Memes / Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Please add entries in the following format:

• The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] ^ExplanationLike this.
  • Further mutations and successor memes, if any.

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• In Japan, a meme surfaced in 2017 that briefly crossed this series over with The Promised Neverland, an image edit◊ of Zenitsu being scared witless of Sister Krone made its rounds in Japanese imageboards, to the point Zenitsu somehow was voted the 29th most popular character in The Promised Neverland for its first official poll, while Sister Krone was voted the 59th most popular character in this series for its first official poll; the meme persisted in 2020, as the series 2nd official poll still got its votes for Sister Krone, even rose to 49th place. Going even further the meme was in fact recognized by Shueisha itself in 2019, as they made a gigantic mural with hundreds of Shonen Jump characters being all over a school building, Zenitsu and Krone were paired together alone, creating the same effect of Zenitsu being scared of Krone as she looms behind him.
• The scene from episode 21 where Kanao chases the shrunken Nezuko spawned various memes.
• Tanjiro's look of disgust◊ at Zenitsu when they first meet has gotten a lot of traction as a reaction image. Fan artists even sometimes find it mandatory to include whenever drawing Tanjiro or Nezuko in Tanjiro's role.
• No one likes Giyu.
• After the "I am not disliked by people" scene and the discovery that Giyu shares the same voice actor as Reigen Arataka, a spin-off of the #RedrawReigen meme kickstarted but with Giyu and the other Hashira called #RedrawGiyu.
  • The Hashira aren't the only ones to get all the fun - #RedrawInosuke also exists.
• Shinobu and Tanjiro on the roof◊.^ExplanationIn Episode 24, Shinobu properly introduces herself to Tanjiro by invading the hell out of his personal space. The amount of uncomfortable near-sexual tension of this scene has led to many (mostly NSFW) memes about Shinobu coming onto Tanjiro. "Ara ara..." indeed. Even more Hilarious in Hindsight now that Shinobu's older sister Kanae, voiced by Ai Kayano no less, actually does go "Ara Ara" in the show.
• Kaigaku's Early-Bird Cameo in the anime lead to an avalanche of parodies of the flashback, whether it's about the peaches he's eating, him throwing those peaches at Zenitsu, or Kaigaku's open shirt exposing his pecs which likewise became infamously common in fan art.
• "You mustn't laugh! You mustn't, you mustn't, you mustn't!◊"
• Comparing Muzan to Michael Jackson due to the former's resemblance to the latter in the Smooth Criminal music video.
• The series' constant comedic Art Shifts have gotten a lot of traction as reaction images. Most prominent are the interactions between Tanjiro and Kanao in Episode 26. This artstyle is often called as "potato" by the fandom
• Boku wo...tsurete... SUSUMEEEEEEEE!^ExplanationLyrics from the series OP "Gurenge" right before the chorus.
• Flowers.^ExplanationThe first shot of the ending credits is of red spider lilies. This image has since been circulating as possibly the most frustrating image of the anime season, as the episodes love to end on a Cliffhanger.
• And now, time for a Taisho secret!◊^ExplanationWhere at the end of episodes (and omake sketches in the manga), Word of God trivia tidbits are told to the audience about some characters. This was found to be extremely exploitable by fans.
• Kirito Demon Slayer/Kirito no Yaiba.^ExplanationA smaller joke that spawned due to the fact that Inosuke duel-wields swords, and happens to be voiced in Japanese by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. But when it was revealed that Inosuke would also be voiced by Kirito's English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook, the jokes skyrocketed.
• Tsuyuri "Two-Face" Kanao.^ExplanationKanao's dependency on coin flips to make her own decisions has brought on many comparisons to Two-Face. It doesn't help that one of her eyes goes blind near the end of the manga, causing further comparisons to the imbalanced faces.
• BUCKETS!^ExplanationWhen Nezuko awakens her Demon Blood Art during the Mount Natagumo Arc, she Calls Her Attack. The Demon Blood Art is called "Exploding Blood" or "Bakketsu" in Japanese. To the english speaking fandom, it sounded a lot like she was yelling "Buckets".
• Oyabun Inosuke.^{Explanation (slight spoilers)}After the swordsmith arc in chapter 128, Nezuko starts learning to talk again, but Inosuke happens to see this and immediately decides to train her into saying his name. He even tries to get Nezuko to call him "Oyabun Inosuke" or "Boss Inosuke", with Nezuko being able to almost say his name as "Oyapun Imosuke" or "Bosh Imosuke". This ends up working out oddly enough, but it makes Zenitsu jealous as he swears revenge on Inosuke.
• Ara Ara Sayonara.^ExplanationShinobu says this when Murata freaks out and flees in embarrassment over badmouthing the Hashira while she's behind him. The connotation that "ara ara" usually entails in the anime community made the line especially◊ exploitable◊ in◊ various forms◊ and helped shove Shinobu dangerously closer to Memetic Molester territory.

• Comparing Shinobu with Pokémon Sword and Shield's Klara due to both their design and profession being based around poison.
  • It is taken a step further when Mitsuri Kanroji is literally brought into the mix, resulting in the two female Hashira fusing together to create Klara.

• Jokes comparing Rengoku to a donut due to Akaza killing him by punching him straight through his torso at the end of the Mugen Train Arc has also been popular online, especially on YouTube.

• Muzan's extreme mistreatment of his own demons has earned notoriety in the Japanese fandom, spawning many memes about "black company" (ブラック企業 burakku kigyō) and "power harassment" (パワハラ pawahara).
• Self Slayer: Jimetsu no Yaiba (自滅の刃 Jimetsu no Yaiba).^ExplanationThis word derives from how Muzan digs his own grave such as by disposing of his own demons, killing the doctor who gave him the Blue Spider Lily medicine and launching a half-baked invasion on the Demon Slayer headquarters which resulted in the deaths of all his Upper Ranks as well as himself.
• Hantengu's two-page flashback has spawned parodies, most notably ones that cross this series over with We Never Learn.
• Gonpachiro Kamaboko.^ExplanationThe Running Gag of Inosuke accidentally misnaming people. This is what he calls Tanjiro, immediately after he properly introduces himself.
• Teoni getting pissed over how they are in a new era became a topical meme as the Anime version of the Final Selection Arc coincided with an IRL change in the era (Heisei to Reiwa). The Kimetsu official Twitter account jumped on the meme bandwagon as well.
• American Breathing^ExplanationGenya being revealed to be a gun toter instead of a sword wielder like his comrades has many fans jokingly dub his "technique" as "American Breathing". Especially when one considers he cannot use breathing techniques.
• This edited video.^ExplanationThis video depicts Shinobu trying to get Giyuu's attention, only for the water Hashira to respond by slapping her butt. It quickly became viral mainly for being incredibly sudden and slightly lewd, and also for Shinobu's deadpan expression after the fact.
• Another Japan-specific one: Muzan's pre-final battle rant, and Tanjiro's reactions to it, became a pretty big meme for how utterly callous and self righteous it was
• If you dance [insert character] dies: ^ExplanationA series of memes from YouTube usually from shorts. The basic gist is a character (and the title) announces that if the other characters dance, someone (usually a hated antagonist like Muzan or Doma) will die. Sometimes, said character would to intervene to prevent their doom from dancing. In both cases it leads to various Demon Slayer characters dancing, 90% of the time it's an animation of them dancing "Carameldansen" with a nightcore version of "Bad Boy" by Cascada playing. Here's an example with 1.2 million views.

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