#ukogi

[brokendeathangel]

🪱

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #inotanzen #kamaboko squad #tanjiro kamado #zenitsu agatsuma #inosuke hashibira #chuntaro #ukogi #kimetsu academy

[ratsarecute4]

This is the most low effort shitpost I have drawn to date. Reference below

#my art #art #digital art #demon slayer #demon slayer fanart #demon slayer art #kny fanart #kny art #kny #kimetsu no yaiba fanart #kimetsu no yaiba art #kimestu no yaiba #zenitsu #zenitsu agatsuma #agatsuma zenitsu #chuntaro #ukogi

[novarainart]

“Fear”

Demon Slayer Fan Art: Zenitsu cowering in fear, while Chuntaro (Ukogi) looks on unimpressed from atop his head. Added Thunder Breathing effects over a stormy sky in the background.

#novarainart #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer fanart #zenitsu agatsuma #chuntaro #ukogi

[falseandrealultravival]

When the tree sprouts (verse)

Japanese pepper

Spring is in full swing,

The buds of the trees are also growing.

This is Ukogi,

That one is Japanese pepper.

In particular, the sprouts of Japanese pepper are called “tree buds”.

Many people go insane during this time, so

The name ``Kinomedoki: tree buds time'' is used.

Many people receive this new breath of life by mistake.

(2019.03.28)

木の芽時

春も酣（たけなわ）、

木々の芽も伸びてきた。

こちらは五加皮（うこぎ）、

あちらは山椒（さんしょう）。

特に山椒の新芽を木の芽というが

この時期に気がふれる人が多いので、

「木の芽時」という呼称が用いられる。

新しい生命の息吹を誤って受取る人も多い。

#sprout #verse #rei morishita #ukogi #Japanese pepper #tree buds #insane #Kinomedoki #mistake

[guhit-ni-kahel]

dec 9. i am back :’) lasted for 2 days then suddenly *poof* no art?! haha *looks at my previous post* THAT WAS A MONTH AGO?! that was such a huge break, i really can’t understand myself sometimes lol 

okay, i might not be able to commit to this daily art thing. the important thing is i’m back!!

took me a few days to finish this as i only draw before i sleep! but here’s little chuntaro from demon slayer! i can now finally say that i’m watching kimetsu no yaiba lol (are you proud of me, boss?)

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #sparrow #chuntaro #ukogi #kasugai crow #zenitsu #fanart

[demonslayedher]

This is one of my favorite fanfic lines I've ever written and I'm so glad my muse finally granted me the ability to give this interaction (and the one below it) visual form. It drives me crazy that Fanbook #2 came out just after I finished posting the fic, and it had additional details on the other crows so now the fic is not totally canon compliant, but I still love "The Legend of Ukogi." Noble little brave bird, I love you, and despite his complaining, so does Zenitsu.

#chuntaro #agatsuma zenitsu #my art #my nice art #my fics #I DO toy with ideas for how I could I edit it to make it canon complicit without hurting the dynamic between the birds too much #Genya crow presents the most problems but at least Ukogi's central story wouldn't change much #or I could just be at peace with a non-canon complicit fic? #hrrrrmmmmmmm #no #no peace

[amythedemisimp]

Animals

Chachamaru (#chachamaru)

Dongurimaru (#kny dongurimaru)

En (#kny en)

Ginko (#kny ginko)

Hashibami (#kny hashibami)

Isuzu (#kny isuzu)

Kaname (#kny kaname)

Kanzaburō (#kny kanzaburō)

Nijimaru (#kny nijimaru)

Ninjū Mukimuki Nezumi (#ninjū mukimuki nezumi)

Sōrai (#kny sōrai)

Ten'nōji Matsuemon (#ten'nōji matsuemon)

Ukogi Chuntarō (#ukogi chuntarō)

Urara (#kny urara)

Yūan (#kny yūan)

Zekka (#kny zekka)

#kny masterlist #chachamaru #kny dongurimaru #kny en #kny ginko #kny hashibami #kny isuzu #kny kaname #kny kanzaburō #kny nijimaru #ninjū mukimuki nezumi #kny sōrai #ten'nōji matsuemon #ukogi chuntarō #kny urara #kny yūan #kny zekka

[2demon2slayer]

what are your fave fanfics abt demon slayer??

lmao truth be told i actually do not like most demon slayer fics i've read. i'm an incredibly picky reader and very few stand out to me all that much. if i had to pick any, i'd say either the legend of ukogi or the pillar training oath (both of which are by the lovely demonslayedher on tumblr and you should definitely go check out all of her stuff she's great) also idk if it counts as much but i really liked teppi's adventures in raw sword production, also by demonslayedher

just like . all my favorite demon slayer fics are one person ngl. everything else has been a little bit mid in my honest and subjective opinion. though to be fair i haven't looked too deeply. if any of you guys have cool fic recs you can send them my way and i can give them a read! no guarantee i'll like them though lol

#queries #i read a lot of fanfiction . like a lot #and reading demon slayer fic has been . unfun to say the least #no hate to the kny fanfic authors but i have to do a lot of… wading #to the extent that i perhaps havent scrounged through as much fic as i ought to have #also i read fanfiction almost exclusively on ao3 or /sometimes/ tumblr if i'm feeling it #i loathe wattpad with every fiber of my being and i Do consider it the inferior website in every way #kny

[rui-ayaki-lower5]

So because mod can't find the original tally post heres a new one that has been updated... "X" means there are none on here yet...Also mod insisted on using first and last names to avoid confusion among those from alternate dimensions and timelines, if either is unlisted it is because it has not been revealed yet...And for those that are Un-named mod has been coming up with names for them and will be listed in parentheses.

Kamaboko squad:

Tanjiro Kamado: /////-//// (9)

Nezuko Kamado: /////-// (7) (how the-?)

Zenitsu Agatsuma: /////-/ (6)

Inosuke Hashibira: /////-/ (6)

Murata: / (1)

Kanao Tsuyuri: ////- (4)

Genya Shinazugawa: /////- (5)

Hashira:

Giyuu Tomioka: /////-/////-/// (13) (nopenopenopenopenope-)

Shinobu Kocho: /////-/////-/////- (15) (NOPE)

Kyojuro Rengoku: /////-/////-// (12)

Tengen Uzui: /////-// (7)

Mitsuri Kanroji: /////-/////-///// (15)

Muichiro Tokito: /////-/// (8)

Obanai Iguro: ///// (5)

Sanemi Shinazugawa: /////- // (7)

Gyomei Himejima: /////-/ (6)

Former Hashira:

Sakonji Urokodaki: / (1)

Jigoro Kuwajima: / (1)

Kanae Kocho: ////- (4)

Shinjuro Rengoku: / (1)

Yoriichi Tsugikuni: /////-///// (10) (oh HELL NO)

Kakushi & Other demon slayer core adjacent:

Sabito: //// (4)

Makomo: /// (3)

Kiriya Ubuyashiki: X

Kanata Ubuyashiki: X

Kasugai crows: / (1)

Hotaro Haganezuka: /// (3)

Yushiro: X

Tamayo: /// (3)

Chachamaru: / (1)

Ukogi/ "Chuntaro": X

Kakushi: / (1)

Kagaya Ubuyashiki: /////- // (7)

Sumi Nakahara: X

Naho Takada: X

Kiyo Terauchi: X

Aoi Kanzaki: // (2)

Kozo Kanamori: X

Makio Uzui: // (2)

Suma Uzui: /// (3)

Hinatsuru Uzui: /// (3)

Amane Ubuyashiki: X

Kotetsu: X

Kaburamaru: X

Hinaki Ubuyashiki: X

Nichika Ubuyashiki: X

Civilians/Slayer's Non-slayer Family Members:

Kie Kamado: X

Takeo Kamado: X

Hanako Kamado: / (1)

Shigeru Kamado: X

Rokuta Kamado: X

Udon salesman: / (1)

Tanjuro Kamado: / (1)

Ruka Rengoku: / (1)

Senjuro Rengoku: /////- (5)

Sumiyoshi Kamado: X

Suyako Kamado: X

Sumire Kamado: X

Kyogo Shinazugawa: X

Shizu Shinazugawa: X

Sumi Shinazugawa: X

Teiko Shinazugawa: X

Hiroshi Shinazugawa: X

Koto Shinazugawa: X

Shuya Shinazugawa: X

Yuichiro Tokito: / (1)

Mr.Tokito: X

Mrs.Tokito: X

Uta Tsugikuni: // (2)

Tsutako Tomioka: / (1)

Kotoha Hashibira: // (2)

Kizuki:

Muzan Kibutsuji: /////- /////-/ (11) (i didn't say it mod did)

Kyogai: / (1)

Rui Ayaki: //// (4) (including myself)

Kamanue: / (1)

Mukago: / (1)

Wakuraba: X

Nakime Otokawa: /////- (5)

Rokuro: X

Enmu Tamio: /////-/////- / (11)

Akaza/Hakuji Soyama: /////-/////- / (11)

Daki/Ume Shabana: /////-/////-/////- (15) (how are there more of daki than gyutaro??? Im not complaining but-???)

Gyutaro Shabana: /////-/ (6) (how???)

Douma: /////-/////-/////-// (17) (why tf are there so many?!)

Gyokko: //// (4) (UGH as if one wasn't bad enough)

Hantengu: /// (3)

Kokushibo/Mitchikatsu Tsugikuni: /////-/////-//// (14)

Sekido: /////-// (7)

Karaku: /////-// (7)

Aizetsu: /////-// (7)

Urogi: /////-// (7)

Zohakuten: /////-/ (6) (how????)

Urami: // (2) (how?????)

Kaigaku Inadama: //// (4)

Hairo: X

Ubume: X

Demons:

Temple demon: X

Hand demon (Takumi): X

Swamp demon: X

Susumaru: / (1)

Yahaba: X

Tongue demon (Shun): X

Horn demon (Ryōta): X

Spider mother (Miu): // (2)

Spider father (Taiki): X

Spider brother (Masami): X

Spider sister (non-ponytail) (Rini): / (1)

Spider sister (ponytail) (Oni): / (1)

Slasher: X

Snake demon: X

Flute demon: X

Demon adjacent civilians & Family:

Mrs.Ayaki (Tori Ayaki): X (😭)

Mr.Ayaki: X (😭)

Koyuki Soyama: / (1) (akaza-san please remember there are a lot of you and only one of her and all of you love her equally)

#kny tally #demon slayer tally #rp blog tally

[brokendeathangel]

It must be difficult and lonely being the only sparrow in the Kasugai Crow team. So Zenitsu always encourage Chuntaro to do his tiny best 🥹💕

#demonslayer #kimetsunoyaiba #kny #zenitsuagatsuma #chuntaro #ukogi #they are perfect for each other because they are both oddballs ;w;

[kuronekoo98]

Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is one of the most successful shonen manga in recent years, with tens and tens of millions of copies around the world and an ever-expanding franchise. The record manga born from the pen of Koyoharu Gotouge has in fact succeeded in the feat of ousting the legendary One Piece from the top of the Shueisha house sales and the film, Demon Slayer: the Mugen Train, has become the anime film with the highest revenue in history. First published in February 2016, Demon Slayer was therefore one of the backbones that have supported the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine over the past few years. In the spring season of 2019 the opera was then transposed into an animated adaptation by studio Ufotable and from there the franchise of Tanjiro and companions flew into the stratosphere, reaching levels of popularity that had never been seen before. How not to mention, for example, the renowned episode 19 of the first season, which completely broke through the barriers of prejudice and the mainstream by plunging to the top of Twitter's worldwide trending. A survey was recently proposed on the Ranking. net website, which deals with drawing up rankings of the most varied genres and topics. However, despite the not particularly large pool of voters, these types of polls are often indicative of a general trend or liking that, as votes increase, would see its hierarchy consolidate instead of being overturned.

So no matter what, let’s take a look at the 20 favorite Demon Slayer characters from the Japanese public, in descending order.

20) Yoriichi Tsugikuni 19) Ukogi 18) Doma 17) Kanae Kocho 16) Makomo 15) Tengen Uzui 14) Akaza 13) Sabito 12) Sanemi Shinazugawa 11) Inosuke Hashibira 10) Obanai Iguro 9) Mitsuri Kanroji 8) Tanjiro Kamado 7) Kanao Tsuyuri 6) Shinobu Kocho 5) Nezuko Kamado 4) Kyoujurou Rengoku

3) Zenitsu Agatsuma

2) Muichirou Tokitou

1) Giyuu Tomioka

#demon slayer #tanjiro fanart #tanjiro kamado #tanjiro x kanao #nezuko #nezuko x zenitsu #demon nezuko #zenitsu agatsuma #zenitsu x you #zenitsu fanart #inosuke icons #inosuke imagines #demon slayer inosuke #inosuke hashibira #anime and manga #anime edit #anime icons #love anime

[rubylarkspur22]

We pray for Inosuke's bloodline.(he still manages to reproduce, it's just a lot less kids running around than he probably has in canon. Being raised by wild animals and all...)

And Nezuko's having a little Disney Princess moment, being friends with Chuntaro/Ukogi.

#demon slayer #kamado nezuko #inosuke hashibira #chuntaro #art #kny au #swap au #demon slayer nezuko #rip inosuke #and rip his balls #🌸

[falseandrealultravival]

Ukogi Rice (Cooking)

ukogi

At the beginning of spring, pick the sprouts of Eleuthero(ukogi) that have grown, chop them, and mix them with freshly cooked rice to eat. Eleuthero is a small shrub belonging to the Araliaceae family and a fellow of Ginseng. The bitter taste whets the appetite. During the Edo period in Japan, Yozan Uesugi, the feudal lord of Yonezawa, is famous for having eleuthero used as a hedge to prevent famine, and as food in times of emergency.

Sci: Eleutherococcus Maxim.

ウコギ飯（料理）

春先、伸びたウコギの新芽を摘んで刻み、炊き上がりたてのご飯��混ぜて食べる。ウコギはウコギ科の小灌木で、朝鮮人参の仲間である。苦い味が食欲をそそる。日本の江戸時代、米沢藩主の上杉鷹山が、飢饉を防ぐため、ウコギを生垣に使わせ、いざという時は食糧にさせたことで名高い。

(2023.03.31)

#ukogi #ginseng #bitter taste whets the appetite #Yozan Uesugi #hedge to prevent famine #cooking #rei morishita

[ao3feed-zentan]

Kitsune, el ladrón de la noche. [TanZen]

Kitsune, el ladrón de la noche. [TanZen]

by RosyTC55

Tras el fallecimiento de su abuelo Zenitsu no logra conciliar el sueño, Ukogi intenta ayudarlo con algo de hipnosis pero por intervención de Kaigaku todo sale mal, MUY MAL.

Words: 1375, Chapters: 1/1, Language: Español

Fandoms: 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Agatsuma Zenitsu, Kamado Tanjirou, Kaigaku (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Murata (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Tsuyuri Kanao, Shinazugawa Genya

Relationships: Agatsuma Zenitsu/Kamado Tanjirou

Additional Tags: Yaoi, Alternate Universe - Police

From https://ift.tt/Lnm5IiZ https://archiveofourown.org/works/43755918

#ao3feed zentan #ao3feed #fanfiction #zentan #zenitsu x tanjirou #agatsuma zenitsu x kamado tanjirou

[demonslayedher]

Appreciating the KnY Noh Production: Part 3 of 3

Humans are demons, demons are humans. Weave their eternal feelings, and dance.

Or... the continuing story of a fangirl with lingering attachments to the world of Kimetsu no Yaiba, finally having found some peace after having watched the Noh/Kyogen adaptation and writing up her thoughts about it.

This entry assumes you have read Part 1 (the overview of Noh elements and the background of this production), and Part 2 (my reactions and thoughts about each scene in Act 1). In this entry, we wrap up with my thoughts and feelings on Act 2, with the following scenes:

~Surprise! It's Muzan! Part 2, the Heian Noble Monologue~ Kyogen (Interlude 2): Kasugaigarasu (featuring a couple of talking crows and a sparrow)

Zatsu-Noh: Kimi ga Tame (featuring Zenitsu and Inosuke... sort of)

Kiri-Noh: Rui (featuring... yeah, obvious)

~Surprise! It's Muzan! Part 3~

~Surprise! It's Muzan! Part 2, the Heian Noble Monologue~

I hope it's clear that this is my own name for that scene, as it was not included in the original first version of the script. Or rather, it was, but it was placed within Rui's story, concluding with Rui receiving Muzan's blood.

As this is Muzan's more full and complete monologue (with Mansai-sama of course masterfully owning the stage with his perfectly Muzan-like presence), he enters and exits from the hashigakari bridgeway, like he's slowly passing between worlds, a different time. He comes to us here dressed as a noble of the Heian era in which he was born, to, in full Noh style of narrating one's own backstory, tell us about how he was sickly, his interactions with the doctor, how he changed, and how he cannot go under the sun. There was no instruments or chorus, only Muzan.

We get drawn into his obsession with looking for the blue spider lily. This gets drawn out in the elegant script expressions for how long he searched. As a modern touch, red lights highlighted the stage from the left, and blue highlighted it from the front, framing Muzan in an otherwise dark world.

What really gets me about this monologue is the parts when Muzan drops the chant style of speech, and in more plain spoken language states, "I want to live. I want to live. I don't want to die."

He did this two more times, including upon his slow exit, both times with increasing intensity. We get the full impression that this man is obsessed, transformed into more of a monster not by the medicine, but by that desire.

Kyogen (Interlude 2): Kasugaigarasu

Since comical Kyogen bits often feature animal characters, it seems doing a Kasugai-garasu scene was an easy choice from the start.

My gosh, it was hilarious. And to me, the Bird Fic writer, extremely gratifying. Our characterizations of the birds had some differences, but were generally similar enough that felt like Kinoshita (the scripter) and I think alike.

I wouldn't had written the birds having a drinking party together, but that was very Kyogen style and it took them from complaining about their jobs to dancing and making references to--or-parodies of--traditional songs or legends about crows and sparrows, or even their own names (I learned something new: Ukogi is a five-leaf plant, which seems to have medicinal use. However, as the little sparrow pointed out, Ukogi has thorns!!)

This scene started out very slowly, with a bit between Ukogi (aka Chuntaro) and Dongurimaru (Inosuke's crow). Pretty sure this was added to buy time for Matsuemon's costume change, as Matsuemon was played by, you guessed it, Mansai-sama. The two birds were slowly flapping around to different parts of the stage, with Dongurimaru cawing and Ukogi adding "Chun, chun!" in a quick way that almost sounds more like "chichi." After repeating this a while, Dongurimaru finally turns around and flips out on Ukogi, saying, "Would you knock that off!? I'm not your dad!!!" (Chichi = father) Ukogi is insulted that Dongurimaru would take him for such a fool, and then Matsuemon enters the scene and they all talk to each other with phrases like "Matsuemon-dono" as honorifics for each other and finishing their sentences with "gozaru" (which takes some familiarity with Japanese to appreciate, or at least familiarity with anime characters like Himura Kenshin).

They decided to drink up while the boys were in recovery (there is a prop house with the wisteria crest on it in the background, this same house will be used for multiple purposes throughout the rest of the production). Matsuemon complains that there's no end to their work, as soon as there's a demon to the east, it's "caw, caw, southeast!" and then there's a demon to the west, and it's "caw, caw, southwest!" and he can't catch a break.

Ukogi butts in that at least Matsuemon can use human speech, Ukogi is jealous! He is limited to "chun, chun!" and even worse, Zenitsu won't even call him by his name, it's "hey, Chuntaro!" or "see here, Chuntaro!" all the time and it's so frustrating!

And then Dongurimaru says, "you don't have it so bad." Most of the audience laughs because they already know.

Dongurimaru goes on to recount how Inosuke doesn't even understand the role of a Kasugai-garasu and many times he has tried to eat him. This scene goes on with more crow and sparrow jokes and dancing until they decide it's time to call the boys in to work.

Although I didn't find any pictures online of the crows and their moving beaks (they looked like they belonged in "The Dark Crystal"), you can appreciate Chuntaro here, or be unnerved by how this sparrow has taken a dive into the Uncanny Valley.

Zatsu-Noh: Kimi ga Tame

So... of all the scenes... this one seems to have departed most from the original version of the script Kinoshita wrote. Zenitsu and Inosuke are funny, but neither spoke nearly as many lines as their birdy counterparts did.

Zenitsu, being a total Kyogen character with his chant-delivery style of "ee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha, hoo-hoo-hoo!" as he skips around the stage (much to Ukogi's consternation), pauses to flirt with girls in the audience. As this was the Kyoto staging of the performance, he made some quick local references like asking if they'd like to take a walk with him down the Kamogawa riverside. He was the character who felt the most like his usual self as we know him in every iteration and adaptation.

Inosuke fit in some "Pig Assaults" to set the scene, and I like the straws on the back of his costume to harken back to the original silhouette, but the Noh-size boar mask was small, which made it funny. When he reappears later, he no longer has the mask on.

Tanjiro, the ever serious shite role, comes and speaks even line dramatically in Noh delivery style, and the contrast was either intentionally or unintentionally funny.

(Source and interview with Ohtsuki)

They leave the scene rather comically and rhythmically repeating the lines, "let's go (or something like that, I forgot)," "pig assault, pig assault!" and "wait up, wait up, wait up, wait up!" in a perfectly whiny Zenitsu voice.

After this, we see the little spiders, which I tried to capture in this sketch, and I loved them because their faces looked just like how Gotouge drew them, and their creepy scampering and jumping around the stage with the loudly whispered, "gasa-gasa-gasa-gasa." Zenitsu wanders into the hashigakari bridgeway and encounters them. He's scared stiff by the sound and has been bitten, but then the other actors have laid their hands all over him, and there's this wonderful moment of awkward silence before he screams and falls asleep. Then, with an added strobe effect, we get a nice "Thunderclap and Flash" to start the Zenitsu bat----wait, what? He said "Six Fold" already? The baby spiders fall away, Zenitsu wakes up confused, then then he wanders off to go keep looking for his friend. We never see Zenitsu again are left to assume he turned into a spider, I guess?

Inosuke later makes a reappearance with Tanjiro so that he can face off against Daddy Spider on the hashigakari while Tanjiro faces Mommy Spider on the main stage, and Inosuke is later rescued by Giyuu on Giyuu's final appearance, but more about those big spiders later.

I assume a lot of this got cut down in the interest of time, because it's completely different from the first draft of Kinoshita's script. Taking advantage of the onomatopoeic aspects of the Noh tradition, he has Zenitsu come out and monologue about sounds, in a way similar to how he described his abilities after falling out of the Drum Demon house, but expanded upon poetically. This wraps up with him repeating the sound of the sleeping breath of his comrades, implying that this takes places during their recovery. Kinoshita made sure to the use the line, "a sound so kind it makes you want to cry."

Speaking of sounds, this is around the time Inosuke butts in to say how sounds remind him of the drum sound of that demon that they just fought, and in Noh narrative fashion of what has already happened style, he tells the story of the demon they just fought. As part of this, we get an interesting take on Inosuke's discovery of his "howa howa" soft and fluffy feelings he gets while he's around his friends.

Instead of "howa howa," multiple times, he quotes lines from a poem by Fujiwara Yoshitaka, "Kimi ga tame, oshikarazarishi inochi sae." It's a romantically inclined poem about how your life feels worthless compared to that of the one you love, but rather, your feelings for someone you care about make you want to live longer so you can spend more time with them. Kinoshita argues that this poem can be applied to any kind of platonic relationship that inspires one to live on, too.

Also, it's the poem that the old man read from the "Hyakunin Isshu" collection of poems while Inosuke was a baby strange forest creature sitting on his knee.

And, that is where Kinoshita took the original title of this segment, "Kimi ga Tame" ("Because of you.")

It's........ frustrating that this didn't make it's way into the final version, because that's beautiful. Also, we missed out on the chorus saying "Pig Assault, Pig Assault." In his notes, Kinoshita also explained the background of the drum demon and how he would have loved to have told Kyogai's story on stage (I KNOW, RIGHT!?!?!?!?!), and how he wished he could had included Rengoku-san and elsewhere tried include a reference to Rengoku-san with a "set your heart ablaze" line. It wasn't meant to be.

Kiri-Noh: Rui

And now for the big finish, who likewise served as the big finish for the second musical stage play, and for the first season of the anime. Fighting Rui is kind of a big deal, both for how Tanjiro first uses Hinokami Kagura, and for how it's such a statement of Tanjiro's values.

And hell yeah, it was excellent content for Noh.

It helps that there is already a past history of Noh dramas about demon hunters (specifically Minamoto no Raiko) fighting "Tsuchigumo," giant ground spiders. They employed similar practical effects as in those performances, just modernized a little.

Speaking of practical Noh effects, Daddy Spider and Mommy Spider were great. As Rui is first doing his whole "this is the role everybody in the family thing," we see two faint silhouettes inside the house prop. As Rui points to them and says, "You're Father, you're Mother," we see the figure put on white masks, and that was so, so good.

And then they got even better when we saw them come out on the main stage. Mommy Spider was a typical Noh-style ghastly looking character, but Daddy Spider, wow! They made the mask look very much like his face in the manga, especially with how it's a bit unnaturally wide. Since Noh masks are a little on the small side, it gave him similar proportions to his giant body, especially since the wild hair of the wig made him look much bigger. Truly a great stage presence, using lines about leaving his family in peace. (Kinoshita wanted to use these lines to show how demons have their own rich interior lives which get interrupted when demon slayer come and attack.)

My favorite thing about Daddy Spider, though, was that he carried my favorite Noh prop, a little demon mallet. It's a long stick with little knob at the end, like a very long hishaku (ladle used the tea ceremony). It is so not threatening of a weapon and I've always found it adorable.

Anyway, Inosuke and Tanjiro fight concurrently, but then once Rui steps in to confront Tanjiro, Inosuke and Daddy Spider fade away to the side until it's time to set the stage later for Giyuu's entrance. Because Tanjiro and Nezuko were portrayed by the same actor, Nezuko remains in the box for the entirety of this scene, and Rui instead senses there's a demon in the box, Tanjiro says it's his sister whom he has real bonds with, Rui's like, cool, give her to me, and Tanjiro is like, no, and then Rui starts throwing strings at him, Noh style.

(Source and interview with Ohtsuki)

This battle goes on, Noh style, until it looks like Tanjiro is almost defeated, but then as he's kneeling and looking like he's done for, Mansai-sama--that is, Tanjuro--comes rushing down the hashigakari to tell him to use Hinokami Kagura. There aren't particularly special effects on this strike like on the Water Wheel against the Hand Demon in Act 1, but the blocking placed Rui so that his head could hide in part of the house prop, while from behind the house prop a fake head was lifted high.

So anyway, Rui puts himself back together, and Inosuke and Daddy Spider have reappeared in the hashigakari bridgeway just in time for Giyuu to swiftly pass them by (saving Inosuke in the process, who then goes off to ponder poetry, I guess), and he just as swiftly beheads Rui before going off to sit in the waki's part of the stage to simply sit and be an observer. He does not appear to observe any of Rui's end-of-life reflections, though.

Rui, crumbling in death and filled with regrets, stumbles around the stage, and then behind the house prop. And I, who had been anticipating Rui's enlightened walk down the hashigakari, am like, "no!!!! That's not where he's supposed to exit from!!!!" as if I know a thing or two about Noh instead of watching it in person for the first time.

But!!!!

Then Rui reappeared, with a costume change! He's got a black wig, a human mask, and overall more childlike appearance!

And!!! Who are that masked human man and woman, slowly coming down the hashigakari??? Why, it's Rui's parents!!! (Of course played the same actors as Daddy Spider and Mommy Spider.) Tanjiro has been very, very, very, slowly standing back up and having the string attached to him removed by a stagehand, and then since Giyuu doesn't seem to care about the waki role if it's it a demon other than Nezuko, it's a good thing we've got a shite like Tanjiro around to stand and watch sympathetically as Rui slowly walks over to the hashigakari.

And I tell you, it was so satisfying to see how the movements of his parents speed up the moment Rui is within reach, and the tenderness and firmness with which they take him by both arms, and then slowly lead him down the rest of the way. Rui, performed by Living National Treasure, expresses in his movements all his shock and gratitude and sadness and happiness.

This, this is is the kind of transformation that happens in Noh, and this is the kind of transformation that needs a witness like Tanjiro to take it all in.

"Humans are demons, demons are humans," says Tanjiro. "The sadness of humans," adds Rui, "the futility of demons."

Kinoshita has the chorus close things out with how the Demon Slayer Corp goes on fighting these battles in the darkness, and he adds one more subtle reference--he uses the poetic phrase "ikuseisou" (幾星霜, literally "many stars (and) frost") to refer to "many months and years." This is because it was used in the title of the final chapter of Kimetsu no Yaiba, and later used again as the title of Gotouge's artbook. Kinoshita felt that this reflects one of the main messages of KnY; like how Tanjiro's descendants live in a blissfully happy world with not even a shadow of the threat of demons, we in real life are the same; we are here and live as well as we do thanks to the many, many sacrifices of those who came before us.

~Surprise! It's Muzan! Part 3~

Mansai-sama is back again in the Michael Jackson look! As almost everyone else has left the stage, Tanjiro is still lingering there on the near side of the hashigakari, and Muzan is on the main stage as most of the remaining lights are on him. He looks straight into the audience as he announces Rui is dead.

And I'm thinking, "oh no, if he's telling us this, we're the Lower Moons."

But Muzan-sama is in a better mood than in the manga, and he skips the slaughter to go straight to the promise he made with a certain Lower Moon. Kill the boy with the earrings like hanafuda cards, and he'll grant you lots of his powerful blood.

And Tanjiro is staring off as thought riding the back of a train before they both exit.

Everything is quiet, no one is sure if they're supposed to clap, or if we're waiting for the actors to come out. So the audience starts clapping anyway. We keep clapping.

The actors never come. The announcement comes on that the performance is over and it's time to go home.

What a jarring way to end a theater production, with no final bow. Jarring in a good way, I felt.

So anyway. That was an experience. Speaking of Noh, you know who is canonically a fan? Rengoku-san! And going by the audio drama, so were his parents. Here's some analysis of what was supposedly Ruka's favorite Noh play, "Hagoromo."

Rengoku-san is also a fan of Kabuki, and although there hasn't been a Kabuki staging of KnY (yet???), there was a Kabuki crossover event.

If you're interested in this particular KnY Noh/Kyogen, here's the official homepage, the official Twitter, and a nice English language article about it.

Now if you excuse me, I guess it's time I go wander off the hashigakari or something.

#kny noh production #kny in real life

[exasperated-unrelated-research]

Leave it to me to try to write "ugoki" and wind up writing "Ukogi" instead