Isolation and the Oni in Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer
As much as “Demon Slayer” occupies a place of prominence (or dominance) in the modern manga landscape, it can also be seen to participate in a historic and longstanding tradition of anti-isolationism through the figure of the oni (demon). #demonslayer 1/12
In “Demonology and Demon Slayer,” Tsukamoto Satoshi of Aichi University argues that the tradition of the oni in Japanese mythology consistently orients around the theme of disenfranchisement, and Demon Slayer is no exception. 2/12
Applied to Demon Slayer, Tsukamoto concludes that “Demon Slayer vividly depicts Tanjiro’s sense of justice and order, and he seems to search for the common good of the entire community where people live peacefully.” 4/12
The suggestion then is that Demon Slayer likewise valorizes the idea of social integration and community and that, by extension, the central protagonist/antagonist conflict can be defined along this axis. 5/12
We can see this quite clearly in the series through the various social institutions that Tanjiro fights to uphold, beginning in the first chapter with Tanjiro’s commitment to his family (both living and dead). 6/12
In this first chapter, as Tanjiro first confronts the Demon Slayer, Gyu, it is Tanjiro and Nezuko’s love of family that specifically credits both characters as unique and worthy of attention (and life, for that matter, in Nezuko’s case). 7/12
In deciding whether or not to kill Nezuko, Gyu thinks to himself “Starving demons will kill and eat their own parents and siblings…But she’s protecting him. These two may be different.” 8/12
Simply put, the characters are heroes, at first, simply because they value each other over themselves – they reject isolationism innately, just as they do through their commitment to country, camaraderie, and community in the broader series. 9/12
Additionally, darkness factors in quite prominently to Tsukamoto’s reading of oni symbolism: “the people who were classified as oni symbolically showed their oppression and disenfranchisement, while hiding themselves in the darkness.” 10/12
Gotouge’s choice to make their demons exclusively nocturnal with a key vulnerability to sunlight is thus apt once again. Indeed, it is sunlight that ultimately defeats key demons. At the same time, what makes Nezuko valuable to Muzan is her ability to walk in the sunlight. 11/12
Thus the twin allegories of light/dark symbolism and civilization/isolation symbolism can be seen to overlap quite directly in a number of key facets throughout the series, all of which point to a narrative that is unified in its consistency to longstanding oni symbolism. 12/12