Episode 6 of TV anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village” has been aired on May 14, 2023. After the broadcast, a new illustration of “Shinazugawa Genya” had been posted on the official “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” Twitter, and Okamoto Nobuhiko, who plays Genya, also tweetted his thoughts on his Twitter.

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is based on the same-name bestseller manga by Gotoge Koyoharu that was serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump” from 2016 to 2020 , and the total sales of all 23 volumes had exceeded 150 million copies.

The story is focused on a young boy Kamado Tanjiro, whose family was murdered by a demon, and whose sister, Nezuko, became a demon. In order to make her a human again, he throws himself in fights with demons. “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kamado Tanjirou Risshi Arc” was broadcast in 2019, the movie “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train” was released in 2020, the TV version “Mugen Train Arc” and “Demon Slayer -Kimetsu No Yaiba- Entertainment District Arc” were released in in 2021-2022, and in February 2023, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village” has been released. The long-awaited “Swordsmith Village Arc” depicts new battles between the Mist Hashira Tokitou Muichiro and the Love Hashira Kanroji Mitsuri.

After the broadcast of episode 6 “Aren’t You Going to Become a Hashira?”, the official “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” Twitter posted a 28-second video featuring Genya and a new illustration of Genya with a Nichirin blade and a gun along with a comment “A new character illustration of “Shinazugawa Genya” drawn by ufotable has been revealed”.
In addition, the animation studio ufotable has released an illustration of Genya and Shinazugawa Sanemi bowing in order to say “Thank you”. Sanemi’s smiling face, which is different from his usual state, gained attention.

Moreover, Okamoto Nobuhiko, who plays Genya, tweeted, “Today is Mother’s Day… You were the best today as always… Older brother” with the hashtag “#鬼滅の刃”.
Users responded to Okamoto’s tweet, saying, “There are no brothers as kind as the Shinazugawa brothers. I can’t stop crying thinking of them!”, “Older brother… I’m crying.”

Episode 6 depicts Genya’s past, and other members of Shinazugawa family appear. Yuzuki Ryoka played the role of the mother Shizu, Waki Azumi played the role of the younger sister Teiko, Maeda Kaori played the role of Sumi, Matsuoka Satomi played the role of Shuya, Kawase Maki played the role of Hiroshi, and Tanaka Aimi played the role of Koto.
Various twitter users expressed their feelings, “Oh, oh, I have mixed feelings on Mother’s Day…!!” Maeda also expressed her thoughts, “Ugh… in that scene… I felt like my heart was going to be crushed… I was so happy to be able to appear! Please look forward to the next episode!”

(C) Gotoge Koyoharu / Shueisha, Aniplex, ufotable