thatdawgx

[thatdawgx]

Tengen would def post thirst-traps on tiktok But☝️ I believe with my whole heart Sanemi & Obanai would be making fun of him to hellll and back while Zenitsu comments “kys”

[thatdawgx]

(x)(x)

[thatdawgx]

From that part "rubbed off her self-sacrificial nature" I knew it was something I said lol; I agree with everything you said, she wasn't neither and amazing mom or an bad mom but she tried her best she could with her circumstances, the part where I said abt her nature rubbing off sanemi & genya was never abt me blaming shizu, I was just pointing how she unintentionally rubbed off her nature onto them ya know cuz she was the only positive adult they could've looked up to and ironically they ended up picking up the worst parts of her nature, I know she would have never wanted them to go do the stuff they're doing rn (btw pls don't think I'm attacking you or anything, I'm just explaining why I even said that part)

Shizu Shinazugawa: What Makes a Good Mother?

We know very little about Shizu as a character; what little information we are given about her is through the lens of her children, who adore her. We are, however, able to infer a lot about how her life may have been based on time period and location and the few snippets from the light novels and show that we are given.

The question of what makes a good mother is a topic that's been debated both philosophically and scientifically. A good mother is wise and firm but soft; they are future-oriented, but they cannot prioritize the future over the now. They are present, but they are working; they must be in control without being controlling, and they must teach responsibility without putting pressure. It is a tightrope of expectations, a dichotomy, a job where the rules are changing constantly as society changes and we continue to evolve.

Everyone has a different answer when asked what makes a good mother. However, I feel that saying Shizu was a good or bad mother neglects the nuance of her situation. I have seen multiple people assert whether Shizu falls into the good mother or bad mother category, and I wanted to explore that topic in this essay and explain why the answer is much more complicated than "good" or "bad" or yes or no.

It is important to remember that, at the end of the day, our mothers are human and are prone to mistakes, and sometimes, circumstances can force our hands to make choices we otherwise wouldn't make.

One major circumstance would be her economic position in society; there is much evidence to suggest that the Shinazugawas were considered hinmin or, simply put, extremely poor. From the descriptions and depictions of their home to the light novels outright calling them poor to Genya's comment about sleeping when he gets hungry, Gotouge does not shy away from their economic situation.

Not only that, but as I've discussed before, she functioned as essentially a single mother. Kyogo is repeatedly referred to as "unreliable" and is described as "this man who walked around, breath stinking of alcohol from morning until night, who hit Mom whenever he got the chance." From that line, we can infer that he was also an alcoholic. Now, this is speculation, but it is unlikely he was able to hold down a job, and he probably blew through any money he did bring in on buying alcohol. The beatings, judging by what little we're shown, look to be particularly brutal.

Divorce wasn't entirely uncommon in the Meiji and Taisho eras of Japan however, it often was in the husband's favor. Shizu had few options for recourse that wouldn't completely abandon her children.

Now, we know that Kyogo was a contemptible man who beat his wife and children, hated not just by his family but the people around him. The wiki (I can't find the exact source) states he was stabbed to death in the street due to other people's resentment of him.

We also know that Kyogo died while Sanemi was very young, mid-teens at the latest. While this would bring relief from the beatings, Shizu would still have to face the challenges of being a single mother in Japan with seven children.

(I highly recommend watching this documentary)

The Meiji period is often considered the low point in Japan's history of women's rights. It saw the institutionalization of the patriarchal family system (ie seido) and a sharp uptick in the mistreatment of women.

In Japan (and indeed, in many nations), women are expected to manage the household. This is perhaps best exemplified by a common saying in post-World War I Japan: "Good wife; Wise mother." Many women of the time internalized this saying. With it came strict expectations of what defined womanhood for Meiji-era Japan and beyond.

This one phrase shifted the entire division of labor amongst the sexes: women became entirely responsible for domestic labor, and with it came societal expectations. It was the woman's job to uphold the household, please her husband, and raise the children. Thus, any failure of the above would mark her as a failure as a woman.

Single mothers are often viewed through this highly critical lens. Even if they are the ones to initiate the divorce, the blame for the marriage not working is often laid at their feet.

"But Shizu didn't divorce Kyogo!"

Setting aside the fact that society at large wouldn't have the full context of Shizu's situation, widows also did not receive much sympathy. The late Meiji saw the rise of the term Mibojin (Or "the not-yet-dead-one"). The intended connotation of this word is that the woman should have died with her husband and that it is somehow shameful that she didn't.

There was a high level of discrimination against widows and very little in the way of safety nets for them. While I'm unable to find the exact wage gap between women and men in Taisho Japan, the modern wage gap is about 30.2%, so for every 100 yen a man makes, women make about 70 yen.

Not only that, but single mothers are often forced to take part-time or low-paying jobs. The poverty rate of single-parent homes in Japan is 56%, which is staggering. (For reference, America, another country with poor social safety nets for struggling mothers, has a single-parent poverty rate of 33.5%.) Now, while these are modern statistics, it is important to note that many of the societal issues that caused these numbers arose during the Meiji and Taisho eras—when Shizu would have been alive.

This is to say that Shizu faced many societal pressures at the time, which led to her most likely having little to no support networks or reliable income. Genya himself says this: "My mother was always working, from morning until night. Not once did I ever see her sleeping."

One of the main criticisms I've seen of Shizu is that she is overly reliant on Sanemi (and, to some extent, Genya, but mostly Sanemi) to the point that he was parentified. Now, for those that may not have heard this term before, parentification is a term that was coined in 1967 and is used to describe a sort of role reversal where a child or adolescent (teen) is made to support the family in ways that are developmentally inappropriate.

Think of this example: Your mother asks you to help her cook and gives you small, age-appropriate tasks, versus you are expected to cook and provide a meal for the family by yourself. The second example is parentification.

There are two types of parentification: instrumental and emotional. Instrumental parentification encompasses the physical tasks of cleaning, cooking, and working, whereas emotional parentification occurs when a child is made to be a confidant or mediator.

For Sanemi (and, to a lesser extent, Genya), we can surmise that he was at least instrumentally parentified as he worked to put food on the table. It is highly likely he was emotionally parentified, as he was described as Shizu's 'right-hand' and as taking care of his siblings as well. This role would have been incredibly burdensome for a child.

However, it's unlikely that Shizu has any other choice.

On a personal note, Shizu's situation reminds me of my Abuelita. While obviously not an exact one-to-one, I will admit to feeling a bit of a connection with her. A single mother living in poverty with too many children to possibly keep them all fed.

She often relied on my dad and his older brother to care for their little sisters, but only because she had to. She had to work day and night so they would have a roof over their heads and some food—so they could survive, first and foremost. If she had had a choice, she would have never placed that burden on them, and I see that reflected in how I personally view Shizu. From what little we are shown from the boy's POV, it paints the picture of a kind and caring woman who would lay down her life for her children.

It doesn't necessarily make it right or fair that Sanemi had to take on those burdens at such a young age; breadwinner, child-rearer, confidant. But, to lay the blame entirely at Shizu's feet is to imply that she had control.

Another criticism I've seen is that she neglected Sanemi and Genya. This likely comes from Genya's line: "I was the second oldest after Sanemi, and Mom was always too busy taking care of our little brothers and sisters, so she never really babied me."

We can guess from this that if she didn't baby Genya as the second eldest, she was unlikely to baby Sanemi, especially since Genya himself asks, "Who on earth was there to baby him?"

As tragic as it is, this is relatively common for parentified older siblings in large families. They are overlooked in favor of the youngest, who can't care for themselves as well as the older children can.

However, from the way Genya and Sanemi talk about her, it is undeniable that they adored her. Something my dad told me about my grandmother stuck out to me: "In all the years she raised us, she never told us she loved us. But we knew because she worked day and night for us. We didn't need her to tell us constantly."

It is clear that Shizu loved her children in her actions—the way she throws herself between them and Kyogo, the way she works day and night, and the overflowing affection Sanemi describes feeling from her.

While this doesn't change that she didn't give them the attention they needed, it wasn't from a lack of caring.

A third criticism I've seen is that Shizu should not have had so many children if she couldn't support them. Putting aside that this lays all of the blame for conception at the woman's feet, it also ignores other factors, like the anti-abortion laws of the Meiji period and with the popularized fukoku kyohei slogan of the time, contraceptives were heavily discouraged. And considering Kyogo's controlling and abusive disposition, abstinence may not have been an option.

The final criticism I have seen is that Shizu allowed her self-sacrificial nature to rub off on her children. To this, I ask, what would you have her do? Yes, she sacrificed everything for her children out of love, however, giving anything less could have meant the difference between life and death for her children.

Based on what little we see of her, I think it can be concluded that Shizu did the best she could with the few resources and graces afforded to her. While she certainly made mistakes, I do not think this qualifies her as a good or bad mother.

TLDR: Shizu's situation is very complicated, and she did the best that she could. She was certainly a flawed mother, but not necessarily an outright bad mother. Societal and economic pressures forced her to be overly reliant on her eldest children, but there is evidence that she truly loved and cared for them. While there are certainly valid criticisms to be made, it is important to consider all the circumstances that led her to make those decisions in the first place.

And now for some sources I didn't link in the above analysis: Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here.

[thatdawgx]

If Sanemi and Genya had been able to grow up in a normal household, what about their characters would you think would be different? We know in Gakuen they don’t have their dad around since he died when they were young, so would you say that’s an accurate representation of how Sanemi particularly would still be without that aspect in their lives?

Thank you so much for the ask!! And definitely an interesting one, too!

So, for this question, I pose the question of what you consider to be a normal household. Many factors shape Sanemi into the character that we see, their father being only one factor. Two major formative contenders, I would argue, are poverty and the parentification of children.

There is, of course, a plethora of studies on how poverty can affect a child's developmental outcome (such as this one), including stunting of emotional growth, something we see in Sanemi that is worsened by his traumatic experiences. In canon, Shizu essentially functioned as a single mother as not only was Kyogo described as "good for nothing," but he also died early on in Sanemi's life in canon as well as in Kimegaku.

From what little we are shown of Sanemi's early life, we can infer a lot; he is described as Shizu's "right hand," and Genya says that he works even though he is a kid. Based on laws around this time, Sanemi would have been the head of the household. From a very young age, Sanemi has a lot of pressure on his shoulders to help his mother raise six other kids and make enough money to keep food on the table.

We know he took this very seriously and had to grow up fast, Genya notes that he acts and sounds like an adult. We know their family was looked down on and picked on by other kids in more fortunate positions, like the landlord's son. This is likely where he gets his inferiority issues.

While Kyogo's abuse certainly had an effect on Sanemi, I'd argue that his absence in caring for the family played the biggest part in shaping Sanemi in canon, as Sanemi had to step up and sort of fill in his role in the family.

Of course, things are a little different in modern times. For one, there are child labor laws in place, so Sanemi can't have been the family's breadwinner. However, as the responsibility to bring money and food to the table shifts more to be on Shizu's shoulders, I feel this places the responsibility of watching the children more on Sanemi.

In Kimegaku we have this: "He'd be going to her workplace to pick her up, or else he'd be at home babysitting his younger siblings. Shinazugawa's father had died when he was young, and his mother had sacrificed a lot to raise seven children on her own. Now that Shinazugawa was an adult himself, his heart and mind were focused on supporting her."

This seems to show that Shizu spent all her time working while Sanemi babysat his siblings, something he continues to do to this day. Sanemi is described as a family man first and foremost and a bit of a "homebody."

There's also the fact that while there's nothing to indicate that Kyogo abused them, there's nothing to indicate that he didn't. And it doesn't specify when Kyogo died, though Sanemi had to have been at least in his teens, judging by how young his youngest siblings still are.

That's not to say I think Kimegaku Sanemi and canon Sanemi are completely the same, but I do think the writers of Kimegaku were afraid to take artistic liberty with the characters, and by that, I mean they didn't want to deviate too much from the source material lest the character become unrecognizable on the surface level.

TLDR: While I do think Kyogo's abuse deeply affected Sanemi in canon, I think Kimegaku Sanemi is very similar to canon Sanemi because they still had similar experiences growing up: He was a parentified older sibling to six little siblings who grew up in likely impoverished conditions with a single mother.

[thatdawgx]

Giyuu wants that cookie so bad

okay so I'm leaving this here....

just saying 🤧

(I don't really take the Gakuen seriously at all however that panel made me think of them)

[thatdawgx]

What the Hashira Want vs. What They Need

Muichiro Tokito: wants to forget // needs to remember

Shinobu Kocho: wants revenge // needs to let her anger out

Mitsuri Kanroji: wants to be desired // needs to be loved for who she really is

Kyojuro Renguko: wants to use his power for good // needs to know how great he is

Sanemi Shinazugawa: wants to play the role of the bad guy // needs gentleness

Obanai Iguro: wants to wash his hands clean // needs to realize they were never dirty

Giyu Tomioka: wants to disappear // needs to live

Tengen Uzui: wants to be different from his father // needs peace and life

Gyomei Himejima: wants to be strong // needs to open up and try to trust again

[thatdawgx]

One thing that I noticed is how sanemi has never shown his entire backstory to the viewer, every other hashira shows us their backstories but sanemi's backstory is shown through genya, not by sanemi himself and when he does start to show us his backstory he starts of the time where he killed his mother, not by showing his childhood, not by showing his family but by murdering his mother

[thatdawgx]

how the pint sized pillars feel about each other!

[thatdawgx]

I wanted to make a special post for this sort of thing but the reason why I'm not fan of ppl making giyuu some diva with an amazing body and good fashion sense is because he is stands out for just being boring character especially compared to other hashira

I love Giyuu Tomioka bc he’s probably the most boring man alive.

He stitched his two loved ones’ haoris together not realizing/caring that they clash horribly. He picked up a sword in the peaceful world of kimetsu gakuen and went ‘nah this is what I’m good at’ and became a gym teacher. He wears a tracksuit every day. He probably choses ‘what’s practical’ for Everything.

If he got married he’d probably just want a plain silver band. Zero fashion sense. He doesn’t even know how to style his hair.

[thatdawgx]

x I plead the fifth

[thatdawgx]

they are so canon

[thatdawgx]

While reading this thread I realized how sanemi is the only member of his family that didn't die the violent way

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 死 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.

[thatdawgx]

Obanai is literally the worst written hashira and his hatred for giyuu is so boring; yeah he misunderstood him like sanemi did but sanemi is a character that was meant to be giyuu's foil (their breathing styles, backstories etc.) while obanai is just some edgy OC that you would create when you were younger

No demon slayer fandom, sanemi doesn't scream profanities at giyuu and beat him up every time he sees him in fact he wants giyuu to speak normally with every hashira and for him to not ignore his duties as one, not to mention how sanemi has every right to be angry at him with the way giyuu randomly insults sanemi when he is just expressing his own opinion

[thatdawgx]

No demon slayer fandom, sanemi doesn't scream profanities at giyuu and beat him up every time he sees him in fact he wants giyuu to speak normally with every hashira and for him to not ignore his duties as one, not to mention how sanemi has every right to be angry at him with the way giyuu randomly insults sanemi when he is just expressing his own opinion

[thatdawgx]

Something that caught my attention in the Nezuko-Sanemi interaction in the ending is that when he remembers Genya by Nezuko's reaction and words, baby Genya also adds "because then i dont get hungry". Its interesting how gtg added this line, maybe im reaching too much but maybe Genya (and Sanemi) had to starve himself because there wasnt enough food/as one of the elders he gave his food to the little ones so sleeping was a method to stop his hungriness

See, I don't think you're reading too much into it at all. I think that line was very deliberately placed. Gotouge does not pull any punches when it comes to depicting the Shinazugawa's poverty.

We see very little of the Shinazugawa's background but what we do see is all painting a very very distinct picture.

The Shinazugawas were what are known as hinmin during the meiji period. (or the extremely poor)

Let's start with where they live.

In the light novel, Genya mentions that they live in a longhouse: "...bit of a walk from the longhouse we lived in." (pg 112 one winged butterfly)

Based on appearance and description, we can conclude that they were living in what's known as a Nagaya. Nagaya were Japanese rowhouses/longhouses that were built during the Edo period. (here.) They were cheap and designed for single tenants, containing only a single room of approximately 8-10 square meters and a small kitchen.

Now, there's an important distinction to be made: if Genya had meant a Machiya, (a more modern and larger version of the rowhouse) it likely would have been translated to townhouse in the light novel as that is the direct translation whereas Long House is the direct translation for Nagaya. Nagaya was reserved for specifically poorer areas and was associated heavily with poverty during the Meiji era.

It should be noted that Nagaya were intended to be rented out by tenants that didn't have a family, and thus would have a much smaller income.

Even in the light novel it's shown that Genya and his family are bullied for being poor based on the interaction with him and the landlord's son. "The whole 'poor people with tons of kids' thing."

We know that Sanemi works to make money for the family despite also being a kid and we can see in the flashback that he's pulling what's known as a rickshaw. Even in the sketch that was released, Sanemi was shown pulling a rickshaw there as well.

Rickshaw pullers, called shafu, or "human horses" by appalled foreigners, made their living renting out a rickshaw to pull people or supplies (though usually it was people they pulled around). Horses were extremely expensive and cars were rare during this time and Kago were starting to go out of style.

Shafu were known for their extreme strength and endurance, something we can definitely attribute to Sanemi, even at a young age. Unless they were employed by someone of high status, they made very little money, often having to rent out even their jackets.

Women in Meiji Japan made very little money, only able to support an average of 1.5 people on their wages alone, which falls devastatingly short of the seven that Shizu needed to support. Under the Meiji ie code at the time, Sanemi would have been the head of the household and thus the main breadwinner for the family.

It was unlikely that even when Kyogo was alive, he brought much to the table, based on how frequently he was referred to as a good-for-nothing father. He was likely driven to become a drunkard by the stress of poverty, though that certainly does not excuse him from being an abuser.

We can very safely conclude that the "I'm not hungry when I sleep" line was very much an intentional reference to their poverty.

I will link some of my sources:

Here. Here. Here. Here. Here.

Also, I'd like to apologize for answering my asks a little out of order: I happened to have already done a bunch of research into this topic for my fic before this ask was ever sent in so I was already prepared to answer it! I promise I'll get to all my asks though; I appreciate each and every one of them. It's just that a few are a little harder to respond to than others!

[thatdawgx]

God thank you for including the part where giyuu just randomly insults sanemi, ppl often forget that thing

On Sanemi and Giyuu: A Journey of Misunderstandings

Sanemi and Giyuu have possibly one of the most misunderstood dynamics in fandom that I've ever personally seen. And to truly understand their relationship, I want to briefly talk about Giyuu and how his past affects his relationship with the other Hashira.

Let's start with Giyuu.

The Hashira that was never meant to be. Giyuu's life is one built on sacrifice and regret. First with the loss of his sister, Tsutako, after she sacrificed herself to save him. He falls into a depression and feels that he should have been the one to die instead when his sister, who was set to be married in one day, had so much "more" to live for.

Sabito then delivers the infamous slap. The shock and pain of life help to pull him back into the moment when Sabito tells him not to waste his sister's sacrifice, that she knew exactly what she was giving up when she hid him.

And he manages to get through to Giyuu for a while. Until Final Selection, when Sabito tragically gives up his life to save Giyuu and everyone else taking part in Final Selection that year.

From there, Giyuu spirals, forgetting the lesson Sabito taught him on mount Sagiri. He devotes himself to his training and quickly ascends the ranks, but believes himself unworthy of the status of Hashira because of what was sacrificed to get him there.

As a result, he isolates himself from companionship. In the light novel, Ubuyashiki says this about Giyuu: "But Tomioka has deliberately cornered himself. He looks backward because that's what he wants." The guidebook says, "The Water Hashira keeps a distance from the other Hashira and the rest of the corps."

As I mentioned in my post on Sanemi's pack-centric nature, it's not right to even call Giyuu a lone wolf at this point in the story because he does not want companionship.

Giyuu, like many characters, is trapped in the past and self-destructing via isolation.

That's not to say he doesn't subconsciously want it. Humans are social animals who crave contact on our most basic levels; of course there is always going to be some part of Giyuu that wants human contact. This subconscious desire for human contact can be seen in the way he views the other Hashira.

The first thing I notice is that he rates the Hashira based on how much they talk to him. If they don't talk to him, he doesn't speak with them.

I mean, just look at that piddly openness score! Sanemi has twice the level of openness and the light novel outright calls him "unsociable." Muichirou, who is described (and this is a direct quote from page 140 of OWB) as "basically an empty puppet" has an openness score of 40%.

And I'd like to emphasize that it is very much not just Sanemi that has complaints about Giyuu's behavior.

His isolation affects not just his social life but his job as well with Uzui saying in the light novels: "We're finally cutting loose the uncooperative Water Hashira?"

Even Rengoku chips in, saying "we have to stand tall and tell him our complaints," just a few sentences later.

During the Hashira meeting at the beginning of the training arc, Amane asks them on behalf of Ubuyashiki to unlock the marks for the sake of defeating Muzan, but, Giyuu, resigned that he would never earn a mark and does not deserve to stand with the Hashira, leaves the meeting.

It's easy to forget that we, as the viewer, have all the context and that other characters don't. To the other Hashira, this comes across as Giyuu actively shirking his duty as a Hashira.

Sanemi stops Giyuu, stating that he can't leave until they "decide what our respective roles will be!"

To which Giyuu responds "It has nothing to do with me."

Shinobu outright asks Giyuu to explain himself to which he simply says "I'm not like the rest of you."

As the viewer, we know he means that he is not on par with the others, but to characters like Sanemi, who has spent his life in poverty and thus, looked down upon, this sounds all to familiar.

Sanemi even outright says: "I don't like the sound of that. You said the same thing before, didn't you, Tomioka? You're looking down on us?"

Giving him a very clear chance to explain himself.

However, Giyuu just turns his head and walks away, leaving Sanemi with that assumption.

This is without going into, how, during the very same meeting, Giyuu calls Sanemi a "simpleton," completely unprompted.

As much as I love Giyuu, he doesn't make a very good case for himself in the eyes of the other Hashira.

So, what changes? How does Giyuu go from actively avoiding contact to this:

Well...

Simply put... his relationship with Tanjirou.

His brotherly bond with Tanjirou is one of the most beautiful storylines in Demon Slayer and I could make a whole post devoted to them if I had the time. But to put it shortly, Tanjirou helps Giyuu learn to open himself up to companionship again. Suddenly, we see a shift in Giyuu. And the light novels make a very heavy distinction between the way Giyuu was acting before Tanjirou's influence and after: "The way Tomioka was now, Tanjirou was sure he'd be able to be friends with everyone."

Unfortunately for Tomioka... he has a hard time convincing Sanemi that he isn't making fun of him and that he want's to be friends.

His face in the light novel is described as: "his face seemed like he was making fun of anyone who spoke to him."

Aka he's got a major case of RBF and a very flat tone with very little intonation. Which means that when Giyuu tries to reach out to Sanemi through ohagi (a treat typically enjoyed by children!), between his face, voice, and previous history of insulting Sanemi, it seems only logical (to Sanemi, the audience knows different) that Giyuu is making fun of him once again.

I've already discussed in length how Sanemi is a pack-centered person (here) and how it also affects how it sees Giyuu. How his loner archetype is the antithesis of what the mighty wolf stands for.

So how does Sanemi go from thinking that Giyuu is a self-centered asshole to smiling at him like this?

By finally, finally, in the end, proving himself as part of the pack and a team player.

Finally, on the battlefield, they are equals and Sanemi sees Giyuu for his true self; willing to sacrifice everything for the good of humanity and for his family.

As for Sanemi's huge shift in attitude in general at the end, well, that's a different post.

Regardless, Sanemi and Giyuu's relationship is one fraught with misunderstanding and is a prime example of how someone's mental state can clash with someone else's. You never know what someone else is going through. For Sanemi, he fundamentally doesn't understand that it is Giyuu's guilt and desire to not see anyone else lose their life in his name that drives him to isolate while Giyuu can't see that his isolation comes across as arrogance to someone who has spent their whole life in a position of being considered "lower."

All in all, they have an incredibly interesting dynamic that I think is taken for granted.

[thatdawgx]

Demon slayer fandom has completely ruined sanemi's character to the point whenever I try to talk how canonically sanemi is a very sensitive and caring person it feels like I'm infantilizing him