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Demon Slayer season 3 premiered in early April 2023 as a part of the Spring 2023 anime season, meeting with thunderous applause and praise after its first hour-long episode. While this is somewhat unsurprising considering its status as one of the most highly anticipated anime of the season, it’s still remarkable to see how popular the series is.
One aspect of the overall series and Demon Slayer season 3, which fans think is attractive, is its approach to Japanese lore and how it incorporates them into the series. Author and illustrator Koyoharu Gotouge is to thank for this since she has crafted her series with real-world inspiration in mind.
In fact, the latest Japanese lore to be reborn in Demon Slayer season 3 comes in the form of Hantengu, the Upper Rank Four moon of the Twelve Kizuki. Both Hantengu and his various clones and forms all provide commentary on the Japanese interpretation of the core human emotions.
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Demon Slayer season 3 uses Hantengu’s forms, epic fight scenes to introduce concept of core human emotions
Long before Demon Slayer season 3 came into existence, the yojijukugo was born as the Japanese equivalent to the Chinese chengyu. In essence, the yojijukugo is a four-character idiom that can be used to describe the range of human emotions people feel as a whole. In this case, it’s being repurposed to the demon (and former human) Hantengu’s emotions.
Contemporarily, these emotions are extrapolated to six, and for the Japanese, it includes joy, sorrow, fear, pleasure, anger, and disgust. Generally speaking, the world describes pleasure as “surprise” and anger as “rage.” However, due to linguistic differences, anger and pleasure are the most appropriate choices for the Japanese to use.
Each of Hantengu’s clones and forms also represents a whole or part of these six emotions. For example, Hantengu himself represents fear, while his first four clones Sekido, Karaku, Aizetsu, and Urogi all represent anger, pleasure, sorrow, and joy. Demon Slayer season 3 even sees each of these five with the kanji for their respective emotions written on their tongue.
However, this leaves the emotion of disgust unrepresented, but there is also a seventh form of Hantengu that doesn’t necessarily pair off with a particular emotion. The emotion of disgust is partially represented by both Urami and Zohakuten, who are the two final forms of Hantengu. Zohakuten represents the hatred that plays into disgust, while Urami represents the resentment aspect.
It’s also worth noting that Zohakuten, as seen in Demon Slayer season 3, is also an amalgamation of all the other emotions. While it could just be a coincidence, it may be a deliberate and interesting choice by Gotouge to have hatred become the final product of mixing the emotions of anger, pleasure, sorrow, and joy.
In any case, Hantengu serves as the representation of a key aspect of Japanese historical and societal lore. The core human emotions are considered foundational to how Japanese society is structured, which further emphasizes the significance of Gotouge’s representing them in her anime and manga series.
Follow along for more Demon Slayer anime news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
