Demon Slayer Revisits Rengoku in New Illustration

Demon Slayer has dropped a new piece of Rengoku artwork, which will grace the cover of “Anime “ #鬼滅の刃 ” Illustration Record Collection 2,” which will be released in early June. The new illustration of Kyojuro Rengoku is pretty epic (as you can see below), which shows the Flame Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps wielding a Nichirin sword right in your face, looking every bit as regal as fans know him to be. It’s the sort of artwork that definitely belongs in the collection of any diehard Demon Slayer fan – and is probably going to be one of the more popular images of the character you see on the Internet. 

Via Translation: 

“The cover of “Anime ‘#鬼滅の刃’ Illustration Record Collection 2”, which will be released next week on Friday, June 2, has finally been released.

Akira Matsushima, who is the character designer and chief animation director, drew for this book,
Kyojuro Rengoku, holding a Nichirin sword, is here.

Please look forward to the release!”

Kyojuro Rengoku has become an iconic shonen hero since Demon Slayer’s anime introduced the Flame Hashira as the main character of the Mugen Train Arc. That storyline was adapted into both the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train feature film in 2020, as well as the opening arc to Demon Slayer Season 2. The Mugen Train movie came out during the pandemic in 2020 but still became both the highest-grossing anime and Japanese movie of all time. 

A major part of what thrilled audiences all over the world when seeing the film, was getting to see some of Demon Slayer’s true power levels on display with Rengoku Flame Breathing techniques, as the Hashira battled the demons’ Upper Rank Three, Akaza. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW) Even though Rengoku died in his battle against Akaza (who still remains at large in the anime series), the example of his bravery and the brilliance of his flame techniques have made him a true icon of the series. 

In fact, Rengoku has continued to be one of the most popular characters for Demon Slayer fans to cosplay and draw, even as the series has moved on to other fan-favorite breakouts – such as Entertainment District Arc’s Tengen Uzui, or Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji from the current Swordsmith Village Arc that also got its own feature film, and is now unfolding in the anime series. 

You can watch Demon Slayer Season 3 on Crunchyroll.