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, "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 unfolding before his eyes. His family has been brutally murdered by demons, and Tanjiro descends the mountain with his sister Nezuko, who is barely surviving.
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.
The first season of the anime covers the contents of the manga from the middle of volume 7 to volume 8. This time, I would like to introduce Akaza, the Upper Rank demon, who appears for the first time.
The first appearance of an Upper Rank demon
After a fierce battle with Enmu, Tanjiro and his friends somehow managed to win. However, Tanjiro was stabbed in the stomach and was unable to breathe. Rengoku taught Tanjiro what breathing is, and Tanjiro succeeded in stopping the bleeding by improving the accuracy of his breathing. Just when they thought this was the end of the matter, another threat attacks Tanjiro and his friends. As soon as Akaza appears, he tries to kill Tanjiro. Rengoku uses the Second Form of Flame Breathing, "Rising Flames," to block the attack and save Tanjiro. Confronting him, Rengoku immediately realizes that he is an Upper Rank demon. An Upper Rank demon hasn't been killed in nearly a hundred years, so his presence is probably completely different from other demons.
Akaza Prefers the Strong
Rengoku, unable to understand Akaza's actions of targeting those who are injured and weak, asks him why he does so. Akaza hates the weak and prefers the strong, and is annoyed by those weaker than himself, so he targeted Tanjiro, who was dying because he was weak. On the other hand, he likes Rengoku, a Pillar whose fighting spirit has been refined. He accepts strong people, even if they are his enemies. It's a very simple and easy-to-understand way of thinking.
Akaza encourages Rengoku to become a demon
Akaza describes Rengoku's strength as being close to the highest realm, with his fighting spirit refined. However, he is close, but has not yet reached it. Why is that? Because Rengoku is a human. Humans will eventually grow old and die. No matter how strong a person is, they cannot compete with lifespan. In contrast, demons can recover even if they are injured, and they will not grow old and die. For this reason, Akaza believes that by training for hundreds of years, he can reach the highest realm. Akaza, who cannot bear to see the strong grow old and die, convinces Rengoku to become a demon. In a way, he is very pure!
Strength that surpasses even the pillars
Akaza and Rengoku, who have completely opposing ways of thinking, will fight one-on-one. Even if their ways of thinking were not opposed, they would be at odds with the Demon Slayer Corps and demons... Akaza's strength, who has killed many pillars so far, was real. Rengoku, who cannot cut Rengoku's neck in a long-distance attack and defense, takes advantage of a momentary gap and brings the fight to close range. However, Akaza keeps up with Rengoku's movements even at close range. Tanjiro and Inosuke can only watch as the offense and defense becomes too high-level. Their abilities are evenly matched and the fight seems balanced, but gradually the gap widens. While Rengoku's injuries grow to his eyes, bones, and internal organs, Akaza's wounds quickly heal. In a battle between humans and demons, demons have an overwhelming advantage. If their abilities are equal, there's no way a human can win. It may seem unfair, but these aspects are part of the strength of demons.
Akaza uses the Destruction Kill
Akaza's fighting style is mainly bare-handed combat using the Destruction Kill. He deploys a technique called the Destruction Kill "Compass" and fights by unleashing Destruction Kills in accordance with his opponent's attacks and movements. In the fight against Rengoku, he uses the Destruction Kills "Kushiki", "Ranshiki", and "Metsushiki". In fact, the names of Akaza's techniques come from fireworks. I would like to touch on the reason for this in Akaza's past, which will be discussed later.
No matter how strong a demon is, it's still a demon
Akaza pierces Rengoku's chest and shows his overwhelming strength, but when he realizes that dawn is approaching, he tries to run away in a panic. No matter how strong he gets, demons can't beat the sunlight. Rengoku doesn't let Akaza pull out his arm, so Akaza starts to get impatient. His composure from before is completely gone. Tanjiro and Inosuke, who did not miss this opportunity, support Rengoku, and Akaza quickly escapes.
Tanjiro, I will never forget you!
Akaza fled from the sunlight, fearing the light of the sun, but he couldn't forget what Tanjiro said to him as he was leaving: "Coward!!" Akaza didn't run away from the Demon Slayer Corps, he ran away from the light of the sun, but for someone who seeks power, the word "coward" must have been hard to ignore. Furthermore, he was hit by someone who wasn't a pillar, and Muzan pointed out that he only managed to kill one person, and he was cursed at for being disappointed. With his pride shattered, Akaza vows to take revenge on Tanjiro.
Akaza's past
Akaza is his name after he became a demon, and when he was human, he was called Komaji. Living with his sickly father, Komaji made a living by pickpocketing and other means to buy medicine for his father. At the age of eleven, he committed multiple crimes and was sent to the magistrate's office, and even after receiving a hundred lashes, the spirited Komaji was shunned as a demon child. His father, who felt that it was his fault that Komaji was heading down the wrong path, committed suicide, leaving behind a letter telling Komaji to live an honest life.
Because of poverty, he couldn't buy medicine, and if he stole to buy it, he was punished. Scumbags lived comfortably while decent people died. Frustrated by a world where poor people were not allowed to live, Komaji spent his days raging and fighting. Then Keizo, the assistant instructor at the Soryu dojo, appeared before Komaji. After seeing Komaji's skills, Keizo encouraged him to become his student.
Meeting with Koyuki
Keizo had a sickly daughter named Koyuki. Komaji, who became his student, was asked to take care of Koyuki. Komaji, who was always there to look after her, said that it wasn't hard because he was used to it, but he probably saw Koyuki as his father who suffered from illness and couldn't leave her alone. After three years as a student and taking care of Koyuki, Komaji turned 18 and was asked by Keizo to take over the dojo. Koyuki fell in love with the kind Komaji who always looked after her, and Keizo acknowledged this. Komaji made a promise to become husband and wife with Koyuki. Komaji, who was a criminal, never thought that he would have a future where people liked him, so he wanted to protect Keizo and Koyuki even at the cost of his life.
Promise for Fireworks
Koyuki asks to go see some fireworks to change her mood, and Komaji says he can go anytime, so they should go together. For Koyuki, who doesn't know when she will die and thinks that everyone around her has given up on her, Komaji's presence, who talks about the future as a matter of course, is important, and his words made her very happy. The memory of this fireworks is important to Komaji, and it is the name of the technique. The pattern of the technique's deployment is also reminiscent of the pattern on Koyuki's hair ornament.
Komaji who lost everything important
While Komaji went to his father's grave to report the wedding, Keizo and Koyuki were poisoned to death in the dojo. The swordsmanship dojo, which had been harassing the Soryu dojo for some time, poisoned the dojo's well because it knew it couldn't win against Keizo and Komaji in a direct fight. Having lost two loved ones at once, Keizo and Koyuki, who had saved him from rock bottom in his life, Komaji turned to violence like he had done in the past and attacked the dojo. Records of this incident remain at the magistrate's office, and it is said that Komaji alone brutally murdered 67 members of the dojo with his bare hands, destroying their heads and internal organs in a scene that was a scene from hell. The attack on the dojo caused a commotion that a demon had appeared, and Muzan went to the scene, but it turned out to be the human Komaji. Muzan was trying to create the Twelve Kizuki, so he welcomed Komaji into the Twelve Kizuki as a demon.
A summary of Akaza, the Upper Rank demon, finally appears
What did you think?
Akaza shows off his incredible power as an Upper Rank Three, but he is actually a very kind person. He only sought power because he thought of his father.
When he first appeared, I only knew that power was everything, but when I learned about his past, it was kind of sad.
Akaza is the only one of the Twelve Kizuki who did not eat a woman, so it's probably because he never forgot about Koyuki even after becoming a demon.
