yeehaw

we see that from the first chapter where he's about to set off to sell coal, kie reassures tanjiro that he doesn't have to go, then kneels to his level and cleans his face attentively, she even discourages his siblings from going with him as not to tire or slow him

then after her death she shows up to apologize to tanjiro and asks him to look out for his sister

even in tanjiro dream she asks him not to push himself too hard

kie's gentle love is evident in the way she interacts with nezuko in mount natagumo and in her memory in the rld arc

the same can be said about tanjuro who in chapter 151 is described as a river. in the same chapter tanjiro is encouraged by his dad as he pats his head and praises him

then at night when tanjuro senses the bear he asks tanjiro to follow him, because It's important to him that his son learns how to defend their family after he is gone, but he makes sure to keep tanjiro out of danger, watching from a safe distance and when the threat is neutralized and tanjiro runs to him in tears, his dad doesn't shut him down for expressing his feelings instead he hugs and comforts him before he urges him to work hard and to never give up. he simply gentle parents him. he doesn't bubble wrap tanjiro, he lets him experience things but in a loving and firm care

tanjiro's outrage at enmu for portraying his family as cruel is an indication of the big difference between their true nature and enmu's lies

I really liked the Akaza fight. I particularly liked the Akaza fight from Giyuu's perspective.

You are Giyuu. Upper Demon Three shows up. This is the guy who killed your dear friend (or guy you worked with. relationship is unclear). Every blow he deals is a blow to kill. You dodge and dodge and strike back. The demon wants to know your name. You say, "I don't like talking." Akaza says, "Great, because I don't shut up."

You save Tanjiro's skin a few times. Akaza decides to blast you 100 kilometers away so he can have a plot-relevant conversation with Tanjiro without you ruining it. You're too late-20's for this. You run 100 kilometers back to the scene of the battle. Your back hurts.

You start duking it out with Akaza now. REALLY full-throttle. Your mark appears which is gonna cut your lifespan or whatever. If Akaza doesn't cut your lifespan first. But he's matching your new power and speed! This is bad! Where's Tanjiro? He's--Tanjiro is just standing there. Like he's JUST standing there. He looks like he's thinking about something--and thinking is NOT this boy's strong-suit--but FUCK Kamado get IN HERE. HELP. DUDE. You can't keep carrying this team on your back, your back hurts.

Tanjiro's gone full NPC. Whatever. Guess he can betray you in death. Not worth your concern, because your full concern is on the demon who is beating you to hell. Like you are holding your own but this guy regenerates all his limbs!! That's not fair!! You're too many broken ribs in and too many quarts of blood-loss deep to waste time on the fairness of it all. Not when you're about to waste the rest of your time on the dyingness of it all.

Cuz yeah, you're done for. Spent. Akaza snapped your sword. You are deader than dead. You're pre-dead. You're alive enough to know just how dead you are. Akaza comes in for the final blow and--rather than wondering if you have any regrets--you wonder if you have anything in life you don't regret.

But wait, Tanjiro's up. He's not only not dead, he's different... somehow. And Akaza can't seem to sense him. You have a chance, maybe. If you can stall, maybe. If Tanjiro can get this sneak attack in, maybe.

Tanjiro yells "Akaza hey I'm gonna cut your head off now!!!!!" And you go back to counting your regrets.

Akaza spins around on Tanjiro. Tanjiro waltzes up to death's door and cuts Akaza's head off.

Wait what.

What.

Like he did a little spin flip and just. Clean off. One strike. Where did that come from. How. What the fuck.

Okay. Okay okay. Great. Awesome. I mean you loosened it, but whatever. Great. You did it. You won.

How the fuck did Tanjiro do that.

You consider asking Tanjiro but he like rolled over, threw up, and passed out. Fair.

But wait. Why the FUCK is Akaza's body still moving. Jesus fucking christ that's gotta be against the rules. Tanjiro's out cold. It's all you can do to distract the body from Tanjiro by getting your ass firmly kicked. You go back to counting your regrets.

You only manage to stall long enough for Tanjiro to wake up, but there's little else you can do. You and Tanjiro get to die conscious, against this body that cannot be killed--or at least not at the hands of two half-dead and bled-out swordsmen. Is this better? That both you and Tanjiro get to die conscious.

Akaza's headless body is regenerating its head. Akaza's headless body is preparing the same attack that killed your friend-coworker-situationship guy. You've read this book. You know how this ends. You die here, now, finally. Good, maybe. The back and forth was getting a little whiplashy. You can get back to finishing counting your regrets.

But Tanjiro has recognized the devastating attack too, and he's shouting a warning to you. You tell him to leave you behind. He doesn't. With the last of his strength, he runs and tackles you in a effort to save you from the blast radius. But it's futile. You're both within range. 10 kilometers is probably in range. You know what power lives inside that attack.

You brace. Akaza's body unleashes his final attack.

...Which Akaza uses to repeatedly punch himself in the head and the torso and the arms and legs and all over he punches himself punches himself punches himself stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself.

Akaza's head is gone again. His body is full of holes. He's just standing there.

The body is still regenerating. Akaza doesn't have a face but you somehow understand he's upset about this. Maybe embarrassed. You consider looking away, to be polite.

The body walks away. Stands there for a second. Kneels on the floor. Seems to be thinking about a lot of stuff. You don't want to be rude and interrupt. The body finally makes up its not-mind about something and just.... dies.

You and Tanjiro are alive.

Yes. Always. Good lord. I never understand why people can turn this into a big serious discussion. Yes, One Punch Man would beat Thanos. He would beat Luke Skywalker, Superman, every single character from Dragon Ball Z, and every ninja from Naruto. He would beat Thor and Wolverine and the Hulk in a tag team match. 

Because he plays by different rules. One Punch Man is a PARODY character. His skill set is defined by comedy, not power levels or physical strength. One Punch Man not Superman facing off against an ever-more powerful lineup of villains. He’s the Roadrunner against Wil E. Coyote’s ever more convoluted plans. Deadpool is the only other super hero type character who comes close to living in the same realm of parody, but frankly, Deadpool repeatedly getting the crap beat out of him would be funnier than Deadpool winning, so One Punch Man would win that fight too, even if he can’t actually kill Deadpool in one punch. Because parody.