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There are also the other Demon Slayer Corps members, the Hashira trainees, the Hashira themselves, all the Demons, all the Swordsmith Village people, and all the supporting normal human characters in each arc. Suffice to say, it’s a bit much to keep up with. Because of this rather large cast, some of the more interesting or plot-relevant characters are a bit underutilized, so it’s time go over some of the best examples.
Disclaimer: Full Demon Slayer manga spoilers below
7 Kagaya Ubuyashiki
Kagaya Ubuyashiki, otherwise known as the 97th head of his family and leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, was utilized pretty well in Demon Slayer’s narrative, but not perfectly. While his connection to Muzan and the curse of his family are incredibly interesting, they’re barely ever explored at length. The story never actually explains the “curse” put upon the Ubuyashiki bloodline or how it works.
What’s more, Kagaya’s almost “magical” ability to calm and charm anyone he talks to is explained in a single line of text and is left at that. It would have been interesting to look into the backstory of Kagaya’s family, how the men of the family reacted to their curse, or how Kagaya learned to best utilize his persuasive power.
6 Shinjuro Rengoku
Funnily enough, this entry isn’t about Kyojuro Rengoku, the explosive Flame Hashira that sadly burned out too soon. Rather, it’s about his father, the previous Flame Pillar. Fans are told that Shinjuro used to be an upstanding and kind father, who taught his kids the basics of Flame Breathing. But, the Shinjuro that viewers got to see after the events of the Mugen Train movie/arc is apathetic to the world, angry at anything related to demon-slaying, and a jerk in general.
Fans eventually find out that this decline is related to more than the loss of his son Rengoku against the Upper Moon named Akaza. It also stemmed from his wife’s passing, and from his feeling of inadequacy in comparison to the Sun Breathing style. These feelings of loss, anger, and inferiority are what led Shinjuro to being the angry drunk fans see in the anime. During the Infinity Castle Arc, Shinjuro shows back up to defend the remaining Ubuyashikis along with ex-Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui, but he’s a totally different man.
He’s no longer drunk, angry, or even petty; he’s basically a completely different person. It’s implied that this change came about steadily from Tanjiro’s intervention and one other spoiler-heavy event, but it’s never shown, and the change in character feels unearned.
5 Obanai Iguro
There are so many Total Concentration Breathing styles that are tragically underexplored in Demon Slayer, and the Serpent Style used by Hashira Obanai Iguro is one of them. Viewers are told that the Water, Flame, Stone, Wind, and Thunder breathing styles are the oldest forms that stemmed from Sun Breathing, with the Mist style branching out from Wind, but that’s it. The more unique Breathing styles like Love, Serpent, or even Inosuke’s Beast Breathing are never explained. Thankfully, the anime fixes this by adding a few more canon connections, but still leaves some unexplained.
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Furthermore, Obanai’s backstory and character arc are hurriedly explored and explained during the final Infinity Castle Arc of the story. It’s almost as if writers were trying to fit all of it in before the story ended, and people complained about threads left hanging.
4 Genya Shinazugawa
Genya Shinazugawa is one of the more interesting characters of Demon Slayer. Originally, Genya is seen as a sort of antagonistic bully during the Final Selection Exam. But, when his story is eventually explained and his abilities are revealed, viewers/readers quickly turned around. That said, Genya really doesn’t get to show off all too much. He plays a part in slaying Hantengu, the fourth rank Upper Moon, but it was mostly in service of making Tanjiro look better.
Fans are never told why Genya can’t use the Breathing Styles, or how he managed to pass without it. Plus, how does his “Demon Flesh Absorption” ability function, and where did it come from? It’s all left unexplained. What’s more, the few relationships he does have, primarily his connection to one of the stronger Hashira, the Stone Pillar Gyomei Himejima, are barely elaborated on.
3 Murata
Demon Slayer is guilty of a very common anime trope used in a lot of shows like it, in which tons of background characters, who all passed the same training as the heroes, often show up only to immediately die or lose. For example, viewers/readers are told that the Demon Slayer Corps is a pretty large organization, but other than Tanjiro’s crew, the Tsuguko under the Hashira, and the Hashira themselves, there are almost no notable Demon Slayer Corps members.
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But, at least there’s Murata. Originally showing up during the Natagumo Mountain arc alongside a bunch of unnamed sacrificial lamb Demon Slayers, Murata separates himself from the others by fending off his puppeteer’d comrades while Tanjiro and Inosuke continue onward. After this Arc and the recovery at the Butterfly Mansion, Murata doesn’t show up again until the Hashira Training Arc. It would have been great to see a “normal” Demon Slayer attempt to climb his way up the ranks in terms of prestige and strength side-by-side with Tanjiro’s crew.
2 Tamayo
Tamayo is inarguably one of the most important characters in the series that gets almost no screen time, outside her initial introduction in the Asakusa Arc. Tamayo, the brave rebel Demon that she is, has so much to offer the story, but she’s relegated to solving problems off-screen and her interesting backstory is only brought up once or twice.
Tamayo is one of the oldest living Demons out there. She used to be the personal attendant of Muzan himself until Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the original Sun Breathing user, accidentally freed her from his control. But, what was she like before this? How did she go from the usual bloodthirsty Demon to the rational person that she is now? Sadly, the manga never really goes into it. Additionally, her team-up with the Demon Slayer Corps comes way too late, considering the lengths the Demon Slayers go in order to beat Muzan.
1 Kaigaku
Throughout the course of Demon Slayer’s story, there are a few key moments where the widely-disliked (yet somehow popular) main cast character Zenitsu has some flashbacks to his training days. And in almost all these flashbacks, his fellow disciple Kaigaku is there, without showing his full face but always verbally abusing Zenitsu.
When Kaigaku finally shows up after all this buildup, he’s already a Demon, already an Upper Moon, and has already caused the past Thunder Hashira to commit seppuku. Kaigaku’s “characterization” as Zenitsu’s personal antagonist feels rushed, and even his Demon Blood Art feels underdeveloped. He would’ve been a fantastic character to introduce as a Demon earlier in the story to show off the other five forms of the Thunder Breathing Style, and force Zenitsu to innovate and create his own seventh form.
Worst of all, very few Demon Slayer fans realize he’s actually one of the orphans that the Stone Hashira, Gyomei, took care of before becoming a Demon Slayer because. The story itself barely discusses this at all.
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