Once you decide to defeat a Demon, defeat it. Once you decide to win, then win. Win, whatever the cost.
Kanae Kocho to Shinobu Kocho Chapter 142
Kanae Kocho was a demon slayer and the late Flower Hashira, killed several years before the present story. She is also the biological older sister of Shinobu Kocho and the adoptive older sister of Kanao Tsuyuri.
Appearance Kanae Kocho
Kanae was a slender girl, just like her younger sister, who was rather tall for her age and had red lips contrasting with her pale complexion. She had long, straight, very dark gray hair that came to just below her waist, worn with two shorter tufts over her shoulders, and arched bangs on either side of her face, the length of her ears. His eyes were pale purple and slanted to the sides of his face, bright and insect-like, with many conspicuous white flashes that reflected the light.
Kanae wore a purple-tinted version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, along with a piece of black cloth around her calves and pale strappy sandals. She also wore a pair of green and pink butterfly-shaped hairpins adorned on either side of her head – one of which was later used by her younger adoptive sister, Kanao Tsuyuri, as a keepsake. She also wore the white, light green, and pink butterfly-patterned haori that Shinobu Kocho wears today.
Personality Kanae Kocho
Kanae is easy-going by nature.
Kanae is shown to be a kind and easy-going girl. In Shinobu and Kanao’s flashbacks, she is almost always seen with a sweet smile on her face. When Sanemi Shinazugawa lashed out at their leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, she showed concern for Kagaya and kindly informed Sanemi about how Kagaya actually took care of the Demon Slayers in his charge. Kanae also dreamed of one day being able to live peacefully alongside the Demons despite all the suffering and death they inflicted on humans, which inspired Shinobu to aspire to do the same.
However, Kanae had a much stricter side, as shown by defeating Shinobu during his fight against Doma. Kanae’s spirit commanded her to get up and face her opponent, sweeping aside the excuses forming in her mind that she was too delicate to face the Demons. Kanae was also very observant, seeing through Doma’s acting and lies, and deducing that he was actually emotionless and empty. According to Kanao, Kanae took pity on him due to his emptiness, even though he mortally wounded her.
History Kanae Kocho
The Kocho sisters lived a peaceful and privileged life with their wealthy and loving parents, who never stopped surrounding and caring for them, the sisters wanting nothing and being truly content with their simple life together. However, that all came crashing down when a Demon attacked their home. Their parents were brutally killed in front of their eyes as they tried to protect them, and they themselves were hardly spared death as they were saved in no time by the arrival of Gyomei Himejima, who killed the Demon just before he could kill any of them. After these traumatic events, the two sisters vowed to join the Demon Slayer Corps themselves and vowed to stop the Demons from inflicting on others the same horrors and pains they experienced.
At some point, Kanae became the Flower Hashira. She was present at Sanemi Hashira’s first meeting, watching him with concern when he rudely confronts their leader. When Kagaya mentions Masachika Kumeno’s name, Kanae surprisingly informs Sanemi that Kagaya has made it a point to memorize the names and backgrounds of every Demon Slayer who died in battle.
The Kocho sisters take on Kanao.
One day while walking through a village, Kanae noticed a man dragging a little girl on a leash. Although the little girl was nameless, dirty, covered in fleas, and unable to speak, Kanae approached her and tried to convince the man who bought her to let her go. When he demanded money in compensation, Shinobu threw the money in the air, grabbed the rope, which he released, and fled with the girl. They then took her to Butterfly Manor, adopted her, and named her Kanao. When the girl proved unresponsive without orders, Kanae gave her a coin toss to help her make decisions until she could fend for herself.
A few years later, Kanae came across the second rank of the twelve Kizuki, Doma. She was mortally wounded in the encounter, but he was forced to flee the rising sun before he could devour her. As she lies dying in Shinobu’s arms, she tries to convince her sister to leave the Demon Slayer Corps to live a normal life, but her sister is determined to avenge her. With the last strength she has, Kanae describes Doma to Shinobu before she dies.
Synopsis Infinity Castle Arc
Kanae reuniting with Shinobu in the afterlife.
Shinobu has a chance to find Doma, Kanae’s assassin, in the Infinity Castle. He eventually recognizes Kanae’s haori and remembers that he failed to eat her, which enraged Shinobu. When she is on the verge of defeat, Kanae’s spirit commands her to keep fighting.
After Doma’s death at the hands of Kanao and Inosuke Hashibira, Shinobu and Kanae are seen in kimono, running towards their parents as they all go to heaven.
Relationships
Shinobu Kocho
His younger biological sister and his only surviving parent, both shared a strong and loving sibling bond. Kanae’s death becomes Shinobu’s main motivation to become stronger in order to avenge her death; she even goes so far as to turn into living poison with the intention of being eaten to weaken Doma from within so that Kanao can complete their revenge.
Kanao Tsuyuri
Her younger adoptive sister after saving her from slavery and adopting her. Kanae didn’t scold her for her inability to make decisions for herself, and instead gave her a coin toss to help her make decisions. Kanao continued to use this room until she accidentally met Tanjiro Kamado, the person who opened her heart to her.
Although Kanao was unable to mourn at Kanae’s grave due to her past trauma, the Hashira’s death affected her greatly. She agrees to be part of Shinobu’s revenge plan against Doma, and her participation in the death of her two sisters makes her experience a strong emotion for the first time: hatred.
doma
Although she was mortally wounded by the demon, Kanae took pity on him for his lack of true emotions. Doma, after being reminded of his haori that Shinobu now wears, praises her strength and regrets that he was forced to retreat before he could devour her.
Abilities and Powers of Kanae Kocho
The art of the sword
During her time as a Demon Slayer, Kanae was a Flower Breath user who was skilled enough to hold the Hashira Flower Stance, a place reserved only for Demon Slayers who killed one of the twelve Kizuki or who successfully fought and killed at least 50 demons, further implying his immense skill and natural talents. Unlike his younger sister, Shinobu, who lacks the strength to cut off a Demon’s head due to her small body and so compensated by using a uniquely designed Nichirin blade to mix her poisons and create a style of A sword focused on stabbing and inflicting multiple wounds on its targets to poison them to death, Kanae wielded an ordinary-looking blade.
Flower Breathing: A breathing style derived from Water Breathing, used by Kanae, the former Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. Her sword skills were further developed by Shinobu, the former Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
-Second form: Honorable Shadow Plum – A defense technique that deflects attacks using spinning sword strikes.
-Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo – A single sword swing that bends and twists.
-Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility – A graceful flurry of nine consecutive attacks that flow and intertwine upon themselves.
-Sixth Form: Whirling Peach – Technique used after or during evasion, the user spins around while moving with their body weight to deliver an attack.
-Final Form: Equinotial Vermilion Eye – Focusing technique that elevates the user’s kinetic vision to its maximum, while using this technique the user perceives the world as if in slow motion. The use of this technique is however very dangerous, as the enormous strain exerted on the eyes has caused the rupture of blood vessels and could lead to partial or complete blindness.
Triviality
-Kanae’s name is written with three katakana characters; which differs from Shinobu, his biological sister, and is similar to the spelling of Kanao’s name.
Quotes
-(To Shinobu Kocho) “Get a hold of yourself. Don’t cry about it. »