Demon Slayer: Daki's Powers Explained

Anime fans have cheered the return of "Demon Slayer" with its second season. While the first part of Season 2 opened with a television broadcast version of the "Mugen Train" film (via Anime News Network), the second portion officially adapts the next major arc in the manga. And if fans thought the "Mugen Train Arc" was a spectacular anime display of excellent battles and emotional scenes that cause our eyes to torrent out tears, they haven't seen anything yet. Tilted the "The Entertainment District Arc," the story sees Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, and Zenitsu team up with the powerful Shinobi Harishira Tengen Uzui.

However, in the latest episode, "Tonight," Tanjiro is alone as he battles against one of Muzan's Upper Six Demons of the Twelve Kizuki. Her name is Daki, and with a single powerful strike, she quickly slams our hero into a building. Tanjiro has managed to cut the heads off of some powerful foes throughout the series. Still, as we're about to see while delving more into Daki's powers, the Upper Rank is unlike any opponent Tanjiro has encountered before. 

Warning: We'll be pulling a lot from the manga, so anime-only fans should beware of possible big spoilers.

Much like her other fellow Upper-Rank Demons, thanks to Muzan's blood, Daki already has incredible strength, regeneration, and speed that is leagues above any regular demon. Besides those powers, she's also got a few abilities that make her such a dangerous offensive and defensive threat. Daki's Demon Blood Art ability is Obi Sash Manipulation. Via Crunchyroll, in Episode 4 of the latest arc of "Demon Slayer," we see this deadly art on display, as Daki can create flower-patterned sashes from her flesh that are hard enough to severely hit Tanjiro, yet fast enough to miss in the blink of an eye.

During her battle with Tanjiro in manga chapter 81 (via Viz), we see that Daki can surround herself in a flurry of sashes, and she attacks from a distance. But the end of the manga chapter reveals one of the ability's biggest surprises. As Tanjiro manages to get close enough to cut her head off, Daki transforms her neck into a sash, and it takes on a fabric-like quality that makes it near impossible for the demon slayer to cut. So not only can she transform any part of her body into the sash, but they can also take on properties soft enough to make it hard to cut. In addition to attacking and defending, as we see for poor Zenitsu in the latest arc's Episode 3 (via Crunchyroll), they can also capture people. And in the following episode with the Oiran, the sashes can also absorb people.

The ensuing battle between Daki and the demon slayers takes another surprising twist as it rages in the manga. By manga chapter 85, her head is cut, but she still lives. Upon throwing a tantrum at her state, Daki then calls for her older brother Gyutaro. Like a second-stage boss fight in a "Soulsborne" game, he emerges from her body and quickly turns our heroes' close victory into another exhausting mountain to climb. Gyutaro deserves his own breakdown of abilities, but there are a couple he shares with his sister that makes her even more dangerous. For one, simply cutting her head off just won't do. In chapter 88, Tanjiro and his comrades realize that to beat her truly, they have to decapitate Daki and Gyutaro at the same time. But because Gyutaro's emergence means that our heroes are fighting two strong demons simultaneously, cutting their heads is easier said than done.

This is significantly more difficult thanks to another ability Gyutaro grants his sibling. In the same chapter, he gives her one of his eyes, which vastly increases her already inhuman speed and reflexes. The eye also makes it easier for the two to make strategic attacks together, even if they're physically separated. Daki and Gyutaro's fight against the demon slayers is proof that Muzan's Upper Ranks are not to be taken lightly.