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Demon Slayer Infinity Castle: Tanjiro's Blade Slips in the Akaza Fight — What Japan Said

鬼滅の刃 無限城編 猗窩座戦、炭治郎の刀すっぽ抜けへの日本のファンの反応

Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle: Tanjiro's Blade Slips in the Akaza Fight — What Japan Said
“"Hakuji finally beat Akaza" is such a beautiful way to put it.”

狛治が猗窩座に打ち勝てたっていい言葉

— @kazu-dn4zi

In Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, the climax of the Akaza fight hinges on a tiny, easily-missed detail: at the decisive moment, Tanjiro's Nichirin Blade slips clean out of his grip, forcing him to land the finishing blow with a bare fist instead. A Japanese reaction clip of the scene racked up hundreds of comments, and the thread splits into two very Japanese-fan obsessions. The first is emotional: a hugely-upvoted reading that the blade 'slipped' on purpose — that the late Flame Hashira Rengoku's spirit lives in that sword and was telling Tanjiro he didn't need to cut, that Akaza could be saved as a human instead, capped by the line that 'Hakuji,' the man, finally beat 'Akaza,' the demon. The second is comedy: fans reframing the whole fight as a brutal video-game boss with an absurd, undocumented win condition you'd need a strategy guide to find — 'land an unwinnable victory condition on your first try.' Somewhere in the middle, the same fans keep circling back to one detail nobody can let go of.

This titleJapanese reactions to Demon SlayerRead all 2 roundups on the title page
Crunchyroll's official international trailer for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle. The Japanese fan reactions below come from a Japanese reaction clip of the Akaza fight's finish. （YouTube · Crunchyroll）

Japanese fan reactions (excerpted from 526)

  • In the movie it goes — Tanjiro: "My blade…!" and then Giyu: "IT SLIPPED OUT!!!" It was honestly hilarious.

    映画だと 炭治郎「刀が…！」 義勇さん「すっぽ抜けた！！！」 って感じで面白かった

    — @マルデアホIQ-28,338 likes

  • I love that little strangled "—!!" noise Giyu makes.

    義勇さんの「ッッ！！」みたいな声好き

    — @Pomubochi-love671 likes

  • Reading the manga, I always assumed "My blade! It slipped out!" was all Tanjiro. Then in the movie "it slipped out!" turns out to be Giyu's line, and in the middle of this deadly serious scene I almost burst out laughing.

    私は原作読んでたら「刀が！すっぽ抜けた！」って両方炭治郎のセリフかと思ってまして、その後見た映画では「すっぽ抜けた！」ってのが義勇さんのセリフでシリアスシーンなのに笑いそうになりました

    — @森智美-l7k444 likes

  • He lost the grip strength to even hold his sword, and yet somehow he can still make a fist and punch the guy in the face? Tanjiro, my dude…

    握る力がなくなったから刀ずっぽ抜けたはずなのに、よく握り拳で顔面パンチ出来たよ炭治郎⋯

    — @nekonekoCatSamurai29 likes

  • His grip is too shot to hold a blade but a punch is fine — that's pretty funny when you think about it.

    刀握れないぐらい握力なくなってるのにパンチはできるのおもろいな

    — @ゆきまろ-t6b1 likes

  • Tanjiro totally could've gone for a headbutt there, so the fact that a bare fist came out on instinct was genuinely lucky.

    炭治郎なら頭突きの選択肢もあったと思うし咄嗟にグーパン出せたのはマジで運良かった

    — @MonkeyBusiness-z2y8 likes

  • He was already winding up with the sword, so the momentum carried into the punch — lucky timing.

    刀で振りかぶってたからね、勢いでパンチいけて運良かったな。

    — @takehironatori1190140 likes

  • So if he'd gone with his signature headbutt instead of that desperation punch, he would have LOST? The Akaza fight is way deeper than it looks.

    やけくそパンチじゃなく 十八番の頭突きだと負けてたのか 猗窩座戦は奥が深すぎる

    — @Nagisa06652,159 likes

  • Saw a video where it went — Kyojuro Rengoku: "I'm the one who knocked the blade loose. I wanted to tell you that you didn't need to cut him." Akaza: "Okay now I'm gonna fall for YOU too!!"

    とある動画にて 煉獄杏寿郎「刀すっぽ抜いたの俺。斬る必要ないって伝えたかったから」 猗窩座「惚れてまうやろ！！」

    — @villager_chikuwa3,668 likes

  • So basically it's Rengoku going, "It's alright now, young Kamado! Come to me!"

    煉獄さん 「もういいんだ竈門少年！ 俺のとこに来い！」 ってことか

    — @れくいえむ6662,955 likes

  • Rengoku's tsuba (sword guard) protected Kotetsu too, so maybe his spirit really is dwelling in there…

    煉獄さんのつばは小鉄も守ってるしほんとに煉獄さんが宿ってる…かもしれない。

    — @リョウLA548 likes

  • Even in death, the man who refuses to let anyone die — Rengoku.

    死してなお、誰も死なせない男、煉獄

    — @Tajikisutann136 likes

  • If the blade slipped because Rengoku's will is in it, then Rengoku is saving the very person who killed him. It's the payoff to what all three of them set in motion back on that train — gives me chills. Rengoku didn't just let no one die; he even saved Akaza, the demon he hated.

    煉獄さんの意思が宿った故のすっぽ抜けなら煉獄さん的には自分を殺したやつを救ってることになってて。 列車での3人それぞれが織りなした結末でエモいよ。 煉獄さんは誰も死なせなかったどころか 嫌いな猗窩座さえも救ったんだよ。

    — @EL-dt8ke75 likes

  • There's also the theory that an imaginary Master or Koyuki was there shielding Akaza and pulled the blade away from him.

    実はこの場にいたイマジナリー師範or小雪が猗窩座を庇って刀取り上げた説も。

    — @chanyu4377740 likes

  • The manga does show that the spirits of his dead loved ones were watching over Akaza the whole time, so personally that reading sits better with me. Though you can also just read it as pure coincidence landing him on an ending the fight was never 'supposed' to reach.

    猗窩座をずっと死後の霊が見守ってたのは漫画の中で示されてるからそっちの方が納得いくかな。 まぁ別にただの偶然のおかげで本来想定外の成仏エンドに辿り着いたって解釈も出来るけど。

    — @匿名-k4w7m20 likes

  • Saw this take online: it was the power of Keizo, the Soryu master. Rengoku's a swordsman, so he'd NEVER make someone drop their blade — that's basically getting your junior killed. Keizo was a martial artist, so he knocked it loose so the kid would throw a punch instead.

    ネットで見たけど、素流師範のけいぞうさんの力だと思う。煉獄さんは剣士だから剣を手放させるような事は絶対しない。後輩を死なすようなもんだからそれ。 けいぞうさんは武闘家だから殴らせるためにスッポ抜かせた。

    — @musu-pen0205242 likes

  • I kind of think this win condition only existed because his opponent was Tanjiro — someone who dredged up the past Akaza thought he'd thrown away. A guy who reminds him of his Master getting his head lopped off by a sneak attack would never be forgivable, so the past had to be made vivid for him, and this time that was the slipped-blade punch.

    炭治郎という捨てたはずの過去を想起させるやつが相手だったからこそ生えてきた勝利条件だったのかなとか思ってる。 師範に似たようなやつが不意打ち首チョンパしたらそら許せんし、その上で過去のことをはっきり思い出させる必要があってそれが今回はすっぽ抜けパンチだったみたいな。

    — @クリティカル島村174 likes

  • Forget the kill conditions — just qualifying to fight Akaza already requires the heart and the talent of a Tanjiro or a Rengoku. So in theory, if you had that heart, kept hold of your blade, never threw a punch, and just popcorn'd Akaza into nothing without spilling a drop of blood, he'd remember his Master from your sheer strength and force-quit into salvation that way too.

    討伐条件以前に、猗窩座と戦うためには炭治郎とか煉獄さんみたいなその心と才覚が最低条件なところあるから、その心を持って刀がすっぽ抜けず、殴らず、猗窩座を血一滴も残さずポップコーンしたら猗窩座はその強さに師範思い出してゴリ押し成仏とかも出来ると思うんだ

    — @diild75868 likes

  • Looks like an honorable stand-up-fight boss, but actually the win condition is: • Lecture him that 'the strong protect the weak' to jog a fragment of his Master loose • Notice he's summoning his fighting aura and enter the Transparent World • Catch him off guard, declare 'I'm cutting your head off NOW!' with full honor, and behead him • Before he fully regenerates, deck him with a bare fist to make him completely remember his Master's punch ⚠️ Note: he instantly regenerates from any attack, every one of HIS hits is lethal, and he out-stats you in basically every category. You have to clear ALL of that or he regenerates after decapitation and wipes your whole party. Worst. Boss. Ever.

    正々堂々と戦う系のボスと見せかけて ･「強いものは弱いものを守る」と説法して、師匠の片鱗を思い出させる ･猗窩座が闘気を呼んでることを見抜き、透き通る世界に入る ･猗窩座の不意をついた上で、「今からお前の首を切る！」と正々堂々と発言をし、首を切り落とす ･完全に再生するまでにグーパンして師匠の拳を完全に思い出させる ⚠️尚、基本的に相手はどんな攻撃を受けても瞬時に再生し、1発1発が致命傷の攻撃をしてくる上に、基本的にあらゆる面で自分より格上である これ全部クリアしないと首を落としても再生し全滅するのクソゲーすぎる

    — @orange217880 likes

  • Honestly you could probably also win by gathering a bunch of female corps members and having them all scream """STOP IT, Hakuji!!""" in unison.

    女隊士集めて「「「もうやめて狛治さん！！」」」って叫ばせても殺れそう

    — @turi315551,835 likes

  • What they're doing to beat him is so dirty it's actually funny.

    やってること畜生すぎて笑う

    — @HAMHAM0858548 likes

  • A victory condition you couldn't reach with infinite lives — and he landed it blind, on his first run.

    残機がいくつあってもたどり着けない勝利条件に初見で辿り着いた

    — @wanwantora53 likes

  • A perfect plan———!! As long as you ignore the part where it's impossible~~~!!

    完璧な作戦ッスね───っ！不可能だという点に目をつぶればよぉ〜〜〜！！

    — @World_Goat24 likes

  • I love this kind of moment — weapon gets knocked away or torn from your hands mid-brawl, and you just don't flinch and swing with everything you've got.

    こういう、乱戦で武装が弾かれたり、手から離れたりしても怯まず全力でぶん殴る描写好き

    — @一般的なドラゴン1 likes

  • "Hakuji beat Akaza" — that phrasing makes me cry… I love this fight even more now 😢

    狛治が猗窩座に勝ったって表現泣ける、、、もっと愛が増したぜ😢

    — @otakuno_qikkru11 likes
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