With Season 2 of Demon Slayer coming to a flashy end, Tanjiro and crew have defeated the dynamic duo that held the title of Upper Moon 6, both Daki and Gyutaro. With this fight in the Red-Light District, or as it’s called in the anime, the Entertainment District, the audience witnesses the powers and dynamic of the brother and sister demons.
Demon Slayer is known for the parallels between characters and the relationships they have with one another, but the Entertainment District Arc gives fans a sibling parallel between Tanjiro and Nezuko and the demons Daki and Gyutaro. Despite this comparison, the two sets of siblings have some very key differences as well.
Visually
There are a few visual queues in the anime that show us some key similarities and subtle differences between the pairs of siblings. For instance, Nezuko is usually riding on Tanjiro’s back inside her specially made box. When we are introduced to Gyutaro he emerges from Daki’s back; a stark difference from our protagonists. However after the fight between the two, Tanjiro is now riding on Nezuko’s back. Then after Daki and Gyutaro are finished off, Daki rides Gyutaro’s back into the afterlife.
While this might seem like a minor detail, riding on one’s back is a common Japanese trope often associated with siblings, specifically older brothers and their younger siblings. The contrast between when the siblings ride each other's back shows how in the end Gyutaro accepted his role as the caring older brother instead of a manipulating, abusive one, whereas Tanjiro on Nezuko’s back represented Nezuko’s strength and her role in keeping her brother alive.
The Relationship of the Siblings
Fans are obviously treated to many moments that paint a picture of the exact relationship Tanjiro and Nezuko have throughout the show, but it is oddly mirrored when we get Daki and Gyutaro’s backstory. Early on, Nezuko is turned into a demon while her family is slaughtered and Tanjiro is away. In Daki’s case, she is burnt to a crisp while Gyutaro isn’t around. Both Gyutaro and Tanjiro carry their sisters, cry out for help, and encounter a captain-level individual associated with demons who help their sisters. In Tanjiro’s case, he met the Water Hashira Giyu who helped keep Nezuko alive despite being a demon. In Gyutaro’s case, he’s met by Upper Moon Two, Doma, who offers to give both of them demon blood to potentially save their pitiful lives.
With this transformation, both brothers feel responsible for their sister’s corruption. With this guilt, the two brothers begin to diverge in their responses. Gyutaro becomes manipulative and controlling, to make sure his sister always stays close to him and safe. While Tanjiro always stays close to Nezuko, with her in the box, he trusts his sister and believes in her strength. The only times Tanjiro really has to step in is the very few times Nezuko’s demon bloodlust goes unchecked.
How They Fight
Obviously, these siblings have incredible fighting skills; blood demon art skills, speed, perception, sword skills, Breathing techniques, hand-to-hand combat, poison, and the list goes on and on. What’s interesting here though is the fact that their fighting skills are paired together very similarly.
Daki and Nezuko use hand-to-hand combat techniques primarily as well as a blood demon art technique that covers their body. Tanjiro and Gyutaro both use blades as their main form of fighting. Their enhanced techniques are also close to one another in their physical forms. Tanjiro uses the Sun Breathing slashing forms that are often shown as red circles and Gyutaro uses his blood as barrages of red circular cuts. When they fight, it becomes apparent just how well-matched these two siblings are.
Fighting Spirit
Finally, Gyutaro and Tanjiro get some additional exposition to show their similarities and stark contrasts. Due to the life Gyutaro was born into, he was forced to cling to life by a thread. Between attacks from his murderous mother, to the sickly body he was born into, his struggle to stay alive was a hard fought one. Similarly, Tanjiro worked hard as a boy and after training with the Demon Corps., often is left on the brink of death. Even in his fight against Daki and Gyutaro, Tanjiro was about to die from not breathing until a vision of his younger sibling reminded him to. This perseverance is something these two older brothers share closely.
When pushed to their limits in terms of spirit though, the two begin to go down different roads. Gyutaro becomes cowardly, mean, and insecure. He often projects his weakness onto others, unable to face his own shortcomings. This is seen when he calls Tanjiro dozens of names and when he curses his sister right before their deaths. Tanjiro, on the other hand, may sometimes falter in his own abilities, but he always becomes inspired and emboldened by the thought of saving others. The thought of saving Nezuko and turning her back into the human sister he remembers drives Tanjiro to new heights.
With dozens of more fights and a lot of pain left in store for our sibling protagonists, few will challenge and mirror them quite as Daki and Gyutaro did. Tanjiro’s empathy and tears for demons felt a bit more justified this time because he truly saw himself in Gyutaro and could see the love he had for his little sister.