Demon Slayer season 3 adapts the Swordsmith Village Arc of the manga. Two of the stars of this arc are the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, and the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji.
They both play pivotal roles in defeating the Upper Moon Four and Five, Hantengu and Gyokko and save the Swordsmith Village from demons. But if we compare their strength, who comes out stronger? Here’s our answer to the Muichiro vs Mitsuri debate.
Table of Contents
Character Profiles:
I. Muichiro Tokito
Our first contender is Muichiro Tokito, the current Mist Hashira. Muichiro is a 14-years old young prodigy who’s mastered Mist Breathing in a very short period of time and rose to the position of a Hashira in only two months of training.
He’s a descendant of Michikatsu Tsugikuni aka the Upper Moon One demon Kokushibo.
Michikatsu mastered Moon Breathing and was one of the first demon slayers. Muichiro’s connection to Kokushibo explains his natural talent in breathing techniques and his superior swordsmanship talents.
Breathing Technique
Muichiro’s breathing style is Mist Breathing. He has mastered it in a very short time and has become skilled enough to create a whole new form of it. Previously, Mist Breathing only had six forms, and Muichiro created a seventh form that becomes one of the attacks that ultimately results in the defeat of Kokushibo.
The seven forms of Mist Breathing are the following:
- First Form: Low Clouds, Distant Haze
- Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist
- Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash
- Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash
- Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze
- Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist
- Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds
Abilities
- Muichiro is a very capable swordsman. His swordsmanship impresses even Kokushibo. He wears baggy clothes to hide his movements and get an upper hand on his opponents.
- Another extraordinary ability Muichiro has is to sense supernatural aura. He can differentiate between the aura of humans and demons from afar.
- Muichiro is the first Hashira who unlocks his demon slayer mark, and the second demon slayer to do so.
- During his fight against Kokushibo, his Nichirin Blade turns red and he gains the ability to see the Transparent World like Tanjiro.
Weakness
- Though Muichiro has enhanced strength and speed as a Hashira, neither of those is quite extraordinary in comparison to the other Hashira and Upper Moons.
- He doesn’t have overwhelming strength like Gyomei Himejima and Mitsuru Kanroji.
- In terms of speed, he’s only the 8th fastest runner out of the nine Hashira.
II. Mitsuri Kanroji
The Love Hashira is Mitsuri Kanroji, the friendliest and kindest Hashira. She trained under the Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku and created her own breathing style.
While she appears gentle and feminine, Mitsuri is a formidable demon slayer who demonstrates amazing flexibility and physical prowess by wielding her whiplike blade.
She’s one of the only two female Hashira after the death of the former Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho.
Breathing Technique
Mitsuri is the master of Love Breathing, a unique breathing style that was created to use her superhuman flexibility. She originally trained in Flame Breathing under Rengoku. Eventually, she derived her Love Breathing from it, after combining her flexibility and the unique shape of her Nichirin Blade.
Love Breathing has six forms, all created by Mitsuri. The forms are as the following:
- First Form: Shivers of First Love
- Second Form: Love Pangs
- Third Form: Catlove Shower
- Fourth Form
- Fifth Form: Swaying Love, Wildclaw
- Sixth Form: Cat-Legged Winds of Love
Abilities
- As a Hashira, Mitsuri has enhanced strength and durability. She’s one of the physically strongest Hashira.
- The core of Mitsuri’s breathing style and her formidability is her extreme flexibility.
- While Mitsuri is the lowest runner out of the Hashira, her attacks are the fastest, even surpassing those of the Sound Hashira, the fastest runner.
- Mitsuri unlocks her demon slayer mark during the battle of Swordsmith Village while fighting against Zohakuten, one of the clones of Upper Moon Four Hantengu. She’s one of the first demon slayers to achieve that.
Weakness
- Mitsuri’s breathing style is less likely to work on more powerful villains like Muzan and Kokushibo.
Muichiro vs. Mitsuri: Premarked in Swordsmith Village Arc
Both Muichiro and Mitsuri are two major characters in the Swordsmith Village Arc. Mitsuri fights alongside Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya against Hantengu to finally defeat him.
Elsewhere, Muichiro single-handedly destroys Gyokko, the Upper Moon Five. During this fight, Muichiro also unlocks his demon slayer mark.
Before either of them get their mark, Muichiro and Mitsuru are pretty close in terms of their power. However, seeing the versatility and the preciseness of abilities, Muichiro has an upper hand against Mitsuru.
That is because while all of Mitsuru’s Love Breathing attacks are powerful, Mist Breathing simply has more destructive power than the former.
Besides, Muichiro is a better swordsman than Mitsuru and is quick to adapt in battle. That’s why the Mist Hashira wins this round of Muichiro vs Mitsuru.
Muichiro vs. Mitsuri: Postmarked in the Sunrise Countdown Arc
While Muichiro and Mitsuru both unlock their Demon Slayer marks in the Swordsmith Village Arc, the Mist Hashira is certainly the one who came out stronger. They both get their strength, speed, durability, and precision enhanced by the mark, but Muichiro finds himself with some new abilities that Mitsuru does not get.
For example, Muichiro’s Nichirin Blade turns red after the mark. The red blade plays a vital role in their battle against Kokushibo as the blade hampered Kokushibo’s regeneration. Contrary to this, Mitsuri’s whip-like blade remains the same.
Muichiro also gains the ability to see Transparent World after the mark like Tanjiro. The Transparent World allows him to see the blood flow, muscles, and joint movements of his opponent, which makes it easier to attack effectively. Again, Mitsuri gains no such ability.
The debate of Muichiro vs Mitsuri post their marks can also be decided by their opponent. While Muichiro, along with Sanemi, Gyomei, and Genya fight against Kokushibo, the Upper Moon One and the second strongest demon, Mitsuri partners with Obanai to fight against Nakime, the Biwa Demon who became Upper Moon Four after Gyokko and Hantengu were eliminated.
So, Muichiro again gets the upper hand in the hypothetical Muichiro vs Mitsuri fight.
Conclusion
As we discussed, the Mist Hashira is stronger than the Love Hashira, both pre and postmarked, and he wins the hypothetical battle of Muichiro vs Mitsuri. But what doesn’t diminish the extreme coolness of the lovable Mitsuri? Watch her and Muichiro on season 3 of Demon Slayer and visit Otakus’ Notes to fill your anime cravings.
Do small things with great love.
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Anamika loves words and stories and putting them to pages. She also loves anime, manga, books, movies and everything fantasy. She has been a fan of anime since childhood and her admiration for it only grew with years. Her passion for writing is even more elevated by writing about the things she loves.
