July 4th started with a figurative bang for Day 2 of Anime Expo. As Nerd Reactor reported earlier, Aniplex and Anime Expo came together to host a live performance of the iconic music that has defined the Demon Slayer franchise.

Lines started to grow early in the day as brave costumed cosplayers and noncosplayers alike braved the morning heat on a cloudless day to get into Peacock Theater. The capacity was expected to be high, but despite that, the queue to get in was well organized.

Once attendees were all seated, the musicians took their places and performed a series of themes from Demon Slayer’s first season, followed by a medley of themes from Demon Slayer: Mugen Train and finally the soundtrack for a preview of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.

During the program, voice actor Natsuki Hanae (Tanjio Kamado) came out to do some line readings for a couple of iconic moments in Season 1.

As a surprise, he was later joined by English voice actor Aleks Le (Zenitsu Agatsuma) for a scene in which Tanjiro restrains a dramatically lonely and insecure Zenitsu from bothering a young woman. The wild banter between the voice actors due to the alternation of two different languages elicited loud laughs from the audience and was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the performance.

Overall, the event was a great gift to participating Demon Slayer fans that simultaneously paid tribute to the series’ best moments while adding fuel to the anticipatory excitement surrounding Infinity Castle.