The Demon Slayer manga/anime franchise is a "monster hunter" anime, meaning most of the heroes are trained and equipped to fight monsters and defend humanity from harm, not unlike Jujutsu Kaisen and Tokyo Ghoul. This means Demon Slayer spends some time developing and explaining the monster hunter organization — in this case, the demon slayer corps. Most demon slayer corps members have one of ten ranks according to skill and experience, but there is a special 11th rank — Hashira.
Meaning "pillar," the nine Hashira are indeed the pillars of the entire demon slayer corps as the most powerful and experienced slayers whom Kagaya Ubuyashiki can send into battle against Muzan's demonic hordes. More and more in Demon Slayer's story, the nine Hashira played a key role in the narrative, overshadowing most of the rank-and-file members of the demon slayer corps to move the plot forward and launch some of Demon Slayer's best action series. Before Season 4 launches the Hashira Training story arc, anime fans ought to review the facts about the Hashira and what they've done so far in the story.
What it Means to Be a Hashira in Demon Slayer
Being a Hashira Relates to a Demon Slayer's Rank & Accomplishments
The nine Hashira are the most prominent, skilled, and highest-ranking members of the entire demon slayer corps, and the corps would not last long against Muzan and his demon minions without them. On a more meta anime level, it makes perfect sense for the demon slayer corps to have a rank or sub-organization like the Hashira, since shonen anime is fond of having small, elite groups for both heroes and villains.
In particular, the nine Hashira are no doubt modeled after the thirteen Captains found in the Bleach anime, with Bleach being a major source of inspiration for Demon Slayer. Both groups feature skilled swordsmen fighting to defend humanity from dangerous monsters, after all. Within the Demon Slayer world, the Hashiras' closest equivalent are definitely the twelve Kizuki/Demon Moons, the most powerful demons serving under Muzan. Only the Hashira can stand up to the likes of Daki, Akaza, and Kokushibo.
Being a Hashira means a demon slayer's skills and accomplishments are widely recognized and respected, and they are in a league of their own within the demon slayer corps. Thus, fans could say they are "special" demon slayers, and not just because of their peerless combat abilities. The Hashira have a high level of authority within the demon slayer corps, and they can give commands to lower-ranked members and other associates.
No one else in the demon slayer corps can refuse their wishes or get in their way. An example was when Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira, marched right into the Butterfly Estate and threw his weight around. Also, the Hashira typically only go on missions when no other demon slayer can get the job done, and each Hashira is given a unique region to patrol for intelligence-gathering.
Sometimes, being a Hashira means being a mentor for talented demon slayers who have immense potential. Hashira don't always have an apprentice to mentor, but if there is a promising lower-ranked member around, a Hashira may choose to begin mentoring them, with that student known as a tsuguko. Alternatively, a demon slayer may apply to become a Hashira's tsuguko, and if accepted, their apprenticeship will begin.
So far in the Demon Slayer anime, this system of shonen-style mentors hasn't been seen very much, though Shinobu Kocho did play a peripheral role in Tanjiro's, Zenitsu's, and Inosuke's training at the Butterfly Estate, so those boys were almost like her three tsuguko for a time. Meanwhile, the kind but soft-spoken Kanao Tsuyuri is indeed Shinobu's tsuguko, and she also played a key role in training Tanjiro's team.
Who Are the Hashira, and When Does Tanjiro Get to Know Them?
At different points in Demon Slayer's story, protagonist Tanjiro Kamado met every current member of the Hashira, and not always under favorable circumstances. He met his first Hashira in the year 1913, on the same day when he found his family slaughtered by Muzan Kibutsuji's hand. When Nezuko went berserk and attacked her brother as a demon, it was Giyu Tomioka who rushed over to intervene, suggesting that the Kamado house lay within Giyu's assigned patrol sector.
Giyu made a strong impression as a no-nonsense swordsman who was ready to kill Nezuko to save the innocent Tanjiro, but Giyu showed mercy and spared Nezuko when Tanjiro begged Giyu to hold back. Later, Tanjiro would train to use Water Breathing, the same style as Giyu. The two of them would not meet again until the battle against Rui's spider clan in Mount Natagumo's forest.
The second Hashira whom Tanjiro met was Shinobu Kocho, who arrived in Mount Natagumo at the same time as her friend Giyu to bail out Tanjiro's team from a losing battle against Rui and the spider clan's "father." Shinobu, along with Giyu, demonstrated exactly how powerful the Hashira can be, with them easily dispatching what remained of Rui's spider clan without taking any damage in return. Even Tanjiro's best combat move, Hinokami Kagura, had failed to finish off Rui, but Giyu casually finished him off, and elsewhere, Shinobu vanquished the "daughter" demon.
Also, unique among the Hashira, Shinobu uses a thin Nichirin sword with a deadly poison to kill demons in lieu of decapitation. That fits Shinobu's Insect Breathing, which involves "stinging" like a bee or other insect. Not long after the Mount Natagumo battle, Tanjiro and his friends and sister met the remaining seven Hashira all at once when they were taken to the master's house. It's not uncommon for a shonen anime to introduce most members of an elite group all at once, so it wasn't necessarily a disappointment or bad pacing to have that happen with the Hashira.
Best of all, the anime simply showed those elite demon slayers and saved their persoanl development for later, so the pacing was preserved after all. During that meeting, Nezuko drew the ire of the Wind Hashira, the hotheaded Sanemi Shinazugawa, who tried in vain to bait out Nezuko's hunger with his own blood. The corp boss, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, showed kindness and chose to spare Nezuko after the latter refused to harm any humans around her.
Some Hashira, such as Tengen Uzui and Obanai Iguro, gave the Kamados a chilly reception, while the cheerful Mitsuri Kanroji warmly welcomed them. Kyojuro Rengoku was skeptical of Nezuko at first, but then he gladly accepted her as part of his team in the Mugen Train story arc, showing how gracious he can be after getting over the shock of something like meeting Tanjiro's demon sister. More so than Giyu and Shinobu, Kyojuro Rengoku demonstrated the true power and resolve of a Hashira in the Mugen Train arc, fighting the Upper Moon 3, Akaza, to the bitter end.
Kyojuro went all-out with his Flame Breathing to push Akaza to the limit, and even when Kyojuro died, Tanjiro saw it as a moral victory of sorts for the dying Flame Hashira. The next story arc fleshed out Tengen Uzui's character, including his bizarre contradiction of being a ninja who loves being flashy and fancy. Tengen helped Tanjiro's team hunt down and exterminate Daki and her brother Gyutaro in the entertainment district arc, with Tengen fighting alongside his three kunoichi wives the entire time.
Tengen survived the ordeal, but only barely, and he realized he'd have to retire from active duty. That helped chip away at the image of the Hashiras' invulnerability, but it also meant Tengen was free to help coach and mentor demon slayers like Tanjiro in later story arcs, as fans will soon see in the Demon Slayer anime. The Hashira can do more than fight. The Swordsmith Village story arc fleshed out the characters of Mitsuri Kanroji and Muichiro Tokito, who took on the Upper Moons 4 and 5 to protect the village from certain doom.
In the process, those two Hashira also awakened their demon slayer marks, granting them even greater strength to defeta Gyokko and Hantengu when all seemed lost. Now, it's up to Tanjiro and his friends to train hard and try to awaken their own demon slayer marks and use them on command, just the way certain Hashira can. As for the remaining Hashira, the anime hasn't shown much of Sanemi and Obanai just yet, but they will probably leap into the fray in later episodes and may get some much-needed character development in the process.
The Hashira Are a Counterpoint to the Corps' Iffy Ranking System
The Hashira Ranking System is not Part of the Demon Slayer Corp System
The nine Hashira are in a league of their own in the demon slayer corps, having the second-highest rank beneath the master himself, Kagaya Ubuyashiki. But there's more to it than having a high rank. In particular, the rank of Hashira is unique, and isn't truly part of the demon slayer corps' own ranking system. For all non-Hashira slayers, there are ten official ranks, with slayers getting promoted to higher ranks based on their skills and accomplishments.
10 is the lowest rank, or Mizunoto, while rank 1 is Kinoe, with eight more ranks in between them. This ranking system was explained early on, including Tanjiro's place in the ranking system, but that system is actually one of the weakest parts of Demon Slayer's lore. It's not a huge problem, but it's still a weakness in the demon slayer corps' design, albeit a minor one. For the most part, the ten ranks of the demon slayer corps simply don't matter for storytelling purposes, and it doesn't mean much if Tanjiro is a Mizunoto, a Kanoe, a Hinoto, or anything else.
The ranks and their names are not memorable or intuitive, at least not for English-speaking fans, so rising in those ranks doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment for Demon Slayers' heroes. Already, Tanjiro Kamado is nearing Hashira level thanks to his usage of Hinokami Kagura and his sheer protagonist powers, just the way Nezuko Kamado already feels like Upper Moons material, not that she would actually join Muzan's side. Fortunately, the rank of Hashira is special, memorable, and most of all, simple for anime fans to grasp.
In the main story of Demon Slayer, the Hashira rank, if fans can call it that, is the only one anime fans have good reason to care about, for several reasons. Not only is the Hashira "rank" the strongest and most important, it also simplifies the stratification of the demon slayer system. With the Hashira around, fans don't have to bother keeping tracks of ranks like Kinoe and Tsuchinoto --fans can focus on the simple distinction of demon slayers who are Hashira, and those who are not.
Genya Shinazugawa may be strong with his half-other powers, and Tanjiro and his friends are strong too, bu the Hashira still set a high bar to clear, one that anime fans hope they will clear someday. Also, given how often the Hashira are involved in pivotal battles like fighting Enmu, Daki, and Hantengu, it's clear that this rank is the only one that matters — and that makes for a smoother, more intuitive narrative that any shonen fan can enjoy.
