How Strong Is Sanemi Shinazugawa (Compared to Other Demon Slayer Characters)?
When discussing Demon Slayer, one usually talks about the demon slayers themselves or the demons. And while the series has offered us a variety of other intriguing characters, we will talk about one specific Demon Slayer – Sanemi Shinazugawa, Gen’ya’s brother and the current Wind Hashira – in this particular article. Sanemi is a very interesting character because of his unlikable personality and how it reflects his relationship with the Demon Slayer Corps. Building on that fact, we have decided, in this article, to tell you a bit about his powers and abilities and how he would fare against numerous other characters from the Demon Slayer series.
The article is going to be divided into two major parts. The first one will represent Sanemi Shinazugawa’s powers and abilities, while the other one will be a short comparison of Sanemi Shinazugawa’s powers and abilities to the powers and abilities of other characters, divided into several subsections. These will not be detailed analyses, just brief comments so you can understand Sanemi Shinazugawa’s position in the Demon Slayer lore.
Sanemi Shinazugawa’s powers and abilities
At the beginning of this article, it has to be stated that Sanemi Shinazugawa is quite a powerful character and has a lot to offer alongside his powerful Breathing Style, which we will talk about below. As a member of the Hashira, Sanemi is an exceptionally skilled swordsman, the third best among the Hashira, in fact. According to Kokushibō, Sanemi is at the peak of his skills and abilities, making him a very dangerous opponent for anyone, even a powerful Demon.
Sanemi’s blood is one of the rarest blood types, so it is exceptionally poisonous for Demons. It is, likewise, unique because of its intense power, as even the slightest cut that causes him to bleed has such an effect on Demons that they immediately start to crave it, which, in turn, causes them to lose concentration; Sanemi demonstrated this ability even with Kokushibō, the Upper-Rank One, who is an exceptionally powerful Demon. The only Demon proven to be immune to the effects of Sanemi’s unique blood is Nezuko Kamado, due to her strong will and conviction not to consume humans, which was further conditioned in her mind by Sakonji Urokodaki.
Sanemi also has exceptional control over his own muscles. He can control them to simply stop fatal injuries from opening up and starting to bleed during a battle, as was demonstrated in the battle against the Upper-Rank One when Kokushibō tore open his abdomen, and he managed to continue fighting by controlling his muscles to simply heal the wound.
During the aforementioned battle against Kokushibō, Sanemi struck Gyōmei’s Spiked Flail with his katana, turning them bright red instantly. Later, while they are all fighting against Muzan, Sanemi, using the experience he had gained in his previous fight with Gyōmei, intentionally clashes his katana with Giyu’s weapon, which results in both of them becoming bright red once again. This was important because a bright red Nichirin Sword disables a Demon’s regenerative abilities.
Sanemi managed to activate his Demon Slayer Mark, which appears as an origami windmill with two dots on the sides, on his right cheek during his battle against the Upper-Rank One, Kokushibō. This mark greatly enhanced his skills and talents, which was shown when Sanemi was slashed in the abdomen but still could fight Kokushibō on the ground.
This demonstrates his greatly increased strength, endurance, and pain tolerance. However, without the assistance of Gyōmei and Muichirō, he was unable to land a significant blow against Kokushibō. Furthermore, despite the boost, he still has limitations since he would have been in danger of dying twice without the help of his two teammates. Sanemi is one of the series’ most effective Demon Slayers, as this article has nonetheless demonstrated.
As for his Breathing Style, Sanemi utilizes Wind Breathing and is, thus, known as the Wind Hashira. Wind Breathing is one of the five main Breathing Styles derived directly from Yoriichi’s Sun Breathing Style, the first known Breathing Style in history. He is one of only two characters who have been identified as users of this Breathing Style. In total, there are nine special forms associated with Wind Breathing, as seen in Sanemi’s case:
| First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter | The user of this first form rushes towards their opponent at immense speed and lands numerous blows using a horizontal cyclone pattern of attack. |
| Second Form: Claws, Purifying Wind | The user creates a whirlwind of slashes around them, which has a defensive purpose (as it defends them from any upcoming attacks) and an offensive one (as it simultaneously slashes their surroundings). |
| Third Form: Clean Storm Wind Tree | The user has to leap up in the air for this form, slashing his katana simultaneously, creating a series of gale-force winds that simply destroy their opponents. |
| Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm | The user has to be below the target for this form, as the slashes launched are directed upwards from below the target. |
| Fifth Form: Cold Mountain Wind | The user has so be above the target for this form, as they create numerous circular arched slashes that increase in size and head towards the opponent. |
| Sixth Form: Black Wind Mountain Mist | The user simply rotates their body in what looks like an uppercut movement, which creates a powerful tornado of slashes that cut the opponent. |
| Seventh Form: Gale, Sudden Gusts | Like the previous form, the user once again leaps up in the air and swings their katana, but this time in a different way, creating devastating circular torrents of wind. |
| Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash | Similar to the previous form, the user once again leaps up in the air and swings their katana, but this time in a different way, creating devastating circular torrents of wind. |
| Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon | For this form, the user has to do a backflip and while they are upside-down, they create a gust of circular wind with their katana that destroys everything in its path. |
Now that we have explained this, let us continue with out comparisons.
How powerful is Sanemi Shinazugawa compared to other Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba characters?
This section will compare Sanemi Shinazugawa to some other strong Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba characters. These are going to be brief comparisons whose main goal is to give you a general idea of his powers and abilities.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. Tanjirō Kamado
Well, this is intriguing, and we decided to start with it. Namely, when Tanjirō first met the Sanemi, the aggressive Hashira treated him with obvious hostility, which is why they would often clash. Sanemi was initially stronger than Tanjirō, but the latter evolved in that aspect as the story progressed; he even mastered Sun Breathing, becoming one of a very small number of Demon Slayers who managed to master two different styles.
During the Hashira Training Arc, the two once again clashed and while Sanemi was able to defeat Tanjirō in a training fight, Tanjirō was not afraid anymore. By the time Tanjirō had fully mastered Sun Breathing, he had reached the same level of skill as Sanemi.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. Gen’ya Shinazugawa
And while Sanemi and Gen’ya are not the only siblings in the series, they are one of the more interesting ones. The two of them were very close as children, but after Gen’ya accused his brother of killing their mother, a rift was created between them. Sanemi would go on to become a Demon Slayer and later a Hashira, while Gen’ya worked on his skills and wanted to become a Demon Slayer so he could be closer to his brother and apologize.
And while he did become powerful, Sanemi still rejected him, stating that he was weak and that he had no brother. When Gen’ya revealed to him that he could eat demonic flesh and temporarily receive demonic powers, Sanemi wanted to kill him. Gen’ya was unable to use any Breathing Style, which made him unique in that aspect, but he was also able to turn into a Demon, which usually provided him with a significant power boost. By the time he had eaten part of Kokushibō, he had become quite strong and was somewhere on Sanemi’s level at the time.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. the remaining Hashira
This is a very versatile category, and while it usually depends on whom the protagonist is fighting – in this case, Seanemi – we have to say that the initial sentence is especially true. Sanemi was known as the third-best swordsman among the Hashira. He certainly wouldn’t stand a chance against Gyōmei, who was exceptionally strong, and we don’t think he could defeat Iguro either, seeing how skilled he was.
We would assess him to be somewhere on Tomioka’s and Rengoku’s level in that aspect, which means that he would probably be able to defeat both Mitsuri and Shinobu, and possibly even Muichirō, but only because he is more aggressive than him. The only one who is an actual mystery here is Tengen Uzui, as we cannot properly assess how he would do against Uzui’s incredible speed.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. Zen’itsu
Zen’itsu was able to defeat Kaigaku, and he would probably do relatively well against Sanemi, but he wouldn’t be able to defeat him in a direct clash, we think. Namely, Kaigaku was an Upper Moon, but he wasn’t that strong compared to some other Upper Ranks. Sanemi would probably have dealt with him in less time than Zen’itsu. Plus, there is the fact that Sanemi is an exceptionally skilled user of his Breathing Style, whereas Zen’itsu defeats most of his opponents in very odd ways, as he is not that skilled.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. Inosuke
Well, Inosuke might be more similar to Sanemi, as he is quite similar to Gen’ya, but also because his Beast Breathing is actually derived from Wind Breathing. The two of them rely on their instincts and their raw power, and they are also extremely resilient, which is why they are so similar and interesting to compare. But, the thing with Inosuke is that he lacks the tactical finesse that Sanemi has. Although he becomes much better later on, we still don’t think he managed to reach the level necessary to defeat Sanemi in a direct fight, although he has become a Hashira-level fighter.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. Muzan
Muzan is the most powerful of all Demons and the creator of all the Demons that came after him. His weaknesses are the same as those of the other Demons, but his powers and abilities far surpass those of any other known Demon in the series. Using his powers, he has turned numerous people into Demons and has organized the most powerful ones in the Twelve Kizuki. And while he did put up a fight against both him and Kokushibō (although he had significant help in that aspect), and has killed a Lower Moon, Sanemi would stand no chance against Muzan and would be eliminated in an instant in a one-on-one fight.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. Kokushibō
Sanemi actually participated in the fight against Kokushibō alongside his brother, Muichirō and Gyōmei. The four of them actually managed to kill the Upper-Rank One, which was an amazing feat in itself, but it was the four of them, and that is a fact that we cannot really disregard in that aspect; plus, Kokushibō also helped by choosing not to regenerate after seeing what he had become. In that aspect, Sanemi would not be able to defeat Kokushibō in a one-on-one fight, but he would be able to do it with assistance from his fellow Demon Slayers.
Sanemi Shinazugawa vs. the remaining Twelve Kizuki
As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Sanemi was quite skilled, especially because he was a Hashira. He killed a Lower Moon himself at one point and was able to kill Kokushibō with the help of his colleagues and even participated in the fight against Muzan afterward, surviving in the end. He would certainly have been able to defeat Daki and Gyūtarō, Kaigaku, Gyokko, and Hantengu without many difficulties; Nakime would be a problem because of her specific skills, but not from a power-wise point of view. As far as Akaza and Dōma are concerned, we do not think he was on their power level.
