Highlights
- Tanjiro and Kanao’s relationship blossomed slowly but eventually led to marriage and the birth of their descendants.
- Kanao’s traumatic past and emotional stunting were slowly overcome with the help of Tanjiro’s compassion and support.
- Despite the lack of a direct confirmation from the author, hints throughout the story suggest that Tanjiro and Kanao were meant to be together.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for the Demon Slayer manga & anime.
ufotable’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba is a story of vengeance, war, and self-discovery which appears to have no place for romance. The characters are often traumatized by some tragedy in the past and seem to be too preoccupied with the idea of revenge to fall in love. While this is true for most warriors who take up weapons to fight against the forces of evil, there are a few notable exceptions like Mitsuri and Obanai.
Interestingly, because of some past incidents, fans frequently ship Tanjiro and Kanao as well but is there any truth to their rumors of romance? Koyoharu Gotouge never directly addresses this topic but he does leave some interesting clues in the manga for the fans.
Kanao’s Origins And Tanjiro’s Life-Changing Impact
Empathizing With Kanao’s Struggles, Tanjiro Tried To Help Her Face Her Fears
Kanao Tsuyuri was born into an abusive family and never received the love from her parents that she deserved. The negligence and psychological trauma that she had endured led to a harrowing impact and rendered her emotionally stunted. Kanao became almost mechanical in her demeanour and barely showed any signs of self-preservation even with obvious signs of a threat to her existence. She was eventually sold by her parents to a man and life could have turned into an even darker nightmare if not for Shinobu and Kanae.
The Kocho sisters rescued Kanao and gave her a better life. But despite introducing her to a much healthier environment, her emotional stunting prevented her from opening up. The trauma inflicted by Kanao’s parents had made her too dependent on others as she was unable to act independently of her own volition and had to be commanded to do even basic tasks. In order to help her make decisions, Kanae came up with an interesting idea. She gave Kanao a coin and asked her to flip it whenever she had to choose. This finally gave Tsuyuri some independence but it was still not enough.
Tanjiro and Kanao’s first encounter was rather unromantic. Interestingly, both of them participated in the Final Selection in the same year but never really interacted with each other directly. This was a unique experience for Kanao since she decided to take the exam without anyone’s advice or permission. She then met Tanjiro on Mount Natagumo as he was trying to defend his sister Nezuko. As a demon slayer, Kanao went after Nezuko and in the process even knocked out Tanjiro.
The turning point in Tanjiro and Kanao’s life came during the Rehabilitation Training at Butterfly Mansion. The duo never talked much until the point when the training was almost complete. Tanjiro wanted to thank Kanao for helping him when he noticed that Kanao flipped a coin before making any decision. He felt that he must help her become more independent. So, Tanjiro used Kanao’s coin to decide for her that she would be living the rest of her life following her heart. At that moment, something changed inside Tsuyuri and she was never the same again. This incident cemented the foundation of Tanjiro and Kanao’s bond which only got stronger with time.
After the Rehabilitation Training, Tanjiro went on some important missions that included fighting Gyutaro and Daki in the Entertainment District. Although he and his allies succeeded in bringing an end to the reign of terror unleashed by the Upper-Rank Six demon duo, the demon slayers involved in the mission were severely injured. Tanjiro’s wounds took a lot of time to heal and he didn’t wake up for two whole months after the fight.
When Tanjiro finally opened his eyes, he found Kanao in front of her. Unlike her usual mechanical self, Tsuyuri expressed genuine happiness after seeing him awake again. It appeared that she had been regularly paying him visits just to make sure he was fine, which meant that she deeply cared for him by this point.
Tanjiro and Kanao’s Relationship in the Aftermath of Muzan’s Death
Even With Death Staring at Them, Kanao and Tanjiro Looked After One Another
As Muzan’s life was coming to an end, he made a last-ditch effort to pass on his demonic nature and powers to Tanjiro by turning him into a demon. His effort showed promising results as Tanjiro immediately conquered the sun and became a demon with more potential than Muzan himself. Naturally, this seemed like a nightmare to Tanjiro’s friends and sister who had celebrated their victory just moments ago.
Nezuko, Inosuke, and Giyu showed immense bravery in trying to control him but everything seemed fruitless. In that instance, Kanao despite her severe injuries realized that she had one sample of Tamayo’s drug that can turn a demon into a human. Without caring for her own well-being, she leapt towards Tanjiro and injected him with the drug that eventually helped him from giving into demonic tendencies.
In her heroic effort, Kanao ended up sustaining more injuries but Tanjiro became a human again. As he came back to his senses, he saw Kanao and expressed his gratitude that she was still alive. It was evident in Tanjiro and Kanao’s eyes that they respected and adored one another and were even willing to put their lives on the line if the other was in danger.
Tanjiro and Kanao’s story after this is somewhat uncertain and shrouded in mystery as Koyoharu Gotouge did not go into too main details about their relationship in the manga. However, in Demon Slayer chapter 205, he does give an interesting insight into Tanjiro’s descendants. Many years after demons were defeated and their existence became a myth, people in modern Japan started living an ordinary life unaware of the demonic forces that once tried to destroy humanity.
Ignorant to the struggles and sacrifices that great-great-grandfather Tanjiro and great-great-grandmother Kanao made, Sumihiko and Kanata Kamado now enjoy a somewhat relaxed life preoccupied with school life. Sumihiko temperamentally and look-wise is a lot like Tanjiro. He is also quite agile and is also well-known for his generous nature. Kanata on the other hand is like his great-great-grandmother Kanao. His monotonous mannerisms are quite peculiar and make him stand out among his peers.
A human life is like a story. And my life is my own story with me as the main character. Because even if they’re a hundred, two hundred, or even a thousand years ago, these are only stories about people in the end. And I’m sure that my family, as well as the people I don’t know, all have lots of their own little stories that only they know about.
Now these things are enough to make concrete conclusions about some parts of Tanjiro and Kanao’s life. Sometime after Muzan’s death, the couple got married to each other. There is a good chance that the former did not live a long life since he had manifested a Demon Slayer Mark. But Sumihiko and Kanata’s existence proves that Tanjiro and Kanao had kids sometime in their lives.
All of this also proves that the eccentric duo ended up falling in love with each other. Although their romance developed slowly and took time to mature, there were obvious incidents throughout the story that hinted that Tanjiro and Kanao were meant to be together.
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