u/redhotphones

LN forward states that Tengen canonically NEVER addresses Inosuke by name. Tengen is a white birch, so there is definitely a reason for that. I've shown that they don't associate people with external factors like their looks and instead seem to look at people as "souls" in the spiritual realm (Unseen World). If he's not using Inosuke's name than it means it's NOT INOSUKE'S NAME.

Hashibara Inosuke -- 嘴平 伊之助 -- is NOT a real-world name. It sounds, phonetically, like it could be, but it isn't. In a world where all characters trace their bloodlines back to real-world (or near-real-world) clans and supernatural entities, WHY is Inosuke stuck with a fantasy made-up name? On a surface level it references being a boar, but that's not the point; the point is, WHO ARE THE HASHIBARA. They DON'T EXIST.

I used to think the name on little kid Inosuke's wrapping was Kotoha's husband's name, ie, his legal name. But it's NOT. In the databook entry, the "Father" entry in the family tree is nameless. I knew already that Shinjuro was his biological father so I just glossed over that fact, ie, it's just to hide who his biological father was. BUT I MISSED A CRITICAL POINT: the OTHER reason is that it could be "Hashibara" was simply NOT HIS NAME.

It's a made up name. So WHO made it up? Why like that? I, of course, found the answer:

嘴平 = "Hashibara"

伊 = "I"

之 = "no"

助 = "suke"

In the SAMURAI ADDRESS SYSTEM, it literally means:

"Vice-Commander of Ise Province Hashibara" / "Hashibara I-no-suke". The "I" being the abbreviation for the province / country which was the standard in this address system. -suke just meant "helper", ie, he-who-aids-the-leader.

Ise was unique in that it wasn't the domain any major warlord in the Sengoku, it was made up of independent villages, and their warriors were called "Ji-Samurai" = "Earth Samurai". They were famous for their toughness and specialized in guerilla warfare and mountain terrain fighting ability. They would later become the historic foundation of the Shinobi. When their village leaders and such went to meetings with the major powers they very often took the official names of "-suke" to show their rank in the hierarchy.

And BEFORE the collapse of the Imperial Court and the end of the Heian Period, Ise was home to the Grand Shrine of Ise, the most sacred location in Shintoism. Every year the Imperial Court held grand seasonal festivals there, and one of the most important was.....

KOCHO-NO-MAI, the Butterfly Dance.

Children of nobles would dress up in butterfly wings and flower garlands and dance before the Imperial court. offering the performance to the heavens in a prayer for peace and prosperity.

So....okay. WHO put that name on Inosuke's cloth?

Two options. One is his biological father, Shinjuro. The other is Kokushibo. Both have arguments for and against this, but overall I think Shinjuro is the best candidate. The strip was carefully written with a clear but modern-style using a brush calligraphy and we see Shinjuro writing with a brush as the cover of the VERY NEXT chapter after Inosuke enters battles for the first time in ED against the Obi Demon. We never see Kokushibo write anything, but the Samurai addressing, the use of "boar" imagery in the first name strongly suggests someone FOUND Inosuke like that (with boars) and if it was Kokushibo he could sense his genetics and maybe recognized his old subordinate which may have come from Ise (the Ji-Samurai were very sought after). Furthermore, notice the little boar mask? In Samurai custom names are given in a ceremony where the hat-parent puts a hat on the child symbolizing their new name which is different than what it was as a child. But then the Rengokus go back to the Sengoku at LEAST and the Corps has maintained Samurai customs until it's disbandment so it's not that strange Shinjuro would come up with something like that.

"But didn't Douma say....?"

No, KANAO said. The moment Inosuke has his mask taken, she says his name for the FIRST TIME. She SHOUTS it -- not at Inosuke, he knows his mask is gone. SHE'S SHOUTING IT AT DOUMA.

"HIS NAME IS INOSUKE".

More research is needed to figure out the lineage between Shinobu and Inosuke and WHY this whole identity game is being pulled. He's Shinjuro's biological son, okay, but why hide the LEGAL name? Did Kotoha name him after Shinjuro or something? But I'm glad I've had this breakthrough in the hidden plot.

I’ve seen this panel a million times and I always thought that was Kanae — NO IT’S NOT! It CAN’T be, Kanao is wearing a Corps uniform and Kanae died 4 years before Kanao passed Final Selection. But her long hair style and dual butterfly clips doesn’t match any of Shinobu’s tsuguko. Is THIS the "sister" Shinobu references re Douma’s information? Why is she in this scene? Is there someone she could be in the plot?

Tanjiro shows the flat of his blade to Daki due to cutting off Koinatsu's section of the obi.

Daki notices the opening and launches a spinning attack using the BACK of her fist.

Tanjiro, still holding the blade flat-on, notices and brings the edge back up to take the strike at the last moment. The power of the hit was pretty strong and it flung him to the ground, probably due to Daki winding it up with a spinning motion to increase the power as much as possible.

She DIDN'T use her obis for this, she punched like a martial artist this one time. She literally used Bell-Splitter.

So. That means that UMs can sometimes share techniques with one another, or Muzan shows them how to do to them via blood networking. OR this is something Daki got from her link-relation-whatever to Kanao who is closely associated with Akaza in the hidden plot.

So does that mean Koku showed Douma (or whoever it was in the movie flashback) how to do that upwards-motion breaking move? Or something else going on? I'll have to check the other UM fights to see if they are sharing techniques.

It's the kanji for "water". She doesn't have enough finger to make "ice". Or maybe she could have tried crooking her thumb but that might look like an entirely different kanji. I think to represented a curved stroke she uses bent fingers so the #2 stroke (thumb and forefinger) she crooks it because she isn't Inosuke so her fingers can only bend one way.

She COULD be trying to communicate something via all the alternative readings / component sounds of "water" but let's assume that it isn't THAT esoteric (I hope).

Douma read her intent to signal about his power, which is why he glanced at her before crushing her spine. Maybe she was going to make another kanji for a compound or specific word although I couldn't easily find anything that would work / make sense. Maybe a standard Corps hand-signal?

Kanao thought it was "ice" because she already knew all about Douma's BDA. Naturally she assumed Shinobu meant "ice" since the kanji are almost identical.

Finally, Shinobu wouldn't make the mistake of giving a wrong signal. If she had to give just one signal before she died, what would it be? If she signaled "water" she MEANT "water".

She WASN'T giving US a signal. She is not doing narration on behalf of the mangaka. She was giving Kanao a signal, something Kanao was supposed to make sense of. Shinobu hated her and wanted her dead -- BUT at the last moment of her life her true feelings came out and she wanted to give Kanao a way to survive to carry out her will and beat Douma. Meaning she DIDN'T know exactly who Kanao was or her connection to Douma. If she wanted to screw Kanao like she had been screwed with bad information, she could have just signaled nothing at all.

So WHAT was she trying to communicate? Is water a hidden factor? OR was it something ABOUT the water? INSIDE the water? When did she realize it? When she was hugged? When she was falling? During the final clash?

I have a pretty good theory but it has some holes that need filling first. But if anyone thinks the surface narrative is the true one I'm open to being wrong as usual.

Databook explicitly says Kanao's "tsuguko nakama", ie, fellow tsuguko. They do not show up in any of the flashbacks of or before Kanae's death. Maybe some of them were around but not anyone's tsuguko yet.

Kanao was immediately sent on CONSTANT missions upon joining the Corps. (Ie, after she passed Final Selection). She's distinguished herself the MOST out of her Selection batch and rose to a higher rank. These "tsuguko nakama" were killed one after the other, and Kanao began to build up anger over the tsuguko and other soldiers who were kind to her being killed.

But notice something? It's been less than 2 months since these three "treated like sisters" tsuguko were killed by the time Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu arrive to the Butterfly Mansion. Absolutely NO MENTION WHATSOEVER of them. No grave scenes. No reminiscing. No sudden tears remembering these RECENTLY KILLED sisters. Not even an off-hand comment.

This "moving on" power is pretty exceptional. Shinobu was purposefully trying to get Kanao killed, and what she was really angry about was that the one tsuguko she WANTED to die didn't. Kanao's voice of the heart was still very small and she herself wasn't aware of her anger at that stage (databook). BUT WHAT ABOUT AOI? Naho, Kiyo and Sumi? Literally nothing?

Was bringing them up an absolute taboo because Shinobu would get enraged? Or did she order the others to never talk about them to Kamaboko, ie, because she intended to bring them in? The three little girls seemed scared of her in the flashback so maybe that's what it was. Still, it's weird.

Reposting this from a post I made to a deleted comment because it's too important to waste.

Giyuu is the sword dojo heir in a past life. Their souls are strongly connected by friendship; Hakuji was definately friends with him for the years following their duel over Koyuki.

Akaza's techniques are based on "precious people" -- in PARTICULAR the NAMES of the technique ("techniques names and such").Compass Needle = "Rashin". This is NOT a traditional term for a compass. It was BORROWED from a Chinese root (grid-needle). The official entomology is traced back to an 1857 translation of a Western NAVAL guide. Japanese translators wanted a term that sounded technical / scientific to describe a modern ship's navigation system which the Japanese words for compass lacked.

Tomioka is the REAL WORLD family name of historic naval officers serving in the Russo-Japanese war and WW2. They descend from a SAMURAI clan. During the Edo period, the Samurai ran these "dojos" which really a part of the han education system for the upper class.

In short, Akaza subconsciously linked the naval terminology of "Rashin" to his BEST FRIEND. The reason why he was SO into Giyuu, practically climbing into his face is THIS. The reason why he remembered the Water Hashira from 50 years ago was THIS.

So the fact is, this was probably the best performance of Akaza's life. I used to think he pulled out Bell-Splitter any time he wanted to end a fight as this was his most proficient technique as a human. But what IS Bell-Splitter? The beginning of the friendship with Giyuu. Possibly he only remembered Bell-Splitter BECAUSE it was Giyuu.

Kanao 100% without a doubt wanted to turn BOTH Hakuji and the heir into demons. She must have been REALLY hyped up to reunite the friends and do her big reveal.

Just a quick one and confirms something I already knew but it's good to have extra proof.

Kanao LITERALLY calls Kanae her sister when introducing herself to Douma.

Kanae canonically adopted her into the Kocho household. Kanao appears as an adopted sister alongside Kanae and Shinobu in her databook entry. So obviously she can 100% truthfully claim to be Kanae's sister.

But calling her "Kanae-san" is crazily inappropriate for their relationship. That's a polite address you'd use for strangers, co-workers you don't know that well, very lose "friendly" relations, etc. The NORMAL address would be "Kanae-oneechan" or simply "oneechan", or even "nee-chan / -san like Shinobu does. On the outside case just the name without the honorific could work. But "Kanae-san" would never be used in normal circumstances.

What's going on? First, the panel itself is a hint. "On the brink of death Kanae-san said". WHAT she said isn't even in the panel. The bubble in the center, the main focus, is what's this panel is about. Attention is being drawn to this.

Now consider what we recently found out how Kanao CAN'T disobey orders. This suggests that Shinobu's rejection of Kanao as Kanae's sister WASN'T just a passive one-sided thing Shinobu held on to (ie, saying "I'll tell you about the demon who killed MY elder sister"). She ORDERED Kanao never to use familial forms of address. Or she ordered Kanao never to use such addresses to HER, which means Kanao is specifically telling Shinobu that she KNOWS she's listening.

Interestingly, no matter how much Shinobu loathed her and wanted to see her gone, she DIDN'T take the coin, hairpin or memory box, all things given by Kanae.

After realizing that Kanao is deaf, it became clear that she CAN'T DISOBEY ORDERS.

When Tanjiro asked for the coin, he said "Will you lend it to me?" In Japanese it's "Lend it to me?" But because Kanao can't hear the question mark, any implied "Will you", "can you", etc, that would make it a proper question in Japanese DISAPPEARS. It turns from a request to an ORDER. "Lend it to me".

THAT'S why she gave him the coin with only a slight hesitation. It's very important to her but she CAN'T deny him so she tries to pretend like it's no big deal. She's TERRIFIED of any of the boys finding out she has a disability.

Kanao went on a slash rampage in spite of being "warned" by the hand signal, that has nothing to do with her holding back this time. Douma

ORDERED

HER

NOT

TO

That's why she looks like she's losing her mind with rage. She CANNOT DISOBEY ORDERS.

This is not at the level of "trauma". Someone did something to her. I used to think her "home" was a Corps boot camp for evil spirits or something. Extreme torture was used in the Edo period to "correct" bad criminals. But frankly this seems supernatural to me. I wonder if it's a Shinobi boot camp, ie, how they "recruit" soldiers who will give their lives and keep their mouths shut without exception.

It's wildly unlikely that the Kochos were just randomly crossing paths with Kanao having a stroll with her slaver in broad daylight at the end of the Meiji where law and order has taken over. So it could be an Ubiyashiki magic special although there's no examples I can think of that puts control over someone to that level.

(source: official manga and movie)

So to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the closest thing to a love confession in the manga, here is the hidden truth of the confession scene.

They are not dead. They are having a conversation on the BRINK of death, and she is still within his spirit domain. Douma of course hasn't told a SINGLE lie, but that's a different analysis related to his hidden plot.

First, she tells him not to call her or her sister's name because it makes her sick. That's NOT because she hates him saying her name, but because she's "sensitive" (databook) and she's reacting to Douma calling them "Shinobu-chan" and "Kanae-chan". It's implied to be an embarrassed reaction. Douma knows she doesn't hate it so he plows forward with "-chan" anyway.

He says "Hey, Shinobu-chan is cute". This is a very frivolous line, the sort of thing a random character in a romcom would say to girls on the street.

Then the panel switches to Shinobu's face for her reaction. Everyone assumes that this is her being stunned at the absurdity of the words, ie, having a comical reaction being called cute / talk about feeling love. It's un-serious and light flirt. Normally this level of approach is all Douma needs to pick up girls. But Shinobu isn't just any normal girl....

But pay attention. That panel is shown from DOUMA'S perspective. You can see Shinobu's outstretched arm holding his head. That is DOUMA'S view of Shinobu's reaction.

The databook says he is incapable of SEEING EMOTIONS on people's faces. Refer to the other panel taken from his defeat monologue. It's the SAME goofy expression. Meaning, THAT IS HOW SHE LOOKS TO HIM.

Gotouge was HIDING HER REACTION.

She WASN'T reacting to being asked to accompany him to hell. She was reacting to being called CUTE.

In my opinion, there's only ONE reason to go out of the way to HIDE the reaction. I think she blushed. I think she was, in fact, fundamentally a "normal girl". She wanted to be paid attention to -- LOOKED AT -- and be called CUTE. Possibly because Kanae never shut up about Kanao being cute.

They literally had a marriage, only Shinobu thought they were fighting. When Douma said she'll live with him for eternity he MEANT it. He is a divine spirit of Amane's clan, a White Birch. Canonically he is waiting for his "punishment" to be over so that he can go to her side to "make her happy". Being "happy" is a different definition between the divine spirits and humans, ie. that does NOT imply he's going to find her reincarnation and marry her. Basically she gained herself a spirit stalker who she tied herself to, and they will follow one another through the wheel of Samsara (wheel of life and rebirth) in perpetuity forever.

I don't know if Shinobu fell for him or not, but she DEFINITELY went through a lot while in his spirit domain, and that's why she wanted to comfort him for his passing. "I'm completely satisfied" was for this reason, ie. she knew that's all he wanted to hear.

So to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the closest thing to a love confession in the manga, here is the hidden truth of the confession scene.

They are not dead. They are having a conversation on the BRINK of death, and she is still within his spirit domain. Douma of course hasn't told a SINGLE lie, but that's a different analysis related to his hidden plot.

First, she tells him not to call her or her sister's name because it makes her sick. That's NOT because she hates him saying her name, but because she's "sensitive" (databook) and she's reacting to Douma calling them "Shinobu-chan" and "Kanae-chan". It's implied to be an embarrassed reaction. Douma knows she doesn't hate it so he plows forward with "-chan" anyway.

He says "Hey, Shinobu-chan is cute". This is a very frivolous line, the sort of thing a random character in a romcom would say to girls on the street.

Then the panel switches to Shinobu's face for her reaction. Everyone assumes that this is her being stunned at the absurdity of the words, ie, having a comical reaction being called cute / talk about feeling love. It's un-serious and light flirt. Normally this level of approach is all Douma needs to pick up girls. But Shinobu isn't just any normal girl....

But pay attention. That panel is shown from DOUMA'S perspective. You can see Shinobu's outstretched arm holding his head. That is DOUMA'S view of Shinobu's reaction.

The databook says he is incapable of SEEING EMOTIONS on people's faces. Refer to the other panel taken from his defeat monologue. It's the SAME goofy expression. Meaning, THAT IS HOW SHE LOOKS TO HIM.

Gotouge was HIDING HER REACTION.

She WASN'T reacting to being asked to accompany him to hell. She was reacting to being called CUTE.

In my opinion, there's only ONE reason to go out of the way to HIDE the reaction. I think she blushed. I think she was, in fact, fundamentally a "normal girl". She wanted to be paid attention to -- LOOKED AT -- and be called CUTE. Possibly because Kanae never shut up about Kanao being cute.

They literally had a marriage, only Shinobu thought they were fighting. When Douma said she'll live with him for eternity he MEANT it. He is a divine spirit of Amane's clan, a White Birch. Canonically he is waiting for his "punishment" to be over so that he can go to her side to "make her happy". Being "happy" is a different definition between the divine spirits and humans, ie. that does NOT imply he's going to find her reincarnation and marry her. Basically she gained herself a spirit stalker who she tied herself to, and they will follow one another through the wheel of Samsara (wheel of life and rebirth) in perpetuity forever.

I don't know if Shinobu fell for him or not, but she DEFINITELY went through a lot while in his spirit domain, and that's why she wanted to comfort him for his passing. "I'm completely satisfied" was for this reason, ie. she knew that's all he wanted to hear.

All Breathing styles have a magic effect. No they are not just visual effects, that's common misinformation. Fire / Sun actually produces fire, Water produces water, Wind makes wind, etc. It's based on the principal of altering reality. Think of it like when a two magic martial artists fight, they elemental effects are all real, but more of a manifestation of their inner power. It's more like being in a dream world in which the laws of nature bend and merge and disappear when the dream is over.

ALL styles do magic. Some are elemental, but others can be things like sound, snakes, etc. So. If that's the case, what magic is Flower Breathing?

SMELL.

The fact is literally spelled out for us too. Consider the official name:

花の呼吸 = "Hana no Kokyou" / Flower Breathing

We are provided the hiragana superscript to tell us exactly how the Kanji for flower (花) must be read: はな = "Hana".

And NO ONE PICKED UP ON THIS SIMPLE SCAM!!

The kanji for flower, 花, is a FOUNDATIONAL BASIC KANJI. It is taught at a 1st grade elementary school level. Even LITTLE KIDS should know what 花 is.

Then WHY did Gotouge go through the trouble of writing down the hiragana for it? NOBODY old enough to read a Jump manga will not know "flower". The purpose of hiragana is to help readers with more difficult / confusing kanji, not this!

Why? Because there is secondary secret meaning behind the "flower". What other word is spelled as "hana"? NOSE!!!!

The magic effect of of Flower breathing is SCENT.

It appears to cause a euphoric, calming, pleasant, relaxing smell. Lulls demons into letting go. Like a drugged perfume.

But that's not all. Incense magic is a major power system in KnY. Wisteria is used to thin the boundary of reality and create barriers where the thoughts of those within can bend reality. Shinobu's poison uses Wisteria for this purpose, it's what makes the poison compounds effective, ie, Shinobu asserting her will to cause cell destruction onto a demon's body.

The smell of Wisteria shows up elsewhere. Sanemi smells it around Kanae in the LN. Tanjiro smells it and associates it with Shinobu ("I smell Wisteria...no, Shinobu").

Fanbook says Kanae "fought against Douma using Flower Breathing". That's a REALLY strange phrasing, of course she used Flower Breathing, she is the Flower Hashira. But that's the thing -- what IS "Flower" (Hana) Breathing? Just slashing? You don't need a Breathing style just for that. It's a hint that the MAGIC, specifically, is what was used to fight. Kanae tried to effect Douma with the emotion / mood perfume and it did NOTHING.

For the SAME REASON Wisteria poison couldn't kill him.

Douma just couldn't SMELL it. His reality was not effected. Possibly this is why Kanae (supposedly) felt "sorry" for him, she thought he really couldn't feel a thing when in reality he was just immune to her drugs.

This means, also, that Shinobu may NOT have lied to Kanao about her poison plan. Perhaps she really DID have 700x the lethal dose loaded into her body. It's just that Douma was IMMUNE TO WISTERIA and when Shinobu was shooting him up with it prior in the fight she was only building his resistance to the other parts of the compound. Douma was taken out by the Tamayo-Shinobu drug fed to him via poison mules (the women he was eating) but maybe she really WAS hoping to kill him with a Wisteria bomb.

There isn't a SINGLE time Kanao directly responds to any sound. If she can't see the source she has no idea anything is making any noise. She NEVER responds to anyone who's mouth she can't see, and when she's making a GUESS based on the person's behavior / context, she is clearly nervous with sweat drops coming out sometimes stuttering.

When the Kakushi or Inosuke talk to her without any obvious clues of intent, she stays silent.

She was ORDERED to not let the boys touch her during Rehabilitation Training. The other purpose of the training was CRIMINAL Rehabilitation, ie, punishing Kanao and Aoi. For Kanao it was the stunt she pulled on Rui's mountain (for Aoi is was bullying Zenitsu). Kanao figured out a way to CHEAT in the tag game; she purposefully tuned away from Tanjiro while trolling her arms out for him to catch. She couldn't HEAR the sound of footsteps getting closer so she was able to slip through a loophole in her orders. Also she did NOT hear any of the celebrations happening behind her back, just how much his emotions were being boosted by the other girls.

She misjudged how quickly Muzan saw through the stealth talismans. Why? Because Muzan heard the SOUND of the air parting. She is lacking this sense and made a mistake. She's definitely heard things in her past live(s), it seems like something that effects her in her current form / life. Maybe it was caused by an injury / trauma from the torture boot camp? Was this a core motivation for her actions in the hidden plot?

The reason why she hardly speaks. Why she speaks softly. Why she shouted at Inosuke and Aoi to "be quiet". It's because she lives in a soundless world and she can only speak by imitating the movements of the mouth and tongue while breathing. Maybe she can feel the vibrations of her own speech which helps her.

But WHAT ABOUT the after-war report in the databook that shows her with a stethoscope? Haha, WHO IS WRAPPED AROUND TANJIRO'S ARM???? Kanao is literally PRETENDING to listen to his pulse. Is this the true meaning of Sanemi's gift? To let her fullfill her wish to become a doctor like Shinobu? I'm sure he didn't give her Kaburamaru JUST to be a flirting tool.

THAT'S WHY SHE CHOSE NAMES FROM PAPERS! It's wasn't some baby game, it's because the sounds of the name are MEANINGLESS to her. She needs to see the symbols, ie, understand their meaning, to make a choice.

And THAT will be the next reveal: the hidden truth of the mystery NOBODY has figured out until now, the reason for Kanao's selection of her family name TSUYURI.

I'm actually embarrassed it took me this long to figure this out, but Gyutaro does not have any special beheading resistance. Green-white Daki is simply his clone, and if he's beheaded she will crumble too.

I won't go into the full analysis because it's long and there's a few points that need clarification (ie, who is Hanatsuru working for, who had knowledge of Nezuko, where did True Daki go, etc). But setting all the rest of it aside, NO ONE confirms that beheading both of them is required.

In the pre-battle conversation, Gyutaro asks "you've figured us out, haven't you?" This is NOT a narrative tool to help the audience, it is Gyutaro attempting to find out how much Tengen knew. Then Tengen proudly says that he was, that they have to be beheaded simultaneously. BUT PAY ATTENTION. He did NOT state a fact! He provided a THEORY: "...if it wasn't the case there would be no reason for you not to simply take in your weak sister's abilities". In REALITY he already knew the truth as shown by his internal monologue: "he must be the main body". Gyutaro did NOT confirm or deny this information, just said "lots of Hashira died trying to do this "simple thing". Gyutaro didn't know his mind was being read, and was satisfied that the secret was kept.

Tengen is a white birch, a divine spirit and they do NOT lie. But they CAN run scams like this. That's why he takes on a goofy expression right after saying all this. "I totally played a prank on them!" That's why he asks "am I right?", ie, inviting Gyutaro to confirm or deny the argument.

Why did he go through all that trouble? Because he can read minds. He was aware of Kamaboko's thoughts. We only see Tanjiro's perspective, but Tanjiro REALIZED that Gyutaro was the main body, and he started to get scared. The other kids were also getting nervous. So Tengen came up with a strategy on the spot to boost the squad's morale -- because the power system in KnY is mind-over-matter. If you think you're going to lose, if you doubt yourself, etc, those things WILL come true. To boost the confidence of Kamaboko, he tricked them into believing all they needed to do was deal with the "weak" sister. That would put them OUT of the way of the real fight and increase their chances of survival.

Because they DIDN'T LEAVE ED WHEN HE TOLD THEM TO he was forced to sacrifice his life to tank Gyutaro. He was GOING to wait for True Daki to come back at sunrise, but the kids ran off to fight anyway which resulted in this showdown. Because he set the order of his life to be BELOW theirs (Katagi - respectable people). So he needed the kids AWAY from the true threat.

Hinatsuru of course KNEW what was going on and tried to bail Tengen out but the moment she opened her mouth about finding the other demon, Gyutaro SHUT HER UP.

But True Daki had already disappeared. Maybe Gyutaro was waiting the whole time for her to come back. If she had, if she hadn't run / disappeared the story would be OVER without any doubt. Muzan was RIGHT to be enraged.

(source: official manga)

I won't get into her hidden plot, but Kanao and Daki are related.

Looks like Tanjiro was skating on thin ice.

Nezuko NEVER, even ONCE, was tempted to eat someone after her initial hunger rage.

Giyuu fed her some of his blood to get her over it, and he's been feeding her ever since although it's possible Urokodaki has "helped" with this task.

Why? Because that's what it MEANS to adopt / marry etc a demon as a human. In reality there are a LOT of domestic demons running around Japan. The standard method of feeding is to cut the arm and offer blood.

The reason why Nezuko went after the woman in ED was because she was hungry and she thought she was being offered food. Nezuko is is NOT Nezuko, but some sort of baby creature / whatever a demon is. Nezuko is strictly a subconscious presence. Giyuu likely only sees her as an adult because he's only ever seen her in the adult form. For some reason she's always in her adult form when hungry. She was starving and forgot that she's not allowed to eat from that woman, that's all.

There's piles of blood and injured people right behind the woman, but she clearly zones in on the wrist. Why? Because the bleeding wrist means it's okay to eat.

All her struggling with Tanjiro wasn't an epic struggle with humanity, it was LITERALLY the symptoms of an infant wanting to eat. Gnashing of the mouth, flailing limbs, arching back, and finally crying. A starving child, that's all. That's why Tengen didn't seem to care, called her a brat throwing a tantrum and told Tanjiro to sing her a lullaby.

In the Hashira Trial we see the Nezuko's test.

1. Sanemi stabs her to drain her blood and make her hungry. He knows Giyuu's been feeding her.

2. Kagaya signals Sanemi to do the test in response to the other Hashira not agreeing to let her live.

3. Sanemi CUTS HIS ARM. This is the standard feeding process. He is inviting Nezuko to eat.

4. Then Giyuu grabs Obanai's wrist presumably to save Tanjiro -- NOPE! He's looking STRAIGHT AT NEZUKO.

5. Nezuko is reaching for the offered arm, Tanjiro shouts and draws her attention -- and she sees Giyuu right behind him.

6. After the emotional reaffirmation of humanity, the reality is finally exposed: Giyuu grabbed Obanai in order to SHOW NEZUKO HIS ARM. He was REMINDING HER who she is linked to, who she is only allowed to feed from.

7. Nezuko makes a "pui" sound effect translated as HMPH! which means to coldly turn away from / openly ignore in an irritated manner. She was making a SHOW of her rejection. Showing who? GIYUU. She was about to break the rules and likely felt a little guilty. It's unclear how much intelligence / communication ability she has but it's enough to at least function as a small child.

Notice the bursting effect going on centered on Giyuu and Nezuko; this is to show the direction of the hidden plot. The actual focus is happening between these two. Gotouge constantly uses visual tricks like this.

If Nezuko had ended up killing that woman in ED it would only be because Tanjiro was making her desperate by shouting and wrestling her down. Since Giyuu normally feeds her she might not have learned how to control herself (a Hashira can easily control her), and maybe that's what causes all these domestic demons ending up killing their own family. I wonder if ALL domestic demons get the "never harm humans everyone is your family" spell?

Looks like Tanjiro was on thin ice.

Actually they've been building up like crazy as I've been looking for the Daki / Gyutaro link to Tanjiro maybe I'll do a compilation.

The narration box says "Niichan save me" and "Neechan will stop being Neechan".

Who's "niichan" and why does this person need saving by him?

Who's Neechan? Nezuko? Do they mean the demon entity / whatever in Nezuko is taking over? But what does that have ANYTHING to do with saving this person? Wouldn't "Neechan" be the subject of saving? Why would this person be in danger and requesting to be saved in this situation?

The composition suggests that this must Takeo (2nd Kamado son). But if it's Takeo, why hide his face? Why is wearing different clothing? Why does the sketch on the last page look nothing like him (build, clothing)?

And even if it WAS Takeo, why is he asking to be saved? What's Tanjiro supposed to do for him? What kind of danger is a spirit going to be in? Why ask for saving NOW of all times? Did Nezuko eat him and his soul was about to be erased? I don't get it.

KnY is like a crossword puzzle where everything is connected and there's no wasted spaces. When you notice a parallel you have to search for how it connects the characters and look for who else shares it.

One of the annoying mysteries is why Douma didn't immediately recognize Kanae's haori. This lack of reaction enraged Shinobu because she believed he was in a romantic relationship with Kanae. Now, Douma did NOT kill her but they WEREN'T strangers, they were acquainted at some level. There's simply NO WAY Douma who has canonically very strong memory could possibly forget such an iconic haori. Up until now all I could do was assume she was meeting him WITHOUT the haori on, even though I couldn't think of any reason for a Hashira to do this, it's a part of their identity and like a bade of office. It's how they can literally walk down the street in broad daylight with their swords. Both Kanae and Douma are public figures, there would be no need to meet him without the haori.

But the mystery has been solved. Douma simply doesn't pay attention to external appearances. None of the white birches do.

Tengen specifically says he needs two Corps girls. He has to be TOLD that Naho isn't wearing a Corps uniform. The anime adds an extra scene of him looking closely at her FACE as if to confirm this. He couldn't tell Naho wasn't wearing a Corps uniform just be looking at her? NO HE COULDN'T. He doesn't PAY ATTENTION to that. He sees things differently than humans. He's looking at her FACE in order to read her mind or to take a closer look at her soul via her eyes.

Sanemi's scene is interesting because it's the most blatant example. He somehow mistakes Muzan for Kagaya. It's OBVIOUS just from a glace that it isn't Kagaya -- the wrong clothing and muscular body. But Sanemi immediately and without any confusion demands to know what Tamayo is doing to the Oyakata-sama. Why? Because he can't see Muzan's EYES, and from that angle he looks EXACTLY LIKE KAGAYA. They come from the same bloodline, ie, share the same soul / spiritual inheritance so to Sanemi they look alike.

There's still other mysteries that have to be solved. This isn't the whole story, ie, maybe ALL divine spirits see this way, not just the white birches. But it's an important clue to finally unraveling it.

It's definitely not Koku. The anime shows that he didn't even draw his sword. No he didn't perception blitz back and forth out of frame to act cool for the camera. Koku arrived to protect Akaza and/or chase whoever it was that attacked. We know there is someone else because Douma says goodby TWICE: "Sayonara Kokushibo-dono!" and then in a separate speech bubble "Sayonara!" He DIDN'T repeat goodbye for no reason, he said goodbye to TWO people.

I used to think it might have been Tengen while tracking Koku in the Unseen World. But the problem with that is: would he really expose himself over just punishing Akaza for attacking Douma? Also, we NEVER see them attack from within the Unseen World, nor do they ever spend a long period of time in it. Whenever either of them do the astral step it's only to move through it briefly. There's no evidence at all that that they can stay inside the Unseen World for extended period of time like this.

Could it have been Douma or someone in his spirit realm attacking somehow? Nope -- because Akaza's hand DISAPPEARS right after it's cut off. Gyokko's body and blood pool remained on his platform the entire time until the end of the scene but Akaza's hand disappears. Why? I theorize that body parts of a demon cut off by a Nichirin blade crumbles very quickly while body parts separated through any other means do NOT crumble but remain in the world. Ie. Spider Sister's corpse remaining intact without disintegrating.

So it seems like it has to be someone from the Corps. But who from the Corps would be at the UM meeting, in total stealth and lash out at Akaza for attacking Douma.....

...KANAO?!?!

Those stealth talismans are are HER sorcery, although Yushiro's blood empowers them. But they've been working together since the start of the plot so it's not unrealistic for her to have one or two stashed away for situations like this. Kanao is the ONLY character to show the stealth talisman taking effect, that is NOT a random detail.

Nakime summoned the UMs by order of hierarchy which appears to be based on AGE. Koku summoned first, then Hantengu / Gyokko, then Akaza and then Douma dead last. But if Kanao was also summoned she'd be FIRST. It's not proven but she was likely the oldest demon in Muzan's service. Furthermore, if Nakime conducted Koku to a private room because of his status, Kanao would at least get that much service.

If this is true, then Kanao NEVER STOPPED BEING UPPER MOON 2. She just got stuck into a human body. She was no longer linked physically / mentally to Douma, but the meaning of Douma's words "can't defeat US" (the royal "us" / wareware) isn't the white birches or the power structure, but simply the fact that fighting Douma meant fighting KANAO and that's IMPOSSIBLE for Akaza.

Now the problem is, if Nakime knows where to find Kanao AND is inviting her to an OFFICIAL UM MEETING doesn't that mean Muzan is aware of her? She DEFINITELY didn't put herself into a human body and enrolled herself into a Corps (or maybe a Shinobi) torture boot camp. She seems to have gone through a major downfall, I don't think it was all a scam to embed herself into Corps. She is under TIGHT observation and control. So what's stopping her from just "going home" if she's being summoned to the UM meeting? I can understand her wanting to stay in stealth because IC is compromised by the Corps so if she needed to keep her position in the Corps she'd have to stay hidden.

Is it because Muzan wants to use her position on the inside? For what purpose? Was she re-connected to them only after ED. ie, sometime in the 2 months Tanjiro was in a coma? Was she able to to do it after Tanjiro broke the seal on coin? But then who gave Gyokko the information about Nezuko? If Kanao didn't know I can see her trying to get Douma to find out, but if she didn't know what the hell is going on with their plot in the background....? Why did she panic so much when Tanjiro woke up unexpectedly?

Something is going on. I could still be off-base of course.