Whether we focus on the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, or on the main trio of the story,Demon Slayerremains a fan-favorite anime of many people at the time. With its third season still running, it’s a surprise to many people that Zenitsu and Inosuke seems to be absent from the Swordsmith village arc as a whole, to the point that they are nowhere assigned to the current conundrum. The only issue many people seem to have is because of the possibility of the main trio being separated when for two seasons they have been involved together when slaying demons. However, is there any narrative reason for why Zenitsu and Inosuke happened to be removed for the Swordsmith Village Arc when their presence could have made the battle much easier to handle?
No matter who you ask about which three characters are important to the story as a trio and as a group, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke are simply the only three that fit the description. With Tanjiro’s kindness and fiery determination, Zenitsu’s hidden potential due to his cowardice, and Inosuke’s bluster and promising abilities; the three of them make not only a great team but alsofearsome demon slayers in their own right.It has been proven during the first and second seasons ofDemon Slayer,and it has been proven even with Tanjiro fighting the Upper Moon 4 without Zenitsu or Inosuke. However, it can be confusing as to why the author Koyoharu Gotoge decided to exclude two of the trio out of the story for one major arc. Despite that, there is the possibility that it was to make space for the other prominent characters that would make for good development and provide an understanding of characters we haven’t seen properly since season 1.
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The Coincidental Reasons
When taking into account everything that has happened in season 2 ofDemon Slayer, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke all took severe injuries as a result offighting Upper Moon 6 Gyutaro and Daki. Therefore, it stood to reason that they would take more time to recover each individually depending on their injuries. Tanjiro happened to be the last of the three to wake up from his coma, and by that time Zenitsu was (forcefully) sent out to fulfill his duty as a Demon Slayer in a separate mission. Of course, Inosuke also woke up around the same time and during a montage went on his way to a separate demon slaying mission.
The duties of each member are separate and usually assigned on a singular basis, which explains why Zenitsu and Inosuke were sent out as soon as they could. Meanwhile, Tanjiro had to focus on Rehabilitation Training to recover from the injuries that he sustained during the Entertainment District Arc, therefore he wasn’t immediately sent out on missions for the time being. In fact, the major reason Tanjiro happened to be in the Swordsmith Village in the first place was because his swordsmith Haganezuka refused to make him a sword out of spite and anger that Tanjiro broke his previous sword. This resulted in a situation where Tanjiro’s original intent wasn’t to slay a demon on a mission, but simplyconvince Haganezuka to smith him a better bladeso that he cancontinueto fight demons in the future.
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The Narrative Reasons
Of course, despite all these in-universe reasosn for why the main trio happened to be split up, there is a narrative angle to consider here as to why splitting up Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu was an interesting decision on part of the author. With Muichiro and Mitsuri,both Hashira’s of the Demon Slayer Corps taking center stagealong with Tanjiro, the author has to be able to provide some character development and sharing the spotlight with the new character Genya. On a narrative level, this allows the audience to learn more about the characters and to provide a break from Inosuke and Zenitsu, as their development is temporarily on pause to give the other characters some room to endear to the audience.
Despite the various complaints one may have of removing certain characters for an entire arc, there are a variety of benefits that come with being able to focus on the other characters thatDemon Slayerhas to offer for the future arcs.
For example, despite us being familiar with Tanjiro’s dynamic with Zenitsu and Inosuke’s antics, one could be interested in seeing how he manages to get along with the aloof Mist Hashira, Muichiro, especially after their first interactions from the first season. As another example, getting to know the Love Hashira, Mitsuri, allows the audience a look into the various Hashira’s opinion of Tanjiro and Nezuko now that they have succeeded and defeated an Upper Moon with their merits. Genya, who is recently revealed to beheavily related to one of the Hashira, also has his own arc to be developed considering the last major appearance we’ve seen of him is during the first episodes of the first season ofDemon Slayer.
With the new threat of a surprise attack from Upper Moons 5 and 4, Gyokko and Hantengu respectively, the story may require more than just two skilled Demon Slayers, but also may require Hashira like Muichiro and Mitsuri to ensure the success of the arc. Overall, when taking into consideration these narrative and coincidental reasons for removing Zenitsu and Inosuke from the arc, it’s majorly because of expanding the character cast as well as providing a needed change in dynamics and powers to make everybody important and develop the next arc.
