This is a battle manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from issue 11 of 2016 to issue 24 of 2020, and the author is Koyoharu Gotouge. At first glance, his name makes him seem like a man, but Gotouge is actually a woman.
The TV anime aired from April to September 2019, and the sequel, the "Mugen Train Arc", is scheduled to be released as a movie on October 16, 2020.
The protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, lives peacefully with his family deep in the mountains, but when he returns home from town, he finds a gruesome scene.
His family has been brutally murdered by demons, and Tanjiro descends the mountain with his sister Nezuko, who is barely alive.
However, on the way, Nezuko is transformed into a demon. Tanjiro is saved by Giyu Tomioka, a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, and sets out on a journey to turn Nezuko back into a human.
This time, I would like to briefly introduce the Demon Slayer Corps, which is an indispensable part of the story. I think it will be completely different in terms of fun if you know this or not!
The Demon Slayer Corps is led by Oyakatasama
The head of the Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki Kagaya, is at the top of the Demon Slayer Corps. He is called Oyakatasama and worshiped by those around him. He is charismatic, and his words have a gentle air that heals those who hear them.
When Tanjiro first heard the words of the Oyakata-sama, he described this strange feeling of elation as "my head feels light-headed." No matter how powerful a Pillar may be, they pledge their loyalty to the Oyakata-sama and will never be disrespectful to him.
The Oyakata-sama is also the one who allowed Tanjiro and the demon Nezuko to join the Demon Slayer Corps. The Pillars were strongly opposed to this, but in the end, the Oyakata-sama's words went as expected. After all, what the Oyakata-sama says is absolute.
The reason Tanjiro and Nezuko were allowed to join was partly because Urokodaki Sakonji asked them to, but the main reason is probably because Tanjiro once encountered Kibutsuji Muzan. It seems that Tanjiro has some kind of special connection with Kibutsuji Muzan, and you can sense his obsession to defeat him in his generation at all costs.
The existence of the pillars that support the Demon Slayer Corps
They are direct members of the Demon Slayer Corps who serve under the Lord of the Palace, and have abilities that are incomparable to those of regular members. Regular members are killed by demons at a frightening speed, but the pillars are rarely killed, and it is these pillars who are the ones who defeat the majority of demons. Each member has mastered the art of breathing, and the current group is made up of nine members: the Flame Pillar Rengoku Kyojuro, the Sound Pillar Uzui Tengen, the Love Pillar Kanroji Mitsuri, the Rock Pillar Himejima Gyomei, the Mist Pillar Tokito Muichiro, the Snake Pillar Iguro Obanai, the Water Pillar Tomioka Giyuu, the Insect Pillar Kocho Shinobu, and the Wind Pillar Shinazugawa Sanemi. Some members have been killed by demons or retired, but it seems the group has remained the same for a while. Incidentally, Urokodaki Sakonji, who trained Tanjiro, was a former Water Pillar.
Hashira's successor/stepchild
The members that the pillars train themselves are called stepchildren. There aren't that many of them, as they are only selected if they are extremely talented and excellent. Also, because the pillars train them directly, they are ranked much higher than regular members.
Kanao Tsuyuri is the stepchild of the Insect Pillar, Kocho Shinobu. Kanao was raised in the Butterfly Mansion after being saved by Kocho's older sister as a child, and became a stepchild, so I think there are some things about her that are not just her abilities, but she is still much more skilled than regular members. It seems that it's okay for the pillars and their successors to use different breathing techniques, as Rengoku and Uzui have said that they will make Tanjiro and his friends their stepchildren, and Kanao uses a different Flower Breathing technique from Butterfly Breathing.
By the way, Flower Breathing is the basis for Insect Breathing.
Regular members fighting on the front lines
The members who fight on the front lines against the demons are divided into 10 ranks. From top to bottom, they are Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe, and Mizunoto. These ranks represent strength, and the higher the rank, the higher the salary. Also, when a Pillar dies or retires, the next member is selected from the top, Kinoe, so they work hard to achieve their goals and raise their rank. However, not many people joined the Demon Slayer Corps with a strong will like Tanjiro, so the Pillars think that the current regular members are weak and useless. The members have a special mark called "Fujihanabori" on the back of their hands, and when they put force into their fists while shouting "Show your rank," their rank appears. Tanjiro had no idea about this, and was told by Inosuke.
The Demon Slayer Corps is not just about fighting
The mission of the Demon Slayer Corps is to fight demons, but even if they cannot fight, some members fight in the shadows to support those who fight. One of them is Kanzaki Aoi, who supports functional training and directs the treatment of the injured at the Butterfly Mansion in Kocho.
Aoi says that he is a coward who accidentally survived the selection test and joined the Demon Slayer Corps, but after that he was too scared to fight, so he took this position, but without Aoi and the others who support the members behind the scenes, injured members would not be able to return, and Tanjiro and the others would not have been able to become stronger. Although they work behind the scenes, I think they play a very important role.
The "Kakushi" who are dedicated to working behind the scenes
Those who join the Demon Slayer Corps but do not have the ability to kill demons are put in the background as "Kakushi". They do everything except fighting, such as cleaning up after killing demons and transporting injured people to the Butterfly Mansion.
It's a modest position, but it's also an important job for the Demon Slayer Corps.
A simple introduction to the Demon Slayer Corps to which Tanjiro and his friends belong
What did you think?
The Demon Slayer Corps, centered around the Oyakata-sama, is basically made up of pillars, successors, and regular members. Other people involved with the Demon Slayer Corps include former pillars who train members, such as Urokodaki Sakonji, and swordsmiths who forge Nichirin swords, such as Kotetsuzuka Hotaru. When you think of the Demon Slayer Corps, you might imagine it's all about swordsmen who kill demons, but there are also many people who are active in areas other than combat! When will the day come when the Demon Slayer Corps, led by the Lord of the Palace, will defeat their nemesis, Muzan Kibutsuji?
