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Discover how Kanao Tsuyuri’s role in the Infinity Castle and Sunrise Countdown arcs made her one of Demon Slayer’s most important characters.
Kanao Tsuyuri is a character whose presence in Demon Slayer mostly gets overlooked by many. In fact, she’s someone who barely gets any credit for her impact on the story, especially towards the end of the manga, where her character finally received a much-deserved spotlight. Given that she was introduced as a quiet and almost emotionless girl, Kanao initially faded into the background while other flashy characters like Tengen Uzui or Kyojuro Rengoku took the spotlight.
Kanao’s true importance in Demon Slayer became crystal clear in the manga’s Infinity Castle and Sunrise Countdown arcs, where she developed from a mere side character to saving the series protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado’s life.
In fact, it can even be argued that Demon Slayer‘s happy ending was only possible because of Kanao’s actions. That said, let us now take a closer look into Kanao Tsuyuri’s character and role in Demon Slayer, including how she became one of the most crucial characters of the series.
Who Is Kanao Tsuyuri in Demon Slayer?
Kanao Tsuyuri is a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slayer Corps, where she acts as the Tsuguko (apprentice) of the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho. She’s also the adopted sister of Shinobu and Kanae Kocho. In fact, she was saved from being sold by Shinobu and Kanae, who took her in and raised her in the Butterfly Mansion.
Before meeting the Kocho sisters, Kanao suffered horrific abuse in her past, which caused her to shut down emotionally and repress her emotions as a defense mechanism. As a result, she became extremely indecisive and was unable to make any decisions by herself. To help her with this, Kanae gave her a coin and asked her to flip it whenever she was unsure about making a decision.
Following Kanae’s death, Kanao trained under Shinobu and became her Tsuguko. However, she inherited Kanae’s Flower Breathing Style, which she apparently learned and mastered by simply observing Kanae.
Kanao was also extremely proficient in combat, as she was trained by both Shinobu and Kanae at a young age. Despite her capabilities, Kanao mostly remained in the background for the majority of the series – rarely speaking and mostly following orders. Fortunately, all that changed when the Demon Slayers’ final battle against Muzan and the Upper Moon Demons began.
Kanao Tsuyuri Became One of Demon Slayer’s Most Important Characters in the Infinity Castle Arc
Up until the Infinity Castle arc, Kanao Tsuyuri was overshadowed by almost every other Demon Slayer character. Her quiet and reserved personality made it almost impossible to notice her presence. Even though she was extremely strong – with her power level being the closest to that of a Hashira – she never quite had a major moment that solidified her as a key character.
However, the turning point for her character came during her battle against Doma in the Infinity Castle arc. As the Upper Rank Two Demon, Doma was a sadistic monster who killed people solely for his own pleasure. In fact, he was responsible for the deaths of both Kanae and Shinobu – who he killed right before Kanao’s eyes.
Fueled by hatred and rage against Doma for killing her sisters, Kanao completely dropped her usual carefree and nonchalant demeanor. An intense battle followed, which saw both Kanao and Inosuke give it their all to try and defeat Doma.
In the climax of the battle, Kanao used her sharp observation skills to identify a weakness in Doma’s desperate final attack. It gave her the opportunity to land a decisive blow on Doma, who was significantly weakened due to the Wisteria poison that Shinobu had injected in him. As such, Kanao was able to behead and kill Doma with her Flower Breathing Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye.
Although Inosuke contributed a lot to the fight as well, Kanao’s victory against Doma proved that she was no longer a mere background character. She was now a battle-hardened warrior capable of taking down an Upper Moon Demon. It was also one of Demon Slayer‘s best and most satisfying revenge moments, as Kanao managed to avenge both her sisters’ deaths by killing Doma.
How Kanao Saved Tanjiro’s Life in Demon Slayer?
In the final moments of the Sunrise Countdown arc, the Demon Slayers were finally victorious against Muzan. That said, their victory came at a terrible cost. Almost every single Hashira had either passed away or were on their last legs.
To make things worse, Muzan used whatever was left of his power to turn Tanjiro into the new Demon King. In fact, Tanjiro, in his Demon King form, had the potential to turn into an even bigger threat than Muzan, since he managed to conquer the sun, basically leaving the remaining Demon Slayers with no possible way of killing him.
This particular part of the manga is where Kanao’s true defining moment happened. Following her grueling battle against Doma, she was already at her physical limit. She had one dose of Shinobu’s medicine left, which could revert Demons back into their human selves. However, getting close to the rampaging Demon King Tanjiro was pretty much a death sentence.
Despite this, Kanao risked everything and used her Flower Breathing Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye technique one last time, knowing full well that it would permanently blind her in one eye. Using this technique, she managed to inject Tanjiro with the cure, thus giving him the chance to fight back against Muzan. As such, it’s safe to say that without Kanao’s intervention, the story of Demon Slayer would have likely ended with Tanjiro killing his own friends and sister.
Did Kanao Survive Till the End of Demon Slayer?
Unlike many characters, Kanao Tsuyuri managed to survive the events of the Infinity Castle and Sunrise Countdown arcs. That said, her survival came at a great cost. By the end of the final battle, she suffered grave injuries and even went permanently blind in one eye. This was a direct consequence of pushing herself beyond her limits to help Tanjiro become human again.
The conclusion of Kanao Tsuyuri’s character arc was bittersweet at best. By the end of the series, she had lost both her adoptive sisters, who mean the world to her. That said, she did get her revenge on Doma by killing him alongside Inosuke. In the final chapters of Demon Slayer, it was revealed that Kanae ended up marrying Tanjiro. The two started a family and even lived to have two great-grandchildren – which was a fitting conclusion given their bond throughout the series.
Conclusion
All in all, it’s safe to say that Kanao Tsuyuri is one of the most underrated Demon Slayer characters. While she wasn’t exactly given as much screen time as Zenitsu, Inosuke, Nezuko, or even the other Hashira, her actions in the final arcs of the series were nothing short of game-changing. She not only avenged her sisters’ deaths by defeating Doma, but she also managed to save Tanjiro’s life and survive a battle that wiped out even some of the strongest Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
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