As an Upper Three demon, Akaza is one of the most dangerous villains in Demon Slayer. But, is he an evil character?
Demon Slayer is an action-oriented shonen that lets humans fight powerful demons to ensure their survival. Ordinary people can’t fight demons since there are only certain methods. The Demon Slayer Corps has been working in secret for centuries to eradicate every demon from the planet. Ranking above the many dangerous enemies featured throughout the story, there’s an elite group of demons even the most powerful of Demon Slayers, Hashira, cannot defeat alone. Akaza is a Lower Three Demon with twelve Kizuki is one of this kind of demon.
Akaza is among the most hated characters in Demon Slayer for being the most terrifyingly powerful character who killed Hashira, the fan-favorite character of Rengoku. Akaza however, is an extremely deeply-felt character with a tragic background.
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Akaza’s Values and Personality
Akaza is a demon who is stubborn who is a fervent fighter and despises the weak. The demon is so determined, he will go to any measure to defeat formidable demon slayers and fighters. He discovered his love for Rengoku during the Infinity Train Arc and begged him to become the demon and continue their battle for the rest of eternity. When Akaza faced off against opponents he deemed worthy and worthy, he would request their names and introduce himself as a sign of respect. Akaza can remember the names of his opponents throughout his time as an undead.
While he’s a member of the Twelve Kizuki, he does not get along with his peers. He views them as rivals and is extremely hostile toward Kokushibou, the Upper-Rank One demon, and Doma the Upper-Rank Two. Although he is one of the strongest demons Akaza has certain beliefs that adhere to regardless of the circumstances. For unknown reasons, demons in Demon Slayer gain more strength from eating females than they do from eating males. However, Akaza has never eaten women or caused harm to the women. Doma once stated that Akaza would be stronger when he had the option of eating women. Akaza’s inclination to not bow to any method necessary to gain power stems from the clear remnants of his human nature.
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An In-depth Look at Akaza’s Duel with Rengoku
The strength of the power of an Upper Moon Demon is far beyond what any human can ever comprehend. Akaza is the first Upper Moon to be officially introduced in Demon Slayer and took on the Hashira. He was a tyrant to Tanjiro who had already been defeated. Rengoku intervenes to save him. When asked why he would want to attack someone who’s already defeated, Akaza states that he dislikes weak human beings, and Tanjiro would just get in the way of their conversations. Akaza would like to make Rengoku undead so that they could battle for hundreds of years to ensure that they continue to grow stronger. Akaza was truly impressed by the strength of Rengoku and their admiration of his talents.
He was aware that Rengoku was not able to defeat him as a human even though he was capable of recovering in just a few minutes. Akaza can recover in a matter of seconds, while Rengoku’s injuries will inevitably overtake him. Both were fair in their battle. Akaza did not disrespect Rengoku and he didn’t employ the submissive approach.
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Tragic Backstory of Akaza
As a human, Akaza was popularly known as Hakuji. He grew up in the poor slums of the city with his dying father who was a loving father to him. Since he was unable to pay for medicines, Hakuji had no choice other than to rob the residents of the town and was constantly getting caught. Hakuji was brutally beaten by the magistrate and was given tattoos of criminals. After returning home from the third time he was beaten the victim was informed of his father’s suicide. His father wrote a letter to Hakuji in which he said that he wanted Hakuji to live a full and happy life. He also said that he did not want any medicine that was acquired through illegal activity.
Hakuji is eventually exiled from Edo and begins picking meaningless fights against strangers. He is introduced to Keizo, an owner of a local dojo, who was kind enough to take Hakuji under his care and taught him martial art. After two years in the dojo, his skills were improved and he fell in love with Keizo’s daughter, Koyuki. Unfortunately, the happy times were short-lived after one of the rival dojos poisoned his home’s water supply. After drinking the poisoned water, Keizo and Koyuki both died. When he heard the news, Hakuji fought with all the sixty-seven other members of the dojo in conflict, barehanded crushing their bodies. Muzan hears about the incident and offers the possibility of transforming Hakuji into an immortal demon.
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The True Nature of Akaza’s Death Reveals His True Nature
The second and final fight of Akaza in Demon Slayer was against Tanjiro and Giyu. Once again, seeing the power of a Hashira is awe-inspiring for Akaza. Gifu is begging Rengoku to make him a demon. Giyu doesn’t think twice about the idea. Fighting against Akaza was difficult even due to the strength of Giyu and Tanjiro. Both were severely injured, and Akaza stood strong. As the fight went on, Akaza witnessed Giyu protecting Tanjiro who was unable to breathe from his injuries.
Though Giyu was also seriously injured, he was intently focused on defending Tanjiro and Tanjiro, even at the risk of losing his own life. Akaza has a vague memory of his time as a human, and also his relationship with Keizo. As Akaza is preparing to launch a devastating attack against Giyu but is stopped by the spirit of his former wife crying and begs him to stop. He began to think about his past as a human, which was too much for him to handle. At this point, Tanjiro wakes up and finds Giyu at risk. Akaza is unsure of Tanjiro’s actions and is disappointed in the lessons he learned from Keizo. At the end of the day, he had a smile of appreciation on his face. He uses the last of his power to give up his.
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It turns out that Akaza was never an evil antagonist. Akaza is an excellently written adversary and his personal story gives depth to his character. While he was able to forget his experiences as a person, his emotions of empathy and guilt were present.
The human nature of his character was what drove him to fight and grow stronger. Also, Akaza’s unwavering love for his fiancee likely contributed to the reason the fact that he did not harm or consume women. These characteristics, though subtle show that Akaza was an antagonist that was deeply compassionate and morally ambiguous, as opposed to being traditionally bad.