Demon Slayer: Does Tanjiro Have Asthma?

The story of Tanjiro Kamado, the protagonist of Demon Slayer, is one of the more intriguing ones in the history of anime and manga. Namely, after almost losing all of his family to Muzan Kibutsuji, the evil lord of the Demons, Tanjiro set out to become a Demon Slayer so he could kill the Demon that killed his family members. He eventually did exactly that, but he almost became a Muzan-like Demon himself along the way. But, aside from his story, Tanjiro is also the topic of numerous online debates, and in this article, we will settle one of them. In this article, you are going to find out whether Tanjiro has asthma or not.

As far as it is officially known, Tanjiro Kamado does not have asthma. He does, occasionally, manifest some asthma-like symptoms, but that doesn’t seem to be asthma. Tanjiro was simply exposed to a lot of harsh situations and conditions, plus he had to completely alter his breathing because he had to learn different Breathing Styles to become a Demon Slayer, and all of that could account for his asthma-like symptoms.

The rest of this article will elaborate further on whether Tanjiro Kamado has asthma in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Jaiba manga and anime. These facts seem to be of some importance for fans online, which is why we are going to bring you as many details as we can, so you know the whole story.

Does Tanjiro Kamado have asthma in Demon Slayer?

Tanjiro Kamado is the protagonist of the Demon Slayer series. While he is generally in good health – save for the constant injuries he keeps getting due to his work as a Demon Slayer – we could’ve noticed that he sometimes seems to have trouble breathing. It’s not like choking, but more like a loss of breath and a feeling that he needs to stand and breathe deeply. While fans have suggested various theories about the source of his “breathing issues,” including asthma, we don’t think he has any breathing issues.

Namely, the asthma theory would somewhat fit Tanjiro and his symptoms. What Tanjiro manifests from time to time are very asthma-like symptoms, especially when he is visibly fighting to catch a breath, but we do not think that it is asthma. First of all, these issues aren’t really debilitating for Tanjiro, and they only appear when he is physically exerted and exposed to very harsh conditions. Still, even then, it is not manifested every time.

On top of that, Tanjiro having asthma does seem like a very important fact, and it does not seem like something that the author would not reveal, especially since we have a character with asthma in the series, Koyuki. If he revealed it for a relatively unimportant character, it would not make sense – from a character development-related standpoint – to keep such a fact hidden when the main character is concerned.

Also, we have to state that Tanjiro never took any medications for his breathing problems and that he himself never really considered his occasional problems as something serious. Plus, these occasional problems did not stop him in his adventures, and we’re quite certain that asthma would not have allowed him to fight Muzan and the other Demons with such proficiency. This is why we’re quite certain that Tanjiro does not have asthma.

As for his problems, they can easily be explained by the conditions he is working in. Namely, Tanjiro was a regular boy who lived a happy life with his family until his father died. He then became the man of the house – as the family’s oldest son – but he was still a child. He would walk up and down the mountain to sell coal so that his family could lead a normal life. And while these were harsh conditions, especially in winter, Tanjiro had enough stamina to do his chores normally.

But, when Muzan arrived and slaughtered his family, Tanjiro’s life changed drastically. He was offered the possibility of becoming a Demon Slayer, which was a wholly different level of stress and exhaustion to which he would be exposed in the future. His initial training gave him a small sneak peek into what being a Demon Slayer was like, but it was the trials at the mountain that really showed him what being a Demon Slayer was like.

As someone who had never fought demons before, Tanjiro had to adapt. He was not used to so much physical exertion, and he did not have the stamina to endure it. This is why he had breathing difficulties, as everyone who gets tired also has breathing difficulties; we’ve all lost our breath from time to time after too much exercise. Now multiply that by x, and you’ll be close to the level of stamina needed to be a Demon Slayer.

On top of that, Tanjiro had to learn how to breathe by using Breathing Styles, which was a completely new experience for him. Sure, we all breathe in and breathe out, but learning how to breathe from scratch – which is why Tanjiro had to do, basically – is a difficult process. In order to use Breathing Styles and optimize his stamina for fighting Demons, Tanjiro had to learn a lot and change a lot, but these changes were not simple; they demanded a lot.

It is difficult when someone is exposed to such harsh conditions and has to learn the basics all over again. All of that could easily account for Tanjiro’s occasional breathing issues. From that perspective, it is understandable why he doesn’t have asthma. His breathing troubles actually seem to be the result of the conditions he is exposed to and the nature of his adventures. And this is a perfectly logical and valid explanation that doesn’t leave any loopholes or issues, and it can also satisfy all fans who demanded an answer to this question. And this is everything we have to say about Tanjiro and his breathing issues.