko has become one, destined to devour people with no cure possible. Tanjiro insists she is still his sister, detects another demon's scent at their home as the likely killer of his family, and kneels begging the swordsman—whom he calls Giyu—to spare her, the last remnant of his family.
Giyu rebukes Tanjiro harshly for groveling, stating the weak get crushed in this world and begging won't save anyone, as proven by his family's fate; he claims Tanjiro is too feeble to hunt demons or help her. To test Nezuko, Giyu stabs her shoulder with his blade, but she shields Tanjiro from his follow-up attack instead of eating him, which surprises Giyu as abnormal demon behavior.
Enraged, Tanjiro throws a stone at Giyu, who deflects it effortlessly, then charges with his hatchet in a desperate frontal assault. Giyu knocks Tanjiro unconscious by slamming his sword's handle into his back.
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