Warning: Spoiler for Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc, episode #7As demon slayerAs the heroes continue to confront the Upper Four and the Upper Five, it becomes increasingly clear that all of these high-ranking youkai serving Muzan share a very particular weakness, and it has nothing to do with light. sun.
In Demon Slayer, all demons once started as humans, before Muzan converted them. That means every opponent, no matter how inhumane they may seem, has lived a normal life. Although that time has long passed, fragments of old life still haunt many demons, especially in the higher ranks of Muzan’s forces. Now the Upper Five Gyokko are proving that it is the vestiges of their previous lives that are really the youkai’s greatest weakness—not the nichirin sword or the sunlight.
Demon Slayer’s Demons were once humans, and that was their greatest weakness
In episode #7 of Swordsmith Village, the demon Gyokko finds his way to a mysterious warehouse, which many people have tried to protect. This naturally intrigued Gyokko, so when he entered, he was surprised to see a swordsmith still working in this warehouse. In fact, the swordsmith Haganezuka was so engrossed in his work (fixing a 300-year-old secret sword for Tanjiro) that he didn’t even notice the demon’s presence. Even if Gyokko intended to harm him, Haganezuka’s attention wouldn’t have been drawn – he was in the trance of some craftsman, so devoted to his craft that even a threat Even death could not stop him. This angers Gyokko, who no longer wants to kill the swordsmith but forces him to pay attention and neglect the sword.
The reason why Gyokko was so upset was because he was also an artist, and he was jealous of the talent and dedication that Haganezuka showed. What Gyokko wanted to destroy was not a sword or a swordsmith, but a dedication to the art he was so jealous of. In fact, several other demons had similar problems, which ultimately led to their failure. For example, the drum demon Kyogai was similarly tired of his writing being disrespected throughout his human life; but Tanjiro, even when fighting him, avoids stepping on the demon’s handwriting, a fact that distracts Kyogai. Susamaru, the temari demon, considered temari as a weapon because she was converted into a demon as a child, and her favorite toy is the temari ball. The daughter’s admiration for Muzan, a remnant of her own human life, is ultimately the cause of her failure. The same principle can be applied to Gyutaro’s feelings for his sister or Akaza’s refusal to kill women.
Even the six demons above are weakened by their human emotions
The first thing a member of the Demon Slayer Corps learns is how to kill demons: by beheading them with a nichirin sword or exposing them to sunlight. However, the series has consistently and subtly pointed out that demons, especially the strongest ones, despite having removed their humanity, still retain obsessions, passions, or other aspects. in their personality can often act as a major weakness. Nuanced details like this are what make it demon slayer one of the most exciting and successful shounen series in recent years.
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