'Demon Slayer' Manga Ending Explained: What Happened to Tanjiro & the Others? (2024)

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotoge. It has since become one of the most popular anime franchises in modern times and is often described as one of the best series of the 2010s. The Demon Slayer manga has since ended, and like many great manga series, the ending proved to be controversial, which doesn’t come off as a surprise really, as many modern series (like Attack on Titan, for example) had such an ending. Having said this, you must be wondering what happened in the end? Well, keep reading to find out!

What happened in Demon Slayer?

Japan, Taishō Period. Tanjiro is the eldest son of a large fatherless family who lives in an isolated mountain house in the woods. One day, returning home after being in the village to sell coal, he finds his mother and brothers massacred, except his sister Nezuko, who has been transformed into a demon but still has some human thoughts and emotions. Tanjiro thus begins his journey in search of a cure to make his sister human again and to prevent the same tragedy that happened to them from happening to other people.

He will soon join the Demon Slayer Corps, and along with his two friends, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibara, they will travel all around Japan and with the help of the powerful Hashira, they will face Muzan and his subordinates in different locations. Muzan, in the meanwhile, will continue searching for a way to become immortal and will send his Upper Moons to kill the Demon Slayers, although not with much success.

Not long after Tanjiro finally mastered the Sun Breathing Style, the Corps prepared for their ultimate clash against Muzan, which first consisted of attacking him in his Infinity Castle, where they defeated his remaining Upper Moons. After that, the final clash against the King of Demons began. The Corps were able to keep Muzan outside until the sun rose and ultimately defeated and killed him, thus bringing the story to an end. The Corps was soon disbanded, and in the distant future, the descendants of the protagonists still love on, along with their legacy.

Demon Slayer‘s controversial ending explained

Okay, as you had the opportunity to read above, the ending of Demon Slayer can be divided into two parts – the present-timeline ending and the epilogue. As far as the first one is concerned, the situation is rather clear. The Demon Slayer Corps, specifically Tanjiro, managed to defeat and kill Muzan once and for all, all after Tanjiro managed to free himself from Muzan’s control. After that – since Muzan was dead – the other demons were no longer a threat, and after mourning their losses (and there were many, trust us), the Demon Slayer Corps was officially disbanded. The protagonists then dispersed, and each ended up living out their lives, with Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke marrying and having their own families.

But, while that concluded the main timeline story, Gotoge also provided us with an epilogue set in modern times, which was the most controversial part. Okay, we saw the now-living family members of the surviving protagonists, which made some sense as their families continued to live on. Still, we also saw that the ones who died were reincarnated and continued to live on. Although it was nice to see them again, the ending proved controversial because Gotoge completely belittled the point of the final battle and the sacrifices of the protagonists, which was a big blow for the series as a whole.

It was a controversial ending, but it wasn’t that complex to understand once you got to the gist. Fans were disappointed, leaving a rather strange aftertaste, but once you understand what Gotoge did, the whole concept becomes much easier to comprehend, which is why we explained it to you here.

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