Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Demon Slayer manga! It’s been over five years since Koyoharu Gotouge’s Weekly Shonen Jump hit, Demon Slayer, reached its conclusion. The manga, which was already fairly popular, skyrocketed after the anime adaptation in 2019. At the peak of its popularity in 2020, it reached its controversial finale, and while the initial dissatisfaction has long died down, the ending isn’t as greatly appreciated as it should be. The story entered its final phase in the Infinity Castle Arc, which is being adapted into a trilogy film by Ufotable. The first installment has already been released across the globe, and it’s the highest-earning anime film of all time, breaking the record of the previous Infinity Train film.
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While the Infinity Castle Arc is full of thrilling and heartbreaking moments, the real controversy begins during the Sunrise Countdown Arc, when the Demon Slayers finally fight Muzan Kibutsuji. The demon progenitor has been terrorizing the people of Japan for over a thousand years, and the Corps gives up everything in order to defeat him. The surviving Demon Slayers were already exhausted and injured after the intense battles inside the Infinity Castle, but they pushed past their limits to stop Muzan once and for all. While the ending isn’t perfect, it’s far from being unsatisfactory, and one underrated detail about the main villain proves it.
Muzan’s Defeat Was Thanks to an Ancient Demon
There’s a certain pattern in Shonen series when handling the main villain since they tend to rely on power-ups caused by rage, power of friendship themes, or literally anything that puts the protagonist in the spotlight. Most of the Shonen main characters are young, but they somehow defeat the villains who have been living for several decades or sometimes even centuries. For example, in Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki awakened his innate abilities thanks to his father and weakened Sosuke Aizen enough for Kisuke Urahara to trap him. Despite the fact that Aizen was practically untouchable by members of the 13 Court Guard Squads, who have been alive for several centuries.
However, Demon Slayer handles the overpowered final antagonist in a rather unconventional way. The real MVP of the main fight wasn’t the Demon Slayers, but an ancient demon named Tamayo. With the help of Shinobu Kocho and Yushiro, she created a four-stage drug that was meant to weaken him enough so the Demon Slayers could kill him. All four stages were designed to counter the villain’s abilities. The first one was the human conversion stage, which failed since Muzan was able to nullify it by buying enough time during the Infinity Castle Arc. The nullification triggered the other three stages, including the biological aging stage, which rapidly aged him. In the mere span of three hours, Muzan aged 9,000 years, which severely affected his powers.
The third stage prevented him from splitting apart and running away like he did during his encounter with Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Tamayo witnessed the entire encounter, after which she broke free from Muzan’s curse and dedicated five centuries to trying to defeat him. The fourth and final stage took effect after his body was weakened by the first three stages. It destroyed his body at a cellular level, and it affected his regenerative abilities enough to sustain severe damage from Nichirin swords. That was the final key needed to defeat Muzan, after which the Demon Slayers were finally able to hold him down long enough for dawn to break. The Demon Slayers’ efforts and sacrifices can never be ignored, but without Tamayo’s drug, none of that would’ve been possible.
Demon Slayer’s Strongest Character Had a Profound Impact in the Main Fight
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was a swordsman from the Sengoku Era, and yet, his efforts also made a long-lasting impact on the Demon Slayer Corps. Thanks to his fight with Muzan, Tamayo was set free and created the drug. Not only that, but the wounds Yoriichi had inflicted on Muzan kept burning to this day and turned out to be his weak points. As a demon with five brains and seven hearts, Muzan was practically undefeatable. He couldn’t die even if his head was severed by a Nichirin sword. So, Tanjiro used his Transparent World to take advantage of those weak points and injure Muzan. Yoriichi lived his entire life with regret for failing to kill Muzan, but he never knew his efforts would one day help the Demon Slayer Corps to this extent.
Demon Slayer Has Some of the Best Side Characters in Shonen
The combined efforts of Tamayo, Yushiro, and even Yoriichi, on top of the sacrifices made by the Demon Slayer Corps, ensured a better and peaceful future for all. The final arc wasn’t a show to put the main protagonist in the spotlight, but instead, it was the result of everyone’s efforts that helped end the terror of demons. Whether it’s the Hashira, Tanjiro’s group, the members of the Ubuyashiki family, or even the background characters in the Demon Slayer Corps, all left long-lasting impressions on the viewers.
Except for the main characters and the Hashira, the low-ranking Demon Slayers weren’t strong enough to even land a strike on the Upper Moons and Muzan. Hence, they used their bodies to protect the Hashira so the powerful Slayers could keep on fighting. Meanwhile, the Hashira fought at least one Upper Moon each before dealing with Muzan. Tamayo, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, and so many others were content with sacrificing themselves for each other.
Their unity and determination made the impossible possible. Amid all the fighting, Demon Slayer didn’t purposefully center everything on the protagonist, but also focused on everyone around, regardless of how major or small their roles are. While the manga’s ending couldn’t be said to be flawless, it’s these details that set it apart from other Shonen. While it’s often overlooked, the finale’s biggest strength will likely be appreciated more when the anime fully adapts the manga.
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