Demon Slayer: Haganezuka Actually Doesn’t Hate Tanjiro & Here’s Why!

Hotaru Haganezuka is a swordsmith from the Demon Slayer series, a very important character from the lore and arguably one of the more skilled swordsmiths from the series as a whole. He is also a very popular character due to his odd personality, and even his colleagues from the village keep saying that he is a “special person.” Haganezuka has been assigned as Tanjiro’s swordsmith, and while he has made all of his Nichirin blades so far, he has also tried to kill him on more than one occasion. Does he hate Tanjiro? Keep reading this article to find out, as we are going to explain the very nature of their relationship to you.

Hotaru Haganezuka is a very skilled wordsmith who takes a lot of pride in his work

Hotaru Haganezuka is a 37-year-old forger from the Swordsmith Village, where the Nichirin Blades for the Demon Slayer Corps are forged; he is the regular forger of the sword of Tanjirō Kamado. He appears in person for the first time at Mount Sagiri to bring to the latter his very first Nichirin Blade, following his success in the test of the final selection and his integration into the Demon Slayer Corps.

When he appears for the first time, he immediately shows his uncontrollable eccentricity, then reappears in the story (and under very comic circumstances) each time Tanjiro forces him to fix up a new blade for him, which initially happens at regular intervals after each major arc in the series.

During the incident of the Swordsmith Village, after fierce training, he dedicates all his attention to restoring the formidable katana that was found in the Yoriichi Type Zero training doll. It was a forgotten katana, which had been concealed for at least three centuries in the mechanical doll of Kotetsu and found with the latter by Tanjirō.

He was absorbed beyond all reason by his forging, to the point of ignoring the world around him; the swordsmith remained completely focused on the task even when he was attacked by the Upper Moon Five, Gyokko, who, while upset and feeling insulted as a fellow “artist,” decided to attack and kill Haganezuka only to break his concentration, but he failed to do so, as Haganezuka continued forging even while Gyokko was attacking him.

Because of his personality, as he is very difficult and explosive, before being accepted by Tanjirō, he had big problems with other Demon Slayers, as no one wanted to work with him. He took a lot of pride in his work, and when he thought that someone disrespected his blade, he entered a murderous rage whenever his slayer broke or lost his blade, generally calming down only by receiving Dango (which he loves) or to the sound of canals. His weak point, revealed to Tanjiro and to the young Kotetsu by his colleague Kanamori, is to tickle him on the sides.

No, Haganezuka doesn’t hate Tanjiro, but he has tried to kill him more than once

Now that we have explained Haganezuka’s personality to you, we can discuss his relationship with young Tanjiro. Now, there has been more than one occasion when Haganezuka tried to hurt or even kill Tanjiro, so it is fair to suppose that Haganezuka might hold a grudge against the young Demon Slayer and that he actually doesn’t like him. He treated Tanjiro’s behavior as disrespectful toward his work and would enter a violent fit, during which he would chase Tanjiro around, trying to kill him.

As we’ve said above, because of that, many former Slayers simply refused to work with him, but Tanjiro stayed with him throughout, actually. And that is an important moment to consider. Namely, it explains that Tanjiro actually respects Haganezuka and all the effort he put into crafting the swords; Tanjiro took responsibility for ruining Haganezuka’s work and he respected him as a craftsman, which is why he did not abandon him, despite Haganezuka’s threats.

But, while Haganezuka did attack Tanjiro, he actually respected him and liked him a lot, so there is no chance that he hates him. His reactions are something that is usual for him in that aspect, as Haganezuka often reacts like that, but that is nothing personal. Sure, he did not like that his work was destroyed, but it was a challenge to him to produce a blade that Tanjiro would not break, and somewhere deep down, he knew that Tanjiro respected him and that he respected his work. And that is why we cannot state that Haganezuka actually hates Tanjiro in the series.

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