How?
How did this happen?
Nezuko, don't die! Don't die on me!
I'm gonna save you no matter what!
I won't let you die!
I swear your big brother will save you no matter what!
Tanjiro?
Your face is covered in soot.
Come over here.
It's dangerous with all this snow. You don't have to go, you know.
Well, I want everyone to eat their fill on New Year's,
so I'm gonna sell as much charcoal as I can.
Thank you.
Big Bro!
You're going to town again today?
I'm going with you!
Oh no, you're not.
You know you can't walk fast like Tanjiro.
Mom!
You may not.
Since he can't use the cart today,
he won't be able to give you a ride when you're tired.
Big Bro!
I wanna go with you!
I promise I'll help you!
Thanks, Hanako.
But you're staying home today.
You, too, Shigeru. But I'll get you tons of goodies, okay?
Really?
Yeah.
And Hanako, I'll read for you when I'm back.
Okay!
That's a good girl.
Thank you so much, Tanjiro.
Sure.
Okay, I'll be heading out now.
Takeo...
Will you chop as much wood as you can?
Sure, I'll do it, but...
I was hoping we could do it together.
There, there.
What's with that all of a sudden?
You're blushing, Take!
Hey, you shut up!
There, there.
I said cut it out!
Hurry back, okay?
Be safe, okay?
Big Brother!
Hey, Nezuko.
I was putting Rokuta down for a nap, or he'd make a scene when you leave.
He misses Dad a lot after he passed away.
And everyone follows you wherever you go.
See you later!
We don't have an easy life,
but we're happy.
But life could change suddenly like the weather.
It shifts and moves on.
It's not like it always stays sunny,
and it's not like it ever snows endlessly.
And...
whenever happiness is destroyed,
there's always...
the smell of blood.
Well now, Tanjiro!
I can't believe you came down from the mountain on a day like this.
You're such a hard worker!
You might catch a cold, you know?
This is nothing, really.
Do you have enough charcoal?
Hey, Tanjiro!
Can I have some charcoal?
Thanks for fixing my sliding doors the other day.
I'll need some charcoal, too!
Tanjiro!
Oh man, perfect timing!
I've been accused of breaking this plate!
Help me out, will you?
Sniff it!
I smell a cat.
You see?
Oh my, so it was a cat?
I told you it wasn't me!
Tanjiro!
Can you give me a hand with this luggage?
Jeez, it's late already.
I'm glad they're sold out, though.
Hey, Tanjiro!
Are you gonna go back to the mountain?
You'd better not. It's too dangerous.
I've got a great sense of smell, so I'll be fine.
I'll put you up for the night.
Come on. Get back here.
But...
Don't argue! Come on!
Before the demons show up.
Thanks for the meal!
Hey, Granddad Saburo,
what are demons like?
Man-eating demons have always prowled the land once it gets dark.
That's why you should never stroll around at night.
If you're done eating, go to bed. You can set off for home at first light.
These demons wouldn't come inside your house, would they?
Yes, they'd come in.
Then, everyone would get eaten up by the demons.
That's why the demon hunters protect us by slaying them
since way back when.
Lights out now.
Go to sleep.
Old man Saburo is all alone after losing his whole family.
So, he must be lonely.
I'll bring my brothers and sisters next time,
and say, "You don't have to be scared. There are no demons. You're safe."
But, come to think of it,
my grandma used to say the same thing when she was still alive.
You be careful now.
Okay!
Whenever happiness is destroyed,
there's always...
The smell of blood!
Nezuko!
What happened? What's going on?
What happened here?
Mom...
Hanako...
Takeo...
Shigeru...
Nezuko...
Rokuta...
Nezuko's the only one who's still warm!
If I can get her to a doctor, she might survive!
How did this happen?
Was it a bear?
Was it a bear that wasn't able to hibernate?
I can't breathe!
The air's so icy! My lungs hurt!
Keep moving forward!
Move your legs faster!
We still have a long way to go before we reach town.
Hurry!
I won't let you die!
I'm gonna save you no matter what!
I swear your big brother will save you no matter what!
Oh no!
I was saved by the snow.
I slipped because of the snow to begin with.
Nezuko?
Nezuko, are you all right?
You don't have to walk!
I'll carry you to town, okay?
Nezuko!
Sh-She's...
a demon!
I just remembered what old man Saburo told me.
Nezuko's a man-eating demon?
No! Nezuko's a human ever since she was born!
However, she no longer has Nezuko's scent.
But it wasn't Nezuko's doing!
She was lying as if she was protecting Rokuta,
and there was no blood on her mouth or hands.
And there was one more...
There was one more scent!
Sh-She just grew in size!
And she's getting stronger and stronger!
While I was sleeping carelessly at Saburo's house,
they were murdered brutally like that!
I know it must've hurt.
You suffered, didn't you?
I'm so sorry I couldn't save you.
If only I could help Nezuko at least!
But she's too strong for me to push her back!
Nezuko!
Hang in there, Nezuko!
Don't give in!
You gotta hang in there!
Don't turn into a demon!
You gotta stay strong!
Hang in there!
What the...
Who's that?
DESTROY DEMONS
A sword?
Why are you protecting it?
She's my sister!
She's my younger sister!
Nezuko!
You call that thing your sister?
Nezuko!
Don't move!
My job is to slay demons.
Needless to say, I'm going to decapitate your sister.
Hold on!
Nezuko hasn't killed anyone!
Back at my house, there was another scent that I'd never smelled before!
That's probably the one who killed my family!
It wasn't Nezuko!
I don't know why she turned into something like that, but...
but still...
It's quite simple.
Because her wounds were exposed to demon blood, she turned into a demon.
That's how man-eating demons multiply.
Nezuko would never eat humans!
You gotta be kidding.
Just now, you were about to be devoured.
You're wrong!
I'm sure she knows who I am!
I won't let her hurt anyone!
I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human!
I swear I'll heal her!
She can't be healed.
Once you become a demon, you can never go back to being a human.
I'll find a way no matter what! So, please...
So, please don't kill her!
I'll hunt down the one who slaughtered my family!
I'll make everything all right!
Please!
Don't do it!
Don't take anyone else from me.
I'm begging you not to!
Please!
Don't kill my little sister!
Please don't do it!
I'm begging you...
Don't ever give others a chance to murder you!
Stop that pathetic groveling!
If it was the least bit effective, your family wouldn't be dead!
Can a weakling who can't take the initiative in such a situation heal his sister?!
Hunt down the enemy?!
Don't make me laugh!
The weak have no rights or choices!
Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong!
The demons might know how to cure your sister!
But don't think that a demon would respect your will or wishes!
Naturally, I have no respect for you, either!
That's reality!
Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier?
Was that your way of protecting her?
Why didn't you swing your hatchet?
Why did you show your back to me?
All those blunders led to your sister's capture!
I could've skewered her along with you!
Don't cry.
Don't despair.
Now's not the time for that.
I know you're devastated.
Your family was massacred, and your sister's become a demon.
I know it's painful.
I know you want to scream.
I get it.
If only I'd gotten here a half-day sooner,
your family might not have ended up dead.
But there's no way to turn back time.
Feel the rage.
The powerful, pure rage of not being able to forgive
will become your unswerving drive to take action!
With such a fragile resolve like yours,
you can't protect your sister or heal her...
or get revenge for your family!
No!
Stop!
A straightforward attack driven solely by emotion...
You fool!
Where's his hatchet?
Just before he hid behind the tree,
he hurled that rock toward me and, at the same time,
tossed the hatchet in the air.
He hid his hands as he pretended to attack
so I wouldn't realize he was unarmed.
He knew he couldn't beat me.
He tried to bring me down after I struck him!
This kid...
Damn!
She'll devour him!
Nezuko...
It wasn't Nezuko!
She'd never eat humans!
Long ago,
someone once said the same thing, only to be devoured by a demon.
When a demon is starving,
it will kill and devour even its own parents or siblings.
Because they're nutrient-rich.
I've seen it happen more times than I can count.
This girl has been wounded,
and she's expending energy to heal those injuries.
She must've drained vast amounts of her strength as she transformed into a demon.
That means she's severely starved at this moment, without a doubt.
She must've wanted to feast on a human right away, even if it's her own brother...
Yet, she protected him instead,
and she even intimidated me...
I wonder...
These siblings might be...
different from others.
I'm sorry to leave you behind, Tanjiro.
Take care of Nezuko for me, all right?
You awake?
Go see an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri.
Tell him that Giyu Tomioka sent you.
She seems to be all right since it's cloudy now,
but never let her be exposed to the sunlight, okay?
Let's go.
EPISODE 1: CRUELTY