Demon Slayer season 2 — Mugen Train Arc episode 2 recap: Dreams, hearts and spirits

The Mugen Train ride is underway. Tanjiro and gang finally meet up with Kyojuro Rengoku on the train while Rengoku scarfs down those bento boxes we saw him get from Fuku and grandma in episode 1.

Tanjiro acknowledges the Flame Hashira is a little quirky, but Rengoku’s scent gives off a strong sense of justice. Tanjiro can sure smell some weird stuff… I’m honestly jealous. As per usual, Zenitsu freaks out upon hearing there’s a demon lurking while Inosuke exudes his maniac self banging on the windows, wanting to race this monster called a train.

Largely, this episode contains much of what we’ve seen before in the movie, but let’s recap for those watching Mugen Train for the first time and talk about what’s new.

Beware: Spoilers ahead!

New intro and outro

This is the newest content we received this week.

LiSA, who sang the original Demon Slayer theme song, Gurenge, returns to sing the opening and outro for this arc. The opening theme is called Akeboshi and it features intense and beautiful string melodies to start the song. The outro theme is called Shirogane. It’s a little more hype than the opener as a faster-paced song, but it blends more string melodies with LiSA’s signature rock anthem feel.

The biggest thing from the opening and outro are scenes we haven’t seen before, not even in the Mugen Train film. It includes shots of toddler Kyojuro Rengoku looking down at his baby brother Senjurō Rengoku. We also see adult Kyojuro teaching Senjurō some time when they’re older.

Now, we did briefly meet Senjurō in the Mugen Train film as part of Kyojuro’s dream, but the scenes included in this installment of Demon Slayer’s opening were not in the film. This could mean that some of the new scenes promised with the Mugen Train Arc might be an expansion of Kyojuro’s dream, providing a deeper backstory on Kyojuro and his brother Senjurō.

Enmu’s assault begins

The dreary-looking train conductor comes by to punch the passengers’ cards, but it’s later revealed that he’s working for the demon Enmu, as are other children on the train who want Enmu to spell cast them into happy dreams. Enmu is the Lower One of the Twelve Kizuki — the same demon that received that boatload of Muzan Kibutsuji’s blood at the end of season 1.

Enmu’s blood demon art allows him to put his victims to sleep and even curate their dreams while under his spell — from happy to horrifying.

We know from the Mugen Train film that the sleep spell is activated on the gang the moment the conductor punches the cards. So, yes, unfortunately, that amazing Rengoku action we see is actually just a dream — but whose dream was it? Probably Rengoku considering that the gang is gushing over him calling him “big brother” while Rengoku laughs it up.

The slayers are asleep and vulnerable; the children working for Enmu tether themselves to the slayers to penetrate their dreams and destroy their spiritual core. “A human’s driving force is the heart, the spirit! All you have to do is destroy the spiritual core and you can kill them just like that,” Enmu screams into the void as he rides on top of the Mugen Train.

Tanjiro’s dream

It’s what Tanjiro wanted in the first place and what moves him to be a strong member of the demon slayer core: A safe and happy family. Tanjiro’s deep slumber has him back in his old look, in the snowy mountains where he grew up with his family, selling coal when he became old enough.

The moment Tanjiro sees his previously deceased younger siblings Hanako and Shigeru, he drops his sword, runs to them and hugs them while tears pour down his eyes. It sure must be good to see them again.

Tanjiro also sees momma Kie and youngest brother Rokuta in their home.

There’s no sign of Nezuko yet, but we know she’ll show up in a later episode since there’s a big moment with her in the Mugen Train film.