THEY'RE FLAMBOYANT! | Literature Doctor REACTS to Demon Slayer | 1x22 | First React & Discussion

Indexed: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Hi, my darlings. I'm Sophie Darling and welcome back to the channel. Today we're reacting to episode 22 of season 1 of Demon Slayer. And last episode, incredibly emotional. We learned about Ru's backstory, why he was so desperate to fill that family hole that his parents actually did love him. He just misread it. And that even if Ru went to hell, they would go with him. We also now have Tandro and Nzo being apprehended and taken to the mansion because they have learned that Nzo is a demon and it goes against the strict demon core rules. So, how this is all going to play out, I'm not entirely sure. We got a glimpse of the other Hashiraas at the end there. So, it's going to be interesting to know a little bit more about their dynamic. Poor Guu is being bullied constantly and told that no one likes him. But without further ado, we're going to jump into episode 22.

[00:00:55]Tango, imagine waking up and not knowing what the [ __ ] is going on.

[00:01:01]>> And he doesn't know what's happened to Nzo either cuz he told her to run and then he was knocked out.

[00:01:09]He must be so confused.

[00:01:20]rude.

[00:01:23]Not flamboyant enough for me.

[00:01:29]>> Then again, he did have like diamonds dripping down, so I imagine anyone else would be drab in comparison.

[00:01:38]She gets it.

[00:01:45]Yeah, he's very flamboyantly dressed. Of course, Tandro is going to look drab in comparison.

[00:01:56]They all have their unique aesthetic.

[00:02:03]Why did they think they were going to the butterfly mansion? What Andre? He's like, "What the hell? I've just woken up and you're putting me on trial." Is Guu gonna get in trouble as well because he was trying to stop Shobu from killing Nzuko?

[00:02:26]Oh, so he's just like guilty. [laughter] Oh, little hot.

[00:02:41]Is flamboyance his catchphrase love his shirro a why is he crying stone his shira but he's crying I love that it's such a contrast trust [laughter] miss just not there mind wandering in a daydream he's looking for his sister what is his obsession with flamboyancy [laughter] oh my goodness this.

[00:03:36]Oh, he's very much on his own.

[00:03:40]Oh, Gu is going to get in trouble.

[00:03:53]What kind of lesson should we teach him?

[00:03:55]Damn. Okay, he really has it out for Guillu. [laughter] >> [laughter] >> Oh my gosh, she's going to be like Zenatsu, isn't she? Just in love with everyone.

[00:04:15]Yeah, there we go.

[00:04:18][laughter] In love with everyone.

[00:04:24]Okay. So, he's not on trial, but he will be punished because she's not like other demons.

[00:04:46]Did he know? It's not as if we've seen the rules laid out. Oh, we know. It could be the first time Tanger's ever heard of this cuz Uricodaki didn't tell him.

[00:05:02]>> Cuz you'd think Uricodaki would be like, "Yeah, maybe be careful about traveling with her cuz it's against the rules."

[00:05:11]>> I was going to say he was meant to have broken his jaw.

[00:05:16]I love how she's still being kind to him even though she's like, "We should execute him."

[00:05:37]She's a good girl.

[00:05:44]It's not absurd.

[00:05:46]It's the truth.

[00:05:48]I mean, it makes sense why they don't believe him, but still.

[00:06:02]Hasn't eaten a human.

[00:06:09]What do you want him to do? be more flamboyant.

[00:06:15]Prove it. How is he supposed to prove it with max flamboyance? Like, do you want him to do 12 back flips? Like, yeah, [clears throat] because he didn't ask for them to be killed. He said apprehended.

[00:06:45]Who's this?

[00:07:05]It's been two years.

[00:07:10]Dude, what the [ __ ] They haven't even had a trial.

[00:07:15][screaming] [laughter] >> He warned you. I don't give a [ __ ] who you are. You don't hurt my baby sister.

[00:07:34][laughter] >> That's thinking with your head. Go Tangero.

[00:07:45]Oh, >> I'm on Tandro's side here.

[00:07:56]Are we actually going to see his face?

[00:07:58]We've only ever seen sort of him in the shadows.

[00:08:02]Interesting.

[00:08:04]Has he got a burn?

[00:08:10]>> Is he blind? Okay, so we actually see his face for the first time.

[00:08:17]Oh, I thought they were going to crawl back in. I was like, what the [ __ ] are they doing? Oh, he is blind.

[00:08:45]That's like the wind.

[00:08:55]The only person he seems to be respectful and scared of is the master.

[00:09:03]She's going to be like Zenatu.

[00:09:14]The master commands respect.

[00:09:22]That's why he's gathered them all here.

[00:09:35][laughter] Like, yep, that's fine by me. I don't care.

[00:09:39][laughter] >> What about you, Shinobi?

[00:10:03]Yeah, but he's in charge. So clearly what he says goes right.

[00:10:24]He's looking out for them still.

[00:10:42]I wonder if this is news to Guu or did he always know this?

[00:10:49]Oh no, he must have always known and agreed to it cuz he doesn't seem shocked. He seems to kind of just accept that that's the fact.

[00:11:11]But can you live with the knowledge of killing someone that's never harmed another person? You have to live with that.

[00:11:20]Exactly.

[00:11:37]I like him. He's logical. Other than your hatred of demons, what other reason do you have to oppose?

[00:11:50][laughter] I forget that this is rare. [laughter] >> Can't really answer you if you're shaking him around like a ragd doll.

[00:12:14]My god, he has such aura that he can command them with just a finger to the lips.

[00:12:33]They're the key to getting to man.

[00:12:57]Oh, he's basically saying if Nzo smells my blood, she'll have no choice but to attack me.

[00:13:06]Oh, look at her restraints.

[00:13:15]She won't show you because she is not like that.

[00:13:26][screaming] What the [ __ ] guys?

[00:13:42]Oh, Nazo.

[00:13:53]Just going to prove you all wrong.

[00:13:57]It's not even the blood that's making her this way. She's just pissed.

[00:14:03][snorts] Pissed off that he's testing her this way. You can see the drool because she's having to restrain herself as best she can, but she's [ __ ] fuming. I would be too. They keep stabbing her through the box and taunting her. She may be a demon, but she's not [ __ ] stupid.

[00:14:37]>> [laughter] >> You can absolutely understand where everyone's coming from in terms of they have spent their whole lives being trained to fight demons, to kill demons.

[00:15:03]at all costs. And now they're being told, "Actually, we're not going to do that for this demon. You have to make an exception." Of course they're going to be like, "What the fuck?" Like, "No, what do you mean?" Cuz they've seen the worst of the worst. They've seen so many people slaughtered and killed and traumatized by what demons can do. So, I completely get it. I'm not judging them for not understanding because, of course, we have a different perspective.

[00:15:29]We've been with them since the beginning of the journey. We have information the Hashira don't. I get it. But also, I'm just annoyed the way that they're kind of not listening to the master. They may be like the best of the best, but surely the whole point is to be respectful. And to taunt and tease Nazo that way and also to just outright refuse to listen to what he's saying is quite infuriating, especially when he's giving you logical arguments. He's basically saying to you, there's no evidence that she will actually go on to kill people.

[00:16:04]There's no evidence that she's going to harm anyone. So, can you have it on your conscience to kill another life on the idea that she might when we have no guarantee that's going to happen?

[00:16:15]Especially when there's three people that have now said that if she ever does harm someone, they will kill themselves in atonement. And yes, that doesn't bring back the person that's died, but to have free people standing up for Nazov, vouching for her ability to be trusted, as well as the fact that Uricaki is a former Hashira. We have Guillu, who is a Hashira, and then Tangro, of course, he's like the lower rank, but still that has to go for something that you have two really prominent figures in the Demon Slayer core that are vouching for her, and they're still just like, no, again, I get it, but also it's like just listen, make it make sense.

[00:17:02]But I love that all the Hishira have really distinct personalities and the different aesthetics that we're seeing, especially we have I can't remember her name, but the love Hashira and she has like love hearts on her blade. She seems to be very much in love with everyone and always seems to have a nice word to say. There's no like negativity to her.

[00:17:28]So, I wonder if she's going to be quite like Zenetsu in terms of like love a girl mentality. What will be funny is if maybe she loves Zenetsu but Zenetsu doesn't love her and it's this kind of like ironic dynamic that Zenetsu finds her annoying but she's doing what Zenetsu does to other girls. So maybe it's going to be like Zenetsu loves Nzo.

[00:17:49]the love Hashira love Zenetsu and it's just this little triangle that's ongoing but Nezo has like no interest in anyone and then we have the stone Hashira that is not unashamed to cry he is supposed to be stoic but his emotions run free and I love that kind of contrast. He also seems to have prayer beads which maybe he isn't a monk but maybe like a practicing I'm trying to think would he be Buddhist or would it be Shinto because I think Shintoism is the more prominent religion in Japan. I'm not entirely sure because prayer beads in the only context that I know is western context would be like rosary beads which is Catholicism and they're definitely not rosary beads cuz it's set and based in Japan. So I'm thinking like Shinto prayer beads. So I'm wondering if he's very tied to faith in that he is talking about it being a shame that Tangero had to be born and that this is the fate that befalls him. So I'm wondering if there's like a religious element to him.

[00:18:55]Then we have the snake Hashira who seems to be very crafty in that he doesn't like Guillu and the minute the wind Hashira took Nezo into the shadows he was the first one to launch and pin Tandro to the ground almost as if he enjoys the conflict. He enjoys stirring the pot a little bit I guess but I want to know what the beef is between him and Guillu because he's out for him for whatever reason. And then we have the mist Hashira who is very daydreamy, very whimsical where they're saying, "I have no issue because I'll probably forget about this." So it's like miss comes and goes. It's free flowing. It's not something tangible that you can grasp onto. So I love that their personality mimics that. And then we also have I can't remember what Hashira he is, but he keeps talking about flamboyance. And of course, the way he's dressed, of course, he's going to be obsessed with flamboyancy and everything has to be adorned, Max flamboyance, cuz he has like a diamond headband, diamonds, like beads around his ears, and he has a chain on his sword. Like he is very much flamboyantly dressed. So everything has to be a performance. Then we have the Hashira who is very flame orientated like his hair looks like fire. He seems quite brash in terms of everything has to be done now now. There's kind of no patience. There's no waiting. He's not hotheaded in the sense of being angry but hotheaded in the sense of there's no going back. He was like there's no point doing a trial. He broke the rules. We have to then just enforce the rules.

[00:20:39]It's like go go damn the consequences.

[00:20:42]We don't have to wait for the master.

[00:20:43]just get it done kind of thing. And then of course you have Guillu who is the water hashira. We know that Guu is very placid, very calm, goes with the flow, doesn't let anything get to him, but to everyone else, he seems really removed and detached emotionally, but he's not.

[00:21:02]He's just water. He's calm. There's no point getting yourself wiped out. I was like, does Gu know that he has to commit Sepuku if [laughter] hurts anyone? Because if not, then that's the first time he's hearing of it and it just kind of comes out the blue.

[00:21:18]But the way that Tandro looks at him and Tandro is crying. I think Guillu must know and has agreed that he's going to back Urakadaki because of course he trusts Urkodaki. He wouldn't have sent Tandro and Nzo there if he didn't believe that Urkodaki could help them.

[00:21:37]So I think whatever Urkodaki says, Gu is going to trust. And I think that meant a lot to Tandro to know that they have his corner, that they are helping to protect his baby sister. And I love that Urkodaki gets brought back into it, that he's still protecting them. And I was wondering because I was like Eric Kadaki never said anything to Dandro about not taking Nzo because if he was found out he would be breaking the demon core rules and he would get in trouble. This was never mentioned to him. So the poor boy is probably like what the [ __ ] going on? I didn't actually know or was breaking the rule because nothing was said to him. But that's because Urkodaki sent the letter to the master and it was sanctioned and he was allowed to do that. But of course, now that the Hashira have discovered a demons traveling with Tandro, it poses some issues. So the masses gathered everyone here to essentially get all the Hashira on side so that none of them pose a threat to Nezo in the future. It's a way of trying to mitigate the situation. And it just so happens to coincide with their was it pre-annual meetup. So, it seems pre-ordained, pre-planned, but I love that Ukra is protecting them nonetheless. Like, these are his children. And even though he's not with them now, he's setting the groundwork for keeping them safe in the future by making sure the master's aware, making sure that they get people on side, ensuring that they're aware that Nesco isn't going to harm anyone. And just he's such a dad to them. I love it. It's going to be interesting to see how this develops because obviously now we've got two conflicting perspectives. We have those that are happy to agree with the master. Shobu didn't say anything. I feel like Shobu might come around because Shobu does like the idea of demons and humans being friends. She is optimistic that that's a potentiality.

[00:23:35]But I think Shinobi is also quite smart that until she sees otherwise. She's not going to put her opinion out there.

[00:23:44]She's going to do it based on evidence.

[00:23:46]So, she's kind of watching and waiting.

[00:23:48]The others are kind of outright like Nzo's going to react and will kill her.

[00:23:54]And then you have the love Hashira and the Miss Hashira that are very much on side with the master. They're just kind of like, "Yep, that's fine. Whatever you say goes." And then you have those that are just veently against it. And again, you can understand why they're against it, but at the same time, it's kind of frustrating that whilst they have respect for him, they're not listening to what he's saying. They're so adamant that they're right, that they're trying to prove it, but they're only going to have themselves to blame when it doesn't work out the way that they're expecting it to. But I do like that there is an element of fairness that the master is letting them speak. It's not like a tyrannical dictatorship. He's essentially saying if you can argue with me and it be a valid argument rather than being based on this potential threat that she might have towards humans, then yeah, I'll listen to you.

[00:24:47]We can consider it. But it has to be a valid argument. I'm not going to listen to any more hypotheticals. You have to give me an actual tangible truth because I have a tangible truth from Urkodaki, but none of you are presenting anything that's actually realistic to counter it, which is why they're now doing this to try and bait Nezo into attacking. So then they can be like, "Well, look, we proved it. We told you so." Nesco's not going to do it. Of course, she's showing that fortitude already. She's drooling, but she's not going for him. She's just pissed off as you would be if you were being beaten and prodded and talked down to and your brother's being talked down to as well. You'd be angry. And that's the annoying thing is that she can't seem to show these emotions towards humans or they see her as a threat. They can't understand that she might still have human emotions. If she shows her anger towards them, they then start thinking she's a threat, but she's actually just pissed off. in the same way that they would be pissed off if it was being done to them. I just feel bad for her. I feel like she's in between a rock and a hard place, but she's not going to give them what she wants because she is so much stronger than they realize. Her mental fortitude is insane. And despite the drool, despite the temptation, she's not going to give it to them. But I'm excited to see more of the Hashira. I'm excited to see how this all kind of plays out, especially because they're all really shocked that Tandro has seen Man and you almost forget that it's really unknown for anyone to see man. So the fact that Tandro has met him even briefly is this huge unique circumstance which is why the master is saying I don't want to ruin the opportunity that this poses because man never lets himself be known but he has sent people after Tandro. So he's going to continue doing that until eventually he might have to come after Tandro himself. It's almost like they know that man is going to slip up at some point and that Nzo and Tandro may be the key to doing so. Especially because Nzuko has a lot of man's blood and she's only just beginning to learn about her true strength. So again, man didn't anticipate this. He also didn't anticipate that she wouldn't actually go on to eat other humans. And we know that other demons are bound by this curse that if they speak Muzan's name, there's like a punishment. We don't know if that applies to Nzo. She could be the exception somehow because she wasn't what he wanted to create. And I think she is the key somewhat to his downfall.

[00:27:32]And the master's aware of that. So he's like, "Why would we get rid of them when they can be useful to us in taking out this severe threat that we've been hunting for years and not getting anywhere?" But they're all like, "Oh my god, what's his attacks? What's his powers? Tell me. Tell us." But like, it was a very brief instance. Tandro didn't really see much of him. But I wonder if Tandro will tell them that he has a family because yeah, that was a a big what the [ __ ] moment. But until next episode, I think that's all I want to say for now. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this react, please consider liking, subscribing, and leaving a comment below to help boost this video into the algorithm.