#kagurabachi theory

[yakopi]

Kagurabachi theory part 2

In my previous post I talked about my thoughts about the allusions to gods in Kagurabachi, and I mentioned that 7 Enchanted swords could be a vague reference to the 7 prosperity gods. And now I want to talk further about the swords.

Part two. The Enchanted Swords and what makes them special.

At first, I thought that the swords could be a further reference to the different prosperity gods, as Enten summons goldfish and Ebisu is the god of fishery.

This could also tie into the title of the story if the swords have something to do with the gods. Kagura dances often are accompanied by props, and fighting is often associated with dancing.

Meaning that possibly every time Chihiro uses Enten to dance/fight, he invites the (power of the) gods in his bodies.

Then, when I thought it through, I think that I found another connection:

All swords, until now, have a potential link to yokai/mythological creatures.

Enten summons goldfish, and there is a Yokai, Kingyo no yurei, which are goldfish possessed by spirits of the deceased, often murder victims.

Cloudgourge gives ice, water, and lightning abilities and sometimes summons attacks in dragon forms. Dragons in Japan are associated with water and the weather, so that tracks.

Tobimune has summoned feathers in a move called 'Crow/Karasu', and Tengu are a Yokai based on crows.

Kumeyuri has not revealed much about it, just some geisha-like spirits, however, there are enough Yokai that are based on normal-looking women. Yuki-onna, kuchisake onna, Ame-onna etc. I will have to see more to determine (if true) which yokai it is precisely.

The last revealed sword is Magatsumi, which has references to multiple yokai. It creates flowers and butterflies through spider (Jorogumo), dragonfly (koshinuke no mushi), and centipedes (omukade) techniques.

However it could also be a reference to a single yokai: the Jubokko, a vampire tree that consumes all your blood and is associated with insects that will take care of the carcass that is left. It could also explain the black liquid, as blood can become near black the longer it coagulates.

(A Jubokko would also be kind of ironic considering these trees are created when a huge amount of people died at their feet. And wouldnt you know, there was a war going on at the very moment Magatsumi was created.)

We have not seen the other swords, so everything is still possible, however, my theory for now is that the essence of yokai has been in one way or another placed/forged into the swords (hence why they are called Yoto, demon swords).

The first swords contained 1 yokai each, however those swords were just not strong enough. So the 6th sword was forged with either 3 yokai in it to make it more strong, or 1 yokai that could be stronger the more it is used in battle/gets blood.

This theory could also be why Magatsumi had to be sealed away so carefully compared to the other swords. It was already so powerful due to the 3 yokai that nobody should wield it in fear of damage/being corrupted by the yokai.

Or because if it continued to be used it would eventually get so strong that anyone wielding it would be overcome by it.

(If this theory is true, Enten could become an interesting plot point later, as Chihiro's father was murdered, so he could be in the sword.)

TLDR; The demon swords can possibly contain demons. Who could have thought?

(More thoughts in Part 3: Sealing power)

[strangeduckpaper]

Sorcery in Kagurabachi we've seen/heard so far (minus enchanted blades):

Standard sorcery (most sorcery we see, innate sorcery)

Inherited sorcery (Isou and the Storehouse, one passed through genetics, the other through ritual)

Basic movement and barrier sorcery (maybe for enhancing physical capabilities, or Barriers like jjk?)

Geniuses who can use multiple innate sorceries (Hakuri and the first Sazanami)

Unique traits (Char's healing ability, which is never stated to be a sorcery, and the Girl with Icy Skin. Overall reminds me of Six Eyes from JJK)

Question

Are these unique traits inherited sorceries, or something else?

[tricolorgoldfishcafe]

My personal interpretation of the title Kagurabachi that adds another layer to the story

Prepare for a long post.

I start with the fact that I came up with my own little translation of the title, which is "Orchestrating Divine Punishment".

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to replace "Dance of Divine Punishment"; I quite like it in fact - an bit of aesthetic touch. It's nice.

But there is a little catch in my version that I explain in a moment.

This Reddit post inspired me to search for the meaning of Kagurabachi with a different angle in mind, and I found an interesting connection that might add another layer to the manga.

There is this phrase 罰が当たる which means "to incur the wrath of the gods (e.g. by doing something immoral); to incur divine punishment; to pay for one's sins".

If we take the overall theme of the manga, it easily fits to describe Chihiro's crusade to avenge his father's murder.

Yet, let it spin a little and change the perspective to a less obvious one.

Seitei War was said that occur between sorcerers and a unknown opponent. Now, if we assume the other side didn't have anything to do with supernatural entities, but consisted of normal human beings with very strict and traditional way of thinking, we might have got a good starting point.

If Datenseki could amplify spirit energy of a regular human beings and sorcerers alike, then people who were living as "gods" as these who were trained in the art of sorcery in a world where sorcery was exclusive to selectioned groups, for example, there is a ground for a conflict.

These groups would felt threatened, blood could be shed, the conflict would break out, and the war would begin.

Amidst the fight there could be a swordsmith that found a way to stabilize and turn the Datenseki (supposedly a mystical powerful element outside of human reach) into a weapon to wield, breaking the sacred, divine legend.

After the war during which a group of traditional sorcerers (or "gods" here) lost their powers, their position, their influence, they turned against the man who makes it all possible.

Rokuhira Kunishige.

They judge him as a heretic and punished by death. Steal the blades they think are their rightful possassion. Furthermore, after securing them and killing current wielders they might return the previous order, hence the whole Hishaku plot.

It's just a loose concept, having not yet any solid ground in the manga.

There is a man in traditional cloth in Chihiro's memory during Kunishige's assassination and later a man in similar outfit was at the meeting with Sojo (the other being Yura, I think). And the information that sorcerers become well-known in a wake of Seitei War.

It suggest that there is someone along side with Yura, or behind Yura, that might have even bigger power and resentment, or whatever.

[strangeduckpaper]

Interesting concept, and it got me thinking of a relatively similar concept:

Related to your notes on this post (and earlier theories from both of us) positing that Enten was designed to destroy the other Enchanted Blades, Enten won't necessarily grow more powerful than the other blades, but instead better at countering them:

Enten, more specifically Aka, will gain the capability to absorb and neutralize the effects of the other blades, like when Chihiro used Enten as a lightning rod, but perfected and less risky to him, or redirect them, maybe using Nishiki to cloak himself in the other blade's power to somehow render himself immune to their effects.

It would both counter the other blade's powers and stop them from harming others, mitigating the further damage that they can do.

considering enten was made after the shinuchi and exclusively for chihiro do you think enten has the possibility to be just as strong or even far superior to the shinuchi

[dr-pipis]

hokazono saw the chihiro’s mom identity theories start to stagnate and said check this out

[chattering-tchotchke]

So we all agree that the island was invaded and its inhabitants killed for the Datenseki, right?

[farsight-the-char]

Thinking about other nations reacting to the broader “Swords stolen stuff”, like:

“What do you mean the 6 Super Swords were stolen, and their creator murdered?” 

“What do you mean it was a private criminal organization, and now they are giving them out to other criminals?” 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WAS A 7TH?!” 

[jessunderstands]

Cue megalovania

[irisbellemoon]

now that jjk is ending, I think I'll read kagurabachi......

[troythecatfish]

[yakopi]

Kagurabachi theories

So I recently started to read Kagurabachi and man, does this have a lot of potential? Amazing art, compelling characters, and behind a seemingly pretty straightforward story, a lot of information that is purposefully left out.

So right now I am just going to write down my many thoughts/ideas/theories that I am going to dump it here, in parts, because I do not want 1 big post.

Part one: Gods and what's not.

I am going to start with something that I have noticed, namely the references to gods in the stories.

The first is one that some will probably already have noticed; the meaning of the title. Kagurabachi: gods dance/entertainment + retribution/karma. Thus this could mean something like divine retribution if translated literally. However, we can look at what the kagura embodies, namely inviting the presence of a god in the dancer's body. So maybe it could mean that this is an invitation for a higher being to enact divine retribution through a medium…

Furthermore, the main 'good guy' organization right now, the Kamunabi (which can also be read as kannabi) is named after a shrine that hosts a god. This organization has also been observed to be very good at sealing things, namely the enchanted swords in boxes and the wielders of those swords in different dimensions.

(Edit: Meanwhile the big bad guy group is called Hishaku (help, navel + burn/scorch, although the first kanji is sometimes also used in fire-related terms). Curiously, Hishaku with different kanji is a ladle commonly found in shrines and used in ceremonies. It can also be used to repel certain Yurei (ghost yokai) when given to them.)

A little more abstract with references to gods is the amount of swords. There were 6 blades made, and the number 6 is considered a bad number in Japan because it sounds like the word used for 'nothing'.

Later, a seventh sword, Enten, was made for Chihiro. 7 is a lucky number. This is because there are 7 gods of prosperity. This is maybe why Enten was made: the father wanted his son not to inherit nothing. He wanted Chihiro to inherit prosperity, as any father should, and invoked the gods for it.

This could all be a big coincidence, however, in my next posts, I will go further with this god connection because that is the fun part of theorizing.

TLDR; Kagurabachi has references to gods in the title, in the Kamunabi, and in the swords. This will be coming back later.

[strangeduckpaper]

I thought of an Enchanted Sword idea, based on the elements of Earth, Wind and Fire (Yes, the concept is partially a joke based off the band) and their associated disasters: Earthquakes, Typhoons, and the Fires of Edo.

The Sword could cause tremors or summon pieces of earth and rock, command gale force winds and bursts of fire. The main draw of the sword, however, would be the ability to combine them, like combining fire and wind to create firenados, or drawing pieces of earth and rock based shrapnel into the gale, or melting stone into lava, cooling it with wind into something like obsidian, before shooting the fragments off with hurricane force winds.

I imagine that this guy is the wielder:

EDIT: Plus, additional blacksmith references? Since it's mentioned on the wiki he has a blacksmith like appearance, and beyond that he just gives off blacksmith vibes to me

[tricolorgoldfishcafe]

I'm a fan of the theory that Uruha Yoji is an inside man of Hishaku and until proved wrong by the series I feel excited as a storyteller and writer myself what a nice set up it could be for a great plot twist

I've talked about it on Reddit already: here and here.

I was going to write a nice analysis of manga and a bit of my own speculation about the nature of Uruha Yoji's situation as a war veteran, but RL caught up with me for now.

I'll do this, even if it turns out to be only a head canon. The potential here is a great one on the level of the story and on meta level. The twist would be a wreckage and the massive disappointment from the characters within the story.

(Absent of Shiba also bothers me and add another layer to this theory, as they might assume there's an inside man in this mission. Also, if Samura knew about Chihiro why Uruha didn't have an idea...)

I'm curious how this play out in the series, and for now only share links to these two threads.

[llama-milk-for-the-egg-nog]

why are people giving kagurabachi the morbius treatment. I thought the reason people pulled a morbius on morbius was because people didn't wanna see jared leto cast in stuff anymore. what is the point of doing this to kagurabachi

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 64 Samurai Posting

HELLO, VOID! We got some excellent stuff this chapter. World building, character dynamic exploration, character progression, all told with awesome action- this is peak Kagurabachi! Bit shorter than usual because IRL is steamrolling me...

Rough TL of the Editor's Notes:

Front Page: 座村の娘イヲリを狙う久々李. チヒロを前に…? [Samura no musume Iori wo nerau Kuguri. Chihiro wo mae ni...?!] Kuguri targets Samura's daughter, Iori. Chihiro stands before him...?! Last Page: 逭せるなら今のうち♪ [(ni)seru nara ima no uchi] Now's the time to escape♪

The Fight

World building!

So all the bearers were chosen because of their skill and personal approval from Kunishige! Makes sense. Gotta have solid fundamentals to make the most of using these swords- but where does that leave Chihiro?

Pissing off Kuguri, the guy who studies the blade instead of going to parties and having normal social interactions!

So he's kind of scuffed with how he fights sans Enten. Also makes sense. But trying to learn in the middle of battle is a bit risky, isn't it?

He won't become a sword master after this fight but I wonder how he'll keep improving. Will he pick up random moves to copy? Maybe the Sushi Bearer can help him with the basics once this fight is done? Inquiring minds would like to know...

HMM

Chihiro is narrating this and we don't know if he got details on what actually happened from Shiba in the hospital yet or not. All he knows is propaganda that everyone else is taught. So this throws theories of Magatsumi's wielder being a child who accidentally picked up the sword causing The Incident into serious doubt, but doesn't totally deny it... god, we need more info. Please, Hokazono-sensei! I'm going numb from all the teasing!

But at least this explains why Samura et. al. are leagues above Chihiro. He's been figuring things out on his own like Hiruhiko wants to do and his fundamentals are actually pretty shoddy. He can tap into the blade's True Realm easier, and draw out more of it's abilities, but his stance and such leave him wide-open to experienced swordsmen.

Trying to summon the Great Serpent of Ronka...?

For the record, all these clangs and screech effects are to show how messy Chihiro's swordsmanship is. Someone who could fight properly wouldn't be dragging the blade around when parrying or swinging it like a club. Kuguri's got a lot to teach Chihiro...

Someone... listened to me?!

I'm pretty sure he's going to be yelling instructions at Chihiro on how to fight better while trying to kill him and I can't wait to see it. His need to fight and slice got tangled up with being taken seriously as a learning resource and I hope the results continue to bring the laughs! I'm completely won over by this guy and the "while you partied, I studied the blade" energy he radiates. I gotta know how he came to idolise Sojo but thank you for keeping the slightly ridiculous takes on "to clash is to converse" alive. Hokazono-sensei is keeping his favourite guy around even if it's in an indirect way.

It was really funny to see that John spoils Hiruhiko rotten and Kuguri can't fuckin' stand it. They're basically oil and water. I like that we are getting these great dynamics between the villains too- I'm even starting to warm up to Hiruhiko as John's special little boy that everyone else sort of tolerates. I'm genuinely interested in the backstory of how they all came together and... I say this every time, but... I hope we don't have to wait too long to find out.

As for what all of this means for Chihiro and his personal sorcery, we could find out what it is this arc but I think it will leave off at him learning to apply it to his swordsmanship. He's not adept at using his spirit energy like Shiba and had no foundational training like Hakuri did. All he's doing is dumping it into the weapon and using the White Lotus Iai move that Uruha explained and Samura demonstrated. The question of what his sorcery is would come up as more of a legacy question I think, as in if he could make more enchanted blades or whatever his mom could do (that blood test is still hanging around, don't forget).

There's ambiguity in what the sword contract means too- does it permanently remove the Bearer's ability to use their sorcery even if the bond is broken? Or is it only redirecting the flow to itself while bonded? ...Yet another question that will get answered eventually. Hopefully.

Can Someone Who Doesn't Feel Guilty as Fuck Please Stand Up?

You better believe I'm ranting about this with ship goggles strapped on at the end of this post.

And so, Chihiro does in fact blame himself a hell of a lot for Hakuri's current predicament. Never mind that Hakuri has his own personal issues that drove him to this point, Chihiro's adding to his burden of his own accord and no one's gonna stop him. The Masumi are doing their best but there's no getting through to everyone's favourite traumatized MC. I sincerely hope they stick around to keep trying though (and shoving food in Chihiro's face because it's funny).

The phrasing is interesting to me- remember this?

Chapter 58... feels like ages ago.

I'm definitely going to bet on Hakuri making some kind of grand gesture down the line- something in the vein of "we're friends so stop blaming yourself and let me help you!". There's so much tension being set up over Chihiro's complicated feelings involving Hakuri and feeling like he got the guy involved only to let him down by being weak, after all. Toss Hiruhiko's misunderstanding of friendship in the mix and we've got an angst cocktail garnished with crazy. I've got ideas about how it'll play out, but the author will be the best one to tell his own story so I'll just patiently wait to see what happens. Something something Hakuri/Uruha and Chihiro/Samura parallels right?

At any rate, we take a break from Hollywood block-buster action movies to do some super traditional shounen things this chapter and I'm completely in love with the execution. Chihiro's guilt and his insecurity as a swordsman are eating away at him, and now that he can't use Enten, he's actually not gonna fare too well with someone who's studied the blade. The only thing he had an advantage on others was sheer time spent with the enchanted blade- his basics are actually pretty poor! Makes sense since being able to cleanly cut a training dummy is nowhere near the same as fighting someone one-on-one. And a slicing freak like Kuguri who apparently cares quite a bit about technique would be too much for him... if not for some inspiration and Chihiro's ability to adapt.

Some Cool Shit

Small appreciation here:

Talk about making an impact.

I'm in love with how the キン (KIN, sharp clang) sound effect forms the border to separate Kuguri's face from the action shot. It's incredible use of non-traditional paneling and I hope it's not removed in the EN volume release! It would be ruining the artistry of the page to remove it!

Alright, and now...

WARNING: Ship Brainrot Ahead

I'm completely normal about this chapter after months of Chihiro and Hakuri not interacting with each other. Hokazono really saw me complaining in private about them being separated for four months in real time and gave us... this.

"Power of Friendship"? Never heard of it.

Yeah.

The title of the chapter is ビカム侍, "Become a Samurai". But they didn't have to have this flashback- Samura and Uruha are both clearly inspired by samurai already and they were the reason why Chihiro was able to pull off the awesome Iai move he did. It simply could have been a reference to those two and Chihiro learning more swordsmanship to become like them.

BUT NO

We had to know that he was doing this because of Hakuri. Specifically because Hakuri called him a samurai when they first met. Even though Chihiro doesn't seem to recall the "that's you!" part, he still wants to be that samurai Hakuri needs.

I. AM. VERY. NORMAL.

Like, even as a friendship thing, isn't that kind of... intense? Everything about Hakuri is intense, yeah, but I don't know man. Chihiro wanting to live up to the high regard that Hakuri had of him from the start and become the samurai his friend thinks of him as is... I ship this for a reason, okay? Every time I think "surely this will not go so far" the author trounces those expectations and says "NAH I'm making this gay as hell".

We finally got Chihiro's response to Hakuri saying "I need you in my life", and it's "I will become the person you think I am so you don't get hurt for my sake ever again". His feelings towards Hakuri were a bit unclear until now but it's obvious that they're burning bright. He cares so, so much about his "equal partner". HNNNGH YOU CAN SEE WHERE I'M COMING FROM, RIGHT?

And just as a reminder, not even two weeks have passed since they met each other.

So normal.

Both of them are trying to be the better person the other sees them as.

I'm having a Kuguri-style brain implosion right now.

I gotta say, it's really nice to see this sort of push to be better that isn't built off of rivalry but rather mutual respect. Chihiro and Hakuri both see each other as the better, stronger person that saved them and it compels them to keep improving themselves. They just have to work on the personal issues that drive them to hurt themselves in pursuit of this goal.

Friendly rivalry isn't a bad or unhealthy dynamic at all, it's just a bit over-used in shounen as the default relationship type between the MC and his deuteragonist. But that might be what happens to Chihiro and Hiyuki. With Hakuri, it's all about admiration from both sides. You know, the stuff the strongest relationships of any kind are built off of (but especially romantic ones).

The conflict in their relationship comes from the unhealthy personal issues each of them have, I think. Because as wholesome and sweet as Hakuri and Chihiro are with each other, their flaws are what's adding tension. For Chihiro, it's guilt over getting Hakuri involved and over-relying on him. For Hakuri, it's the Sazanami mindset of giving one's all compounded with his guilt over Ice Lady. This whole arc seems to be about addressing guilt, so hopefully both of them will be able to start forgiving themselves and become better partners to each other by valuing themselves a little more.

See you later, kind void, I've got fan fiction to write if I can find the time. Take care and hope 2025 is treating you well so far.

[mothboypoison]

Okay I have some thoughts on the latest chapter!

When Kyora was explaining the storehouse, he said "It's a sacred power, and it comes with a price." - has that 'price' ever been explained before? Because, uh, I don't like the sound of that!! (sneaky edit: or is the price just not using Isou?)

"Because you loved me" - was such a powerful line. Hakuri took all of Soya's hits for years and built up his strength and his spirit energy and unleashed it on Soya... Soya brought about his own defeat because of what he did to Hakuri (is he actually fucking dead??)

Tenri is a really tragic character. I felt bad for him... and that death didn't feel honourable.

Chihiro seemed very upset by Tenri's death, and Hakuri seemed way more measured and sure of himself, almost like a role reversal.

"We'll end this... together." - I loved the callback to earlier, and the emphasis that they will do this TOGETHER.

I think Kyora knows what's happened. He can summon 'items' registered to the storehouse so I think he knows what's happened to Tenri/Soya (though I'm not 100% convinced Soya is dead). He looked... resigned?

I really like the theory that they will use Hakuri's storehouse to hold the sacred blades (until they destroy them?). The Sazanami legacy being used for good to prevent the Rokuhira legacy from being used for evil.

In conclusion: Shiba = STILL HOT. HakuHiro = STILL WINNING. Kagurabachi = STILL AMAZING!!!!