Aoi Kanzaki | Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba

Aoi Kanzaki (神かん崎ざきアオイ Kanzaki Aoi?) is a demon hunter who works as a helper at Butterfly Manor rather than fighting on the front lines.

Compared to you, I’m not that important, so thanks aren’t necessary. I survived the selection by sheer luck. Since then, I’ve been afraid to fight, so I’m a coward.
Aoi Kanzaki

Appearance

Aoi has deep blue eyes that fade to a lighter blue at the bottom, with rectangular white pupils, straight black hair with parted bangs and a ponytail. She wears two blue butterfly clips to hold her twin tails in place.
Aoi wears the standard demon hunter uniform, with a white nurse’s gown over it. Her uniform is lightly tinted blue. She is often seen scowling.

Personality

Although Aoi trained Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira, she is very demanding with them and often pushes them to their limits. She has a firm personality, unlike her colleagues in the Butterfly House.
Aoi’s personality is somewhat similar to that of young Shinobu Kocho, volatile and open. She often displays anger and clearly expresses her emotions. However, she can also show softer emotions, such as when she appreciates the time spent with the trio at the mansion, when she is surprised by Tanjiro’s reassurance and when she bursts into tears when talking about Inosuke’s serious injuries.

Despite her rough exterior, she’s actually kind and caring, doing her best to help the hunters who come to the manor.

History

Aoi’s family was killed by demons, leading her to be taken in by the Butterfly Manor.
Although she managed to survive the final selection, Aoi claims it was purely by luck. Afraid to fight despite her success in the final selection, she chose to work at the Butterfly Manor. She underestimates her own work, claiming that she doesn’t do much compared to the full-fledged hunters.

Although she can’t fight, she has a thorough knowledge of medicine, probably acquired through her training with Shinobu. She helps maintain the manor and heals injured hunters.

Synopsis

Rehabilitation training arch

Aoi meets Tanjiro for the first time when she discovers him and Kakushi talking to Kanao Tsuyuri in the garden. She takes them inside to the recovery beds, showing her frustration at Zenitsu’s constant moaning from injury. She looks after the trio throughout their convalescence.
During the training part of their rehabilitation, she explains general training methods, including massages, reflex training and chase games. Aoi and Kanao both play reflex and chase games. Aoi is quickly beaten by Zenitsu, who refuses to spray her with medicinal water. She’s still unhappy with him, as she’s heard him say that it would be wonderful to train with girls, as he can touch them. He also beats her at the chasing game, but she hits him when he gets too touchy-feely.

Aoi is also beaten by Inosuke in the games, then by Tanjiro. She gets upset when Inosuke and Zenitsu stop coming to train.

When the trio leave, she tells Tanjiro that she has enjoyed her time with him and wishes him luck. Tanjiro thanks her for taking care of him, but she denies it, saying it was no big deal since she can’t fight like the others. Tanjiro tells her that not being able to fight has nothing to do with it, and that since she’s helped him, he’ll carry her feelings into battle too. Aoi seems surprised by this answer, but not displeased.

Infinity Train Arch

Aoi once again helps heal the trio’s wounds after their fight on the train.

Arc of the entertainment district

Aoi and Naho Takada are both picked up by Tengen Uzui, who wants to help them infiltrate the Red Light District. Kanao Tsuyuri tries to stop the Hashira from taking the two girls, but given her own misgivings, she says nothing to stop him. Tanjiro intervenes and asks Tengen to free the girls, to which Tengen replies that he needed a demon hunter for his mission and had planned to take Aoi and Naho. When one of the girls explains that Naho is not a demon hunter, Tengen abandons the idea and plans to take only Aoi. Aoi seems distraught and upset when Tengen comments that she is not useful, but remains a member of the corps. Eventually, Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu volunteer to go in her place, freeing her.

Abilities

General capabilities :

Physical abilities

Above-average strength: although Aoi is weaker than most of her fellow demon hunters, she is stronger than the average person, having undergone Shinobu’s training and passed the final selection.

Various abilities

Medical knowledge: having undergone Shinobu Kocho’s training, Aoi is able to prepare most simple medicines.

Sword mastery

Water breathing (水みずの呼こ吸きゅう Mizu no kokyū ?): Aoi was a Water Breath user when she underwent final selection.
Despite surviving the final selection, she believes it was simply pure luck and has decided to stop training Water Breathing, preferring to help the other demon hunters at the Butterfly Mansion.

Relations

Tanjiro Kamado

Aoi and Tanjiro seem to have struck up a friendship. Tanjiro respects Aoi for her help and care when he, Inosuke and Zenitsu were residents of the mansion. He also thanks her for her work and help, which she appreciates. He intervenes on her behalf when Tengen kidnaps her, and defends her when Tengen declares her useless, pointing out that everyone has their own circumstances. When Tanjiro leaves the Butterfly Mansion, Aoi tells him that she enjoyed the time they spent together.

Kanao Tsuyuri

Their degree of closeness is uncertain, but the two get on well and seem to have a somewhat brotherly relationship. Kanao tries to stop Tengen from taking Aoi with him, which was very unusual for Kanao at the time, as she never made her own decisions or went against orders. As we see in the novel, Aoi considered Kanao difficult to live with, as she never showed her own emotions. She also felt inferior to Kanao, as the latter could fight demons, unlike Aoi. However, when Kanao begins to open up and make her own decisions, she and Aoi begin to grow closer.

Shinobu Kocho

Shinobu is Aoi’s mentor in the field of medicine and probably oversaw some or all of her training as a demon hunter. Aoi holds Shinobu in high esteem, as do the other butterfly girls. Shinobu cares about Aoi and feels sympathy for the way her family was killed by demons. She also seems to feel anger on Aoi’s behalf, remarking that the butterfly girls’ families wouldn’t have been killed if the demons hadn’t been present during her fight against Doma.

Inosuke Hashibira

They meet for the first time at the butterfly mansion. At first, Inosuke finds it hard to beat Aoi in all the events because he lacks willpower. Later, he finally adapts and beats her. Compared to Zenitsu and Tanjiro, he was harder on her. He is one of the hunters who volunteers to go to the entertainment district instead of Aoi on a mission with Tengen. After the fight against Upper Rank 6, he is once again transported to the butterfly mansion. Aoi is visibly saddened by Inosuke’s terrible state, as he is poisoned all over his body and she thinks it’s too late to stop the bleeding. However, her tears quickly fade as he falls from the ceiling. She begins to see him as a burden and resumes her arguments with Inosuke. At the Butterfly mansion, after the final battle, he leaves Tanjiro’s room and heads for the kitchen in search of food. He tries to steal food from behind Aoi’s back, but she notices. She hands him a round tray of food prepared especially for Inosuke and tells him that he can eat as much as he wants, whenever he wants, from the tray. After this gesture, Inosuke begins to see her in a positive light. Eventually, Aoi and Inosuke Hashibira marry and have a great-grandson named Aoba Hashibira.

Trivialities

Aoi’s name, Aoi (アオイ), can have different meanings depending on the kanji used. For example, its name can be translated as “hollyhock” (葵) or “blue” (青い).
However, his name is written with three katakana characters, so its exact meaning is currently unclear. However, given that his character is centered around the color blue, we can assume that he refers to this color naturally.
Aoi seems to have low self-esteem, as evidenced by the fact that she doesn’t consider her survival of the final selection to be particularly important.
She also participated in the same final selection as Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira.
Aoi ranked 24th in the first character popularity poll with 103 votes.
Aoi wanted a sister and therefore insisted that Kanao Tsuyuri choose her surname.
Aoba shares the same romanization as the first part of Aoi’s name (however, the “ao” in “Aoi” and the “ao” in “Aoba” are written with different characters). As Sumihiko Kamado, Kanata Kamado, Toko Agatsuma and Yoshiteru Agatsuma share parts of their name with their ancestors, so does Aoba.
Aoba works in the scientific field, as does Shinobu in the butterfly mansion where Aoi lived.
Aoba has jet-black hair, just like Aoi, rather than hair that changes from black to blue like Inosuke.