WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2, Episode 8, "Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.
Tengen Uzui makes quite the entrance in the first episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Entertainment District Arc. The Sound Hashira, Tengen has had a pretty minor role in the series to this point but that will surely change as this new story plays out. As Hashira go, Tengen is clearly on the sillier side and it will be interesting to see this fresh dynamic between Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke and a Hashira they clearly already don't like.
Returning from a successful mission, Tanjiro happens upon quite a scene when he witnesses Tengen carrying Aoi and Naho over his shoulders as Kanao is dragging behind him, while Kiyo and Sumi are clamped to various parts of the Hashira's body. Though he first assumes -- correctly -- that a struggle is taking place, Tanjiro pauses to consider that these girls are affectionately swarming Tengen. Kidnappings aren't usually played for laughs, but the cartoony shouting and absurdist facial expressions of everyone involved turn the whole thing into a farce.
Tengen briefly flashes his Hashira prowess as he seemingly vanishes into thin air to avoid Tanjiro's patented headbutt attack, which had clobbered Kyojuro Rengoku's father earlier in the episode. The Sound Hashira reveals he is a former shinobi (aka ninja) and angrily demands everyone obey him, as he needs Naho and Aoi for a mission. Yet once it is pointed out to him that Naho is not a demon slayer, he casually tosses her away. Tanjiro is aghast and refuses to acknowledge Tengen as a Hashira because of his cruelty, a far cry from the hero worship he lavished on Rengoku.
Prone to furious screaming not wholly dissimilar to Zenitsu and even Tanjiro from time to time, Tengen is a hard guy to get a read on. It's not clear how much he actually needs a girl for this mission, considering he trades in Naho and Aoi for Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu, who are decidedly not female, without complaint. While the mission's destination couldn't be further from what the heroes are used to, all indications are that Tengen will be right at home, meaning his flashy shenanigans have only just begun.
It will certainly be exciting to see how his Sound-Breathing translates from the Demon Slayer manga to the anime. While Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu have been training constantly in the four months since the events of Mugen Train, it's unclear how their power will stack up against Tengen's, and whether this arc will be another instance of a Hashira saving the day. But even more interesting than Tengen's skill with his massive blades will be how his relationship with the heroes evolves, considering he is more on their level intellectually than any of the other Hashira so far.
Tengen Uzui might have ground to make up with some Demon Slayer fans after his actions in his introduction. Slapping Aoi on her rear end just to show that he could, even though he'd already agreed to let her go, could easily rub people the wrong way. Coupled with his treatment of all the girls in that scene in the first place, Tengen is the least sympathetic Hashira the series has introduced so far. After the sheer chaos of his entrance, Tengen might have a little redemption to seek, but one thing that's certain is that the Entertainment District Arc is going to be a wild ride.
