Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba follows the story of Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted and intelligent boy, living with his family in the mountains who has become the breadwinner of the family by selling charcoal in a nearby village after his father passed away.
Everything he knows in his life changed when he comes home one day to find out that his whole family was attacked and slaughtered by a demon, only his sister Nezuko survived the attack as she transformed into a demon herself but still, Nezuko is showing some signs of human emotion in her and some thoughts.
Tanjiro is then recruited by a demon slayer, Giyū Tomioka, after they chanced upon each other and he sent Tanjiro to Sakonji Urokodaki, a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, for training to become one of them. With this, the quest Tanjiro began in hopes of turning his sister back to humans and avenging the death of their family.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is an anime series produced by Ufotable which will be directed again by Haruo Sotozaki and character designs from Akira Matsushima. Its second season will be titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Yūkaku-hen which will follow the arc of the anime film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train.
The film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train was released in October 2020 and was hailed as the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film of all time.
The series is licensed by Aniplex of America and is streaming via Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu for distribution of the series in the US and other locations across the globe while AnimeLab hosts the streaming of the series for Australia and New Zealand.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is based on the Japanese shōnen manga of the same name written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge which is published in the Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. Viz Media published the English manga version.
The scar on Tanjiro's forehead changes over time and for sure, eagle-eyed viewers have observed the changes that the scar has had, subtly evolving throughout the series. It becomes a definitive mark of Tanjiro which involves a mysterious phenomenon as to why it changes over time.
The scar of Tanjiro is referred to as the Demon Slayer Mark which is like a tattoo or a birthmark giving incredible powers to Tanjiro or any Demon Slayer possessing the mark. It is directly originated in those who practice Sun-Breathing techniques like Tanjiro. It marks exceptionally strong Demon Slayers attributing to the bearer the association of power.
Each Demon Slayer mark is unique to the bearer which is tailored-fit to the style of Sun-Breathing that the bearer has. The origins of the mark may be unknown but for some, they are born with the mark meaning that from birth, they are bound to become exceptional Demon Slayers.
An example of someone born with the Demon Slayer mark is Yoriichi Tsugikuni which bears the mark from the moment of his birth and his brother, Kokushibo, revealed that the mark is so strange that their father was about to kill Yoriichi in the assumption that the mark would be carrying with it a curse.
But the father of Yoriichi was current in his assumption that the mark is also bringing a curse. Those bearing the Demon Slayer mark pass and dies by the time they reach 25 years old. Too young to face death, it is believed that the powers they carry would be in exchange for their lifespan which makes it shorter.
Though, in two exceptional cases, the curse did not happen. Kokushibo and Yoriichi lived way past 25 years old when Kokushibo lived to become an immortal demon whereas, for Yoriichi, it is unknown how he managed to live to the age of 85.
As for Tanjiro, his mark did not come out of anywhere. It was originally a scar that he had in an accident when he saved his brother from a falling brazier. In Tanjiro's journey to being the strongest Demon Slayer of all, his scar transforms into becoming a Demon Slayer mark which is fitting his Sun Breathing technique.
The mark of Tanjiro develops and resonates as his storyline deepens. The mark takes on four different forms throughout the show: first from the original scar, second from the transformation of the scar after Tanjiro fought the Hand Demon, third from the fight with Rui, and fourth when Tanjiro awakened the Demon Slayer mark the first time ever versus Gyuatro and then with Hantengo.
The Demon Slayer mark awakened by Tanjiro did not come without any adversity as it gives life-threatening conditions to him making his heart rate push over 200 beats per minute and giving him a fever of 39 degrees Celsius. Still, because of the mark, Tanjiro was able to access powers from the Transparent World as seen in his fight versus Akaza.
The mark gives Tanjiro various abilities such as hyper perception which is also known as the Transparent World and his Nichirin Blades become red interfering with the demon ability of regeneration. Because of this, Tanjiro's abilities is on par with Twelve Kizuki.
Having the mark also means that Tanjiro was able to meet the criteria of resonance of the Hashiras making him able to access the abilities that are on par with that of Twelve Kizuki.
As Tanjiro faces his dynamic transformation throughout the series, Tanjiro surely becomes the strongest Demon Slayer in his time, during the Taisho period.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Yūkaku-hen is expected to be released in July 2021.
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