#kochou shinobu
waifu
Okay, so the butterfly hair piece is official merch. Everything else was thrown together from my closet, true Closet Play style. More young Shinobu behind the cut!
My limbs are too long, I thought, until I realize, “no, I’m accomplishing Shinobu’s dream.”
But can I pull off dream Breath action shots? Noooooope.
Changing Terms of Address: The battle with Douma, and how it changes Kanao and Inosuke
One thing that may or may not come across in translation from Japanese source material is the use of not only honorifics, but various titles and terms of address which either have no equivalent in a target language (for the purpose of this post, English), or come across clunky when literally translated. Since a lot of otaku love to stick as close as they can to the original languages to better appreciate the characterization, and because I know there are other canon sticklers out there in the fanfic community, I’m committing a fool’s errand by trying to compile the terms of address used in KnY.
It’s lead me to the heart-wrenching realization that not only do we never see Inosuke get Shinobu’s name wrong, but he used her name correctlyseven times in the battle against Douma.
Ow.
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ooooooowwwwwww. Ahhhh. AHHHH! Gah, the pain, the paaaain. If you’ve seen this post of mine, you can guess how deeply this stabbed me with want for more soft interactions between Shinobu and Inosuke. It’s worth nothing that Inosukehasgotten names right before by this time, or he’s used some made-up names with consistency, but this is the first we’ve seen him used any name but his own with so much consistency and accuracy.
Another term he uses very consistently in this battle is “ore no hahaoya,” which translates to, “my mother.” Haha-oya (haha=mother oya=parent) doesn’t particularly lack warmth, you might say, but it is rather objective. It’s at the very end of the battle when Inosuke sinks to tears that he calls her by a more subjective title, “Kaachan.”
That isn’t the title Kotoha used when referring to herself in third person, “Kaasan,” so instead of Inosuke simply pulling from his memories, this is Inosuke making the choice to refer to her in a more endearing, close way. (Kaasan and Kaachan are not far off from one another, Tanjiro uses both for his mother, but Kaasan is a smidge might respectful.)
As for Kanao, she enters this battle still calling Shinobu her master, “Shihan.” This both in her speech and her thoughts, they’ve very clearly established a seriously Hashira-Tsuguko relationship.
On Shinobu’s part, she refers to Kanao plainly in ’yobi-sute’ (that is, addressing someone without any honorific). Yobi-sute can mean a lot of things, from showing closeness (hence the manga trope of ‘already yobi-sute!?’) to showing a lack of respect for someone. You see it a lot in KnY, for example, everyone in Tanjiro’s Final Selection batch always refers to each other in yobi-sute, like a sign of being each other’s equals, but everyone who hates Muzan addresses and refers to him in yobi-sute too. Shinobu also addresses Aoi in yobi-sute (and Aoi calls her Shinobu-sama, clearly showing a deference on Aoi’s part), and we know that both Aoi and Kanao have been in her care a long time. Kanae likewise addressed Kanao in yobi-sute as soon as they took her home, as opposed to calling her Kanao-chan. Shinobu addressed Kanae as “Neesan,” but it’s unclear what Kanao addressed Shinobu and Kanae as before she joined the Corp and started calling Shinobu “Shihan.” (For the record, Kanao and Aoi are yobi-sute with each other.)
When trash-talking with Douma, Kanao one time refers to Kanae as “Kanae-san.” An oddly respectfully distanced term of address for one she calls her sister (though she did use “Kanae-neesan” in the light novels in what chronologically would had been right around the start of Pillar Training). The change in Kanao’s distanced language happens when Shinobu’s poison starts to show an effect, and Kanao knows it’s time to go all in.
Despite having referred to Shinobu as “Shihan” for the entirety of this battle, it’s when Kanao is taking that moment she’s been waiting for to make a strike at Douma’s neck that she first thinks, “Shinobu-neesan.”
For the remainder of this battle, and its aftermath when she’s looking for the broken butterfly hairpieces, and when remembering them and finally able to cry, she consistently uses openly sisterly terms for them, “Kanae-neesan” and “Shinobu-neesan.” Besides the inability to cry, it may be that Kanao also never quite felt able to address them as her sisters, despite how much she may have wanted to?
While I’m here and having a case of the Inosuke and Kanao feels, here, have another piece of my fanart that shows how much I crave soft interactions. I’ll just continue hacking away at this list of titles as I continue getting stabbed in the heart on this reread.
Shinobu’s Goldfish, “Fugu”
While this fancy but hearty goldfish started as a simple sketch with a couple of tank mates, given the round shape and characteristic hump behind the head, it seems Ufotable has gone full speed ahead giving Shinobu a Ryukingoldfish.
Ryukins, for what I gather especially from hereandhereandhere, are less prone to in-breeding than older varieties of Fancies. Besides her subjective aesthetic tastes, Shinobu might had chosen them with their health in mind. After all, this is health-minded Shinobu, and Fanbook #2 states that she seems to have chosen the name Fugu (“pufferfish”) out of the hopes that it will be raised big and round and energetic/healthy/“genki.”
Is it, though?
(Grab your snorkels and come dive below the cut with me for some fishy meta.)
If Ufotable’s animation choices are anything to judge by, Fugu is very healthy with colors that bright. They thrive on a varied diet but are prone to digestive issues, which Shinobu of all characters would be attentive to. It appears there are two red tank mates, likely of the same Ryukin variety, as they are faster than other round goldfish (and therefore likely to pick on the slower ones), but also not as strong swimmers as narrower fish, whom they can’t compete with. To add some unnecessary character analysis, this almost sounds like Shinobu among the Corp (and Giyuu) versus Shinobu among the Pillars. As the other two are never as detailed as Fugu and weren’t given names (and might be other compatible varieties that can stand up to Ryukin bullying), Fugu can almost be mistaken for a lonely single fish, but they are clearly not tank decor because Ufotable animated them moving. Hmm, these unnamed two remain mysterious.
As for what decor is there, this was an interesting choice on Shinobu’s part. Plants can be difficult, as Ryukins can be ruthless to them. However, Ryukins are prone to injury, so bumpy rocks should be avoided. Either Shinobu searched long and hard for the right object, or she’s still figuring this out.
And, based on Fugu’s size, she may still be a beginner in this hobby.
Ryukins can get big, 15-20 centimeters even if not in a large enough tank, and they’ll grow especially fast when they’re young. Tank conditions might slow this growth, though, and this tank is a bit on the small side, and might benefit from a longer water surface to allow more oxygen. So which is it, Shinobu? Do you want Fugu to grow big and healthy and round, or are you subconsciously wishing to keep it small, like yourself for aesthetic purposes? After all, Fugu’s tank (with the exception of kidnappings) stays in the decorative alcove, in place of, say, a flower arrangement. Did flower arranging become too painful for the memories it stirred, and a goldfish seemed like a good hobby to take up as a replacement? Shinobu did always have an interest in naming things after fish, after all.
Either Shinobu is smaller than Zenitsu (yes, by 13.5 centimeters) and Nezuku (well… typically yes, by 2 centimeters), or she’s gotten a bigger tank. After all, this young goldfish and her tank buddies will grow fast in the first months of their potentially 10-15 year life span. There’s also no decor now; perhaps as Shinobu is getting more experienced in this pursuit, she’s learned the error of her rock decorating ways. While those unnamed tank pals remain mysterious, perhaps they are fantails? Why, perhaps even butterfly tails?? How curious these little unnamed silhouettes make me! And what fish are theynamed after?
Going back to the health and care of this creatures, with the size of that tank and lack of filtration system, Shinobu probably would have watched that water quality like a hawk (hmm, bad metaphor, I wonder if hawks will eat goldfish?) to have Fugu looking that bright. Likewise, with their delicate digestive systems, they’d have needed small meals throughout the day, and with Shinobu’s Pillar missions, this was likely impossible to keep up with on her own. Either that, or she keeps and extremely rigid schedule in order to accomplish everything she already takes responsibility for, and she managed water tests and increment water changes around all her other usual tasks. Was this really the right hobby to take up, Shinobu? Were you actually able to relax with this extra responsibility?
I’d like to think the girls all help, especially knowing that the sight of Fugu brings Shinobu joy. If taught how, they’d probably be as careful with the goldfish trio as they are with the injured Corp members (which the Kamaboko trio might argue is not careful at all, depending on what stage in treatment you ask them).
Perhaps one more panel will shed some light on this–wait
WHERE ARE THE TANK FRIENDS???
Maybe Shinobu did keep this hobby possessively to herself, and taught them nothing about what she had so far learned in the care and keeping of goldfish? While mourning Shinobu, have they had to go through the pain of letting two of her beloved fish die, and then felt triumph together as they nursed Fugu, her favorite(?), back to health? Did the other two die of sorrow at Shinobu’s passing?
…no… did…
…did Kaburamaru eat them????????
(Oh my gosh. Initial search results imply he’d have been in for a tummyache, but this is possible. Oh no. OH NO.)
しのぶ
Rengoku, proud asf: If you spell skeletons backwards, it’s still skeletons!!
Shinobu, deadpan: Yes, I can’t wait for Halloween to see some snoteleks.
Shinobu: Oh my god, but Giyuu is like, so weird??
Giyuu, falling down from above the trees:
Tanjiro, flying from below her house:
Both: heard u were talking shit
Shinobu: OK what the fuck.
Shinobu: I’m as graceful as a butterfly~
Giyuu: you fell down the stairs last week
Shinobu:I’m as graceful as a butterfly-
Shinobu Love
Kochou Shinobu is a character that deserves more praise.
Shinobu at a very young age she lost her parents and had to realize that life was not as black and white as before. She entered the Demon Slayer Corps with Kanae with the goal to help as many people as they can so others wouldn’t have to go through the same thing she and Kanae did.
Shinobu started training along with Kanae and I can only assume they started around the same time, there’s not a lot of information about it. For a time everything was fine, Shinobu had Kanae and even if their parents were gone she had her sister and some purpose to work towards.
Shinobu was probably frustrated when she learned she couldn’t use breaths the same way other slayers could. If plausible she would’ve had the same breathing style Kanae did but since her body wasn’t capable of it she created her own derived from Kanae’s breathing style, Breath of Flower.
From Breath of Flower she created Breath of the Insect.
(and let me tell you how insanely cute this is because some insects pollenate flowers like bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies and some beetles. While some insects like dragonflies, centipedes and ladybugs help keep flowers safe from harmful insects. Overall insects help flowers populate and protect them.)
This could be Shinobu’s way of trying to have her breathing style relate to her sister’s even in naming. While her breathing style is unique it focuses on speed and the strength needed to puncture something. Like some insects, Shinobu uses poison to vanquish demons since holding a normal blade is not possible for her.
After taking in Kanao she had someone else to care for besides the girls who already lived at butterfly estate.
Then after losing her sister, her responsibilities were probably doubled and became the head of the estate at 14. She went through all this and she was barley 14. Shinobu had others to take care of besides herself at 14, and even though she was still grieving from the loss of Kanae she held it together for the other girls and put the smile on her face to keep something to remind her of Kanae.
Besides being responsible she is extremely smart. She deals with poison and has the knowledge of pharmaceuticals to help other slayers that need treating to their wounds from a battle. Shinobu’s interest in pharmaceuticals probably came from the fact that her parents were pharmacists and ran a pharmacy. This would mean she has some experience in treating others.
Shinobu had insecurities about her physical abilities compared to the other pillars. She probably also had insecurities or doubts when taking over the estate but she took it on and never complained. Always offering a smile and helping where she could.
Even though Shinobu isn’t strong physical she is strong mentally, smart and had vicious zeal to defeat Douma. Douma even said that it was amazing to see Shinobu standing when she had taken all the damage he had caused.
Shinobu is an amazing character, cares for others, and even though she had difficulties in learning a breath that suited her she became a pillar. She is strong and deserves a lot of love.
-
Hello, and thank you for coming to my small rant about why Shinobu is amazing.
I really wanted to write this especially since the recent chapter came out . Shinobu is very smart and amazing.
Let me add some info from the novels and databook…
She has been good at making medicines since she was a kid and was really into pharmaceuticals. “Since she was a child, she has been gathering herbs in the garden and pretending to be a pharmacist, she sometimes even make a real medicine.” - Kanae Kocho, KnY novel 2 chap 1
She was indeed insecure because of her inability to cut demons. “If I too had muscles like you, if I was taller… Then…” - Shinobu to Mitsuri, KnY novel 2, chap 3
She cares deeply for the butterfly girls and the slayers. Too many references but the best ones on top of my head includes: Vol 19 extras, KnY novel 1 chap 4, KnY novel 2 chap 3, and many more.
She’s a really good friend of Mitsuri and helped her get over her insecurities of being too strong and eating too much. “So, please, don’t do things like lying to yourself. I really like you as you are.” - Shinobu to Mitsuri, KnY novel 2, chap 3
She’s really really really smart. No reference needed cause we all know she is the smartest pillar and one of the smartest character in KnY
She’s beautiful (Zenitsu mentioned she could make a living using her looks) and also manipulative (but she uses it for good use such as helping kamaboko train and also Giyuu when they tried to make him laugh in the novel 2)
Clutch moves that saved the slayers such as using poison to kill Doma and also slowly killing Muzan right now
And many more good feats but I don’t want this post to be sooooo long
Wani made Shinobu small cause she will be too OP if she’s able to behead demons.
Now you know why I love Shinobu so much
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“WHILE IT IS GOOD TO BE ENERGETIC, PLEASE REMAIN QUIET INSIDE THE HOSPITAL. AS LONG AS YOU ARE STILL INSIDE THIS BUILDING, YOUR LIVES ARE IN OUR HANDS. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THAT.”
- Shinobu to Inosuke
