Kimetsu no Yaiba: Stories of Water and Flame

Kimetsu no Yaiba: Stories of Water and Flame
Volume Information
Japanese Title	鬼滅の刃: 外伝
Romanized Title	Kimetsu no Yaiba: Gaiden
Cover Character(s)	Giyu Tomioka Kyojuro Rengoku
Pages	215
Japanese Release	December 4, 2020
English Release	January 4, 2022 (US/CA) March 3, 2022 (UK) March 2, 2022 (AU)
ISBN (JP)	ISBN 978-4-08-882521-2
ISBN (EN)	ISBN 978-1-9747-2838-1 (US/CA/UK/AU)

Kimetsu no Yaiba: Stories of Water and Flame (鬼 (き) 滅 (めつ) の刃 (やいば) : 外 (がい) 伝 (でん) , Kimetsu no Yaiba: Gaiden^?) is a volume consisting of Giyu Tomioka's Story and Kyojuro Rengoku's Story, as well as Kimetsu Between the Scenes!. The volume is written and illustrated by Ryoji Hirano, based on Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotoge.

Chapters

• Giyu Tomioka's Story: Part 1
• Giyu Tomioka's Story: Part 2
• Kyojuro Rengoku's Story: Part 1
• Kyojuro Rengoku's Story: Part 2
• Kimetsu Between the Scenes!

Synopsis

Savage demons devour unsuspecting humans in Taisho-era Japan. Armed with special swords, the Demon Slayer Corps fights to stop the devastation demons spread. Giyu Tomioka, the sole Water Hashira, and Kyojuro Rengoku, a high-ranking Kinoe, embark on missions to eliminate demons and prove their mettle as two of the fiercest Demon Slayers.

Giyu heads north to an area where a band of hunters was killed. He and the Insect Hashira meet Yae, the daughter of a slain hunter, who believes a bear killed her father, but the truth is harder to face. Kyojuro also receives his newest assignment and hopes completing it will prove he's worthy of the title Flame Hashira, which his father abandoned. An explosive battle unfolds as Kyojuro takes on a demon of the Twelve Kizuki who holds a grudge against Kyojuro's father.

Author's Comment

“	I'm so happy to be able to do what I love with a title I adore. I will treasure this forever! I hope readers who love Demon Slayer as much as I do will enjoy this book. Thank you to Gotoge-sensei and congratulations on completing the series! P.S. The movie was deeply moving!	”
—Ryoji Hirano, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Stories of Water and Flame

Extra Pages

Title Page

Congratulations for the Anime adaptation

Sketch of Yae and Taro

Sketch of Giyu and Shinobu

All of the Hashira

Sketch of Hairo

Kimetsu Between the Scenes! Special Chapter

Kimetsu Between the Scenes! Illustration

All of the Hashira 2

Afterword

Gotoge Congratulate

Volume Cover Sketch

Bonus Volume Back Cover

Bonus Volume Back Cover 2

Context in the Images

Sketches

• The Matagi are an organized group of hunters. Usually made up of only men, since women are prohibited from entering the mountains to hunt. (Because the mountain god is a woman, it was believed that the presence of other women would make her jealous and bring misfortune.) Concerned about Yae, who lost her mother at an early age, Matazo and his fellow matagi teach her how to shoot a gun and how to hunt, but they never hunted together, and Yae would take Taro and go hunting on her own, for which she was often scolded. The reason why Matazo, who had become a demon, ran away from Yae was because he had regained a little of his human consciousness by eating his friends due to starvation. When Matazo straddled Yae in the forest, he muttered her name, but the words were just spilling out from the little memory he had left after eating Taro and temporarily filling his stomach. If Giyu and Shinobu hadn't arrived, Yae would have been eaten just like Taro. The image shows Yae hugs Taro.
• In this scene, Giyu tells Shinobu, "We are Hashiras", but in the original story, he says, "I'm not a Hashira", so many people may be confused. But that's Giyu's way of being considerate to Shinobu, who has just become a pillar, saying, "We are Hashiras, so we have to be strong (since we've been appointed as Hashiras, let's both do our best)." Sorry for the confusion...! The image Shinobu's thought says "Maybe he didn't say enough words...?" while looking at Giyu.
• The Lower Rank Two Demon (Hairo). He actively targets Demon Slayer Corps' members and collects the handguards from the sword of the members he kills as trophies. He gets angry over small things, so he calms his anger by shooting himself in the head with a pistol, but he is unaware that his memory is becoming hazy due to repeated brain damage.
• Kimetsu Between the Scenes! Starting on the next page is a four-panel comic that was serialized in Jump+ as a bonus for the TV anime "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba". It was drawn with the aim of creating a place where everyone could have fun after watching the anime, but it was really fun drawing the cute Tanjiro and friends. The image shows Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.
• Kimetsu Between the Scenes! Image that shows Tanjiro cry happy, Zenitsu with overbite, and Inosuke yell "Big bro!! Big bro Rengoku!!" at Kyojuro.
• The Gotoge's congratulate image shows Kyojuro and Giyu facing each other. Kyojuro says "Come on, turn up the corners of your mouth! We are one and the same! Express your gratitude with a smile!" to Giyu and Giyu's thought while force himself to smile says "Gratitude".

Afterwords

“	I am deeply grateful to Gotoge-sensei for taking time out of a busy schedule to check my rough layouts and even make corrections. Working on these stories has made me love Demon Slayer even more! So I'd like to use this occasion to say thank you to Gotoge-sensei, everyone involved in production of this graphic novel, and all the readers. Thank you very much!	”
—Ryoji Hirano, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Stories of Water and Flame

“	I was very happy to have Hirano-sensei create these stories. When I had the chance to meet him at a New Year's party, I had no idea fate would bring us together like this. Many things showed me how closely he read Demon Slayer, so I was hap-hap-happy! I wish Hirano-sensei, everyone in his family, and the entire staff the best of health!	”
—Koyoharu Gotoge, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Stories of Water and Flame