Are Muichirō and Gen’ya Together? Relationship Explained!

The term “ship” in terms of anime is actually a shortened version of the word “relationship” and represents fan-based relationships between the characters in the series. So, if you think that two characters would be great as a couple, you’re “shipping” them together. As far as Demon Slayer is concerned, the series itself has many ships, and while some were confirmed to be canon, others are quite ridiculous. The ship we will discuss belongs to the latter group and involves Muichirō Tokitō, the Mist Hashira, and Gen’ya Shinazugawa. In this article, you will find out whether Muichirō and Gen’ya are a couple and the actual nature of their relationship.

Muichirō Tokitō, the Mist Hashira, and Gen’ya Shinazugawa are not a couple in Demon Slayer, and they have never been one. This is one of the more ridiculous ships from the series, based exclusively on the fact that they had good interaction during their shared battles. There is absolutely no indication that the two of them had any feelings towards each other.

The rest of this article will explore the nature of the relationship between Muichirō Tokitō, the Mist Hashira, and Gen’ya Shinazugawa. We will explore Muichirō’s and Gen’ya’s personalities in more detail, as well as the nature of their relationship in the world of Demon Slayer. This article won’t contain too many spoilers, but still, be careful how you approach it if you don’t know the whole story.

Muichirō Tokitō and Gen’ya Shinazugawa are one of the oddest ships in the whole series, and one of the more ridiculous ones

Due to the nature of the series and the close bonds between some of the characters, the number of ships in the world of Demon Slayer is quite significant, and fans have shipped numerous characters with each other.

And while the author has confirmed some of these ships to be canon (e.g., Tanjirō and Kanao, Zenitsu and Nezuko, Obanai and Mitsuri, etc.), some of them are non-canon, and that is completely fine since most anime have a lot of non-canon ships. Some of these non-canon ships are more probable than others, but some are outright ridiculous, and the one we are going to talk about here is an example of such a ship.

Fans have shipped Muichirō Tokitō and Gen’ya Shinazugawa as a couple. Yes, the my-head-is-in-the-clouds kid with the rage-against-the-world kid with the crazy haircut. Now, if there was ever an odd ship (that isn’t completely absurd, of course) in the world of Demon Slayer, this one could be regarded as a perfect example.

Honestly, we have no clue why anyone would ship these two together – fans say they had some good interaction, especially during the fight against Kokusibō, but that’s about it. There is absolutely no indication of any romance between them; we wouldn’t even call them friends – they were allies fighting a common enemy, and that’s all there ever was to it. The two were never identified as homosexual; they had no romantic sub-arc whatsoever, so this ship looks ridiculous.

On top of that, the two would function horribly as a couple. On the one hand, Muichirō is a person who is constantly in thought and can never concentrate on one thing. He usually doesn’t get involved much in conversations and only thinks for himself. His thoughts always follow the logic and are still guided by emotions.

He can, however, take the situation quite seriously when he has to, and he takes his job as a Hashira of the Demon Slayer squad seriously. However, his personality was different before his twin brother’s death. Until he was eleven, Muichirō was very caring. Although originally more like his father, he showed a great deal of kindness and was very understanding, which does not reflect his attitude as a Demon Slayer.

He believes that he must do good for others to do him good. After a Demon killed his brother, Muichirō later lost his memories and retained an ever-present anger that he deeply suppressed and later fueled his intensive training. After the amnesia, he exhibited his indifferent attitude as a Hashira. After Muichirō regained his memories, he showed more emotion and confidence, which helped him form new friendships with the other Demon Slayers. He even used sarcasm against Gyokko, the Upper-Rank Five.

Gen’ya, on the other hand, is here. As a “lone wolf” who refused all assistance from others and was absolutely not interested in showing any sort of politeness towards others, Gen’ya is initially a rude and moody person. He forcefully manipulated Kanata Ubuyashiki during Final Selection by yanking her hair and screaming at her.

His aggressive demeanor and short fuse significantly reflect those of Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira and Gen’ya’s older brother. He fought alongside Tanjirō Kamado, Mitsuri Kanroji, and Nezuko Kamado against the higher-rank demon Hantengu, which made him more receptive to teamwork.

After some time, he discovered how to be friendlier and less obnoxious among people, notably Tanjirō and his pals. He felt insecure due to Sanemi’s failure to acknowledge Gen’ya since he knew how inferior he was to his friends. Even though it terribly injured him in the process, he still did everything he could to aid his allies. He didn’t harbor a grudge against his brother despite his harsh reprimands; Tanjirō and, ultimately, Sanemi supported this notion.

As you can see, Muichirō and Gen’ya have completely opposite personalities, and while both did change and evolve, the differences are too large. The two were allies and shared a common goal, so, understandably, the two of them would, ultimately, collaborate and help each other out, but talking about a ship there is just reading too much into it, no, not even too much, it’s reading something that isn’t even there. So no, Muichirō and Gen’ya are not together, and there is absolutely no indication that they ever could’ve been.

Gen’ya died while fighting alongside Muichirō

After a bitter fight with Muichirō Tokitō, Gen’ya Shinazugawa, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Gyōmei Himejima, Kokushibō transforms into a complete monster and is still able to regenerate fully, despite all of the injuries, and while he prepares to do so, he still notices his brother speaking to him.

Kokushibō decides not to regenerate and consents to die since he recognizes that’s not what he wants—he doesn’t want to turn into a monster. He considers what he actually wants to be—he only wants to be like Yoriichi—as he crumbles to the ground. Kokushibō was dead at that moment, but so were Gen’ya and Muichirō, who had been injured so badly that there was no way of saving them; in fact, Muichirō’s body was mutilated by Kokushibō, so there really was nothing anyone could do.

Gen’ya and Muichirō thus shared the same fate, dying in the same battle; they both died similarly. And while this is an argument used by shippers to corroborate their thesis, we can only state that it is simply an interesting coincidence and that it was a fitting ending to both of their stories. The focus of these deaths was never on them as a pair but rather on Muichirō meeting his late brother again and Gen’ya reconciling with his brother just before he died.

So, not only did the two of them not end up together, but they never had any romantic relationship with anyone; Gen’ya never married or had a partner, and Muichirō also died without ever having had a partner or spouse. That is their story, and you can now see why we have said this is one of the more ridiculous ships from the series.