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Demon Slayer Voice Actors Perform Live Commentary On Entertainment District Arc Highlights

With Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's latest season Entertainment District Arc wrapped up, AnimeJapan 2022 was one of the first opportunities for the voice cast to speak about their experiences and memories of the season with a surprise live commentary show.

Featuring Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro Kamado), Akari Kitō (Nezuko Kamado), Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu Agatsuma), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Inosuke Hashibira), and Katsuyuki Konishi (Tengen Uzui), the five voice actors greeted an enthusiastic crowd, saying they were excited to be with a live audience after a couple of years of only being able to engage in livesteam events. Of course they were also happy that people could join via the official livestream.

While it seemed the voice actors and the audience were ready for a 30 minute talk show, the MC, and producer of Demon Slayer, Yūma Takahashi, threw a nice little curve ball to everyone: a live audio commentary for select sections of the Entertainment District Arc. But this was no short commentary; it was 18 minutes long—nearly a full episode of Demon Slayer. The voice cast was certainly surprised at the length, and Shimono and Hanae drove it home with a little jovial banter reinforcing this was really going to be a full commentary.

To kick things off, the audience was treated to a nice three shot of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke in their courtesan in training disguise and a discussion about the three characters' infiltration into the entertainment district. Shimono had quite a bit to say, as he was most excited to voice this section of the story. Most especially about Zenko's (Zenitsu's front for the mission) heavy makeup worn throughout the season. “It may have been heavy makeup, but it didn't make me look that ugly.” Shimono remarked. Yet, he also noted the beautiful and fluid animation made him forget about the makeup when watching the show. This was all topped off with some nice ribbing and jokes from Matsuoka about Inosuke not speaking, beginning with Matsuoka putting on a feminine voice and ending with the deep voice he used when Inosuke apologized to Tanjiro and Zenitsu at the end of the Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc of Demon Slayer.

The live commentary moved on the most exciting part of Demon Slayer's Entertainment District Arc, the action packed fights, with an engaging conversation about the demon's Daki and Gyutarō. Both Hanae and Kitō said they were a bit intimidated by Daki's voice actor, Miyuki Sawashiro, in a good way as they could feel the intensity in her performance. Konishi was also surprised at the choice of Gyutarō's voice actor, Ryōta Ōsaka, at first. Wondering if Ōsaka has ever done roles like Gyutarō in the past, after listening to him Konishi thought, “That's Gyutarō.” It was unfortunate Sawashiro and Ōsaka couldn't join the 5 on stage at AnimeJapan 2022, but it was evident the respect the Hanae, Kitō, and Konishi had for the two.

There was also a general consensus among the voice actors about the action in the Entertainment District Arc of Demon Slayer with Hanae and Konishi saying they both had scenes they watched several times for how well everything came together. Konishi pointed his recording session of Tengen's final throw down with Gyutarō saying, “The art was nearly complete—still in black and white and a bit rough—and looked amazing. You could use it as is, but when it was completed it was even better.” In fact, Konishi got goose bumps watching it, and it was his first time in a while crying from watching a scene that wasn't a tearjerker.

However, the most moving sections of the live commentary were when the cast touched on the main theme of Demon Slayer: family. This wasn't just the family bond between Tanjiro and Nezuko, but also between Daki and Gyutarō. With the former, the audience was treated to the beautiful scene in the sixth episode where Tanjiro had to calm Nezuko with a lullaby. Hanae noted this was actually the first thing he voiced for the season. But then he joked that since Tanjiro is supposed to be tone deaf Nezuko's tears might not have been from her memories but because he's a bad singer. Kitō laughed along with Hanae's comments.

However, it was surprising to hear Kitō talk about the demons, Daki and Gyutarō, and their relationship with each other. Since they are the featured demons for the Entertainment District Arc, the audience is not supposed to feel much sympathy for them. Kitō made light of this, but when shown one of the final scenes from the tenth episode she pointed out she couldn't really be mad at Daki. Kitō even went on to mention that she is like a cute brat and Gyutarō really cares for her. This was a nice reminder that despite the abhorrent nature of the demons in Demon Slayer, those same demons can have the same familial connections as the humans.

It's not often you get to see cast member of an anime series do a live commentary. This made the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba stage event at AnimeJapan 2022 feel special for those who could attend in-person and watch via stream.