Demon Slayer: Kanae’s Death Explained!
Although she doesn’t appear in the present timeline of the Demon Slayer manga, Kanae Kochō profoundly influenced two characters from the series – her sister, Shinobu, and the girl they freed and adopted, Kanao Tsuyuri. Kanae Kochō was the former Flower Hashira, who was a very nice and caring person. Still, she lost her life after a fatal encounter with the Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki. In this article, we will talk about Kanae Kochō, and you will find out what exactly happened to her in the series, i.e., we will explain the death of the Flower Hashira.
Kanae was killed by Dōma. Several years after the Kochō sisters freed and adopted Kanao Tsuyuri, Kanae encountered Dōma, the Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki. Dōma was fascinated by her, and the two engaged in a bitter fight. Kanae was fatally wounded by Dōma, who could not devour her because the sun was rising, so he had to flee. Finding her sister, Shinobu decided that she would avenge her, which she eventually did.
The rest of this article will focus on Kanae Kochō and her death in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series. Kanae Kochō has not been seen in the present timeline of the manga, as she was killed before the present timeline. However, she still profoundly influenced both Shinobu and Kanao, so we have decided to dedicate this article to her. This article will contain some spoilers from the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, so be careful how you approach it.
Kanae Kochō was killed by Dōma
Kanae Kochō is the former Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps and Shinobu’s late biological older sister, as well as being the adoptive sister of Kanao Tsuyuri, the latter being rescued in the process by Kanae and her younger sister from being sold into slavery. She cared for her and Kanao’s younger sister for a long time until she finally recovered from her tragic past. She is also responsible for giving Kanao the characteristic coin, which she is later seen using with Tanjirō.
Kanae also possessed quite a cheerful charisma no matter what situation arose and was a very carefree person, unlike her sister, who was very strict and liked when things were done in a proper way; Kanae raised Kanao to be like her, which often annoyed Shinobu, although the two of them have never really been on bad terms and were quite close.
Unfortunately for her, one day, several years after Kanao’s adoption, Kanae ran into Dōma, the Upper-Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki and one of the most powerful Demons in the series. Now, before we tell you what happened there, you first have to understand who Dōma was. Dōma is introduced to the story as an exceptionally powerful demon and a member of Muzan’s Twelve Kizuki, where he holds the rank of the Upper-Rank Two, meaning that he is the second most powerful demon in the group; the first one is Kokushibo, Yoriichi’s brother. Due to his beautiful rainbow eyes and pure white hair, Dōma was considered a supernatural being from birth and became the religious leader of the Heavenly Faith Cult, a position he maintained until nowadays.
While Dōma was still a child, his mother had a complete psychotic breakdown. She attacked his father, stabbing him to death in the process because he had numerous extramarital affairs with other female members of the cult they belonged to. She poisoned herself to death right away and committed suicide. Even though he directly witnessed the sadistic revenge murder, which played out right before his eyes, Dōma was merely annoyed by the blood and the mess left behind and revolted by the overpowering smell of blood.
He merely wished to ventilate the space before the smell solidified on the furniture. He encounters Muzan Kibutsuji when he is 20 years old, who turns him into a Demon. Because he consumed so much of Muzan’s blood as part of the transformation, Dōma became an exceptionally powerful Demon.
The reason why Dōma became a Demon lies in the fact that he admired Muzan and that he wanted even more power. Dōma had a twisted personality even before he was turned into a Demon, and he also had a thing for beauty, which included beautiful people (this was best seen in the case of Inosuke’s mother). In that aspect, it is understandable why Dōma was so openly fascinated with Kanae, the Flower Hashira, who was not only powerful but also quite beautiful.
Now, going back to the story. Dōma and Kanae crossed paths at one moment, and the two of them engaged in a bitter fight, which makes sense since they were on opposite sides. Kanae wanted to kill Dōma, whereas Dōma found her beautiful and wanted to devour her. We don’t actually know too many details of that fight, but knowing how powerful Dōma was, we can understand how he was able to overpower Kanae. At some point in the battle, the Flower Hashira received a fatal wound, and just as Dōma was about to devour her, the sun started coming out, so the Demon had to run away because the sun would have killed him.
Shinobu soon found her dying sister, who urged her to leave the Demon Slayer Corps and live a peaceful life with Kanao, but Shinobu urged her to describe her killer to her, which Kanae did before succumbing to her wounds. Shinobu did not listen to her sister and swore that she would avenge her, which she ultimately did, but she had to sacrifice herself in the process. Still, Dōma was killed in that battle, and Kanae’s premature death was ultimately avenged by her sister, who had help from both Inosuke Hashibara and Kanao Tsuyuri in the big fight against Dōma.