ordinaryartistt

[ordinaryartistt]

Nezukoooo 😭🩷

[ordinaryartistt]

This man is clinically insane and needs to be put in a mental hospital... But it's fine because I love him very much.

He's just a silly billy guy who could do no wrong. Ever. Yes, I know this is a lie, let me dream!!

[ordinaryartistt]

Do you think there is anything symbolic on why Sanemi looked the way he did? Out of all the siblings, he is the most distinct with white hair while the rest had black. His hair is also almost the same as his father’s. Whereas Genya looked like some of his brothers, specifically Hiroshi aside from the eyes. Why do you think Gotege made Genya look similar to him, as they both of Mohawks? Also, what’s your opinion on the means of their first and last names? Thanks!

A very interesting question! Thank you so much anon and let's dive in!

So, to start, let's examine what white hair in media typically represents.

White on its own in Japanese culture is often used to represent purity, divinity, truth, simplicity, humility, and mourning.

Traditionally, before Western influence, it was actually commonplace to wear white clothing to funerals rather than black.

In media, white hair can represent many things, depending on what the artist is trying to portray. It can represent wisdom and maturity, which is why you see a lot of mentor-type characters with white hair, like Kakashi from Naruto.

White hair can also be used to denote otherworldly powers, such as in the case of Gojo from JJK, or when you see fantasy races such as elves with white hair. You also see it appear in other places in Demon Slayer, such as with the Spider family.

One thing I've noticed is that Gotouge likes to give in-universe explanations for a lot of the stranger hair colors. Many rely heavily on anime logic, but Mitsuri's wild pink and green hair comes from an overabundance of Sakura mochi. The Rengokus' golden and red-tipped hair comes from a ritual wherein the mother, while pregnant, stares into a flame for hours. Even Zenitsu's striking blond and orange locks have an in-universe explanation - he was struck by lightning and got his wild dye job as a free side effect! The anime gave a retroactive explanation for Genya's yellow highlights too! It's apparently a result of his demon-eating!

But Sanemi is interesting because there is no in-universe explanation for his distinct hair. Even with Tengen Uzui, another white-haired character, when we are briefly shown a faceless shot of his other siblings, we can spot a few who also have white hair, and can infer that it's just a common trait in their family.

So, even amongst white-haired characters, Sanemi is unique in that none of his siblings and neither of his parents have white hair.

I believe Gotouge chose to give Sanemi white hair to denote that he is special amongst his family. In Japan, the most common hair color by far is black, and thus, giving the rest of Sanemi's family black hair may be a way to imply that the rest of Sanemi's family are just "ordinary" people. (Including Genya, who is regularly put down as weak and talentless). It also may be a hint at his Marechi blood, as there is no indication that Genya or any of the other siblings have even a weaker variant of Marechi.

For this analysis, I want to also look at another character who was given white hair, despite having a sibling and parent depicted with black hair: Ume.

In Ume's case, her hair as a human was very deliberately chosen to contribute to her most defining feature: her beauty. The author chose to give her white hair to give her more of an ethereal and distinct look, to emphasize that she was uniquely beautiful and to separate her from the rest.

I find it interesting that as a demon, she chooses to hide her white hair despite it being a carryover from when she was a human and not a specifically demonic feature. This shows, at least to me, that even in-universe, white hair is unusual.

So, we can see the author uses white hair in many ways, specifically to denote when something is unique about a character. They wanted to distinguish Sanemi from the rest of his siblings for many reasons, including: Sanemi always being the only one intended to survive, Sanemi being the only one with special Marechi blood, Sanemi quite possibly being the only one of the siblings even capable of becoming a Hashira, etc.

As far as in-universe explanations go, there's the boring explanation: White hair is a recessive gene in the Shinazugawa family, and Sanemi just happened to inherit all the right gene copies to acquire the white hair phenotype.

However, it could also be that the same recessive gene that gave him his white hair is also what gave him his ultra-rare Marechi blood.

Another theory I've seen floated around is that his hair went white due to stress. However, I feel if this were the case and Sanemi's hair were at any point a different color, we would have gotten some kind of allusion to it.

The final theory I've seen is that Sanemi has albinism. As fun as it would be to imagine, I find this one also highly unlikely, as Sanemi doesn't have any of the other symptoms associated with albinism: i.e., pale skin (he's no paler than any of the other characters), his eyelashes are dark, and he doesn't seem to have any vision problems (the color blindness is highly debatable), no sensitivity to sunlight, etc.

The most likely in-universe explanation is probably the first one: it's a recessive gene. I would place my bets on it being linked to the Marechi gene (there is no evidence to support this but I feel it in my bones).

As for why Genya looked so similar to his siblings, this was likely for the opposite reason they made Sanemi so distinct. Genya was set up narratively as being not special (despite him having one of the most unique powers in the series). Whether Gotouge succeeded at giving Genya the narrative of the "weak one", is another post, but that was the intent, in my opinion.

Now, for their names, Gotouge is well known for their love of hiding hidden meanings within character names!

For example: Tanjirou(炭治郎) I won't go deep into details but there's the kanji for charcoal, heal/cure, and son in there, which basically gives you a nice summary of his character and goal.

So, for the brothers, let's start with their last name: Shinazugawa (不死川)

不 means impossible while ��� means death, so put together, they are "immortal" (This is the Shinazu part of the name) while 川 (the -gawa) is river. Altogether, it roughly translates to "immortal river."

Now, for Sanemi's name. 実弥

実 - (Sane) - truth

弥 - (mi) - complete, full of

実弥 - Complete truth

Then there's Genya.玄弥

Now, keen-eyed readers may have already noticed something. The second kanji in Genya's name and the second kanji in Sanemi's name are the same! (弥) They actually function the same as well despite having different readings too!

弥 - (ya) - complete, full of

Now, 玄 (Gen) is where it gets a little muddied. There are a few different readings you can use for it. One reading is "mysterious, occult." This could be in reference to his demon-eating ability. 玄 can also mean jet black, but I highly doubt that's the intended meaning. And for the last reading, 玄 can mean illusion or lie.

So, with this final interpretation, when you put their names together, Sanemi is the true immortal river, and Genya is the false immortal.

This shows that Genya was always intended to die at the end of Sanemi's arc.

Sorry if this was incomprehensible in some parts. I didn't intend for this to get so long!

TLDR: Sanemi's white hair is most likely a plot device to set him apart as distinct from his siblings and maybe a hint at his Marechi blood and talents. Their names were foreshadowing for how their stories were intended to end.

[ordinaryartistt]

popular ship will kill the patient. they need fanart of that one character no one likes or cares about to live

[ordinaryartistt]

it’s for our own good…..

[ordinaryartistt]

bububuh Happy Holidays!!

So, like half a month ago i joined a kny themed secret santa on twitter/discord. It was pretty fun and all, and today i finally exchanged my gift!

I'll be completely honest, the guns for Hairo were a nightmare to draw, but i somehow managed to make them look decent! And that was done 95% without looking at references.

Oh yeah, these amazing drawings if y'all haven't already guessed, they were indeed for the one & only @ordinaryartistt

[ordinaryartistt]

The Love Hashira 🍡

[ordinaryartistt]

Cringe KnY oc post 🤍

[ordinaryartistt]

short little comic i have many ideas lately so stay tuned....

[ordinaryartistt]

oh, he got the blue spider lily- nvm he ate it

+ alt ver. and the sketch

[ordinaryartistt]

Mitsuri 1920s au

[ordinaryartistt]

gentankanas

[ordinaryartistt]

One of the most tragic things about demons in KNY is that they’re explicitly bastardizations of their human selves, twisted or malformed into something actively malicious.

Akaza, for example, originally sought strength as a way to provide and protect for his loved ones;

His father, and Koyuki.

He hates the weak because — to him — the weak are the kind who don’t confront you head on and use underhanded tactics. They’re ugly, they lack forbearance, and give into desperation too easily;

They give into the voices in their heads that say they have to hurt others to appease themselves.

This includes the men who laughed at or scorned his ailing father, the members of the dojo who poisoned the well, and the version of himself who killed 67 people for it. Who bloodied his master’s beloved martial arts and the very memory of his father, Keizo, and Koyuki. He wanted to become strong to outgrow that kind of weakness, and he forgot that when he became a demon. His goal became an obsession with strength just for the sake of it, rather than to provide and protect.

This, I believe, is the reason why he offers demonization to — at the very least — people like Rengoku and Giyuu. A part of him recognizes a similar motivation in them, and (because the demon half of him believes his current self to be the culmination of his efforts) he offers them his supposed salvation. A way to continue seeking power far beyond what a human can manage.

His goal survives where his accessible memory died with his corruption;

He subconsciously incorporated his loved ones into his very being as a demon.

A thing that remains consistent across the demons in KNY, with the hand demon and his memory of running home while holding his brother’s hand, the temari demon and her desire to play, and so on so forth. It’s horribly tragic.

But the part that stands out to me is the fact that this seems to apply to Muzan Kibutsuji too, because his desire to live past his disease when he was human manifested into an obsession with immortality as a demon. It didn’t matter that he was healthier than he’d ever been, the sun could still harm him and so he wasn’t perfect just yet. That’s why he searched so desperately for a demon who would either survive the sun or could become a part of the twelve waxing or waning moons who would protect him while he looked.

Fascinatingly, both he and Upper Moon One (Kokushibo) overlook the immortality of the memento mori philosophy. They focused on how they specifically could live on, forgetting that their knowledge and their history could be passed down and used or remembered by the people after them. Maybe that’s why they hated Yorichii so much — because he looked at the future where he would be forgotten and thought that he would love nothing more then to be a simple footnote in this long, arduous journey to their victory.

The Ubayashiki and many of the demon slayers in between felt similarly, giving their lives for the cause and knowing that someone else would one day do what they sought to do… that the world would eventually heal from demons altogether.

[ordinaryartistt]

[ordinaryartistt]

My gyomei brainrots HAHAHAHHAHA [read left to right, except for the last one]

[ordinaryartistt]

genya and the bad bitches he pulled by being autistic

[ordinaryartistt]

I imagine this with Giyuu holding baby Obanai like this to Sanemi

wrist be damned i had to draw this