#enertainment district arc

[linkspooky]

Rengoku and Uzui

The enertainment district arc follows immediately after the Mugen Train arc, with the introduction of another Hashira to mentor Tanjiro and friends immediately after the tragic death of Rengoku. Uzui is presented at first as the complete opposite of noble, selfless to a fault big brother Rengoku as he’s presented as being much more individualistic and obsessed with flashy things. However, if you compare and contrast them they have much more common than it might seem at first, and Uzui turns out to be just what Tanjiro needs after the loss at the end of the Infinity Arc. More underneath the cut. 

1. Two Different Kinds of Mentors

The first comparison drawn between the two of them is that their introductions to the sense squad (Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, and Zenitsu otherwise known as THE SENSE SQUAD because that’s what I like to call them)  are complete opposites of one another. Rengoku is immediately a model Hashira, not only is he incredibly helpful to them and is introduced defeating a demon easily on the train, he’s also totally willing to take in Tanjiro and the rest as a mentor.

Tengen on the other hand, is introduced literally trying to kidnap the girls at the butterfly estate for a mission. The contrast is immediatelyapparent, Uzui is presented to us as willful and arrogant. Even their chosen disciplines are opposites, Rengoku is a swordsman, and Uzui is a ninja. Rengoku faces his opponents head on, Uzui sneaks around and uses deception. Uzui is also, totally uninterested in Tanjiro and the others at first. 

Unlike Rengoku who immediately steps into the role of mentor, Uzui isn’t really interested in mentoring anyone, he’s not even looking to be accomodating of the fact that Kanao might have different needs and require a more tender hand than Tengen’s forceful one. Rengoku’s number one priority is protecting the people around him, while Uzui seems too focused on the mission. 

Uzui at the beginning almost chafes at the idea of trying to work with these kids. If Rengoku is selfilessness taken to an extreme, on first brush Uzui seems to be made up of nothing but selfishness and egotism. Which shows in his complete lack of cooeprativeness with Tanjiro and the others, his controlling nature, oh and also the fact that he declares himself a god. You know, like they do. 

Even the presentation of the characters is in reverse of one another. Rengoku is seemingly perfect, the model Hashira, he devotes himself entirely to slaying demons and protecting others. His flaws are hidden underneath the surface. Uzui is so obviously flawed. If the kidnapping attempt didn’t clue you in on that. Rengoku doesn’t think too highly of himself despite all of his talent. Uzui looks down on other people as the god of flashiness. Rengoku works with the kids, and Uzui bosses them all around, and the fact that he was willing to kidnap Aoi and force her into the mission leaves a bad impression on his qualities as a mentor. 

2. Ninjas are masters of Deception

The first clue that Rengoku is more than he seems however, is when we learn why Uzui is in such a hurry to complete the mission in the enertainment district. His three wives are already undercover and he’s completely lost contact with them. Though he doesn’t show it in front of the kids necessarily or voice his worries, his actions of completely strongarming and bulldozing everyone begins to make sense.

He also exrpresses genuine concern for Zenitsu when he disappears, and regret for bringing them along on the mission and putting them directly into danger. Uzui isn’t harsh to the sense squad because he’s cruel and uncaring, but because he understands the danger of the mission and is trying to bring them up to his standards. 

Underneath his loud and flashy behavior on the outside, Uzui is thoughtful and self aware of the dangers present in their lives, and also the consequences for his actions. He starts the arc in a rush, and selfish, but he has a genuine moment of self reflection where he acknowledges his selfishness when he realizes how it’s hurt others. He even tries to take responsiblity for using the Sense Squad the way he has by shouldering everything by himself from now on. Tanjiro believes it’s because he doesn’t trust them but it’s actually the opposite, it’s Uzui showing his selflessness in his own way. 

Uzui is still a prideful and self-centered peron, but those flaws aren’t all he is as a person, and there’s also a positive side to his attitude, he has something positive to teach Tanjiro. 

There’s no shame in this, to survive means victory. Remember what Tanjiro has immediately been through. Not only did he put Rengoku on a pedestal for his selflessness and willingness to help others, he also has survivor’s guilt for the fact that Rengoku sacrificed himself to take down a demon, and not only did it not work,b ut Tanrjio was able to do nothing other than survive at that moment. 

Rengoku even tries to verbalize to Tanjiro that his death isn’t Tanjiro’s fault,t hat the leaders and older members are supposed to protect the younger ones. However that’s not what Tanjiro internalizes. Remember, Tanjiro not only has survivor’s guilt he has a double dose of it, not only wasn’t he able to stop the death of Rengoku, he also wasn’t even there when the rest of his family was picked off by demons, and Nezuko was turned. Tanjiro’s survivor’s guilt tells him these things are his fault, and invites him to feel he should have died alongside him. Tanjiro continually struggles on his own feelings of helplessness, that these situations are somehow his fault, and if he were stronger they wouldn’t happen. 

Tanjiro even assumes afterwards in this scene that Uzui wanting to continue the mission alone from now on must be Uzui looking down on them or thinking of them as useless, not, genuine concern for their safety. However, Uzui ultiamtely believes the same thing that Rengoku does. There’s no shame in Tanjiro’s survival. Tanjiro living another day is a win in it’s own right. 

If Tanjiro internalized the wrong lesson at the end of the Rengoku arc, it’s Uzui’s mentorship that allows Tanjiro to realize that there’s value in his survival to continue to struggle along another day.

Uzui is a character who stresses over and over again that there’s value in everyone else around him living, that they should prioritize their life voer the mission. This even reflects on his background, he started out as a shinobi in a shinobi family, completely unafraid to die to complete an objective, watching all of the rest of his siblings die for the mission as well. 

We have an arc of self-sacrfice, and the immediate follow up emphasizes again and again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to live and continue living. Rengoku’s flaw is that he burnt out too fast. He was too selfless. The result of his selfless sacrifice is yes, he proected the kids who were under his responsbility, but he also died right in front of them and they suffered from his death. That’s always the dark side to self-sacrifice, it’s never a completely positive actions, especially to the people you leave behind. 

Uzui is selfish, and he tries to encourage others to be selfish because he wants them to take care of themselves. It’s the positive aspect of selfishness. You can still help others, while prioritizing yourself and taking care of yourself.  Uzui is basically telling Tanjiro’s survival guilt as loudly as possible to shut up. 

Most of all, Uzui emphasizes you don’t have to be perfect, or even completely selfless to keep on living. Uzui’s background is as a ruthless ninja. He’s not someone bold and kind like Rengoku. He even thinks that he can never be like Rengoku. 

Yet, Uzui is also someone who survived all of that. He lived on carrying all his sins he committed being born into a ninja family, and is carrying them every day of his life. It’s because Uzui lived and survive for so long that Uzui was able to also grow into a more selfless individual, who is no longer taking others lives, but protecting them. Uzui is like Tanjiro in a way, a survivor who is struggling with his inner weakness. 

By the end of thearc Tanjiro has learned something important from him, that no matter how much he feels he should have died alongside his family, he should have died alongside Rengoku, that both times he should hafe done more, there’s no value to him dying at those moments. This is a lesson he carries with him for the rest of the series, and because of that he’s even able to give helpful cousnel to Giyuu who struggles with the same survivor’s guilt. The same Giyuu who at the beginning of the series lectured Tanjiro that it’s his fault Nezuko was taken by demons, that if he continues to be weak then what happens to him from now on it was also his fault. 

He’s able to counsel Giyuu, because it wasn’t wrong of him to live while Sabito died. Sabito sacrificed his life for Giyuu because he cared for him. He shouldn’t have to feel shame that he continued on living, because not only was that life a gift, Sabito wanted Giyu to survive. 

If there’s worth is sacrificing yourself, and fighting selflessly for the sake of others. There is also worth in protecting yourself, and living on fight another day. The compare and contrast between Uzui and Rengoku is something that shows us this nuance, that selflessness isn’t always a good thing, that selfishness isn’t always a bad thing. People are selfish, people are selfless, but most of all they are just struggling along trying to live in this world. 

#kny meta #kimetsu no yaiba meta #kimetsu no yaiba theory #enertainment district arc #mugen train #infinity train #uzui tengen #tanjiro kamado #rengoku senjuro