The movie version of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" was released in 2020 and became a huge hit all over the world. Not only was it popular as a movie, it has also become popular as a TV animation, and it has become so popular that it is now difficult to find someone in Japan who does not know about this work. The protagonist of this work, Kamado Tanjiro, can be said to have become a national anime protagonist, just like Doraemon from "Doraemon" and Nohara Shinnosuke from "Crayon Shin-chan". However, if you look at the story structure and various settings of this work, it is not Tanjiro who is the main axis of the story. Is there another character other than Tanjiro who has grown the most in this work? I would like to introduce the fact and the basis for this fact. Let's unravel the hidden message behind this work through an introduction of the character who can be said to be the true protagonist of this work!
The hidden protagonist is Kamado Nezuko!
To get straight to the point, the hidden protagonist of this work is Kamado Nezuko. In the story, she has become a demon, and there are few scenes where she speaks, but if you look closely at her actions, you will see that she is a character who has grown far more than the main character, Tanjiro.
It can also be a pure "big brother, do your best" story, but...
Of course, this work is also interesting enough as a "big brother, do your best" story, with Tanjiro as the main character and his brother doing his best for Nezuko, who has become a demon.
The theme of this work is not brotherly love
However, the theme of this work is not just "brotherly love" in which Tanjiro works hard for Nezuko! I would like you to know that this work is a work that allows you to receive a completely different message from the author by focusing not only on Tanjiro but also on Nezuko.
Disadvantages of Tanjiro's Love
First of all, there is a clear disadvantage to Tanjiro's act of continuing to protect Nezuko. That is, Nezuko becomes an existence that should be protected unilaterally. This will help Tanjiro grow, but on the other hand, Nezuko, who is his sister and has become a demon, will naturally be unable to do anything and will not have to make an effort.
Is Nezuko a "weak" character who is only protected by her brother?
In other words, Nezuko lacks the "effort" that is so important in Jump works. Of course, some people may think that Nezuko doesn't need to grow because Tanjiro is the main character, but would Gotouge-sensei, a female manga artist, make Nezuko, one of the most important female characters in the work, such a shallow character?
Will Tanjiro grow for Nezuko's sake?
For Tanjiro, Nezuko is someone he needs to protect, and it is a very classic and easy-to-understand interpretation that Tanjiro becomes strong because he has someone to protect, but don't we need to carefully reconsider the point, "Is Nezuko really only depicted as someone who needs to be protected?"
The real theme is independence from her brother
In fact, if you look at Nezuko, you will see that she is not just a character who is protected by her brother. Even after becoming a demon, Nezuko made many decisions in the story that differed from her brother's, and each time she did so, she grew. In other words, if you look at this work from Nezuko's perspective, it is also a story about a younger sister becoming independent from her older brother, growing up herself in order to protect her brother who fights while sacrificing himself for her.
[itemlink post_id="109210"]Pay attention to the scene where Nezuko rebels against Tanjiro for the first time
The basis for this is that there are many scenes in the story where Nezuko rebels against her brother. The most obvious example is the battle against Hantengu in Volume 15.
Breaking free from dependency on her brother
At the end of the battle with Hantengu, Tanjiro is forced to choose between saving the swordsmiths or exposing Nezuko to sunlight, and is conflicted. At that time, before Tanjiro can act, Nezuko pushes him away and exposes her body to the sunlight herself. This is indeed the first time that Nezuko, who had been completely dependent on Tanjiro until then, has acted of her own volition.
Nezuko's emotional growth and her return to humanity are synchronized
And from this scene onwards, Nezuko overcomes sunlight, a demon's weakness. In other words, she is one step closer to becoming human. It is clear that this physical growth of overcoming sunlight is triggered by her mental growth, of being able to think for herself and become independent from her brother.
Demons are a metaphor for a "weak heart"
In this way, in the story, Nezuko breaks free from her weak heart and becomes more human every time she acts on her own judgment. Doesn't this mean that in this work, demons are a metaphor for a weak heart, and conversely, by destroying that weak heart, one can return to being human?
All demons have weaknesses in their hearts
In fact, all the demons that appear in the story have weaknesses somewhere in their hearts. Those who have a tendency to lie, hold grudges against something, or are afraid of death, and have other weaknesses in their hearts when they were human, tend to eventually become demons.
The denial of weakness is the way to return from being a demon
In other words, in this work, destroying demons can also be interpreted as overcoming the weakness in our hearts, and Nezuko is the one who puts this into practice the most in the work. Nezuko, who actually became a demon herself and was protected without any inconvenience by her brother, becomes independent from her dependence on him and returns to being a human in order to protect her brother, which can be said to be another plot point of this work.
Return from demons as a setting
Of course, there are other reasons why Nezuko, as depicted in the correct setting, was able to return from being a demon.
In the setting, Nezuko was able to return thanks to medicine
For example, the most obvious suggestion in the work is that the reason Nezuko was able to return from demon to human is thanks to the medicine brought about by Tamayo's research. Rather, if you are simply reading and enjoying the work, it is correct to think that this "Tamayo's medicine" is the direct cause of Nezuko's return to human form.
The message is that "breaking free from dependency on her brother" is the key to her return?
However, this is only a setting story. Basically, a story work has two things: the outward setting and the author's message hidden in that setting. It is also important to think about the message from the author, "What did the author want to tell us in the story of Nezuko returning to human form?" One answer to that is probably the "breaking away from dependency on her brother" that we introduced this time.
[itemlink post_id="109212"]Why is this work so popular with women?
In this way, this work not only depicts Tanjiro's own growth, but also Nezuko's growth in detail. Rather, it can be said that Nezuko, who has become both a demon and a human, with opposing qualities, is the character with the strongest message throughout the work. When you think about it that way, it's easy to see why this character is so popular with women.
The presence of another main character, Nezuko
The contrast between the two characters, Tanjiro, the apparent main character, and Nezuko, the other main character, is what makes this work so popular with both men and women. From a woman's perspective, the story of a strong girl who becomes independent from those who protect her resonates more with her than the message, "Let's become strong for someone important!"
Depicted as mental growth, not physical growth
It is also worth noting that her growth is not physical. Men tend to prefer physical growth, such as "Gear Second" or "Super Saiyan," but women tend to focus on the inner workings of characters, and therefore tend to prefer mental growth, such as how a character's heart became stronger as a result of a single event. In that sense, Nezuko's growth in this work is very much to the taste of women.
It is because we have a weak heart that we can become strong
In this way, Demon Slayer gives us the message that it is because we have a weak heart that we can become strong in order to break free from it. We readers must also have weak hearts, such as being afraid of something or blaming others. However, by breaking down that weakness in our hearts like Nezuko, we may be able to continue to become stronger at any time.
The fun of combining boys' and girls' manga
The protagonist of this work, Tanjiro Kamado, has been fighting for his sister since the beginning of the story, and his mental growth is not depicted. Rather, it is Nezuko who has struggled more than anyone else with her weakness of heart and achieved mental growth. One of the features of this work is that it depicts two stories at the same time: the growth of Tanjiro, who grows stronger purely through training, as in a boys' manga, and the growth of Nezuko, as in a girls' manga.
Summary
What did you think? This time, we introduced Kamado Nezuko, who could be said to be another main character in this work "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba". There are many other attractive characters in this work besides Nezuko, so please take a look at the many characters other than Tanjiro!
