"What exactly are you the god of?"
"Good question. You've got a promise. I'm the god of glam and flash... the god of festivals!"
"I'm the god of the mountain. Greetings, god of festivals."
As much as this quote is funny, Demon Slayer's volume 9 has more dark than light tone in it. After an argument with the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, we, as the readers, find ourselves in the entertainment district where a great danger awaits us. Tengen explains that he needs help to locate his three missing wives and the trio is there to help him achieve this goal. Despite the guys looking funny dressed as girls, the situation is incredibly serious. Things get complicated when one of the trio, Zenitsu, gets missing.
First of all, let's talk about Tengen. Just like with Shinobu, I didn't like the flashy Hashira at first. He seemed to be loud, rude and deeply narcissistic, claiming to be a god and expecting everybody to follow his orders. When he revealed that he went to the entertainment district to find his wives, I felt a flick of sympathy for him, I mean, who wouldn't like a doting husband? But what really sold me was the small moment of him sending (or trying to send) Tanjiro and Inosuke away, feeling guilty over Zenitsu going missing and being afraid of what will happen to the remaining two. He had shown his vulnerable side, a caring side, and I liked that. (also, the fact that he looks hot did help a lot)
Now, the entertainment district that our heroes found themselves in, scared me. I mean, it's a place of women's slavery, basically. Girls were sold out there, working as courtesans, with no other future in sight. Desperate ones go try to run away or go as far as to commit suicide. It's a matter that got brushed over in the story, which is understandable because that's not the focus, but I felt horrible for all the poor women :(
What I also want to talk about a little is the big bad of this volume, the demon named Daki. I know everything about her already, since I watched the anime, but what I want to point out here is the obvious fondness for her coming from Muzan. He's being straight up aggressive and violent with other demons, but with Daki he's all fond and smiley. That's the favorite child privilege, you cannot tell me otherwise. Maybe he really likes her, or maybe he just has high expectations of her (it seems like she has never disappointed him so far), who knows? But for the first time ever I didn't cringe because of his behavior. He acted like a person (yes, I know that's an irony, because he's a demon).
Anyways, our heroes are in trouble. Daki is a powerful demon, that will stop at nothing to kill them and please her master. Will the heroes save Tengen's wives and the district from the demon's terror? We will see in the next volume!