AnimeJapan 2022 was one of his first opportunities to talk about his experiences and memories of the season.
With Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibathe last season of Entertainment District Arch Wrapped up, AnimeJapan 2022 was one of the first opportunities for the voice cast to talk about their experiences and memories of the season with a surprise live commentary show.
presenting natsuki hanae (Tanjirou 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 and said that they were excited to be with a live audience after a couple of years of only being able to participate in live broadcast events. Of course, they were also happy that people could join in through the official live stream.
While it seemed like the voice actors and audience were ready for a 30-minute talk show, the MC and producer of Murderer of demonsYūma Takahashi, threw in a nice little curveball for everyone: a live audio commentary for selected sections of the Entertainment District Arch. But this was not a brief comment; lasted 18 minutes, almost an entire episode of Murderer of demons. The voice cast was certainly surprised by the length, and Shimono and Hanae drove it home with a bit of light-hearted banter that reinforced that this really was going to be a full commentary.
To start off, the audience was treated to a good three-shot of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke in their courtesan in training costume and a discussion of the three characters’ infiltration of the entertainment district. Shimono had a lot to say, as he was very excited to voice this section of the story. More especially about Zenko’s heavy makeup (Zenitsu’s front for the mission) worn throughout the season. “It may have been a lot of makeup, but it didn’t make me look that ugly.” Shimono commented. However, he also noted that the beautiful and smooth animation made him forget about makeup when he watched the show. This was all topped off with some quips and jokes from Matsuoka about Inosuke not speaking, starting with Matsuoka putting on a female voice and ending with the deep voice she used when Inosuke apologized to Tanjiro and Zenitsu at the end of the game. Tanjiro Kamado, Bow of Unyielding Resolve from Murderer of demons.
Live commentary moved to the most exciting part of Murderer of demons‘s Entertainment District Arch, the action-packed fights, with an interesting conversation about Daki and Gyutarō of the demon. Both Hanae and Kitō said that they were a bit intimidated by Daki’s attitude. Bender, Miyuki Sawashiro, in a good way since they could feel the intensity in his performance. Konishi was also surprised by Gyutarō’s choice. Bender, Ryōta Ōsaka, at the beginning. Wondering if Ōsaka has ever done roles like Gyutarō in the past, after hearing him, Konishi thought, “That’s Gyutarō.” It was unfortunate that Sawashiro and Ōsaka were unable to join the 5 on stage at AnimeJapan 2022, but the respect Hanae, Kitō, and Konishi had for the two was evident.
There was also a general consensus among the voice actors about the action in the Entertainment District Arch from Murderer of demons with Hanae and Konishi saying that they both had scenes that they watched multiple times because of how well everything went well. Konishi noted his recording session for Tengen’s final release with Gyutarō saying, “The art was almost complete, still black and white and a bit rough, and it looked amazing. You could use it as is, but when it was completed it was even better.” In fact, Konishi got goosebumps watching it, and it was the first time in a long time that she cried seeing a scene that wasn’t a tearjerker.
However, the most moving sections of the live commentary were when the cast played the theme song for Murderer of demons: family. This was not only the family bond between Tanjiro and Nezuko, but also between Daki and Gyutarō. With the former, the audience was able to enjoy the beautiful scene in the sixth episode where Tanjiro had to calm Nezuko down with a lullaby. Hanae noted that this was actually the first thing she expressed in the season. But she then joked that since Tanjiro is supposed to be deaf, Nezuko’s tears might not have been because of the memories of her, but because he is 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 Arch, the audience is not supposed to feel much sympathy for them. Kitō scoffed at this, but when she was shown one of the final scenes of the tenth episode, she pointed out that she really couldn’t be mad at Daki. Kitō even mentioned that she is like a cute brat and that Gyutarō really cares about her. This was a good reminder that despite the abominable nature of the demons in Murderer of demonsthose same demons may have the same family connections as humans.
It’s not often that you see a cast member of an anime series make a live commentary. This made the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The stage event at AnimeJapan 2022 feels special to those who were able to attend in person and watch it via broadcast.