"Kibitsuji Muzan! I won't let you go away! No matter where you ran to, I will pursue you till the end of the hell itself! I will remove the head of yours with my blade! I will definitely never forgive you!" [Tanjiro]
Vol. 2 of Demon Slayer was full of surprises. Usually the hero needs to deal with the small beans first, while trying to find the big bad, but it's not what happened here. We got introduced to the final boss right away. It was something that completely caught me off guard while watching the anime, because Tanjiro just caught some familiar scent, chased after it and then BOOM there he was, the Smooth Criminal of the Demon Slayer universe - the Michael Jackson himself! Who does that in their story, who introduces their final villain so early and shows us his menacing nature right away? It's not something you see very often, so props to the author for it.
Big brother, I'm alone in the dark, I'm so scared.
Big brother, hold my hand like you always do.
Eh... ? Who is the big brother I'm thinking about?
Vol. 2 is the book where the reader starts to get thrown into the emotional conflict, because this is where, through the example of the mutant demon, the author shows us one of the biggest truths of the world - that the evil is not born, but it's made. We as the readers have seen the gruesome side of the Demon Slayer universe. We've already seen the tragedies that the demons are responsible of, so in the humans vs demons fight the side for us to stand on should be obvious to us. The humans are the prey, the hopeless victims. The demons are the hunters, the cold-blooded killers.
Or so it looks like in theory, because the reality is different.
We cannot help, but feel deep sadness and sorrow for the demons (not for all, but for most of them for sure). They are shown as the ruthless killers, yes, but all of them were humans once, they had their lives, their families, their hopes and dreams that were shattered, because of some bad circumstances. They were shown as Tanjiro's opponents, but never as Tanjiro's enemies, not just because of Tanjiro's kind-hearted nature, but also because of their human past that comes back to them in the moment of them standing on the death's door. It's always emotional, so it makes us feeling torn about the demons, because they suddenly stopped being the greatest evil and we start to see them as human-like beings. Things we should feel sorry for, not hatred for. What's the most interesting is the fact that only we, as the readers can see the demons' past. Tanjiro cannot. But he's so kind and full of compassion, that he forgives the demon and prays for it when it disintegrates into nothingness. He's seen them doing the most gruesome of things, and yes, he feels the anger and fights against them with the need to kill them, but always shows compassion on the end. That's something I deeply admire about his character.
"In this world there is only one demon whose blood flowing in its veins has the power to turn humans into demons." [Urokodaki]
Muzan wasn't the only new character that we got introduced to in this volume. We get to see other teenagers who survived the final selection (we didn't get to know their names, but since I'm an anime fan, I already know) and we get to meet different kind of demons through Tanjiro's missions as a newly chosen demon slayer. His main goal is to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human, but he's also going around, doing his best to help people who were attacked by the demons. He not always succeeds, though, not fully, and as much as I always wish for a happy ending for everyone, it's not realistic. There will always be tragedies, small and bigger ones, but tragedies nonetheless, because no matter how hard one can try, they cannot save everyone. It's just simply not possible, even in a fictional story.
"I will allow you the glorious death of dying by the hands of the Twelve Demon Moons. Now let's play! Until the night ends! Until your life ends!" [Susumaru]
Vol. 2 ends with an attack of two demons on Tanjiro, Nezuko and their new found allies. The demons were send by Muzan who, after his first meeting with Tanjiro, needs him dead no matter what the cost. Through that attack we've been introduced to the Twelve Demon Moons, known as Muzan's strongest minions. Will Tanjiro and Nezuko be strong enough to defeat this new threat and protect their allies or will they fail? We will see in the next volume! ☺️