In the recently finished Demon Slayer season 3 titled Swordsmith Village, fans finally saw Upper Moon four and five, Hantengu and Gyokko, respectively, in action. However, it seems that their characters weren’t as fleshed out as fans would have hoped for. Under Ufotable’s production, the Swordsmith arc of Demon Slayer was animated in the third season. In this season, the two fearsome and strong upper moons were devoid of a complicit backstory that could give the fans a sense of satisfaction.
Even though Hantengu’s backstory was slightly worked upon in the final minutes of the fight against Kamado Tanjiro, fans didn’t see Gyoko’s backstory at all. That leads everyone to believe, that Ufotable missed a trick there to include those backstories and made the characters even more striking than they were.
Demon Slayer season 3 saw Hantengu and Gyokko in action but didn’t narrate their backstory clearly enough
After an exciting animation of the Entertainment District Arc, Ufotable production gave fans another smooth and catchy animation in Demon Slayer season 3. Animation aside, there were a few problems that a Demon Slayer fan may have with the latest season.
As has been the case with many upper moons and lower moons, their backstories have always given a peek into their human life, or how they were before they were turned into demons by Muzan. For example, in Mount Natagumo arc of Demon Slayer, Lower Moon Five Rui’s backstory was dynamic and caught sympathy from the readers/viewers.
Even though Hantengu’s backstory was shown vaguely in Demon Slayer season 3, the backstory of Gyokko, who fought against the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito, wasn’t shown at all. It is worth mentioning that even Koyoharu Getouge’s manga Demon Slayer doesn’t show Gyokko’s backstory
In chapter 126 of Demon Slayer, a spread panel did give the readers a vague clue about Hantengu’s human life or past. It also showed how he was a delusional and kleptomaniac person who had committed many heinous crimes.
However, Gyokko didn’t seem to get any backstory except in Demon Slayer’s Databook. It mentioned that Gyokko’s name as a human was Managi and he lived on the outskirts of a fisherman’s village.
Managi used to collect the carcasses of fish and did other strange activities that made him a very repulsive person. One day, he even murdered a child and stuffed him in a jar, and when the child’s parents found out about this, they stabbed Managi in a fit of rage and left him to die.
Eventually, Muzan approached him and that’s how he became a Demon.
Ufotable missed a trick by not showing this backstory in the Demon Slayer season 3. Fans believe that they also could have worked on the vague backstory of Hantengu a bit more for the viewers. Overall, however, Demon Slayer season 3 was an exciting season and fans cannot wait for more Ufotable animation in the future.
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