WHAT AN ICON!! | Doctor REACTS to Demon Slayer | 1x20 | First Time React & Discussion

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Hi my darlings, I'm Sophie darling, and welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, hello. My name is Sophie. I have a doctorate in literature, which means I get way too emotionally invested in the shows that I'm watching. So, if you like a reactor that likes to talk about themes, symbolism, and character development, then you're definitely in the right place. So, why don't you hit that subscribe button so you never miss a video. Today, we're reacting to episode 20 of Demon Slayer, and last episode, absolutely stunning. Nezuko has come into her own. She has discovered a blood demon art after being encouraged by her mother to do her best to help protect Tanjiro because without Nezuko, he would die. And we had flashbacks to Tanjiro's father. It's the first time we've really seen him other than just a cut of his chin because in episode one, we got like a little side profile. We saw his dance that's been passed down through the generations of their family, but also the breathing method that Tanjiro was able to incorporate into this new form, and that gave him the power to overcome one of the 12 demon moons. Just the symbolism of that episode was incredibly beautiful in showing the contrast between Rui's forced family, the family he has created, I'm presuming because there was a bit of dialogue that's indicating that he has made people into demons solely to play this role of family, that he's forcing them into it rather than them actually being his genuine family versus Nezuko and Tanjiro and the family dynamics that they've created not only with Urokodaki's and Sabito and Inosuke, but that family dynamic that they've always had between each other that's so deeply integral to who they are as people, as well as the family bonds that they have with their parents and their other siblings that even though they are dead, they are never forgotten. That family bonds can never be erased. It's entrenched in who they are. It's buried within them. But also the family dynamic that they've created outside of blood that they have Zenitsu, Inosuke, Urokodaki. There are people who are not blood related to them, but they are family. They would do anything for them. Showing the importance of our bonds and our connections and building genuine connections. We can't force them. We have to create them through love and care and empathy and sacrifice rather than trying to force something that doesn't work, especially if we're doing it through enacting fear because those negative emotions going to manifest in the dynamic itself. There's not going to be a desire to have someone's best interests at heart if you fear them, if you hate them. Whereas Tanjiro and Nezuko only ever want the best for one another and they will do whatever it takes to protect one another, even if it means sacrificing themselves in the process because that's what family does. That's what true family does. We saw the elder sister, I always thought she was the younger but it turns out she's the elder, disappear to atone for her mistakes to Rui, but I wonder how that's going to go down if maybe she will be allowed to live. I feel like if there's anyone that could potentially have a happy outcome here, it's her because she seems to be emotionally intelligent, that she's aware that this situation isn't one that she wants to be involved in. But without further ado, we're going to get into episode 20.

[00:03:36]I'm ready to cry again.

[00:03:38]>> [laughter] >> Oh, it's going to happen, isn't it? I'm going to cry. I know it.

[00:03:43]It's going to be an emotional episode.

[00:04:06]>> Because of the family bond, because of that connection.

[00:04:10]Then also I think that's a move that's been passed down from family to family.

[00:04:15]It's not just a dance. It's a sword form.

[00:04:24]Thankfully Inosuke is okay, but he doesn't know that. Oh, oh, oh.

[00:04:34]Oh, no. Oh my god.

[00:04:37][ __ ] off.

[00:04:45]No.

[00:04:49]That was a [ __ ] What?

[00:04:58]What the [ __ ] Nah.

[00:05:06]What? That's me after the time show's secret being light. No, there's no way he didn't kill him.

[00:05:24]What the [ __ ] is going to happen?

[00:05:40]Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

[00:05:43]Are we going to see Giyu though?

[00:05:46]Are you gay, you?

[00:05:48]>> [gasps] >> Yes. Yes.

[00:06:01]No, it's not. But I love that he's like, "Is it Nezuko?" It's not Nezuko.

[00:06:11]Oh my god, this is going to be so cool.

[00:06:14]I was kind of stressed.

[00:06:17]What do you think?

[00:06:21]>> [snorts] >> He's so calm and placid.

[00:06:30]Oh, they come. [laughter] He is very much the embodiment of water.

[00:06:48]Oh, it's not impossible.

[00:06:51]>> [gasps] >> It wasn't even a fight.

[00:07:00]>> [laughter] >> Uh But this is how they became his family.

[00:07:40]He saved them from demon slayers and yet he did this kind act.

[00:07:46]Wanted to build a family. Whoa.

[00:07:52]Mistreated and abused them. It's so tragic that this is how it went. That it could have been so different.

[00:08:01]Oh my god, there was so many more.

[00:08:06]So she was already a demon beforehand.

[00:08:19]He did just want a family of his own but got annoyed when they didn't act the way that he wanted them to act. But there was so many siblings and none of them are there anymore. So he's lost so many in the process.

[00:08:46]So it's an agreement that he has with Muzan as part of him being one of the 12 demon moon.

[00:08:57]But that's why they all look alike.

[00:09:04]>> [screaming] [crying] >> What the [ __ ] >> [gasps] [sighs] >> That was insane. I hated that.

[00:09:21]The body horror in this show is insane.

[00:10:08]>> All the others were probably killed by Rui when they failed to live up to his expectations.

[00:10:15]Mother? She's younger than you. Oh.

[00:10:20]Oh my gosh, she was just a child herself. She said I revert sometimes because she's actually younger than Rui.

[00:10:47]Oh, that's not going to end well.

[00:11:00]Yeah, I obviously didn't end well cuz she ended up back with Rui.

[00:11:04]>> [gasps] >> Oh, [ __ ] Did she betray her for Rui? She did.

[00:11:16]Oh my god.

[00:11:20]Even though she thought of her as a genuine family and Rui never treated her that way, but she was grateful to him for saving her, so she feels a weird sense of loyalty to him.

[00:11:35]Oh, that's so tragic.

[00:11:54]>> [screaming] >> Oh, cuz it reminds him that they're not actually a family.

[00:12:05]Because he wants them to be a family, and when they revert, it reminds him that it's all make-believe. It's all fake.

[00:12:13]Oh my god, no.

[00:12:18]Should he kill him?

[00:12:24]Oh, okay. Well, No, that's a horrible way to go.

[00:12:38]>> [laughter] >> I love her.

[00:12:45]>> [laughter] >> She's like, "Oh, really now?

[00:12:53]Not on my watch."

[00:12:56]I love how gentle she is in her speech, but she's such a badass, too.

[00:13:06]>> [laughter] >> Is this a game, or is she being serious?

[00:13:23]Oh, this feels crafty.

[00:13:27]>> Do you think?

[00:13:44]She's like, I already know.

[00:13:58]She's like, I know. I'm not >> [laughter] >> She's so fascinating.

[00:14:23]You get to a time.

[00:14:32]She's so sweet but sinister.

[00:14:44]She's like, I TOLD YOU.

[00:14:47]AND LIKE this sweetest voice possible.

[00:14:51]That's insane. [laughter] She's like, oh yeah. Told you we can be friends.

[00:14:58]What the [ __ ] She's so quick as well. Oh, wow.

[00:15:15]That's stunning.

[00:15:29]>> Oh, [ __ ] >> [laughter] >> Is it the poison?

[00:16:13]Holy [ __ ] But she has other ways.

[00:16:25]That is insane.

[00:16:30]So, you can't hear me?

[00:16:33]My god, she's crazy. Oh, he's naked. God love him.

[00:16:41]I stepped.

[00:16:50]Small.

[00:16:58]I said, "Don't look.

[00:16:59]>> [laughter] >> I'm naked."

[00:17:05]Yep, he did indeed. Let's go.

[00:17:09]My god, she's crazy.

[00:17:12]I kind of love her, though.

[00:17:28]>> It's just this intense desire that he wants to recreate.

[00:17:49]Let's go. He doesn't need to force it. I think we're going to get maybe some of his memories next episode because he's saying, "I wanted to make a family in order to try and remember some of my memories." But he's seeing a true family bonds.

[00:18:17]>> [laughter] >> It's a secret.

[00:18:26]>> [laughter] >> She's so fascinating to me. I really enjoy her. She comes across as really sweet and understanding, but then she comes out with like the darkest words where she's like, "I'm going to torture you for every person you've ever killed and then that will be fair. It will be just retribution." She's sinister in such a sweet way and I think that's what's so interesting. It's just you don't realize how dark her words actually are until you like mold them over in your brain because they're said with such like a sweet jovial tone and then you're like reading what the dialogue and you're like, "Oh, holy [ __ ] >> [laughter] >> Genuinely wishing to torture and make them suffer, unlike Tanjiro who would give them a swift death and that's enough for him. He doesn't need to relish in revenge. He just wants to do his duty. So, it's already showing the different sort of motivations between Demon Slayers. But, we kind of knew that. We knew that there would be those that don't see things the way that Tanjiro does, that would gloat and likely relish in killing demons. Whereas, Tanjiro is a lot more empathetic and doesn't want to prolong their death any more than necessary. And Giyu, Giyu, however you say it, is similar in that he also gave him a swift death. It was quick and simple. And there was no need to drag it out longer than necessary. Shinobu is playing with the demon. Shinobu is getting this information from her only to sort of relish in making her aware that she knows that it's way more than five. That even if she's been forced, she has killed more people than she's willing to admit.

[00:20:31]And there is no atoning for that. There is no salvation.

[00:20:37]She is going to die and it's not going to be an easy one. But, the fact that she knows that she is at a disadvantage, that she doesn't have the strength to cut through a demon's neck. And instead of letting that get her down and ruling out her chances of being a demon slayer, she found an alternative.

[00:20:57]She decided that she was going to create a poison from wisteria that could be used to kill a demon. That she found an alternative way to benefit her. Crazy.

[00:21:08]Crazy, crazy, crazy. No wonder she was the one that could help Sanemi too because she had an antidote with her because she knows all about poisons. So, she knows exactly what antidote would counteract the poison in Sanemi's system.

[00:21:22]So, she was 100% who Sanemi's sparrow went to for help. And that's the reason she left Giyu Giyuu.

[00:21:32]I'm not sure how to say it properly at this point. So, I'm just going to say both in case one of them's right and went to Sanemi's side.

[00:21:41]Just insane. Insane. She I think is probably going to be a character I really enjoy. Just this sweet but deadly demeanor. She also seems somewhat fascinated with demons and this potentiality for demons and humans to be friends, but I think only if they haven't actually harmed or killed others. I really love the twist on found family. Rather than found family being something positive that they have found a connection and a support system against all the odds, it's been turned into this deadly, manipulative, detrimental group of dysfunctional individuals that they're punished if they don't play the role. There's a young girl who's been forced to play the role of a mother but has never been a mother herself. So, she doesn't know how to do it. So, she reverts back and really gets angry at her for not being able to be this mother figure to him, but she's a child.

[00:22:42]She doesn't know. But that's the issue that they may not necessarily have a clue on how to play because if the mother is actually a young girl, then that means the father could also be a young boy. They could all be children forced to play Rui's game. Well, it's not Rui's game. He actually wants to build a family because he wants to get his memories back and he thinks by creating a family that it will somehow trigger those memories, but they may not know how to be the family that he wants them to be because they may not have had that themselves. They may not have had siblings and in the case of the mother, never had children. Don't know how to be a mother to another child when they're just a child themselves. It's almost an impossible task. But the fact that she had the chance to escape, but used that chance to betray someone that genuinely had built a bond with her, that trusted her, shows that this family dynamic isn't a genuine one. They're all in it for themselves, or at least she was in it for herself. She did what was necessary to survive.

[00:23:53]And there was a weird sense of loyalty. Not really weird, it kind of makes sense, you know, she was loyal to Rui because Rui saved her life on the demon slayer's. All of them were saved by Rui. And I think if Rui had been slightly different, they all could have built a genuine connection, a genuine bond. But Rui's obsession with getting his memories back, his obsession with them all playing the roles that they needed to play perfectly, and getting angry when they revert back to their true forms, that he lashes out, he punishes them, and that fear means that they're less likely to play the role willingly and more are doing it because they fear the repercussions. And that's the point.

[00:24:37]They aren't doing it because they want to, they're doing it because they have no choice. Which in itself is so tragic.

[00:24:43]And because it kind of alluded to Rui getting his memories back and seeing a true family bond, we might actually see more of Rui's background, why Rui became the way that he is, because he maybe is coming to the realization that he doesn't actually need to have that bond, to feel that bond, but rather seeing it is enough. In seeing Nezuko and Tanjiro's relationship, he's able to actually gain deeper perspective that it might unlock feelings within him. Because we saw that he was moved by their relationship last episode.

[00:25:20]And he was moved because it emotionally stirred him. Now seeing Nezuko and Tanjiro at the end, uh he's sort of watching them and then it cuts. I think that's going to trigger maybe some of his memories because we have seen in the past that as a demon is dying, they do sort of get flashbacks back to the time when they were human and how it connects to their experience, but it's just so tragic. It really is.

[00:25:50]My theories were completely off though cuz I thought, "Oh, maybe it was actually a family and it was an abusive dynamic being recreated." But no, it's just them playing the roles that were expected of them, but also they're just kids. They don't know how to play these roles. They're being asked to play a role that they don't understand is a recipe for disaster, but I am very excited to see more of Rui's backstory.

[00:26:13]I think it's going to be incredibly tragic and emotional, but another phenomenal episode. It's just getting better and better, guys. It really is.

[00:26:21]Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this react, please consider liking, subscribing, leaving a comment below to help boost this video into the algorithm, and until next episode, bye.