"Alright, my beautiful dolls. Dance your hearts out before your limbs are torn apart."
First of all, I want to say a little about the golden trio of the Demon Slayer. It's not impressive, not memorable, not "golden" in any way. And I'm no saying it just because I don't like either Zenitsu nor Inosuke. Tanjiro's first meeting with both of them ended up in a conflict, and none of these situations painted Zenitsu and Inosuke in a bright light. Tanjiro is a glue holding these three together because, despite the initial conflict, both Zenitsu and Inosuke were impressed by Tanjiro's words and/or actions, and want to stay by his side, even if they wouldn't say it out loud. This trio doesn't quite work as friends, but they work as battle comrades (as it's proven in the Tanjiro/Inosuke team up in this volume), so that's something, right?
Welcome to the spider's nest.
Anyways, volume 4 of Demon Slayer concentrates on Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke's mission where they had been send to the woods because of an emergency. They end up in a very gruesome and morally complicated situation. They are met with a terrifying sight where their comrades from the demon slayer corp. were being used as puppets in the hands of a demon. It was just as difficult situation for the heroes as it was for me, as the reader. They didn't know any of these people, I didn't know any of these people as well, but that didn't matter in the face of their bodies being used in such a gruesome way. It didn't matter if they were dead or still alive, everyone were just puppets in the demons hands - free to be used however it pleased. In this case - as weapons against Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu who were seen as intruders. On the other hand there was the demon situation - which wasn't as clear as you might initially think. There were humans used as puppets by a demon, yes, but that demon wasn't evil. It was just another victim, another being that needed help, but was afraid to say it out loud.
It was one of those situations where I felt incredibly conflicted. At one hand there were the soldiers being used, killing each other and fighting over and over again, not being in control of their bodies, being led like puppets on the strings. On the other hand, there was the demon who fought hard to clear the woods of the intruders, terrified of the entrance of the bigger evil. I was sorry for the demon, I was, but I cannot forgive her for the way it treated all the poor souls of the demon slayers. My heart cried for them all, especially the ones who were in so much pain (both physical and mental) that begged Tanjiro and Inosuke for death. Tanjiro fought so hard to keep them all alive, but the demon decided otherwise, and I will always hate it for this. All this death was completely unnecessary. I wish we could know these slayers names, so their sacrifice wouldn't be forgotten.
When I'm in the topic of the demon slayer corp, I'm quite baffled by the decision of sending just normal troops to these woods and then of sending the three rookies there instead of, well, sending the Hashira members right away. I know that Shinobu and Giyu were send there eventually (vol. 4 is also Shinobu's introduction), but I'm still pissed off about it, because so much death could've been avoided if the Hashira were send there earlier. I will not even comment on the fact that there is such a big gap between the Hashira and other demon slayers, why weren't they properly trained is truly beyond me.
Anyways, before I will end my review, I want to say that I absolutely hated the whole spider situation, because I hate the spiders. They always terrified me so seeing ones with a freaking HUMAN HEADS gave me all the creeps and I couldn't sleep at night. I've seen it in the anime, but I totally forgot about it! And the face of the father demon close up? O my gosh. I don't remember him looking so terrifying in the anime!