#so have an unfiltered brain dump on genya

[pompomchihuahua]

Genya Shinazugawa: A Fish In a Birdcage

It's my favorite boy's birthday and today I want to celebrate why he's possibly one of the most talented characters in the show while still being considered one of the "weakest."

In case it wasn't immediately obvious, Genya is my favorite little guy from Demon Slayer. Everything from his design to his abilities to his personality and story just speak to me.

For this analysis I wanna focus on a little bit of everything, starting with his design.

So from the get-go, the first things you notice about the boy are the huge ass scar on his face and his scrunkly little mohawk. The scar immediately tells you that he has a history. It's an unspoken message of survival and overcoming suffering.

As for the mohawk, well you have to look a little deeper into how Japanese media portrays hair. For early media, it's a sign of refinement and status. To the point that one of the many hallmarks of evil in Japanese folklore is unkempt hair. For the mohawk specifically, it's a symbol of rebellion and a strong, edgy personality.

His clothing is purple and black. Interestingly, purple was, for a long time, banned by commoners to wear as it was exceedingly hard and expensive to get ahold of. By late Edo and early Meiji the tides changed to where it became quite fashionable among common folk to wear purple to the point it got the nickname "old purple" or kodai murasaki. (you can read about it here) But purple can also represent strength.

His sharp eyes, small irises, and furrowed brow all point to a very aggressive design. And! I'd like to note that he's using a katana here, which I'll get back to later in another post!

So! Now, we see Genya's traded out his katana for his iconic gun along with a wakizashi (a shortsword used by samurai primarily for finishing blows, fitting as that's exactly how Genya uses it in canon).

There's a modern misconception that samurai were wholly against the use of firearms during their active periods, but history and art show quite the opposite (here). And seeing as Demon Slayer takes place during the Taisho era, when Japan was seeing a lot of "modernization" and were specifically adopting a lot of Western values, it makes sense to implement a character using a more modern and Western weapon (even his outfit is more of a western style with his pants being a straight cut instead of the traditional samurai hakama that the others wear!).

His hair is grown out and more tamed though still in a mohawk style showing that while he's softened, he still has a strong personality and rebellious edge. Another thing I find cool is that the author gave an in canon reason for Genya's hair length in the Kimetsu Gakuen extra; he uses it to gauge the strength and direction of the wind to redirect his shots.

We also see that he's shot up in height and filled out in physique, a very nice nod to how his demon eating abilities affected his body in the long term.

Overall, Genya's design is efficient without giving everything away. It leaves out the subtle details like his hidden gentle nature and his sharp mind and good heart; which I'll elaborate on now.

One misconception I see floating around a lot is that Genya is below average intelligence. This is probably for three reasons: the extra in the Kimetsu Gakuen universe where Sanemi tells Genya to "get better at his math" and the part in the data book where it says Genya is "never calculating." The third reason is that there's a bit of a stereotype that thug/punk=stupid.

But in Kimetsu Gakuen proper we see that Genya is actually making really good grades.

But test grades aren't everything! Even in canon we find out that Genya is incredibly observant. During the Hashira training arc, Genya says this: "Well, not that Himejima-san is exactly good at teaching it. You need to watch and learn and swipe it for yourself, all right?"

This implies that Genya taught himself the Repetitive Motion technique by just watching Himejima do it. He is a master marksman and described as the ace of his high school shooting club able to make real time adjustments to his aim based on how the wind blows his hair.

Not calculating just means he's not one for scheming, not that he's incapable of critical thought. And Sanemi getting onto him for his math scores is him being a hardass as Genya is within the top 15 in his grade.

He is still a child at heart, something he desperately tries to hide and that is readily apparent in the Japanese version. Specifically in the way he oscillates between using "Nii-chan" (the childish way you'd refer to your older brother, as expected in especially young children or women) and "Aniki" (the rougher way of saying it, translates more as "big bro").

As for his gentle nature, I already made a whole post on how I believe Genya stepped in as the homemaker of the Shinazugawa family. (Which you can read here) He's also described in the data book as regaining his "gentle nature," telling the audience that he was a soft hearted boy growing up.

Look at his soft smile here when he sees that Nezuko is okay! He genuinely cares about their well-being despite Tanjirou having what Genya desperately wants but can't have: family, strength, the ability to use breathing.

He apologizes to Kanata and steps in to help the caterpillar girls in one winged butterfly. He may have a brash exterior, but he's got a heart of gold.

However, out of anyone, no one hates Genya more than Genya hates himself.

Which brings me to my next and main topic: Genya's abilities and how it makes him a fish in a birdcage.

From the very first introduction of Genya's ability, the very narrative sets Genya up as "talentless." "He doesn't have the physical talent to use breathing techniques." As a result, his nichirin blade never changes color. He makes up for this by using his gun, but when he's put into a tight situation, that's when his more unique ability comes into play.

Before we get into that, I want to delve into what the breathing techniques are and what they're supposed to do. For that we go all the way back to the beginning where we meet Makomo who says this: "Total Concentration Breathing accelerates your blood circulation and your heart rate. That causes your body temperature to spike, making you as strong as a demon while being human." So we can conclude that the goal of TCB is to achieve demonic strength.

Which brings me to Genya's most unique and prominent ability; Genya can eat demons to temporarily gain the powers of a demon without fully becoming one. So, if Genya can't use breathing but can gain the strength of a demon anyway, then there should be no problem, right?

Well, it seems that the demon slayer corps is built upon a rather strict honor code and places a heavy emphasis on tradition. Genya not being able to use breathing and having to rely on tainted, evil power, to have to stoop down to a demon's level and consume flesh, in the corps' eyes it makes him lesser. And Genya seems overly aware of this.

He says that Shinobu makes a disgusted face when she sees him and he likely relates it back to him being breathless and eating demons. In one winged butterfly, after he's unable to find the words to reassure another demon slayer he thinks this: "He really was broken. He couldn't do a single thing properly. This was probably why his brother wouldn't look at him."

Hell, even Inosuke throws in his two cents, calling Genya a "wimp" for being unable to use breathing techniques (of which Genya gets really defensive about and starts a fight). He thinks of himself as weak in the infinity castle and unable to really do anything until he remembers Tanjirou's encouragement.

It's safe to say that Genya's self esteem is in the toilet.

He, arguably, has access to a technique that's far more potent than TCB in that it not only gives him the strength of a demon but also gives him the healing and abilities of a demon without the downside of actually being a demon. But because it isn't TCB, he's constantly put down and belittled.

He's meant to fly to the top of the cliff when his real strength lies in swimming up the waterfall. He can still get to the same places but he's looked down upon for his methods.

But there's a legend about a carp that swam upstream against all odds, that leapt up the falls of the Yellow River at Dragon Gate and became a Dragon. It's a story of perseverance and transformation and it's one Genya achieves in his last moments.

Genya achieves his ultimate power; unlocking a blood demon art of his own while still retaining his humanity (and yes, he is still human at this point, Kokushibou confirms as much). It's the ultimate demon hunting technique, parasitic roots that paralyze the target and suck the blood, preventing the target from unleashing their own BDA.

His only thoughts in that moment being that he won't let any of them die. Genya sacrificed everything for his brother, ultimately achieving the goal he had when he was just a child: to protect his Nii-chan. And his brother finally lets his guard down to, switching to the more babyish language (he refers to himself as Nii-chan, saying "Nii-chan will fix this") and it's only then that Genya lets his guard down too. In his last moments, Genya got to be his true self.

A kind, fiercely protective, and loving boy with strength that went beyond what was ever expected of him. He is, possibly one of the strongest characters in theory with so much unexplored potential. His design is solid, telling viewers a lot without giving everything away, his story is compelling (especially to people who are gifted in the "wrong ways") and his personality is complex.

There's a reason I can make so many posts about this character alone and why I have more planned for the bestest boy. But for now! Happy birthday Genya!