Does Genya die in ‘Demon Slayer?’

Warning: Spoilers for Genya’s fate in the Infinity Castle Arc

The last arc of Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga (if you count the Infinity Castle and the Sunrise Countdown arcs to be the same) is a roller coaster ride that both excites you and, if you’re sufficiently attached to some of the characters, also breaks your heart into tiny little pieces.

In the final stretch of the Demon Slayer series, which is to be adapted after the upcoming Hashira Training Arc, the stakes have never been higher, and some of us got to learn the hard way that Gotouge was not messing around, for the mangaka was very serious about claiming some of our favorite characters’ lives, some in awfully brutal ways?

Does Genya Shinazugawa escape such a fate? Or is he too another victim of the final battles against Muzan and the remainder of the Upper Moons?

Fighting tooth and nail till the end

Unfortunately, Genya does not leave the Infinity Castle alive. Along with my personal favorite Hashira, he is killed in the fight against Upper Moon 1, Kokushibo. This fight probably affected me more than the subsequent fight against Muzan, because the two people who perished during it, one of them being Genya, not only died in brutal fashions, but their death scenes are heart-rending.

“Because my big brother is the nicest person in the world. Thank you, big brother.” These are Genya’s last words to his older brother, the Wind Hashira, Sanemi, who survives the fight to see his last family member crumble to ash as if he were a demon. Chapter 179 showcases the two deaths in the aftermath of the fight against Kokushibo, with it ending with Gyomei Himejima telling his bereaved fellow Hashira to raise his head as the fight is not yet over. Muzan is waiting.

“This chapter destroyed me.” Wrote a Redditor, to which another replied, “Just wait until Ufotable beautifully animates this scene and the voice actors do their absolute best to intensify the emotions of this scene hundredfold. I’ll cry for days.”

Indeed, the emotional intensity of the last stretch of the story is incomparable to any other. Genya is one tragic casualty among many. But although it will certainly hurt, fans have full faith in the professionals at Studio Ufotable and the talented voice actors to once again blow us away sometime in the future with the TV adaptation of this soulful journey’s epic climax.