‘Demon Slayer’: What Is Tanjirō’s 13th Form & Will He Ever Use It?
Breath Styles, or simply Breaths, are styles of sword handling practiced and taught by Demon Slayers based on the way of breathing. They can allow their users to fight on a par with Demons and are typically used with Nichirin Swords to kill Demons, save for a few exceptions. Breathing Styles are an essential part of the Demon Slayer series, which is why they are such a popular topic among fans. The best-known and strongest Breathing Style is the Sun Breathing Style, which was developed and perfected by Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the strongest Demon Slayer in history. Tanjirō inherited this Breathing Style from his family, and he was able to master it ultimately. But was he able to master its final, 13th form? In this article, you will learn about the 13th form of Sun Breathing and whether Tanjirō was able to use it in battle.
Tanjirō initially attempted to use the final form of Sun Breathing during the initial phase of the Corps’ battle against Muzan, but he ultimately failed as he could not connect the first 12 forms in a final attack. Later on, though, as Tamayo’s poison began to exhaust Muzan, his moves became closer, and realizing the opportunity, Tanjirō tried again and managed to use the final form successfully, dealing massive damage to the Demon King, which would ultimately prove crucial in his downfall.
Having said this, many questions still have to be answered and explained related to the Sun Breathing Technique. The rest of this article will further explain all of those details as we will dig deeper into the essence of the Sun Breathing Technique and its presence in the Demon Slayer manga and anime while focusing specifically on the final, 13th form. This article will contain many spoilers, so we wanted to give you a heads-up.
Sun Breathing has a total of 13 forms
Yoriichi Tsugikuni is a major supporting character in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. During the Sengoku Era, he was a legendary Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Corps. Yoriichi is the younger twin brother of Michikatsu Tsugikuni, who later became a demon and joined the Twelve Demonic Moons, serving as Upper First Moon. His story has been analyzed and discussed several times here on Fiction Horizon, so we won’t be repeating it here.
In short, after a personal tragedy, he left his family and found a woman he fell in love with while traveling. A Demon would later kill her, which is when Yoriichi decided to train to become the strongest Demon Slayer. He was very close to killing Muzan but failed and was exiled from the Corps after his brother betrayed them and became a Demon. Yoriichi later died during the fight with his brother, now the Demon Kokushibo, of old age, as Kokushibō was not even able to hit him in that fight.
Yoriichi was an incredibly strong warrior and is known as the strongest Demon Slayer in the series. He is responsible for developing the original Sun Breathing Style that was later used by Sumiyoshi, who gave it the name Hinokami Kagura as a dance and passed it down the Kamado family line, ultimately reaching Tanjirō as well. Yoriichi was an expert at Sun Breathing, easily defeating Demons and even overpowering Muzan, the Demon King, and the strongest Upper Rank, Kokushibō. Yoriichi is known as the most skilled swordsman in the history of Demon Slayer, and that is a fact that remains written in stone as far as the series is concerned.
Even while he was still a child that had absolutely no training, the first time he took a katana in his hand, he was able to defeat an experienced swordsman in a fight, landing several quick blows all over his body; the blows were so quick that no one was able to perceive them properly.
Now that we have provided you with this introduction allow us to present to you the thirteen forms of the Sun Breathing Style:
| Form | Description |
|---|---|
| Dance/Dancing Flash | This is also a defensive technique consisting of the user performing a single slash to fend off incoming attacks using a singular body motion. |
| Clear Blue Sky | This technique actually consists of a 360° slash, which the user performs while spinning their upper body. |
| Raging Sun | The user rushes towards the opponent in a so-called heat-haze state, whose only purpose is to mask the blade’s distance and location, ultimately performing a surprise attack. |
| Burning Bones, Summer Sun | This is a defensive move in which the user performs two consecutive arcing slashes around themselves to fend off other incoming attacks. |
| Setting Sun Transformation | The user does a backflip and then performs a powerful, singular horizontal slash whose sole aim is to decapitate the opponent. |
| Solar Heat Haze | The user jumps into the air using a spiral motion and then performs a swirling slash upwards, attacking the opponent. |
| Beneficent Radiance | This is actually a two-combo strike that consists of a powerful vertical slash which is then followed by a likewise powerful horizontal slash. |
| Sunflower Thrust | This form consists of the user performing a large number of consecutive slashes in a continuous motion which acts both as a form of direct attack and can also decapitate numerous targets simultaneously. |
| Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance | The user performs A singular thrust so that he can hit the opponent with the tip of their blade. |
| Fire Wheel | The user jumps into the air and goes behind the opponent before performing a singular vertical slash in a circular motion whose purpose is to cut the opponent in half. |
| Fake Rainbow | This is an evasive technique that, interestingly enough, works best on opponents with good vision. The user performs a series of high-speed twists and rotations and creates after-images that confuse the opponent, making him very dangerous. |
| Flame Dance | This is actually two-combo strike that consists of a powerful vertical slash which is then followed by a likewise powerful horizontal slash. |
| Thirteenth Form | This is a two-combo strike that consists of a powerful vertical slash followed by a likewise powerful horizontal slash. |
Tanjirō ultimately succeeded in using the 13th form of Sun Breathing
We have told you everything you need to know about the Sun Breathing Style and its 13 forms. Now you know what the final form is and why it is so difficult to perform, i.e., why Yoriichi was the only one able to perform it in the past. But, sadly, even that wasn’t enough to actually kill Muzan, as he managed to escape Yoriichi’s attack that time. So, knowing that Tanjirō also mastered Sun Breathing, has he been able to repeat Yoriicihi’s feat and perform the final, 13th form of Sun Breathing? Let us examine what happened.
During the final battle against Muzan, Tanjirō effectively used Sun Breathing against the Demon King, but even the combined efforts of all the Corps members were not enough to defeat Muzan, who was extremely powerful. The Demon King managed to avoid all these attacks, and although he did take damage, the battle was far from over, and it did not seem like the Corps would be successful, especially since Muzan used numerous powerful techniques.
At one point in the battle, Tanjirō decided to try using the final form. As we’ve said, the final form was created solely to kill Muzan, as it would destroy all of his 12 organs at the same time. He tried, but he wasn’t fast enough, and he ultimately failed. Muzan was able to block his attempt, and at that point, it seemed like the battle was over for the Corps. But, as luck would have it, Tamayo’s poison kicked in, and at one point, Muzan seemed to be around 9,000 years older, with his movements becoming slower and more sluggish.
At that point, Tanjirō saw a window of opportunity and tried again to perform the final form. He was, this time, successful and managed to deal massive damage to the Demon King. This did not kill him, but it proved to be a crucial moment in the Demon’s downfall, as it was a turning point in the battle, after which the Corps were able to hold him down long enough for him to be destroyed by the Sun.