Imagine a world where the daylight is your biggest protector and shadows hide unimaginable demonic powers. Such is the reality of Demon Slayer. The show presents a world where humanity lives in fear of deadly demons lurking at night to feed upon humans.
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But, to protect humanity, the Demon Slayers stood up to face this evil. So, they fought back hard with the help of their incredible combat skills, paired with their breathing styles. These abilities give them enough agility and power to unleash their wrath in a breathtaking fashion thanks to the show’s animation. One such powerful yet mysterious style is moon breathing. It’s the only breathing style that is also a blood demon art.
Origins Of Moon Breathing
In Demon Slayer, every breathing style is rooted in nature’s basic elements, as these are the source of their power. Just like how Yoriichi’s Sun Breathing technique derived its power from the sun, his twin brother Michikatsu Tsugikuni, eventually known as Kokushibo, created the moon breathing technique with its foundation being the moon’s energy.
In comparison to the legendary sun breathing, this technique had the same elegance and precision but differed in execution, as it featured crescent-shaped attacks that mirrored the moon, which perfectly explains the origin of its name.
Five centuries ago, Yoriichi created the concept of breathing styles and became its first master. He then tried to teach his technique to his disciples, adjusting it to suit their nature. Over time, his students adapted it further and developed entirely new breathing styles of their own.
Michikatsu constantly tried to surpass Yoriichi’s talents and train himself to the point where he perfected his breathing style. However, all his efforts failed because he was inherently different from Yoriichi, and it was not natural for him to learn such a technique. But he often doubted his own abilities and felt he might not be as talented as Yoriichi. This constant self-doubt pushed him to create an entirely new breathing style for himself.
Who Was Kokushibo?
About five centuries ago, before the events of the main series, during the Sengoku era, there were two twin brothers, Michikatsu and Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Both were incredibly skilled, but Yoriichi, being a natural prodigy, went on to become the first-ever Demon Slayer. Michikatsu, jealous of his brother’s talent, kept trying to outdo him but couldn’t manage to master Yoriichi’s breathing technique.
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His jealousy and the fear of death pushed him to seek immortality, and when such feelings became really strong, the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, persuaded Michikatsu to transform into a demon. In doing so, Michikatsu became one of Muzan’s Twelve Kizuki and changed his name to Kokushibo, making him slowly descend into the dark path. He made it his mission to defeat Yoriichi, just to prove that he is the greatest samurai to exist.
Eventually, Michikatsu defeated Yoriichi, but only because Yoriichi died right as he was about to kill Michikatsu. Now that Kokushibo knew that he would never be able to prove himself, he spent the next centuries polishing his moon breathing technique and making it incredibly strong.
|
Form |
Name |
Technique |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Dark Moon, Evening Palace |
A rapid technique, which executes a horizontal slash that generates numerous crescent-shaped blades with absolute power in rapid succession, enough to target multiple enemies at once. |
|
2 |
Pearl Flower Moongazing |
It involves rapid forward-moving attacks in three crescent shapes that then produce ripples of slashes, making it hard to counterattack. |
|
3 |
Loathsome Moon, Chains |
It produces two crescent-shaped broad slashes with a flowing sequence of strikes in a smaller area, cornering the opponents. |
|
4 |
Solar Rings, Frostmoon |
It creates a circular cyclone of slashes charged straight towards the enemy. |
|
5 |
Moon Spirit, Calamitous Eddy |
It creates spiral slashes, producing a deadly vortex, even without a katana. |
|
6 |
Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon – Incessant |
Continuous barrage of slashes, one followed by another. |
|
7 |
Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit |
By the use of an altered katana, a singular frontal slash is produced that releases multiple straight and curved slashes with absolute precision. |
|
8 |
Moon-Dragon Ringtail |
Long-range attacks while performing a colossal frontal slash followed by ripples. |
|
9 |
Waning Moonswaths |
Produces multiple crescent-shaped slashes, enough to take down large opponents. |
|
10 |
Drilling Slashes, Moon through Bamboo Leaves |
Creates a triple-layered slash followed by several smaller ones, splitting the enemies into three clean parts. |
|
11 |
Black Ring, Lunar Eclipse |
Twirls the katana to produce multiple slashes that form a tornado attack. |
|
12 |
Waxing Moonstones |
Requires a backflip and reverses the grip before swinging the rear side of the katana to the ground to send spinning slashes. |
|
13 |
Midnight Anarchy, Animosity |
Creates four clashes targeting the knees and shoulders of the enemies, and then a spinning attack rips apart their ribs in halves. |
|
14 |
Tenman Crescent Moon Catastrophe |
A whirlwind of blades that erupt from every direction. |
|
15 |
Orbiting Destructive Worlds, Creation |
Dozens of slashes orbit around the user’s body, providing him with a brilliant defense. |
|
16 |
Moonbow, Half Moon |
A lethal finishing move. By swinging the sword upwards, a barrage of six powerful, curved slashes is created that rains down as meteors. |
With his demonic powers, Kokushibo also went on to create his own blood demon art to complement his moon breathing. With time, moon breathing became a symbol of Michikatsu’s identity, still making him the only person to ever use it. Due to this ability alone, he is considered one of the most dangerous demons to have ever existed after Muzan.
He was such a master of the moon breathing technique that he developed almost sixteen different forms of this style. Even Muzan considers him to be a partner, rather than a servant, showing just how strong Kokushibo and moon breathing are.
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