Demon Slayer Fans Have Some Strong Opinions On This Kamado Sibling

Over the past few years, anime and manga have taken the world by storm. This is especially true of the "Demon Slayer" franchise, written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It has consistently topped the manga charts, with its final volume selling over 5 million copies (via Anime News Network). Its popularity has spawned an anime series — the third season, the Swordsmith Village Arc, will be released soon — as well as a movie called "Mugen Train," the second highest-grossing anime film in U.S. box office history.

The story follows a coal seller, Tanjiro Kamado, whose life is turned upside down after his family is murdered by a demon, and his younger sister, Nezuko, is turned into one. Determined to get revenge on the demon responsible and turn Nezuko back into a human, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, befriends Inosuke Hashibira and Zenitsu Agatsuma, and fights alongside the Corps' strongest warriors, the Hashira. 

Fans quickly fell in love with Tanjiro and Nezuko's relationship, particularly the way they are constantly fighting to save one another. However, some fans have strong opinions on the younger Kamado sibling, and have discussed how her mannerisms and journey seem to reduce her character. 

One fan jumpstarted the discussion on Reddit with a thread titled "You could honestly replace Nezuko with a dog, and almost nothing about Demon Slayer actually changes. (and why she should have been)." The original poster, u/A_Toxic_User, went into great detail and explained their reasoning behind the title. They wrote that Nezuko is "deserving of head pats," and her human moments involve "non-verbal noises and physical displays of affection." Despite the scenes that clearly define their powerful sibling relationship, they wrote that, generally, Nezuko's relationship to Tanjiro is "a form of a close bond between two living beings," much like an owner and a dog. 

Others agreed with this assessment. U/sfwOceanMan expressed their disappointment that "there was also no real explanation as to why demonification has regressed [Nezuko] to the level of a puppy," and that her story could've been much stronger "if we were able to see her struggle not to lose what remains of her old self." Though fans do see this internal battle a few times in the series, the scenes are very brief and they are never fully explored.

By not focusing more on Nezuko's personal and harrowing journey, Koyoharu Gotouge appears to have sacrificed her personality in favor of a more cutesy and dog-like demon. It is a disservice to her, especially since she has proven that she has to have incredible mental strength to retain her humanity and stay out of Muzan's control, unlike other demons in the series.