Demons may attain superhuman strength, superfast generation, and immortality, but one thing that will inevitably kill them is prolonged exposure to the Sun. Much like the vampires of the early Hollywood films, the warm rays of the Sun can turn even the strongest demons into piles of ashes. Now imagine a breathing style that revolves around Sun; won’t that be the perennial cure to this evil species? The anime-only fans will be surprised to know that such a breathing style has always existed in the Demon Slayer universe. In fact, the show is a lot about how this overpowered breathing style has been passed on from generation to generation.
Hinokami Kagura or the Dance of the Fire God, does this name ring any bell? If you have watched Season 1, you must know that this isn’t just a traditional dance, and rather, it’s the overpowered art of breathing that Tanjiro’s father taught him. You will be surprised to know that Hinokami Kagura is another name for the overpowered Sun breathing technique that I mentioned in the beginning.
What’s the origin story of Hinokami Kagura? How did it become a part of the Kamado family? And most importantly, is it really deadly enough to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji? We have brought you everything that you need to know.
Origin Story of Sun Breathing
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the first one to discover this unique art of breathing, and he later went on to become one of the greatest Demon Slayers of all time. He tried teaching Sun breathing to various Hashiras of his time, but none could come close to match him. So, he had to break Sun breathing into various other forms like Flame, Wind, Water, and many more.
Hinokami Kagura
However, these new breathing styles are far inferior to the one they originated from. So, in order to make sure that the art of Sun breathing doesn’t get lost over time, he teaches it to his friend, Sumiyoshi, who happened to be Tanjiro’s ancestor from the Sengoku era. Impressed by the beauty of this technique, Sumiyoshi passed it to the upcoming generations, which ultimately ended up with Tanjiro.
Also Read: Significance Of ‘Hanafuda Earrings’: Why Was Muzan Scared Of Tanjiro?
The 12 Forms of Sun Breathing
Despite its plain and straightforward name, the Sun breathing technique has a versatile range of attacks with which you can crush the toughest foes. With the second most number of forms among all the breathing styles, Sun breathing can be left long-lasting scars on the immortal demons. Those 12 forms are as follows:
- First Form, Dance: It is one of the simplest forms where the user delivers a single vertical slash. Later in the series, Tanjiro developed the Dancing flash by infusing Thunderclap and Flash technique into Dance.
- Second Form, Clear Blue Sky: Much like the second form of water breathing, the technique involves a 360-degree rotation to amplify the vulnerability of a slash.
- Third Form, Raging Sun: No fighting technique can be effective just by relying solely on the attack. So, Yoriichi created the third form, which involves horizontal slashes to hit or defend from incoming attacks simultaneously.
- Fourth Form, Burning Bones, Summer Sun: If the previous form was the perfect balance of attack and defense, this one is entirely defense-centric, where the user unleashes a large circular slash that defends from imminent frontal attacks.
- Fifth Form, Setting Sun Transformation: Focusing mainly on agility and swift movements, here, the user back-flips in mid-air to land a powerful slash.
- Sixth Form, Solar Heat Haze: This technique deceives the opponent with a simple slash that seems to miss but actually hits the target when the time comes.
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Sun Breathing
- Seventh Form, Beneficent Radiance: Have you ever seen how a pack of wolves surrounds its prey? This unique stance is highly inspired by the same idea, where the user has to surround the enemy with a slash.
- Eighth Form, Sunflower Thrust: As you can guess from the word “thrust’ in its name, the technique involves a single thrust attack with the pointed end of the sword
- Ninth form, Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance: This is a flashy technique that takes the form of a Japanese Dragon made from solar flames. It is a tailor-made move for dealing with 1 vs. many fights.
- Tenth Form, Fire Wheel: Similar to the Water wheel, the Fire wheel involves swinging the solar flames sword. It is superior to the second form of Sun breathing in terms of power generated but requires a lot of stamina to pull it off.
- Eleventh Form, Fake Rainbow: The concept of using afterimages in battles has always been popular in the shonen genre, but little did we expect to see it in the Demon Slayer series too. This technique creates after images to distract the enemies and has succeeded in deceiving even the sharpest eyes.
- Twelfth Form, Flame Dance: It is a simple two-combo strike that starts with a vertical slash and then a horizontal one right after.
- Thirteenth Form: This isn’t a separate form; rather, it’s the combination of all 12 forms of Sun breathing since using just one form at a time isn’t enough to kill the sinister creature. This anti-Muzan technique is developed keeping his body structure in mind so that his 12 vital organs (7 hearts and 5 brains) can be completely destroyed despite their self-shifting ability.
Can Muzan be Defeated by Hinokami Kagura?
Muzan may seem like an invincible and immortal creature, but let me remind you that there lived a legend who pushed Muzan closest to death. Yes, you guessed it right, I am talking about Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who completely overpowered Muzan in their first confrontation, and even managed to destroyed most of his vital organs.
Muzan Kibutsuji From ‘Demon Slayer’, C(Ufotable)
Rest assured that it wasn’t just a fluke, and I am dead serious when I say Yoriichi overpowered Muzan. The monarch of demons suffered irreparable damage, and he had no other option but to self-destruct his body so that at least one of his vital organs survive. Now that the legacy of Sun breathing has been passed on to the Tanjiro, I have high hopes that he will accomplish the task that was left incomplete by his successor.
Also Read: Demon Slayer Season 2 Cour 2: Release Date & Predictions
