Demon Slayer season 3 is just about to premiere worldwide, but who are the new Love and Mist Hashira in The Swordsmith Village Arc?
The Demon Slayer franchise features some incredibly powerful characters, amongst them being the famed Hashira – renowned swordsmen and women who have the strength the defeat even the evilest Upper Rank demons.
The Mugen Train movie introduced us to the Flame Hashira Rengoku, whilst season 2 of the anime focused on Sound Hashira Tengen; now, with fans of the iconic series now looking ahead to the premiere of season 3 titled The Swordsmith Village Arc, many are curious about the next Hashira to feature in the story.
So, who are the Love, Mist, and Serpent Hashira that are set to feature in Demon Slayer season 3, and what are their powers?
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Who was the Hashira in the Demon Slayer season 2 finale?
At the end of the Demon Slayer season 2 finale, a Hashira arrives to berate Lord Tengen and his hilarious wives about losing both an eye and a hand to the Upper Rank; this is Obanai Iguro, who is known as the Serpent Hashira, utilizing the Serpent Breathing combat style.
Obanai first appeared in chapter 4 of the manga, season 1 episode 3 of the anime, but this was limited to a partial appearance. His full debut came in chapter 45 of the original manga series, which was adapted in season 1 episode 22 of the anime “Trial by Hashira” when Tanjiro and Nezuko are put on trial at the Demon Slayer headquarters.
The Serpent Hashira has heterochromia with his right eye being yellow, and his left being turquoise. He also covers his lower face with bandages to hide a brutal wound inflicted on him as a child, where his mouth was mutilated to resemble that of a snake.
Obanai is a very harsh individual, who is known to care little for those who do not strictly adhere to the Demon Slayer rules – even after an incredible battle like with Tengen.
As a Hashira, he has outstanding strength and durability, with his Serpent Breathing allowing him to create strikes using unusual snake-like twists and turns. The snake on his shoulders is called Kaburamaru, who is extremely clever and can even understand human emotions. Obanai uses Kaburamaru to read and predict the movements of any enemy, allowing him to mitigate any concession from his partial blindness.
He is voiced by Kenichi Suzumura (Zack in Final Fantasy and Romani Archaman in Fate/Grand Order) in the Japanese version and by Erik Scott Kimerer (Teruki from Mob Psycho 100 and Isidoro from Berserk) in the English dubbing.
“I want to die defeating Muzan, and I pray that it will purify my filthy blood. Then, if I am reborn as a human being in a peaceful world without demons, I will tell you of my feelings for you.” – Obanai Iguro, chapter 188.
The Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji
The next story arc for Demon Slayer season 3 will be titled the “Swordsmith Village Arc” and will feature the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji and the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito.
Mitsuri Kanroji is the Love Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, using the Love Breathing fighting style. She is known to be very emotional, joyous, and passionate about her role as a Hashira; but also has a fierce and rather savage side to her when the battle begins.
Interestingly, Mitsuri first joined the Demon Slayer Corps hoping to find a stronger husband to marry; however, she became depressed shortly after feeling guilty that her motives were so self-centered. Thankfully, she was able to move past her own reasons with the help of Shinobu Kocho and Obanai Iguro – with whom she shares a very close bond.
Despite having slender limbs, Mitsuri’s muscles are around eight times the density of normal humans, making her incredibly powerful and durable in combat.
The technique utilizes Mitsuri’s enhanced flexibility and strength, but it’s her special sword that is truly remarkable. Her whip-like Nichirin sword is very long and thin, so difficult to use that only Mitsuri is able to correctly use such a weapon without injuring herself – it even needs to be folded multiple times to be sheathed. However, this whip-like sword allows her to unleash powerful long-range attacks that most Hashira would struggle to accomplish.
Incredibly, she was able to complete the Final Selection just six months after starting training, which was considered exceptional by Rengoku. In fact, her Love Breathing technique was developed from the Flame Breathing she gained whilst being the Tsugoku (apprentice) of Rengoku.
Mitsuri is voiced by Kana Hanazawa in the Japanese version (Ichika from Quintessential Quintuplets and Rika from Jujutsu Kaisen 0) and Kira Buckland in the English dubbing (2B in Nier Automata and Rebecca from Edens Zero).
“Is it okay for a girl to be this strong? I still worry that someone may ask that, as though I’m not human. In my fear, I was suppressing my strength. But not anymore. Leave this to me. I will protect everyone.” – Mitsuri Kanroji, chapter 124.
The Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito
Muichiro Tokito is the Mist Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps and is amongst the group’s youngest (and shortest) members.
Muichiro is considered an ‘air-head’, constantly being distracted and tends to only think of himself in logical terms, never truly letting his emotions guide his actions.
However, he suffered from severe memory loss following the tragic death of his family as a child. This anger towards demons fueled his motivation for training and he became a Hashira after only two months of training, something only accomplished by the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
As well as possessing incredible strength and endurance, Muichiro has immense speed and reflexes whilst also possessing ‘Transparent World’ which allows him to see the muscles, blood, and arteries of his opponents.
The young Hashira also has something called ‘Omnipresent Rage’, which is an astonishing build-up of anger that Muichiro has buried deep within himself; juxtaposing his usual ‘air-head’ demeanor.
His Mist Breathing technique compliments all of his personal skills and abilities, with the focus being on confusing his opponents with unusual yet incredibly fast movements. In fact, his swordsmanship skills are amongst the very best in the Demon Slayer Corps and he is even able to withstand training with Yoriichi Type Zero, a battle robot that is also set to feature in season 3.
Hilariously, the Fandom page notes that Muichiro can’t have a pet like some of the other Hashira, as his Kasugai crow is known to be very jealous.
Muichiro is voiced by Kengo Kawanishi in the Japanese sub (Gen in Dr Stone and Mikoshi in Naruto) and Griffin Burns in the English dubbing (Tadano in Aggretsuko and Metropolitan from Platinum End).
“Remember that boiling anger. Even if I lose my memories, my body will remember that anger that will not leave me until I die. It’s why I trained so hard that I vomited blood to destroy demons. And more… to eradicate them!” – Muichiro Tokito, chapter 121.
By Tom Llewellyn – [email protected]
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