The fame of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has grown by leaps and bounds, and the series is now the “best-selling manga of the year” for 2019.
Even though the book is over, the anime is still going on, and there is still a lot of story to be told.
Since almost the whole point of Kimetsu no Yaiba is action, most of us are looking forward to the bright and colorful fight scenes and the moment when Nezuko finally turns back into a person.
The Nichirin Blades, which are one of the main things that make this story stand out, will help Tanjiro reach his goals in a big way.
But because it is a terrible sign, it will also be a double-edged sword. While people who read the manga already know about the ironies in Nichirin Swords, those of us who watch the anime (hopefully) don’t.
Let’s stay like this for a little while longer and talk about what these sword colors might mean.
What are Nichirin Blades?
Nichirin blades, also called Nichirin swords, are made from Scarlet Crimson Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore, which are both found on Mt. Yoko.
Since the materials are always in the sun, they are always absorbing sunshine, which is deadly to the demons.
With these blades, you can kill a demon and put it to sleep for all time. This is one of the few ways a human can kill a demon.
These blades are made just for the Demon Slayer Corps and are used by them.
Once a Demon Slayer recruit picks their ore, a swordsmith will use it to make the blade’s shape and function, keeping the user in mind.
After Tanjiro passed the Final Selection and joined the corps, a swordsmith named Hotaru went to Urokodaki’s house to give him his own Nichirin blade.
But when Tanjiro used his sword, the sky turned black as night.
What do you think it means? I’ll say a few words about this in the piece. For now, let’s figure out why the blades change color and what that means.
What do sword colors imply in Demon Slayer?
Another name for the Nichirin Blades is “color-changing swords.” The name comes from the fact that these guns change color when they are used for the first time.
The reason these Nichirin Blades change color is because when they are first drawn, they are affected by the skill, attitude, and style of their owner.
Because of this, when the sword changes color, it becomes a symbol of the person who uses it and their past.
For example, Giyu Tomioka uses a blue blade as the Pillar of Water in the Demon Slayer Corps. Because he uses the Water Breath style and is easygoing and calm, blue is a great color for his sword.
Mitsuri Kanroji, on the other hand, uses a pink Nichirin Blade that fits her Breath of Love style and shows how emotional and passionate she is.
As of now, we know that a sword can have ten different colors, each of which means something different.
The Nichirin Blade Colors & Meanings
Lets talk about the colors and their meanings
White
White, which stands for mist, is the first color on this list. Muichiro Tokito, a Hashira and the Mist Pillar of the Demon killer Corps, is the demon killer who uses a white Nichirin Blade.
He uses a style called “Breath of Mist,” which comes from “Breath of Wind.”
Because of this, he has a calm personality and is often seen thinking to himself. The color white is a good representation of his skill, forgetfulness, and quirky personality.
Grey
The next color is grey, which stands for stone. Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, doesn’t use a sword like most Nichirin do.
Instead, he uses a grey hand-ax with a long chain connecting a spiked flail to the handle.
Because Gyomei is wise and has a strong, grounded attitude, grey is a great match for him.
Yellow
The yellow Nichirin blade that Zenitsu Agatsuma uses is a sign of thunder.
His use of the technique “Breath of the Thunder” and his fiery nature make this color a good match for him.
The most interesting thing about his blade is that, while most Nichirin Blades are all one color, Zenitsu’s has a solid yellow band that looks like a lightning bolt running down its length.
Indigo-Grey
This one-of-a-kind color stands for a beast. Inosuke Hashibara uses the Breath of the Beast and two broken Indigo-grey blades to kill demons.
As he made Breath of the Beast while living in the mountains, its indigo-gray color shows how animalistic he is, with a short anger, a strong sense of self, and a natural need to fight against the strong.
Pink
Fifth in line is pink, which is the color of love. Mitsuri Kanroji, one of the Hashira who follows the Breath of Love style, uses this color of blade.
This pink blade is perfect for Mitsuri because of how emotional and passionate she is and how brave she is when facing evil.
Light Pink
A blade that is light pink stands for flowers. Both Kanae Kocho and her sister Kanao Tsuyurii can use it. Most of the time, her style is based on speed and reflexes, which gives her very little presence in fight.
The Breath of Flowers style has seven forms, the last of which makes the rest of the world move slowly. Because of how they use them and how they act, the swords have taken on a light pink color.
Green
The wind is represented by the green Nichirin Blade, which is used by Sanemi Shinazugawa of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Sanemi brings down the Demons because he hates them so much. This is like how strong winds bring down trees.
Sanemi’s rude and rudely indifferent behavior is like the wind, which doesn’t care about anyone. This, along with the way he has learned to breathe, makes green a good color for him.
Red
Kyojuro Rengoku of the Breath of Flames uses a red sword to represent fire. The color red fits him well because he is attractive and full of energy.
Kyojuro can send raging flames down on his worst enemies, and just like Zenitsu, the tip of his sword is shaped like a flame pattern.
But in later episodes of the manga, some swords get a red color on top of their original color. This is because it has been exposed to a lot of strong heat, which has caused its temperature to rise.
Demons can’t heal themselves as quickly with these swords, and sometimes they even burn them down to their cells.
During the fight against Muzan, when Sanemi hit Giyu’s sword hard with his own, both blades turned red for a moment.
People think that their swords turned red because Giyu had his Demon Slayer Mark, which let him raise the temperature of his body and, in turn, his sword.
Blue
Blue is a color that stands for water.
This blade is used by Giyu Tomioka, who is known as the Pillar of Water of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Because he uses the Water Breath style and is easygoing and calm, blue is a great color for his sword.
Black
Our main character, Tanjiro Kamado, uses a black Nichirin blade, which is a special tool, just like every other protagonist’s.
It turns out that black Nichirin swords are very rare, which means that almost no one knows what they mean.
The only thing we know about the color black is that the people who use it always die young.
Even though no one knows for sure what the color black means, they have put together some ideas and hypotheses based on what they know.
One idea is that black means charcoal, which is what Tanjiro used to do for a living.
Others think it stands for the Sun Style, which was the first style and is almost gone now. Black is also the color that absorbs the most sunlight, which is one of devils’ biggest weaknesses.
Why is Tanjiro’s Sword Black?
Since black is a rare color, not much is known about it.
But people think that Tanjiro’s sword turns black because he uses the very rare Dance of the Fire God, or Sun Breathing style, which is the basis for all other styles.
We have written an in depth article on this that you can read on Why is Tanjiro’s Sword Black.
