Myanimangalist

Hey guys!

So I thought I’d do something a little different today. I get inspired by really random things that strike me as and when they come. So as I was reflecting on myself, my personality, and character, I was reminded that I am actually similar to Agatsuma Zenitsu from Demon Slayer.

Here’s the ironic thing though. While I was watching Demon Slayer, I really didn’t like Zenitsu. You see, he spends a good amount of time during his scenes whining and wailing about the dangers he is about to face. At one point, he even hides behind a young boy to protect himself from a Demon. That was truly a wtf moment and I thought to myself - even if was afraid of facing the Demon, he shouldn’t have hidden behind someone that was weaker than him and stood no fighting chance at all against it. You just don’t do that.

And just when you thought that Zenitsu would man up during the Natagumo Mountain Arc, he doesn’t and wails constantly about being afraid until he gets ignored and left behind by Tanjiro and Inosuke. He doesn’t move a muscle until he realises that his crush (Nezuko) had been taken into the forest along with Tanjiro and subsequently charges in without much thought.

Seeing the way Zenitsu was, I found myself really annoyed by him. Kinda like, hey you’re a Demon Slayer right and you signed up for this so you should’ve expected just as much when it came to your assignments. But when I took a step back and some time to reflect on his character, I realised that I could have been Zenitsu too. We all could have been. Because unlike his friends and most of the other Demon Slayers, Zenitsu didn’t become a Demon Slayer because he wanted to. He didn’t have a tragic past like Tanjiro (who had his whole family killed and his sister turned into a Demon) or Inosuke (who believed that he was abandoned by his mother until it was revealed that she was actually killed by Douma while trying to save him) that he could use as motivation to spur him on to kill Demons.

Zenitsu was really just a normal boy. A normal boy who somehow found himself in this position of being a Demon Slayer and therefore in this situation to kill Demons as he is told. Through his character, we can realise and be reminded of the Demon Slayers’ humanity. It’s easy to forget because all of them are so damn OP (overpowered) and they basically almost never show signs of fear in the face of danger. But Zenitsu is a gem because he’s not like them. Being OP and fearless is not the norm as it’s portrayed out to be. In fact, Zenitsu is more human than them because of his rational fear and natural instinct of self-preservation (to run LOL).

If I was in his shoes, I think I would be terrified too. I think anyone would be unless they had a clear reason for being a Demon Slayer.

Zenitsu also has low self-esteem. He constantly thinks he’s a useless burden on others and doesn’t think that he has the potential to do great things like his friends. Can you really blame the guy when his friends are so talented and OP though? The fact that he’s only learned the First Form of the Thunder Breath despite there being six forms and that he’s constantly being surrounded by talented people who are constantly progressing at a fast rate, you can understand where the low self-esteem is coming from.

To translate into simpler words, he showed an ineptitude for fighting - meaning he was just an average student and the people around him comprised of brilliant people who had more drive and aptitude than him. Considering these two facts, his low self-esteem becomes understandable and we are able to see his self-pity in a new light.

However, despite all of Zenitsu’s weaknesses, what is most admirable about him is his ability to push himself to do his best so as to not disappoint those who believe in him. This is an important trait because it shows that despite our fears and insecurities about ourselves and our abilities, we are able to overcome them if we have something to protect beyond ourselves. And we are only able to become more than ourselves if we live for others.

To protect the faith that his master had in him (and any innocent citizens in the vicinity), Zenitsu was able to become more than his fears and weaknesses and by the end of the series, you get to see his exponential growth in his fight against Kaigaku. By this fight, Zenitsu is no longer the whiny, weepy boy that we once knew in the Drum House Arc and he boldly fights Kaigaku to avenge his master. He even talks back to him in the beginning, no longer the scared, junior apprentice. I think that this growth is significant and worthy of praise. It’s a shame that he tends to get overlooked and overshadowed by the more outstanding characters. But Zenitsu’s a true gem of a character and I’m glad that such a character like him was in this story. It’s important to showcase the humanness of humanity in a story whereby it’s possible for people to lose it when they become literally inhuman.

That’s all for today, I hope you enjoyed reading my character review of Zenitsu. What are your thoughts on him? What did you think of his character amidst the other super OP characters? What did you think of his character growth? Let me know!