So basically during much of writing chapter 21, I had to hold myself back from going down a deep rabbit hole of sword decorations after I made the mistake of trying to look up a quick things. So now I'm going to indulge and show you guys all the cool stuff I found.
Could I have just given some broad descriptions for the trio's swords and called it a day? absolutely. But consider this: symbolism that goes so deep no other human being except myself would be able to appreciate it.
Obligatory shoutout to @demonslayedher who was the spark that helped fuel this new interest and the link to her masterpost about swords (includes tons of links to real life sword stuff that was very interesting to watch, some of my favorites were a polishing video and seeing a katana bend), a short overview of swordsmithing, and her fic that follows the process of swordmaking from beginning to end, I highly recommend it.
(keep in mind that when it comes to trying to look into symbolism, I usually find a lot of blogs that I don't place a ton of faith in because they're not focused on Japanese culture and/or don't have resources to back it up. So I try to cast a wide net as kind of a cross reference, with some mixed results. Often times I'm left with like ten different supposed meanings for a single flower, half of them being very similar but meaning slightly different things. So some of the stuff I found could very well be wrong.)
I present to you, the thing that made me start thinking about all of this:
Look how pretty it is!!!! I loveeeee how the color slowly shift from a brighter gold by the hilt to a darker color at the base. I came across this image of a wakizashi (a shorter blade than a typical katana) on complete accident and when I first saw it, I gasped and was like "it's like firefly flashes whaaaaaat?!"
Then later I realized those "bursts" are flowers. It took a bit of digging, but I'm 98% sure the flowers with the small disks in the middle are chrysanthemums (kiku 菊). Chrysanthemums symbolize a lot of things (ex. beauty, nobility; the Imperial Seal of Japan is a 16 petal kiku) but what stands out the most to me is that they represent endurance, longevity, and happiness. All good things to put on a sword. Yellow chrysanthemums are also associated with the sun.
I think the other flowers with layered petals are dahlias (Tenjikubotan 天竺牡丹). The most common meaning I could find was "good taste." I think the idea is that if you give dahlias to someone, you're saying they have good taste, but I'm not totally sure. This website says that yellow dahlias are symbols of inner strength and resilience, but considering I can't find that anywhere else, I'll take that with a grain of salt. However! if that is the case, it makes perfect sense why it would be on a sheath.
I started going on a deep (deep deep) rabbit hole of tsuba (hand guards) afterward. Some are more simplistic, others are very intricate. They can depict scenes, nature, animals, plants, or family crests. All of them are so friggin' cool, oh my godddddd. I like the tsuba in Demon Slayer but having seen real-life tsuba, I feel like the potential for symbolism and overall cool factor was a bit lost. It makes sense why the overall designs were more simple (easier to distinguish, not having to worry about tiny details, etc) but the possibilities and creativity is endless! There's a whole wiki commons page with tsuba, which led me to the MET website which has even MORE. I browsed through, uh, pretty much all 1000+ of them, and here are a very highlights! (most of these are the less traditional ones tho)
Some of these I picked out because they look similar/have similar motifs to tsuba in canon, some just because they're neat, and some because the craftsmanship is insane???? The one ginko leaves and dew with the tiny lines and the way it folds???? the masks???? The dark blue one with tiny gold stars and snowflakes ingraved into it??? Almost all of these are metal, but the lily pad is leather and lacquer which is just so cool to me. My favorite is the bamboo and plum flower one, it's simpler than most of them, but it's got a quiet and almost bold feel to it.
I had wayyyyy more, but if I included every single tsuba I liked, I would have no room for other images, lol.
So when I was looking into firefly symbolism, one thing I read was that they were used on sword furnishing/decorations. At the time, I couldn't find an example (not for lack of trying), but I was finally able to find a few. There were a LOT of tsuba with insects on them and some of them could have been fireflies, but because of stylistic choices, I couldn't confirm it.
The one on the left was the first I found. It has fireflies, butterflies, AND a dragonfly. Creators often inscribe their name somewhere on the tsuba and the reverse side says “Spring by Mitsutada, summer by Ichijō, fall by Tōjō." Butterflies are a symbol of spring, fireflies summer, and dragonflies autumn. Love it when artists are artistic lol
(Dragonflies and butterflies are very common motifs on tsuba. An old name for dragonflies is “victory insect” [katsumushi] because they are quick in killing their enemies and became a popular symbol among samurai. They are still a very common motif on modern day kendo tsuba. Butterflies are associated with a lot of things [grace, love, fleetingness of beauty in life] but notably, transformation/metamorphosis and in Shintoism, they were a symbol of the soul's journey into the afterlife or embodied the souls of the deceased. All of which puts Shinobu in an ENTIRELY new light.)
The tsuba in the middle has two fireflies on the edge, each on the top and bottom (it took me a while to see them because it's so dark in color), and the gold lines are grasses. The one on the right also depicts fireflies in grasses, but the bugs are much easier to spot. I really like this one actually, it's not as flashy (haha) but like with the bamboo/plum tsuba, I like the simple but quietly bold approach.
I should probably move on from tsuba since they are far from the only pretty part of a sword. There are many parts to a katana and even looking at a diagram, I still don't even know what have of them are.
For example, menuki (not to be confused with the mekugi, the peg that holds the handle to the base of the actual blade) are ornaments on the handle. Originally, they were meant to cover the mekugi, but over time, both became visible. The swords in Demon Slayer (and most if not all manga/anime) don't have them, probably again to keep them simpler. You could say the canon reason is that the swordsmiths don't have the time to put as much detail on swords.
While they're cool, I'm not as enamored with them. Possibly because I can't help but wonder if a katana with menuki would be uncomfortable to hold and/or if you get blisters from them. though many of them are rather flat and partially covered by the cords, so maybe it's not that much of a problem. Regardless, they are very neat
The bat one is really cool to me, I like the way it stands out. If you can't tell what's on the other sword, it's a snake. I'm pretty sure the ones in the middle are bamboo leaves.
If the trio were to have menuki, I would definitely use it to add a little extra subtle layer of symbolism. It's not entirely clear how much the swordsmiths know about the slayer they are assigned to, but I figure that would utilize the little information they have in order to personalize a sword. Meaning they might use people's names to add some subtle details. So...
Hanako's name means "flower" (hana 花) and "child" (ko 子, a common ending to a girl's name). There's probably other flowers with symbolism that more closely fits her character, but I think the most fitting one to pick would be a peach blossom.
Takeo's name means "bamboo" (take 竹) "man" (o 雄, I've seen this also translated as "manly" or "heroic"). I think that the bamboo leaf menuki above would fit very nicely.
Senjuro is a bit less obvious. His name means "thousand" (sen 千) "longevity" (ju 寿) "son" (ro 郎). There are a lot things that represent longevity, and originally I was thinking about a chrysanthemum, but I looked a little bit more into cranes which are another common symbol. Cranes are said to live a thousand years and it's become a tradition to fold origami cranes to wish an ill person recovery, specifically one thousand cranes within a year. So I think cranes are a better fit. (oh god now I'm picturing little Senjuro and Kyojuro folding origami cranes for their mother and stringing the garlands around her room ;-;)
Um. Anyway. Back to swords.
here are a couple swords in their sheaths:
The ones on the left are both katana, the blade is from the katana on the top left, and on the top right is another wakizashi and the bottom right is a tanto (a dagger). The katana on the top left is very unusual because it's disguised as a walking stick and oh my goddddd that cherry bark is sooooo pretty, it's the prettiest kind of bark I don't take criticism. But aside from that, its hamon (the lighter pattern on the blade) really stand out to me, sort of flowy and bubbly. I'll be the first to admit I don't fully understand hamon, but this article does a good overview and has some nice close-ups.
The brown katana doesn't stick out much at first, but I love the patterns on the sheath, which is a lacquer technique called seikaiha-nuri (literally “blue waves lacquer”). It also has lovely little detailing of insects and flowers on the fittings that I didn't notice at first.
The wakizashi and tanto are both really pretty. The maple leaves with varying colors is so cool and the wakizashi has so many cool insects on it. The tanto has beautiful flower detailing and some of them are a family crest (kamon) of the Toyotomi Family. Family crests are really common symbols on swords obviously, but you can find them elsewhere even today in architecture, tenugui (handtowels), etc. They're both lovely, but I find myself leaning toward the simpler, subtler design of the brown katana.
If you're at all curious about the choices behind the trio's swords, the brown cords and yellow same (what's under the cords) are mean to evoke a firefly's glow behind its shell. Hanako's brown sheath is also meant to be the "shell" for her yellow sword. Sengoku era Rengoku, Shinjuro, and Kyojuro all have the same sheath pattern so that's why Senjuro also has it, it's traditional. I was a bit stumped for Takeo but then I realized that fireflies are associated with grassy banks, so I went with dark green (also look, it matches his scarf and Tanjiro's haori now). The matching tsubas with three fireflies is self explanatory.
Can you tell I have overthought this a lot?
There was a point during this deep rabbit hole that I found out there was Japanese sword show in a couple months just a 4-5 hour drive from me and the entrance fee was only like $20 a day bUT IT'S THE WEEKEND BEFORE FINALS WHYYYYYYYYYY CRUEL WORLD I WANNA SEE SWORDS IN PERSON AGHHHHHHH TnT
When I first started writing this fic, I never knew I might still be writing it years later or that it might have grown into what it is and what it will be. Thank you to those of you who have been here since the beginning and those who are newer!
I was hoping to post a chapter as a little celebration but unfortunately it isn't ready yet.
However! I still want to have something as a little treat!
It's Baby Demon Tanjiro! I drew this in May of 2022 and unfortunately I cannot find the original. I think I doodled this in my SAT study book and then tossed it before I tore out my various doodles in it ;-; RIP to all the doodles I did that I didn't save because I thought they were bad yOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER BY NOW BOOKIE!!
I'm (very inconsistently and slowly) trying to get into drawing so I can draw my little blorbos. I won't post any without prompting though because I don't have any confidence in my drawing capabilities.
under the cut is a meme that I've had in my brain for years and on my computer for months but never found a good time to post it:
In your fic Lion Heart, one of the best things I love, is the Kamado children slowly finding out more of the mystery of their Father. First was that he was a demon slayer. Then trying to find out more of their Father as a demon slayer.
Speaking of, Wouldn't Himejima or Urokodaki know about Tanjuro? He WAS a rising star amongst demon slayers back in the day. Plus, he saved Makomo.
Hell, maybe even a funny story from those that used to go on a mission with him. How the demons just took one look at him, and ran away screaming. Maybe he even got a joking nickname as a demon repellent.
Honestly, Tanjuro being a demon slayer is one of my favorite subplots in this AU. I get to slowly drip feed the Kamado children information about it, it's great. Jokes aside, there's just something so pithy theme-wise with Tanjuro being a demon slayer. Something something parallels to the Rengokus something something Yoriichi something something cycles etc.
While it is true that Tanjuro was a well known and well liked slayer among his peers (that's actually a really way of putting it "rising star"), he retired *checks timeline again* about 16 years ago. Many of the people were in the Corps at the same time as him are dead. His story and name, unfortunately, is mostly forgotten by members of the Corps. He never became a Hashira and he wasn't from a "legacy" family so to speak. Not to say he had no impact on the Corps, but much like Yoriichi, it's mostly forgotten.
(Bit of a tangent, but interestingly enough, though it's implied that there are several families that have been in the Corps for generations, the only families we actually know about are the Rengokus and the Ubuyashikis--who kind of don't count because 1. none of them are actual slayers and 2. they've been involved since the beginning because Muzan is their distant cousin. This leads to my headcanon that families that previously worked with the Corps have either died out or decided to move on from demon slaying as Japan began modernizing in the Meiji Period, leaving behind only one line of the Rengokus. I imagine that the ban of carrying katana in public was the last straw for a lot of people)
Anywho. The people alive from that period of time do remember Tanjuro, but out of them, very few were close to him. Um, basically just Shinjuro and Makomo. Kuwajima and Urokodaki knew him in passing. (I actually had to bend canon a little because according to the first fanbook, Kuwajima retired at 35 and if I stuck with that, he would have entirely missed Tanjuro's time in the Corps. so in my AU, he retired in his early/mid forties.)
Himejima was still a child when Tanjuro retired, so he never meet him. However, he would have been a Hashira at the same time as Shinjuro before he became bitter and disillusioned, so perhaps he heard some stories about this great man....
Rest assured, the Kamados will learn more about their father. I love the idea of them hearing stories of demons running away from him screaming and getting called demon repellent haha! I'll have to save that idea for later
In your kny fic, Would Haganezuka be the one who made Tanjuro Sword? If so, would he also becomes the one who will make swords for the Trio?
Because that would be amazing. A swordsmith that makes swords for this family of theirs.
I recently realized that Haganezuka would have been old enough to at least heard of Tanjuro while he was in the Corps, if not met him in person. However, he would have been 12 when Tanjuro passed Final Selection and 21 when he retired. I didn't go much into Tanjuro's swordsmith in the oneshot, but he never switched to another because he was happy with his blades and had an amicable relationship with his smith. So no, as much as I like the idea that Haganezuka provided two generations of Kamados their swords, it doesn't really work out.
Now, did Haganezuka ever meet Tanjuro? I haven't figured that out yet.
Did the Swordsmith Village gossip about the slayer with a black blade that kept getting new swords year after year and ended up retiring instead of a grisly demise? Absolutely.
As for who's going to be the swordsmith for the Trio...well, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter >:)
Hmmm, I'm trying to think and not much is coming to mind. In chapter 2, the hunters that Takeo gets a gun from are the daughter and father (Yae and Matazo) from the Gaiden, Stories of Water and Flame. I love the Gaiden so I wanted to give a nod to it. I might to get to again later when Mitsuri appears for longer than a couple sentences.
7. What character do you enjoy writing most? Why?
Probably Takeo! I think it's because I'm comfortable writing him and a lot of my own voice ends up coming through him. Almost literally, my beta once told me when they were reading the dialogue of the kids, they were hearing my voice lol. Some runner ups are Kuwajima, Sabito, and Tanjuro, they're just fun
15. Tell us a fun fact about your fic/wip!
I didn't go into this fic planning to do a really long, sweeping story that followed canon (more or less) beginning to end. At the time, I didn't feel like I was really in the fandom because after watching the movie with a friend in. 2021?? (Man time flies, his stepdad had to watch it with us because it was R-rated in the US and we weren't old enough to watch it by ourselves in the theatre) and hadn't really kept up with it afterward. I had just bingewatched season 2 while on a trip with my family, so it was swirling around in my brain and I went on to ao3 as you do and was disappointed by the lack of Kamado family content. Then the idea of a fic where the younger Kamado siblings lived while Tanjiro and Nezuko were turned into demons hit me like a truck. As soon as we got back home, and I wrote like the first four or five chapters in a week.
I thought it was going to be 40k words long. I hadn't even decided that I was going to follow the canon storyline at the time, my outline for the later parts of the story more or less stopped at "they talk to Ubuyashiki and go to the Rengoku mansion?". But for some reason I was like "yeah, 40k words seems right" NOPE
I know some people see Lionheart as a Role Swap fic, which makes sense, but also surprises me because to me, I see it as a "What if?" that quickly spiraled wildly out of my control and I'm now sprinting after the story to keep up with it.
Another one of my favorites part of Lion Heart. During the kids and Hashira meeting, Obani was talking down on them for not having anything to defend themselves with a demon at home. With kids immediately replying that They Bought A Gun.
Like, ok, good that they have some way to defend themselves. On the other hand, kid, why do you have a gun? Who let the kid with a gun? Should the kid have a gun?
Just, It's hilarious. The momentary speechlessness that happened!
Wait. Ubuyashiki Kagaya said remembers every single demon slayer. Doesn't that mean in Lionheart, he already realizes the kiddies are the children of one Kamado Tanjuro? And just, didn't tell anyone about that little fact? Or he just put them in Rengoku house to let Shinjuro handle it?
Nobody really knows what's going through Ubuyashiki's mind....even myself lol
Bit of a tangent, since writing the chapter that Ubuyashiki was (physically) present in, my thoughts on him have changed and I plan on portraying in a slightly different light that I had in mind originally.
See, I initially had very few thoughts on Ubuyashiki. I was very neutral about him and I still am; to me, he feels more like a role than a character, necessary to have the story run smoothly but not given enough screentime (or personality) to really feel fleshed out. Since then, I've come to the conclusion that while he does have good intentions and cares for the members of the Corps, he's kind of manipulative and more focused on the bigger picture. In his goal to have Muzan defeated, he views Corps members in a similar manner to chess pieces, seeking out ways to take out as many of Muzan's demons and deal him as much damage as possible to his ranks. At least, that's how it comes across to me.
Anywho.
Ubuyashiki does remember Tanjuro and knows that the Kamados are his children. He hadn't been aware until he meet them that Tanjuro had died because he stopped keeping tabs on him a few years into his retirement. That's part of the reason he offered the Kamados the "choice" to become demon slayers--he wanted to keep an eye on them and have them at hand if they proved to be anything like their father. The Ubuyashikis had high hopes that Tanjuro might be the one that would eventually bring about the end of Muzan. Unfortunately, he was a generation too early.
Ubuyashiki felt that them going to the Rengoku estate would be the best option, knowing that Shinjuro was good friends with Tanjuro and had access to records of Sun Breathing. He thought it could nudge them in the right direction. However, he didn't know that Shinjuro was resentful toward Tanjuro, so that chain of events didn't occur. The Ubuyshikis suspected that Tanjuro had some connection to Sun Breathing, but were never able to confirm it.
Speaking of which. . . Tanjuro wasn't really a big fan of the Ubuyashikis. According to the fanbooks, Kagaya's father committed suicide at 19 when he couldn't handle watching Corp members continue to die, leaving Kagaya as the leader at age four. Five years later, one of Kagaya's younger brothers set the estate on fire because he was resentful of his short life, killing himself, their younger brother, and mother. Both of these events occurred when Tanjuro was in the Corps. He was appalled and horrified that such a young child was given those duties. Tanjuro also saw a lot of issues with the Corps and felt that many of them stemmed from how the Ubuyashiki run the Corps. He felt sympathy for Kagaya's situation, but also kept his distance. The Ubuyashikis were the prime example why he didn't want a family while still involved in demon slaying/the Corps.
Anyway, Ubuyashiki plans to keep quiet about Tanjuro until it proves useful to bring him up.
Something I've been thinking about for a while. The fireflies trio, when they were making their breathing style. Takeo have been trying to incorporate their family Kagura too right? Does that mean that both Hanako and Senjuro now also know some moves from the Kagura?
Oh. And an extra thing. Since they've been making their own style by incorporating the two breathing style they've been taught, what are the chances of them leaning some moves from Water breathing too? Makomo know Tanjuro. Sabito and Giyuu also know them. Would they pitch in to teach some too?
The trio are going to continue building onto Firefly Breathing for a while yet. While they haven't yet drawn inspiration from the Hinokami Kagura, they will in the future.
They will also learn from battles, other Breaths, other slayers, and whatnot.
