Kyojuro Rengoku

Kyojuro Rengoku is a character from Koyoharu Gotoge's manga and anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is prominently featured in the 2020 film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, which adapts the manga's arc of the same name and a direct sequel of the anime's first season.

Kyojuro is one of the "Hashira", a collective name for the most powerful swordsmasters of the Demon Slayer Corps. He holds the position of "Flame Hashira" which is appropriately evoked in his design, having messy yellow-orange hair with red highlights and eyes, and using fire-based sword breathing techniques in battle. Furthermore, his family name Rengoku literally means "purgatory", a location in several religions which is commonly associated with flames.

Rengoku's starring role in the Mugen Train feature film, which despite being released during the COVID-19 pandemic became the highest-grossing animated film and Japanese film of all time, has led to his standing as a breakout character in the Demon Slayer fandom.

However, just as they were about to regroup, a demon named Akaza -- "Upper Rank Three" of the "Twelve Kizuki" which makes him the 4th-strongest known demon in existence -- suddenly appears and tries to attack Tanjiro, but Kyojuro protects the boy and fights Akaza on a one-one-one duel that lasted until sunrise, repeatedly refusing the latter's offers of turning into a demon along the way. The fight ultimately ends in Rengoku's defeat despite unleashing his strongest techniques. Mortally wounded, Kyojuro chooses to spend his last moments with Tanjiro and Inosuke, and dies smiling. News of the Flame Hashira's death was immediately delivered afterwards to the shock of his family and the Demon Slayer Corps.

Kyojuro is an example of a major character death that greatly influenced the story and its characters, which combined with his noble personality is one of the main factors behind his popularity among fans.

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(written by Momento10)

Powerful. Commanding. An awe-inspiring presence. These are the qualities Rengoku Kyojuro has and more.

Like the fire that burns inside him, Kyojuro's positivity and sense of justice is contagious and widespread. He understands his duties as one of the strongest demon slayers the company has and wields his title in pride. He risks his life every time he chooses to draw his blade against the enemy, but that is a sacrifice he is willing to take.

Kyojuro seems perfect in every regard, it is hard to anyone to find any fault in his character or behavior. However, that in and of itself could be a telling sign of the trials, the shame, and the disappointment he had to go through to make it this far. Kyojuro has no right to waver. He must be a shining example to his peers and to the weak and innocent. Kyojuro does not mind this pressure; he thrives in it. After all, what could be more rewarding than seeing the people's satisfied faces after knowing their lives are safe?

To all demons to dare take advantage of people's fears, be aware of the blazes of Kyojuro's blade. He will burn them all down for the sake of peace and prosperity.

Kyojuro was successfully nominated for International Saimoe League's 2021 edition with 24 votes, behind Tanjiro (75) and Zenitsu (28). However, that year's peculiar nominee selection process resulted in the latter two becoming re-assigned for its Winter and Spring seasonal respectively, since they appeared in the series' supplementary material (Tanjiro) and the movie release (Zenitsu). As a result, Kyojuro became the series' main contestant in the 2021 main tournament.

With much of the Demon Slayer fandom behind him, Rengoku posted fairly strong results in the early periods, placing 2nd in Split 1 behind Saitama. He then placed 7th in Split 2, posting 3 wins in each period, which also got him his first exhibition gem appearance in Sapphire where he placed 6th.

At that point however, Kyojuro's presence started fizzling out like a dying flame as he barely survived in the second wildcard round, placing 7th out of the maximum 8 survivors. The Flame Pillar then lost his first 4 matches in Split 3, and scored a very rare tied result against Nasa Yuzaki in the 5th match, which proved to be the death sentence for both guys' chances of tournament survival. Indeed, both were eliminated at the first possible opportunity when they failed to score even one win after Diamond 2 (split 3, round 12).

Main Tournament[]

Overall record:

Regular season: 15-19-1 (W-L-T)
Postseason: 0-1-0
Total: 15-20-1

ISML 2021
Nominations: 24 votes (36th)
Preliminary R1 (Approval): 1584 votes (4th) Preliminary R2 (Limited to 3 votes): 1534 votes (2nd) Results: ??? / 72nd (ARP: 12, Nom.Votes: 24, CVP: 1667)
Stage	Rd	Opponent	Score	W-L?
Split 1 Group K 2nd (4W 1L)	Aqua 1	Ash Ketchum	1435 - 1037	W
	Aqua 2	Rudeus Greyrat	1687 - 1321	W
	Aqua 3	Kousei Arima	2229 - 1920	W
	Aqua 4	Ryunosuke Akasaka	2362 - 2215	W
	Aqua 5	Saitama	1551 - 2223	L

Split 2 Group B 7th (9W 6L) Wildcards	Tpz 1	Inosuke Hashibira	1477 - 802	W
	Tpz 2	Mochizou Ooji	1101 - 981	W
	Tpz 3	Shidou Itsuka	774 - 876	L
	Tpz 4	Subaru Natsuki	1015 - 1662	L
	Tpz 5	Naofumi Iwatani	1277 - 1012	W
	Amet 1	Shinnosuke Nohara	1244 - 930	W
	Amet 2	Satoshi Fukube	947 - 918	W
	Amet 3	Ryuuji Takasu	1036 - 1302	L
	Amet 4	Yuuta Togashi	1235 - 2035	L
	Amet 5	Mikaela Hyakuya	1888 - 1416	W
	Sapp 1	Jotaro Kujo	1274 - 1128	W
	Sapp 2	Yuuji Itadori	1707 - 1192	W
	Sapp 3	Saika Totsuka	1271 - 1630	L
	Sapp 4	Levi Ackerman	1280 - 1882	L
	Sapp 5	Eren Yeager	1728 - 1495	W
	Wildcard (Max 8, Approval): 2139 votes -- 7th / 20th, Survived
Split 3 Group B 15th (2W 12L 1T) Eliminated Lost tiebreaker for 14th SCVPD: -4.335
	Eme 1	Yuu Otosaka	627 - 885	L
	Eme 2	Yuu Ishigami	686 - 1299	L
	Eme 3	Kousei Arima ^x2	743 - 884	L
	Eme 4	Yuuta Togashi ^x2	641 - 1277	L
	Eme 5	Nasa Yuzaki	973 - 973	T
	Ruby 1	Kazuma Satou	768 - 1336	L
	Ruby 2	Riku Dola	695 - 1357	L
	Ruby 3	Lelouch vi Britannia	927 - 989	L
	Ruby 4	Archer	743 - 1235	L
	Ruby 5	Ryuuji Takasu ^x2	885 - 1223	L
	Dia 1	Kiyotaka Ayanokouji	844 - 1119	L
	Dia 2	Taki Tachibana	797 - 1267	L
	Dia 3	Jotaro Kujo ^x2	1092 - 950	W
	Dia 4	Ryunosuke Akasaka ^x2	1209 - 1108	W
	Dia 5	Sorata Kanda	1246 - 1453	L
......
CONSOLATION MATCHES
Playoffs
	PO 2	Lelouch vi Britannia ^x2	2013 - 2440	L
	Final position: 26th Lost in: PO 1 / PO 2, RS W: 15, RS CVP: 30.582

Exhibitions[]

Exhibition Gem record:

2021 (Ring): Sapphire (6th), Emerald (2nd), Ruby (4th), Diamond (4th)

r/anime[]

Likewise, Kyojuro is also one of the most popular characters from the Demon Slayer series, mainly because of his one standout fight during the Mugen Train film. He first appeared in Best Guy 8 as the #5 seed, the highest out of all demon slayers (even exceeding Tanjiro who's at #8). Rengoku's last three opponents coincidentally pitted him against Re:Zero characters, defeating cat familiar Puck and merchant Otto Suwen before losing to MC Subaru in the last-16.

Best Guy 8 - seed 5