PG Proposal: Genya Shinazugawa from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2024)

Hello, everyone! I decided that for this moment, I'll be doing another PG Proposal. Now I know I said I would be leaving the site, and don't know when I'll be coming back, but honestly, I cannot help but wish to continue on contributing to help out the fandoms. With that said, I've been doing some thinking and decided that for when I don't have college days (which is on Mondays-Thursdays), I'll be helping out this Wiki. But when I do have either college days or an important assignment, that is when I leave the site. But just for today, I'll make an exception (since my class isn't on hard mode just yet).

With all of that said, welcome to another PG Proposal regarding another KNY character, who may be one of the last candidates in KNY to be pure good. I would be completely honest, this proposal may be more controversial than Kagaya, mainly because of how this character acted. However, after closer analysis on him, I feel like he has a shot on being PG. I understand if he gets rejected, but I still want to give this guy a shot.

So without further ado, allow me to present to you: Genya Shinazugawa.

What's the Work?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a dark fantasy action manga/anime series written and created by Koyoharu Gotouge. The manga started around 2016, concluding in the year of 2020. It eventually received an anime adaption by Ufotable in 2019, with Ufotable planning to do a movie trilogy for the series' finale.

The story resolves around a young boy by the name of Tanjiro Kamado, who lost his entire family to a demon, with his younger sister Nezuko being the only survivor, but she becomes a demon. Afterwards, the two would go on to join the Demon Slayer Corps to hunt down the demon responsible for their family's murder and causing Nezuko's demonic transformation, with demon revealed to be the Demon King known as Muzan Kibutsuji. Accompanying them on their journey is two fellow slayers: the cowardly but loyal Zenitsu Agatsuma and the hot-blooded and arrogant Inosuke Hashibira, while embarking on certain locations of Japan while accompanied by elite members of the corps known as the Hashira.

Who is Genya Shinazugawa? What has he done?

Genya Shinazugawa is a major character in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series. He was originally a minor character, making few appearances in the beginning, but eventually, he would become one of the main characters for the Swordsmith Village Arc, and a major character through out the rest of the series.

Past

Genya was born as the second child in a family of seven, being the younger brother of Sanemi Shinazugawa and older brother of five younger siblings: Sumi, Teiko, Hiroshi, Shuya, and Koto. Their parents were Kyogo and Shizu Shinazugawa. Their father, Kyogo, was known to be a monstrous abuser who regularly abused his wife and children, but his mother have always protected them, with Genya calling his mother "amazing". Kyogo was not-well liked in the village due to his cruelty, and he was eventually murdered by one of the villagers, much to the family's relief. With his death, Shizu would begin working hard to support her family while Sanemi and Genya would help out as well, vowing to protect their family together.

Then one day, their mother didn’t come back home, and a worried Sanemi left to go find her. Suspicion and worry began to cross the minds of the children since their mother “was never this late before.”, which led to Genya trying his best to reassure them, saying that they were “tired” and advised his siblings to go to sleep. Alone and unprotected, a sudden loud knock was heard from their door. Four of his siblings ran to the door eagerly despite Genya's protests and warnings that it might not be their mother, but before he could react the door is sliced open and they were cut down immediately. During that moment Genya’s cheek was cut, forming a scar that goes across his face.

In the panic, Genya watched helplessly and terrified as the dark figure which he assumed to be a wolf attacked them. Before it could attack Genya however, Sanemi tackled it out of their window to the streets below and ordered Genya to run away. Seeing his bloodied siblings and subconsciously aware that they were already dead but unable to fully process it, Genya tried to temporarily slow down the bleeding by applying pressure to their wounds, then setting out for a doctor to treat them. However he would soon stumbled across Sanemi holding a knife and with their mother lying dead at his feet. Genya, in confusion and despairing panic labeled his elder brother a murderer and cradled their mother's body in his arms as she dissolved in the rising sunlight.

Genya later on realized his mistake, discovering his mother was turn into a demon. To atone for accusing Sanemi, he decided to join the Demon Slayer Corps to try and reconcile his relationship with his brother. Unfortunately, Genya had no talent for any Breathing Styles, but he discovered a new ability that he could use to fight: the ability to eat demons and gain their demonic abilities. This ability was discovered by the Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima, who decided to train him as an apprentice. At some point, he reunited with Sanemi and tried to apologize, but Sanemi harshly rejected him and stated he had no brother. After this, Genya would decide to become a member of the slayer corps in a way to regain some connection with his elder brother.

The Final Selection Arc

Genya participated in the Final Selection exam, managing to survive the seven-day trial, alongside the other four: Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira (who left the section rather quickly), and Kanao Tsuyuri. He impatiently inquired about receiving his Nichirin Sword, angrily attacking both his crow and later on Kanata Ubuyashiki when his demand went unfulfilled. Tanjiro quickly intervened, threatening to break his arm if he didn't immediately let go of Kanata. When Genya instead boldly dares him to do so, Tanjiro obliges, leaving the irate youth to nurse his broken limb. Kiriya Ubuyashiki, undeterred by the rough treatment his sister received, simply continues with his instructions. Afterwards, Genya received his blade and left the selection.

The Rehabilitation Training & Mugen Train Arcs

A few months later, at the Butterfly Estate under unknown circ*mstances, a tall and muscular Genya intentionally bumps into Tanjiro, ignoring his greeting afterwards. While training with Gyomei, he later received the report of Kyojuro Rengoku via his Kasugai Crow, much to his surprise of learning about the Hashira's death.

The Swordsmith Village Arc

Genya would later appear as one of the residents in the Swordsmith Village, alongside the Kamado Siblings, Mitsuri Kanroji, and Muichiro Tokito. It was mentioned by Mitsuri that he ignored her when she greeted him and asked his name, although later on we learn that it wasn't out of spite, but more because of shyness. Genya is still hostile to Tanjiro, mainly because of his grudge towards him for breaking his arm in the Final Selection and seeing him as a rival to becoming a Hashira. Because of that, he always remain angry and aggressive with the boy, despite the latter's attempts to befriend him.

Eventually, the village comes under attack by demons, with the offensive being led by Upper Four and Five respectively, Hantengu and Gyokko. While Gyokko would face off against Muichiro, Hantengu (and his clones) would face against the Kamado Siblings. When Sekido (the manifestation of Hantengu's anger) stuns the two with his Blood Demon Art: Lightning, Genya is seen on the roof and quickly saved the two by shooting off the heads of Sekido and Karaku (the manifestation of Hantengu's pleasure). Unfortunately, this only leads to the creation of two more clones: Aizetsu (the manifestation of Hantengu's sadness) and Urogi (the manifestation of Hantengu's joy).

Genya would aid the Kamado siblings in battling off the clones, facing against Aizetsu, making a vow that he would kill the demon. Despite his wounds from Aizetsu, Genya quickly prayed and surprisingly got faster and attacked the demon. After defeating the demon, spearing him to a tree and ripping apart his head, he would consume his blood and gains demonic abilities, to which he faced a shocked Tanjiro. Genya then grabs him by the neck and told him not to push his luck, as he would kill the Upper Rank, denying the fact Tanjiro managed to kill the Upper Six demons, choking him harder, and stated that he will become a Hashira to him. Much to his bewilderment, Tanjiro happily supports him and isn't even bluffing. They later proceed to resume their fight with Hantengu's clones.

Over the course of the battle, Genya manages to find Hantengu's main core Obie, who was a small version of the Upper Rank, with Genya comparing him to a rat. He proceeded to shoot at his tiny foe, then attempted to cut his head off with his blade, only for it to break. After firing another shot at the tiny Hantengu, he discovers his attacks would not work, and Sekido ambushes him from behind, but is quickly saved by Tanjiro and Nezuko. Hantengu's clones then proceed to transform into Zohakuten, making the battle harder for the three, until Mitsuri arrives and saves them from the demon. After she gets stunned from Zohakuten's attack and nearly gets killed by him, Genya and the Kamado siblings quickly saved her life. While Mitsuri decides to hold off Zohakuten Genya, Tanjiro, and Nezuko pursue Hantengu's main body. When they get constricted by the wood dragons, Genya quickly eats the dragon to free themselves and absorb its demonic abilities. After they finally destroy the wood dragon and get to Hatengu's protective orb, they find that the wooden sphere is empty. When they spy the small demon, Genya throws a tree at the demon in his anger to slow down the demon.

Genya and the Kamado siblings quickly give chase again, and just as Tanjiro is close to beheading Hatengu/Obie, the demon quickly transforms into a large demon known as Urami and begins suffocating Tanjiro, but he is quickly saved by Genya. However, due to Nezuko's flames hurting him due to being partial demon, Genya is unable to fight on any longer. After Tanjiro finally slays Hantengu and Nezuko reveals her resistance to the sun, everyone celebrates with Genya cracking a smile for the happy ending the Kamado siblings have received.

The Hashira Training Arc

Following the assault on the Swordsmith Village, Genya and the others would head back to the Butterfly Mansion to recover from his wounds. Genya then takes part in the Hashira Training, where he encounters his brother Sanemi. He tries to plead for Sanemi to listen, but he refuses and tells him that he doesn't acknowledge him as his brother and that he should quit the Demon Slayer Corps for his lack of skills. Desperate, Genya reveals he's been eating demons to fight, which causes Sanemi. In his anger, Sanemi tries to attack Genya by gouging out his eyes, but is quickly saved by Tanjiro. While Tanjiro and the others faced off against a raging Sanemi, Genya tries to plead with Sanemi, but is dragged away by Zenitsu, who pities him for having a "total lunatic" as an elder brother, to which Genya angrily punches him for insulting Sanemi. After the scuffle between the two is settled Tanjiro is barred from making contact with Sanemi, which also results in the same for Genya.

Genya then appears in Gyomei's Muscle Amplification Training, where the former thanks Tanjiro for defending him from Sanemi, while apologizing for it, to which the latter doesn't mind. When Tanjiro is shown to be struggling a bit with the boulder push, Genya proceeds to talk and teach him about the Repetitive Action technique, a technique that allows its users to reach a state that is similar to Total Concentration Breathing and can constantly raise their concentration and thus draw out all the physical powers of the body for a long period of time. Thanks to Genya's advice, Tanjiro begins using Repetitive Action, and it allows him to push the boulder, passing Gyomei's training.

Eventually, the Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji arrives at the Ubuyashiki Mansion, planning to kill the corps' leader Kagaya, absorb Nezuko to conquer the sun, and destroy the corps. fter the attempted ambush resulted in Kagaya exploding his own mansion with him in it, the Hashira and Tanjiro attempts to attack Muzan, but the Demon King quickly turns the table and has the entire Demon Slayer Corps, including Genya, in hopes of destroying them all.

The Infinity Castle Arc

Genya is one of the participants in the battle against the Upper One Demon Kokushibo, alongside Gyomei, Sanemi, and Muichiro. After the Upper One Demon subdued Muichiro, Genya takes aim at Kokushibo and fires, but the demon suddenly appears behind him and severs off his arms. Kokushibo recognizes that Genya has consumed demons before and bisects him at the waist, and reveals that he has encountered a Demon Slayer like Genya in the past, who was killed when he beheaded him. He prepares to kill Genya in the same fashion, but is quickly saved by Sanemi. Before battling Kokushibo, Sanemi reveals why he was acting so aggressively towards him: It was never because he hated him, but he was merely trying to protect him. Sanemi tells his younger brother that he should've never joined the Demon Slayer Corps and that he should've had a wife and children, and he vowed to protect them. This makes Genya shed tears as Sanemi finally expresses his true feelings towards him.

After Muichiro unpins himself from a column, he quickly goes to Genya's aid when he requests him to grab him a strand of Kokushibo's hair. He says to Muichiro that he wants to protect his older brother at all costs and to fight until the very end, to which Muichiro completely respects and joins Genya. He then consumes the strands of Kokushibo's hair, and feels his body coming together almost instantaneously. He also remembers that a chunk of Kokushibo's sword was separated by Gyomei and wonders how much more power he can achieve by consuming that as well, but proceeds to hears Muzan's faint voice again and questions if he is progressing more into a real demon. And after thinking back by Tanjiro's words that the weakest fighters have the highest potential to turn the tides of the fight, take Kokushibo's discarded demonic blade and consume it.

As the Hashira continue their onslaught on Kokushibo, Genya emerges from the shadows, now fully transformed into a demon, and fires his shotgun at Kokushibo and the attached Muichiro with this mutated double-barreled shotgun. Genya continues on firing his mutated shotgun at the Upper One with him deflecting all the bullets. However, despite him deflecting the bullets, they still bent back towards his body as if they had sentience. Genya's bullets then puncture through Kokushibo's skin as he sees Genya's new appearance similar to his red sclera and flame-like Demon Slayer Mark on the right side of his forehead.

Kokushibo, angry at experiencing a near-death experience, then roars in defiance and dozens of chaotic slashes release from his body, cutting Muichiro's lower half of his body clean off and cutting Genya in half vertically. Genya, despite being cut in half, still has the mental strength to defend everyone, and after realizing that his flesh bullets are still within Kokushibo's flesh, unleashes his Blood Demon Art: Blood Roots with another flesh tree rooting out of the Upper One's back. Kokushibo attempts to use his Moon Breathing, but nothing comes out of it and discovers that it's because of the tree siphoning blood from his body. This allowed Gyomei and Sanemi to behead the Upper One Demon.

After the fatal battle concluded, Genya proceeds to fade away due to being a demon, with Sanemi begging for him not to die. Before fading away, he calls Sanemi the nicest brother in the world. With Genya completely gone, Sanemi can only cried in complete sorrow for the loss of his brother.

Corrupting Factors

Okay, now this is where we all buckle up and go through each of his corrupting factors that may prevent him from being pure good. So please, everyone. Make sure to pay close attention.

First and foremost, there is his jerkish attitude. I will not lie, Genya was quite the jerk in the beginning. He was gravely impatient, rude, and hot-blooded as best seen when he demanded a sword and even pulled Kanata's hair, which caused Tanjiro to step in and break his arm to force him to let go of Katana. Even then, Genya continued to be a hot-blooded and stubborn individual, especially with Tanjiro, having a grudge on him for breaking his arm (even though Tanjiro correctly stated that it was because he was hurting Kanata). And another main reason is because he sees Tanjiro as a rival for the Hashira position. Now I could understand why one would think that it would prevent him from being pure good.

But, I do need to mention this: By the time the Swordsmith Village Arc concluded, Genya has been becoming far nicer than he was before. He is no longer wrathful and is a bit more patient with others and is able to get along with others now. He's still a little rough around the edges, but it's no longer extreme as it was in the past. Moreover, Genya greatly regrets his past behavior and actions, and is ashamed of how he acted in the past. In addition, it's revealed that he apologized to Kanata for what he did, with Kanata happily forgiving him for his actions. The fact he went through the effort to apologize for his previous act goes to show how far more kinder he has become. He also gets along with Tanjiro very well since he can see Tanjiro doesn't see Genya as a rival and wants to help him achieve his goal.

There are some moments where he got into a little argument with Inosuke, and he did punch Zenitsu one time. However I do need to point out that Inosuke did insulted Genya for his lack of breathing, which made Genya understandably upset and even then, their argument wasn't too bad, and was comical at best. For Zenitsu, he did insult Sanemi to Genya's face, so he was understandably furious that he punched Zenitsu. If anything, I find those two moments being heating-up periods at best.

I don't think I need to talk about the lethal moments he does on the demons, since it was already discussed in Tanjiro's, Rengoku's, Mitsuri's, and Gyomei's PG pages. Him eating demons? Questionable yes, but he eats them because it grants him power and strength to fight against other demons. So that is justified, no matter how weird it. His "blood knight" tendencies when fighting demons? Yeah, I don't necessarily think it's too corrupting, especially since there are other PG heroes who enjoy fighting themselves. And even then, Genya fights for the right reasons, as he is dedicated to wiping out the demon race.

And finally, regarding his abusive father, as it is stated that he badmouthed his deceased "father" and was glad that he was dead with a sanctification tone. However, this too is heavily justified since Kyogo was a monstrous abusive piece of crap who hurt a lot of people including his family for small and petty reasons. So his disrespect towards his "father" is well-justified and deserved.

So yeah, with all that said, I can hardly find anything corrupting about Genya. He was a jerk sure, but he has long changed from who he was and is now a nice kid, who's a little rough but mostly good to others.

Admirable Standards

Ok as I mention in the previous proposal, the admirable standards are quite high. This is a series where human demon slayers are fighting off evil and man-eating demons, and the slayers possess unique abilities to fight them off.

But in all honestly, I feel like Genya stands out the most. Firstly, the guy played a major role in the battle against Hantengu and his clones, as he aids Tanjiro and Nezuko in fighting off Hantengu's clones with the best of his ability. He even aid in catching Obie (the main form of Hantengu), going as far to throw a tree at the tiny coward to slow him down and saving Tanjiro from being suffocated to death by Urami. Then he aids Tanjiro in Gyomei's training, telling him about the Repetitive Action technique (which would be a important technique during the final fight against the demon race), and playing a major role in defeating Kokushibo by eating a part of his hair and a flesh of his katana, gaining enough strength and power to have his own blood demon art, which would play a critical role in defeating the Upper One Demon.

And what also makes him stand out in all of this? Well, it's mostly because he possesses lower resources than anyone of the Demon Slayer Corps. Unlike Tanjiro and several major characters like the Hashira (who possess powerful breathing styles and/or the Demon Slayer Mark), Genya doesn't have any of those abilities, and the only abilities he has is consuming demon flesh which grants him supernatural abilities and the Repetitive Action, which he uses to fight against the demons and the weapons he has is a Wakizashi katana and a double-barrel shotgun. And yet, he played a pivotal role in fighting against two Upper Ranks Demon, especially in the case of Kokushibo, who is the second strongest demon. That alone is incredibly admirable enough. That being said, it is stated by Genya that consuming demonic flesh may turn him into a complete demon, as he could hear the voice of Muzan albeit slightly. Despite this, Genya continued on taking the risk to protect his comrades and even after becoming a demon, he still held enough willpower to aid the Hashira in the fight against Kokushibo.

As I mentioned before, he was quite the jerk, but thanks to Tanjiro's influence, he went back to becoming the nice person that he was in the past. As proof of his development, he apologizes to Kanata for his past behavior (earning her forgiveness), speaks far more nicer and softer to others (A honestly shocking thing since the guy is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto), and even taught Tanjiro about the Repetitive Action technique, which he would use in his future fight against Akaza and Muzan.

And there's also his reconciliation with Sanemi. Genya gravely regretted what he said to his elder brother when they were young, and has been trying to make amends with him. Even as Sanemi was being cruel to him (although this was more of a act), Genya never gave up on trying to reconcile with him, and still loved him, no matter how cruel he can be. In his final moments, he stated that he doesn't want Sanemi to die, because he's "the nicest person in the world", showing how strong his love for his elder brother.

Final Verdict

A small but confident yes to Genya. Even though he did possess corrupting factors in the beginning, he began to grow out of them, teaching Tanjiro about the Repetitive Action technique, and has also play a critical role in defeating Upper Four Hantengu and Upper One Kokushibo, two of whom are the most powerful demons in the series. Because of this, I feel like he has a chance to be PG.