‘Demon Slayer‘ is one of the most popular animes in the anime world currently. People are eagerly awaiting its new season and fans are analyzing the stuff that has happened in the anime already.
‘Demon Slayer‘ is a series about Tanjiro trying to save his sister and other demon slayers killing demons to save humans. Therefore it is quite intriguing that one of the biggest mysteries is the color of Tanjiro’s blade.
Why Did Tanjiro’s Nichirin Blade Turn Black?
Before trying to learn about the reason for Tanjiro’s sword changing colors, it is more important to learn about his sword first. All the Demon slayers use Nichirin blade to kill demons. Nichirin blades are made out of a special and very rare material Scarlet Crimson Ore. This ore is found only on mountainsides where there is sunlight around the year. Thus, the Nichirin swords are infused with sunlight that is available to the ores all year round. Since they are infused with sunlight, they are the only thing that can kill a demon. The blades can also absorb sunlight.
Another interesting fact about Nichirin swords is that they are called color-changing swords. The Nichirin swords, when formed are plain silver in color. The swords, however, change colors as soon as the user wields the swords. The swords change colors based on the users’ breathing style and personality. For instance, Inosuke’s blade is a mix of grey and blue.
When Haganezuka saw Tanjiro’s hair, he thought his sword’s color would be a bright red matching his hair color and quite possibly his personality. However, when Tanjiro wielded the newly formed Nichirin blade, his blade started turning black. This was quite unusual as Nichirin blades turning black is a rarity. The only person other than Tanjiro who has a black blade is Yoriichi. This is why Tanjiro’s blade turned black.
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What Does It Signify?
The reason and significance for Tanjiro’s blade turning black have not been clearly stated in the anime. Fans, however, have come up with various theories regarding the same. As was mentioned above, only Yoriichi and Tanjiro have ever had a black blade and both of them can use the Sun breathing technique. It may be possible that the users of the sun breathing have a black blade.
Another reason is that sun breathing was the first breathing technique and all the other breathing techniques were derived from it, So the black color may be for symbolism. Since all the breathing styles have a distinct color and all of them originate from sun breathing, black could represent the sun breathing’s color as this color is achieved by mixing all of the other colors.
Another reason could be related to Tanjiro’s family. Tanjiro’s family used to sell charcoal. Charcoal when activates, turns black. Tanjiro’s previous occupation could be a part of his personality and it could have caused his blade to turn black. These are some of the hypothetical reasons and significance of Tanjiro’s blade being black in ‘Demon Slayer.‘
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