Home » Anime & Manga » Demon Slayer » Rengoku vs Giyu: Is Rengoku stronger than Giyu | Based on Demon Slayer Manga

Rengoku vs Giyu: Is Rengoku stronger than Giyu | Based on Demon Slayer Manga

Last updated on February 9th, 2022 at 11:18 am

Kimetsu no Yaiba, aka Demon Slayer, has caught the recent anime market with a stir. Written by Koyoharu Gotoge, the series primarily focuses on the life and adventures of Tanjiro Kamado. Recently, many fans were contradicting on Rengoku vs Giyu and a question that keeps surfacing, “Is Rengoku stronger than Giyu?”

The answer to this is, yes, Giyu Tomioka has surpassed Kyojuro Rengoku. Though during the Mugen Train arc, when Rengoku had fought against Akaza, he was stronger than Giyu. However, as the story progresses, we see Giyu developing his demon slayer mark, which gives him the upper position.

Therefore, in this article, we bring you a comparison between Giyu and Rengoku. The comparison has been made, keeping the entire manga in view.

Is Rengoku stronger than Giyu? Rengoku vs Giyu

The Hashiras from Demon Slayer
Image source: Kimetsu na Yaiba fandom-wiki

Yes, Rengoku was stronger than Giyu. Well, to explain this, we need to consider two scenarios that involve two of the most important arcs, The Mugen Train and the Infinity Castle arcs. During the Mugen Train arc, where Rengoku succumbed to his injuries during his fight with Akaza, Giyu was quite inferior to Rengoku.

However, as the story moves forward into the Infinity Castle arc, we see Giyu unleashing his Demon Slayer mark, which raises his state and makes him much stronger than Rengoku. Due to his untimely demise, Rengoku did not get the opportunity to hone his skills further, which makes Giyu the stronger one.

Kyojuro Rengoku Demon Slayer Power-

Kyojuro Rengoku from demon Slayer
Image source: Epicstream

Kyojuro was a Flame Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. He was one the most skilled combatants, and his attitude above all was what was most attractive about him. He mastered the Flame Breathing Style and even fought on par with the Upper Three Demon, Akaza.

Abilities-

  • 1) Breathing Style – 

Since Rengoku was a Flame Hashira, he mastered the Flame Breathing Technique from a guidebook with three volumes. He was highly disciplined and always had a flashy, eye-catching attitude. He always used to cling to the morals instilled into him by his mother at a very young age.


  • 2) Extrasensory perception –

Kyojuro’s senses were honed to an extraordinary level. He could easily sense demonic aura and could tell whether it was a high-ranking or a low-ranking demon, much faster than the others. His analytical skills were extremely sharp, as he could tell about Tanjiro’s torn blood vessel and how to stop the bleeding.


  • 3) Speed and reflexes – 

As a Hashira, Rengoku possesses immense speed and exhibited intense reflexes. His extreme high speed can be cited when he pursued the demon Slasher, almost startling him as it was hard for him to believe how a mere human could match up to his supernatural speed.

Even during his fight with Akaza, he has shown some intense reflexes that caught even the Upper Three with surprise. He even managed to cut his arms before it could hit him. He managed to keep up with Akaza’s hand movements which he acknowledged to be faster than the blink of an eye.


  • 4) Immense strength – 

As a Hashira, who has undergone intense physical training, Rengoku possesses immense physical strength. This can be cited from the scene in the Mugen Train Arc, where with just one slash of his sword, he sent Akaza flying into the woods. Even after being fatally wounded, he was strong enough to exchange some deep wounds with Akaza, leaving him in utter disbelief.


  • 5) High Endurance and Sheer Willpower – 

Rengoku was known for his high stamina and willpower. Throughout the manga and anime, we see multiple instances where he even leaves his demon enemies in a state of shock. Rengoku’s stamina, willpower, and strength to endure have significantly been highlighted during his fight with Akaza.

Despite handling the five coaches of the train all by himself, Kyojuro did not show any sign of fatigue and went straight on to face the upper rank three, Akaza. Despite having his solar plexus torn off, Rengoku did not flinch even for a second. His struggle was enough to make the eyes of the most stone-hearted people moist.


Must Read- Tanjiro vs Muzan | Power Comparison in Demon Slayer


Giyu Tomioka Demon Slayer Power-

Giyu's water breathing
Image source: Kimetsu na Yaiba fandom wiki

As the Water Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Giyu Tomioka is a highly skilled combatant and possesses exceptional swordsmanship skills. He has mastered the Water Breathing Style. Giyu even fought with the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji. During his fight with Rui, where he assisted Tanjiro, we see his Breathing technique to be on the defensive side, where he easily evaded the demon’s threads.

Abilities –

  • 1) Breathing Style –

Since Giyu is a water Hashira, he is a master of the Water Style Breathing Technique. Unlike the Fire Style that falls under the offensive category, Water style breathing is more on the defensive side.


  • 2) Immense Strength – 

As a Hashira, Giyu possesses immense physical strength. Instances from the anime include when Giyu sees Tanjiro and Nejuko for the first time, he creates a snowstorm with just a swing of his sword.


  • 3) Speed and Reflexes – 

Giyu has honed his physical skills to superhuman levels. Multiple instances from the manga prove this statement, especially during the fight with Rui, where he decapitated the demon even before he could register. He fought on par with the Upper rank three, Akaza, who was shocked to see a Water Hashira like Giyu in 50 years.


  • 4) High Stamina and Endurance – 

Due to intense training undergone by him, Giyu possesses very high stamina, backed by his indomitable will. The fight with Akaza in the Infinity castle arc goes on to prove this point, where despite suffering multiple fatal injuries, he managed to hold firm on his ground.

In spite of being poisoned by the Demon King himself, he did not flinch even for a second and continued to fight.


Rengoku vs Giyu | With Hypothetical Demon Slayer Mark-

Rengoku vs Giyu Demon Slayer

  • 1) Based on Speed –

In this category, Rengoku gains the upper position over Giyu. The Mugen Train arc clearly proves this during his fight with Slasher, where despite the demons’ immense speed, Rengoku was able to persuade him easily.

His fight with Enmu also proves this where he handled the entire train all by himself. Giyu, despite being extremely fast, somewhere falls short in front of Rengoku.


  • 2) Based on Strength –

Based on physical strength, Rengoku gets the upper hand against Giyu. Throughout the anime, Rengoku shows greater physical strength than Giyu. Both of these Hashiras have fought Akaza, and the fight becomes a standard to measure their stats.

Rengoku’s one swing of his sword sent Akaza flying, thus showing his immense physical strength. Rengoku managed to fight the Upper Three all by himself and kept on with him till daybreak. Tanjiro was a mere spectator. However, Giyu was majorly assisted by Tanjiro during their fight against Akaza.


  • 3) Based on sword techniques –

Though both of them were great Hashiras, Giyu’s sword skills are better honed than Rengoku’s. Rengoku depends more on his strength and speed than his techniques, while Giyu, on the other hand, makes the best use of techniques.

Using his Water Breathing form, he was able to slice off Akaza’s arms multiple times. Akaza even acknowledges by saying that he has not run into a demon slayer as good as Giyu, despite his previous fight with Rengoku.


  • 4) Based on Will Power –

Rengoku was famous among the demon slayers for his indomitable attitude and sheer willpower. He wins here by quite a margin against Giyu. During the fight with Akaza, Rengoku receives fatal wounds, and his solar plexus gets completely destroyed by the demon as he shoves his hand right into Kyojuro’s abdomen.

Despite this, he held on to his ground and did not flinch even for a second. He even had a smile on his face before closing his eyes for eternity. His motto to set the heart ablaze instills confidence in even the weakest hearts.


  • 5) Based on reflexes –

Since Giyu was a master of Water Breathing, which was more associated with defending and staying calm, he had better reflexes than Rengoku. In the Infinity Castle arc, after unleashing his demon slayer mark, Giyu could dodge Akaza’s powerful punches with utter ease and give a slice of his own in return.


  • 6) Based on durability –

Rengoku again gets the crown for this. During the Mugen Train Arc, Rengoku has shown immense durability, where we head-on jumped into the prolonged battle with Akaza right after dealing with the train demon.

He even had enough stamina to take care of five compartments of the train all by himself. Despite being fatally wounded, he continued his fight against Akaza and even passed on with a smile. Giyu, on the other hand, has been seen suffering lesser damage compared to Rengoku, and his wounds weren’t fatal.


  • 7) Based on breathing –

Both the Hashiras, be it Rengoku or Giyu, were masters of their respective breathing styles. Rengoku has mastered up to the 9th form of flame breathing, while Giyu has the eleventh form.

However, both of their breathing styles are quite strong in their own ways; I would like to call this a draw. Had Rengoku been alive, surely he would have the upper hand, but due to his untimely demise, Giyu emerges as the stronger one.


Therefore, in a fight between Rengoku vs Giyu in their base form, surely Rengoku would have won. However, imagining a situation with Rengoku in his base form against Giyu with his demon slayer mark, surely Giyu would dominate the battle.

Where to read and watch demon slayer?

Demon Slayer is available on various platforms. As anime, you can easily find it on Netflix or Funimation. Both of them have all the episodes and movies of the anime.

In case Funimation is unavailable in your country, a VPN with its location set to the USA can be used. Even sites like Hulu and Crunchyroll possess all the episodes of Demon Slayer. The manga, on the other hand, is available on several websites. You can easily get the hard copy from Amazon.

When it comes to using a VPN, we recommend using PIA VPN. You can use this link to avail heavy discounts.

Here we conclude our article on Rengoku vs Giyu. Hope it has cleared all ambiguities. Stay tuned for such upcoming interesting articles.


Do small things with great love.

Follow us on Twitter for more post updates.

Also Read-

(2021) Top 20 Strongest Demon Slayer Characters Ranked

Power of Tanjiro Kamado in Demon Slayer Explained

History of Sun Breathing Technique (Demon Slayer) Explained

Top 15 Strongest Demon Slayers in Corps Ranked