In Hashira Training Arc the past of Hashira will be revealed. The Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka is one of the most popular Hashira in many rankings in Japan due to his clean-cut appearance, calmness and warm heart.
This article will take a close look at the life of Giyu Tomioka.
The Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka
Giyu Tomioka is the demon slayer who first appears in the story. He tries to kill Nezuko who has just become a demon, but having looked at Nezuko defending Tanjiro, he thinks that “maybe something is different about this one” and decides not to kill her and sends her to Sakonji Urokodaki, a trainer of demon slayers, together with Tanjiro. Giyu Tomioka is the key person who created an opportunity for Tanjiro to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Personal Data:
Date of birth: February 8
Place of Birth: Nogata, Nakano-ward, Tokyo
Height and weight: 176cm 69kg
Acquired technique: Water Breathing
Hobby: Tsume Shogi (Japanese board game)
How did Giyu Tomioka get to join the Demon Slayer Corps?
Many demon slayers decided to join the Demon Slayer Corps after their family had been killed by demons. Giyu seems not to be an exception. When Giyu saw Tanjiro for the first time, he thought to himself:
Don’t cry. Don’t despair. Don’t do those things now. … Family was killed, sister became a demon. It’s painful, you want to shout. I UNDERSTAND.
Kimetsu no Yaiba Comic Vol.1, Chapter 1
The comic does not describe how Giyu Tomioka got to join the Demon Slayer Corps, but it is written in Fan Book Vol.1 as follows:
Giyu was living together with his elder sister Tsutako, after his parents had died of illness. However, Tsutako was killed by a demon. Giyu told other people that his sister had been killed by a demon, then they thought that he was mentally ill and tried to take him to a doctor, who is Giyu’s relative and lives far away. Giyu escaped on the way and was about to die in a mountain. A hunter found Giyu and took him to Sakonji Urokodaki.
Water Breathing Eleventh Form “Dead Calm”
In the battle with Rui, the Lower Five Demon, in Mt. Natagumo, Giyu Tomioka used Water Breathing Eleventh Form “Dead Calm”.
Giyu was trained by Sakonji Urokodaki. The forms which Urokodaki taught Giyu were up to ten. The eleventh Form “Dead Calm” is a technique unique to Giyu. Every attack of demons which enters Giyu’s proximity dies out and it becomes nothing, and it is as quiet as the sea when there is no wind.
The Reason for the popularity of Giyu Tomioka
Why is Giyu Tomioka so popular? His clean-cut appearance is one thing, but more importantly he has a warm heart. Giyu Tomioka looks like a cool and rather abrupt guy, but he defends Tanjiro, a demon slayer who takes along Nezuko, “a demon”.
After the battle in Mt. Natagumo, Tanjiro and Nezuko were taken to the residence of Master Ubuyashiki, where the Hashira Meeting took place. Some Hashira were against the fact that a demon slayer was taking along a demon. Then, a daughter of Master Ubuyashiki read out a letter from Sakonji Urokodaki, the ex-Water Hashira .
“If by any chance Nezuko ever attacks someone, Tanjiro Kamado as well as —… Sakonji Urokodaki and Giyu Tomioka will cut their stomachs open as an apology.
Kimetsu no Yaiba, Comic 6, Chapter 46
This is one of the scenes which evokes tears.
The Reason for Half-and-Half Haori
Inosuke gave a nickname “Half-and-Half Haori” (in Japanese 半々羽織 “han han baori”) to Giyu Tomioka. Indeed Giyu’s Haori has different patterns on the right and left sides. The right half is plain dark red, and the left half is Bishamon-Kikkou pattern.
The plain dark red half is a keepsake of his elder sister Tsutako, who was killed by a demon. The other half is a keepsake of Sabito (錆兎). Sabito is a boy with the mask of a fox who challenges Tanjiro in the final stage of the training to become a demon slayer. He wears the Haori with Bishamon-Kikkou pattern. Sabito helped Tanjiro go to the Final Selection to become a demon slayer, but Tanjiro notices later that Sabito had been killed by a demon during the Final Selection. In fact, Sabito was a close friend of Giyu and they were trained together by Sakonji Urokodaki.
The relationship between Giyu and Sabito should be described in Hashira Training Arc, also the fact that Giyu feels guilty being Hashira. So look forward to it!
