Demon Slayer Vol. 20: The Path of Opening a Steadfast Heart
- ISBN
- 9781974720972
- Publisher
- Viz Media
- English release
- Pages
- 192
- Chapters
- 170–178
The strongest of the Upper Ranks falls in this book. Chapters 170 to 178 are the second half of the fight with Kokushibo that began in Vol. 19, and they end it. That makes this the nearest thing to a chapter break inside the final battle: Vols. 16 to 20 are the castle's duels, and Vols. 21 to 23 are Muzan. A reader buying in stages can pause here more comfortably than anywhere else after Vol. 15. The volume takes its name from chapter 173, 'The Path of Opening a Steadfast Heart', the longest volume title in the English run. In Japan it shipped in May 2020, five days before the serialization ended, in regular and limited editions that sold 1,990,249 copies between them. Only the regular edition has an English counterpart.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
Kokushibo is beaten by four people, and two of them do not survive it. Genya, who fights by eating demons, and Muichiro, the Mist Hashira, give their lives to open the way, and Gyomei and Sanemi finish it. The brothers' story that began in Vol. 13 is closed in the first chapter of Vol. 21, which is titled 'Feelings for Elder Brother, Feelings for Younger Brother'. What makes the volume more than attrition is its last third. Chapters 176 to 178, 'Samurai', 'Younger Brother' and 'Even If You Reach Out Your Hand', are Kokushibo's own. He was a Demon Slayer, the older twin of Yoriichi, the swordsman the training doll in Vol. 12 was modeled on, and he became a demon out of envy, to perfect a sword he could never make the equal of his brother's. The argument to have with it is proportion: the antagonist of two volumes gets three chapters of interior life, and the two boys who die stopping him get less. The series is more generous to its monsters than to its children.
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