#its just that the deuteragonist of the story unfortunately isnt one of them

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

Anyway demon slayer was very enjoyable even if it isnt the deepest manga ever but i do think nezuko could have been handled better. She gets more agency towards the end of the story and i know the reason she was so animalistic was because of how demon-ism works. But for someone whos the deuteragonist of the story whose condition the entire story revolves around she really. Doesnt have many opinions of her own.

Shes a part of tanjiros friend group but aside from zenitsu we dont see her interact with tanjiros friends much. Were supposed to believe that nezuko doesnt want to be a demon like tanjiro doesnt want her to and that makes sense. But it would be good to at least hear her say it. She doesnt do any reflection on the demons like her brother does. Or if she does we dont get to hear any of it. But it would have been meaningful if she could do that, since shes even closer to the whole demon world than tanjiro. And while tanjiro and nezuko both are motivated by grief for their family, we dont see nezukos grief as prominently as tanjiros. She was the one that saw her family die. She should be feeling the survivors guilt as strongly as tanjiro if not more but after she first turned into a demon, she immediately got into antics that were meant to look cute for comic relief.

I think an easy fix would have been to just make nezuko 7 or 8 years younger than tanjiro instead of just one. I know gender roles in the early 20th century were Like That but tanjiro really. Coddles his sister way too much for someone whos only one year younger than him. Outside of fights nezuko is basically never asked to help with anything. She barely even provides emotional support for tanjiro or even just hang out with him, like siblings close in age would do. Tanjiros view of nezuko feels more like he helped raise her rather than like he grew up with her. And nezuko being like 7 would fit this dynamic better than her being like 14.

Being a young child would make nezuko feel like she has more agency too. Bc a 7 year old may not be old enough to understand all the nuances of the demons or talk with tanjiro about their grief. But if she shows up in a battle and kicks a demons head off with her funky demon powers just to protect her brother, i think that would be more profound if she were a young child than if she were a teenager.

Or idk let her gesture to the others more to communicate despite the bamboo gag. Or like. Rewrite the first part of the story so she isnt in a 2 year coma while tanjiro gets all the character development. Just let her have a personality sheesh.