Demon Slayer's emphasis on training is wasted by Tanjiro's biggest feats

Modified Jan 02, 2025 04:30 GMT

Demon Slayer didn't fully seize Tanjiro's training arcs (Image via Ufotable).

Demon Slayer is a series that emphasizes Tanjiro Kamado's desire to avenge his family and take the life of Muzan Kibutsuji, the demon king, which is why the protagonist is constantly seen training and attempting to get stronger.

While this explains how Tanjiro gains more strength in every arc, there is also the problem that his biggest feats are not connected to that.

There have been several instances in the Demon Slayer series when Tanjiro accomplishes multiple feats that no other human in the story has achieved and there is no explanation for that.

While the series never showed the protagonist to have any special lineage or gain a power-up that could explain these feats, making his progress through training feels somewhat disjointed.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

Explaining why Tanjiro's biggest feats in Demon Slayer undermine his training

Tanjiro seen in combat in the anime (Image via Ufotable).

There is no denying that the series has constantly shown Tanjiro Kamado as a hard-working fighter as he is seen time and time again training throughout the story.

Whenever he is not involved in a mission during the manga's arcs, he is seen training, which emphasizes his steady growth in the story. However, that hard work doesn't play a role in his biggest feats.

One of the most notorious is his access to Sun Breathing, which is the most powerful kind of Breathing technique in the franchise and had been forgotten by modern members of the Corps.

However, Tanjiro has access to this and there are no real explanations beyond his father doing a dance he witnessed during his childhood, which is disappointing, to say the least.

Most manga readers know that Tanjiro gets possessed by Muzan at the end of the story, thus developing a new kind of demon who can still withstand sunlight.

This is because both the protagonist and his sister Nezuko Kamado have a natural resistance to sunlight as demons. This has never been explained in the story and is probably one of the franchise's biggest loopholes.

More elements that undermine his training

Tanjiro as seen in the third season of the anime (Image via Ufotable).

It is also worth pointing out that Tanjiro proves to be resistant to Muzan's blood, which has nothing to do with the training he goes through in Demon Slayer.

The story fails to explain why he has a natural resistance to this. Even if an explanation was given, it is due to his genetics, which means that his training didn't have anything to do with this feat.

It makes sense that Tanjiro managed to get stronger because of his own hard work and training, but he managed to reach Hashira level during the Entertainment District arc, leapfrogging multiple stages all at once.

That is a running theme throughout the vast majority of the series and undermines the achievements he got through his training.

Final thoughts

Tanjiro Kamado proves to be one of the most dedicated characters in Demon Slayer with his constant training and the laser focus he had on avenging his family.

However, it is also true that a lot of his biggest accomplishments were because of his lineage or genetics, making his hard work feel a bit more underwhelming.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande