#kny reference

[crescent-blades]

What Rank did Michikatsu [Human Kokushibō] Hold as a Samurai?

When we think of a samurai, we often envision a fierce warrior prepared for battle. While this is partly true, we often tend to forget the internal heirarchy among them. Like any military group, samurai had a clear chain of command for smooth operations. However, it's important to note that samurai were a social class rather than a military one. 

These "ranks," or more so, distinctions within the samurai were closely tied to hereditary social status, the extent of land ownership, and titles within the clan, rather than personal skills, which could vary depending on the era.  

In this discussion, we will concentrate on the Sengoku era, as it is relevant to our topic. I will examine Michikatsu's role based on the available canonical information. 

⚠ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠ | Masterlist

⨳ Where His Father stood   

In the image above, Michikatsu talks about his father having a "vassal." A lot could be inferred from this, but it is likely that his father either might be a samurai lord [Sengoku daimyo] or a wealthy, high-ranking samurai who supports smaller samurai. 

[Daimyo (大名): military lords who controlled small, unified areas in which all the land either belonged to themselves or was held in fief by their vassals] [Vassals: subordinates who pledged their loyalty and obligations towards powerful lords] 

So essentially, he was not just an ordinary samurai but rather a figure of considerable importance. His possession of vassals and land suggests that he must be exercising some form of governance, implying that he is possibly some sort of lord having an independent clan. 

As you can see, he seemed to have personal servants:   

And also personal messengers:     

Though it is rather difficult to tell whether he was a powerful lord or not—an actual daimyo who was the direct vassal of the shogun, or just a lesser lord having a smaller land—possibly a heir to the family head or a landowner with a fief.

⨳ Was The Tsugikuni Clan Powerful? 

First, let us understand what was going on during that time:  

"This was the 'Age of Warring States', when scores of minor daimyo seized power for themselves in their immediate localities and fought each other until, during the mid-16th century, a comparative handful of 'super-daimyo' competed with each other on a grand scale before Japan was finally reunified" [source]

From this, it seems logical to assume that the Tsugikuni clan was a smaller one rather than a grand one—also considering Michikatsu's father's rather obsessive nature and his intense determination on getting better heirs, even to the point of being willing to harm his own family due to superstitious beliefs. Better heirs: more likely the clan gets to thrive and gain power.

Also, if we consider these words from Kokushibou:  

Notice how he says this—he doesn't seem to be very surprised to know that his clan's name has died out, which would only solidify the fact that his clan must not be very powerful to begin with. [Considering that many direct descendants of the major clans today still seem to be thriving, with many carrying out their clan names. Muichiro seems to be an exception here]   

So now that we know that his clan was likely not a powerful one, we could also assume that his father was a local lord rather than a full on daimyo for obvious reasons. Not only that, but this would also suggest that their clan must be a retainer family—they would be under a much stronger lord—a powerful daimyo, whom they would had to serve.

⨳ MICHIKATSU'S POSIBBLE RANK [DISTINCTION]  

Before moving on, I would just like to point out that holding a high-ranking position as a samurai—such as leading troops— was a result of personal achievement rather than mere familial ties. If a family did not meet the necessary standards of talent and capability, their members would be assigned to lesser roles based on who they served.

With that being said, let us now try fitting in Michikatsu into all of this and find out what military rank he should have based on his family background:

Initailly, I was rather confused and wondered if Michikatsu could be a Hatamoto. They were the highest ranking samurai, considered the most loyal and skilled, who acted as bodyguards towards their lord. Sounds familiar, right? However, there was one piece of canon information that completely debunked this idea:

Samurai usually had to chop off their enemy’s head as proof of their kills; typically that shouldn't be done by the hatamoto, as they typically stayed close to their lords as a last resort instead of fighting on the front lines like the others. 

Okay.. so he probably isn't a hatamoto. If his first instinct was to bring the head of Ubuyashiki to Muzan, then it suggests he must have done this before. if that's the case, then he must have ranked lower than a hatamoto, more so in a class where he might have been around collecting heads. After looking into what the manga could offer, I reached two conclusions:

1. He was a Taisho (大将)[general]: These ranked officials were the generals in the Daimyo's army, leading groups of soldiers called kumi. Depending on the troops they commanded, they were either referred to as Samurai-taisho or Ashigaru-taisho. They usually oversaw multiple kumi, each consisting of around 50 to 100 men. 

2. He was a Kumigashira (組頭) [captain/platoon commander]: These officers controlled and led a single kumi of troops and were called samurai-kumigashira or ashigaru-kumigashira based on the type of troops in their kumi; which, often consisted upto 15-30 men each.

-> By those conical hats (jingasa) those men are wearing, I'm pretty sure they are depicted as Ashigaru foot soldiers. [This explains why he refers to them as his subordinates, as ashigaru were considered lower than samurai.]

Looking at the image, I doubt there are 50-100 men present there, and it seems more likely there are about 15-30. Therefore, we can conclude that he must be an Ashigaru-kumigashira.   

Also, when people talk about Ashigaru, they usually think of peasants taken out of their farms. This is a misconception. Even though they were lower in class, ashigaru were generally treated as full on warriors. Not only were they as capable as their samurai counterparts, some were even stronger than them.The men under Michikatsu's command were fully capable and skilled swordsmen.

⨳ Michikatsu's Troops and His Role:    

A general overview of the make up of the sengoku era army

—In short, the troops were reorganised in Sonae, which had between 300 to 800 men. Each Sonae included various types of troops. They were split into smaller units called Kumi, based on their weapons. These included archers, gun squads, cavalry, spear squads, and standard bearers.

By looking at these images, I see no one holding weapons, just a few casual swords thrown in here and there, which I find to be very odd.. 

Perhaps Michikatsu had set up his base further from his soldiers and gathered them up for a speech about the next day's plans just before they went to sleep? This could explain why they were caught off guard by the demon and didn’t have their weapons ready. After all, it’s strange not to have your weapons out when you are being attacked.   

Regardless of the situation, his troops should be either a spear unit [Yari-gumi (長柄組)] or an archer unit [Yumi-gumi (弓組)].

These troops Consisted of: 1 samurai commander/katana samurai, 2-4 servants, ~20-30 foot soldiers, 3 labourers, 1 cavalry horse, and 2 packhorses.

Why you ask? This is because, firstly; guns weren't introduced until the mid sengoku period in 1543 [Michikatsu is theorised to be born around 1432] In the cavalry unit, the troops consisted of samurai rather than ashigaru, and bannermen did not engage in battle. 

MICHIKATSU'S ROLE: Although there is not much provided anywhere about these commanders, from everything I have gathered: These commanding officers used to lead a unit of ashigaru soldiers. They were ranked below the sodaisho and samurai daisho (commanders) and an ashigaru taisho.

He would be assigned to train them, discipline the foot soldiers, and turn uneducated common men into reliable warriors. He would command and lead them, ensuring everyone followed his commands and maintained order within the ranks, and not disrupt the hierarchy. Hmm that sounds familiar doesn't it?

[I might actually make a detailed post about the military formation with Michikatsu if any of you are interested.]   

Final thoughts: 

[A/n: Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post. No, I haven't abandoned my blogs. I just took a short break last week. Now I'm back and eager to share a theory with you all! Which I will be posting more of, both here and on my other blog, @gilded-sunrays. Please feel free to share your insights!]  

And if you've made it through all of this, then I thank you wholeheartedly!

[demonslayedher]

Demons probably hate this time of year.

As the last of the mountain cherry blossoms fade, the wild wisteria open with one fragrant bud after another after another. While cultivated trellises are cut and maintained to sway like a maiden's kimono sleeves, wild wisteria vines are fierce and grip the tallest of trees, spreading their tendrils across the highest branches to selfishly soak up the sunlight.

By daylight, the hills are dusted with purple among the bamboo, pines, and cedar. By night, demons might safely prowl far below the treetops, but the sickening sweet scent may waft down to make them feel as choked as the dominated treetops.

[abbyfandomgalaxy]

So I've been working on recently making a demon slayer/kny oc, but to do that I needed to learn the art style first. So I traced some of the bodies of the adult women in the series(Shinobu, Mitsuri, and Tengen's wives.) to learn how to draw the adult female bodies in the kny art style, and the eyes of female characters to learn how to draw female eyes in the art style. I'm posting what I created here in case anyone else wants to use them as a base or a reference. If you post them somewhere else please credit me!

[e-adlirez]

quote adapted from Kimetsu no Yaiba/Demon Slayer, chapter 175a

[dark-raven-666]

Demon slayer masterlist

- monster energy drinks I would assign each hashira

- monster energy drinks I would assign each hashira p2

- monster energy drinks I would assign each upper moon p1

- monster energy drinks I would assign each upper moon p2

[beddybites]

official pint sized pillar au reference sheets !!

sorta in preparation for the ask blog but mostly so its easier for me to draw them, otherwise im changing their designs constantly. whoopsies. also people keep asking and yes ofc ur allowed to draw them! if you do please @ me so i can see! hoping to have the blog up and running by the end of the week

[yuki2sksksk]

Kimetsu Academy sillies

[ratwithhands]

A shitpost conjured with a friend. The context for this is so convoluted but all you need to know is:

this took an entire day for him to get suitably dressed

he immediately got sucker punched for trying this

This AU is found family and mentorship on the human side and absolute jokes on the demon side. Muzan assumed Yoriichi killed Kokushibo and proceeded to hide in his delusion pit until he came back missing braincells 💀

I'll make Muzan more serious later but until the main cast starts being a real threat, he's mostly just working in the castle and whining about not getting results to his moons.

He is not cheesed to be here.

[painyrainy]

shitty drawings but I learned how to anatomy kind of

[demonslayerunhinged]

No thoughts, just hands in Demon Slayer

They're a thing of beauty

Maybe Yoshikage Kira was onto something 👀

[gyutaro-truther]

Gyutaro Human Model Sheets

[demonslayedher]

References for KnY Writers: Taisho Period

Below are links to my entries about the Taisho Period and how it might affect the KnY characters (at least according to canon resources, my research, and my interpretations). Please see here for the full masterlist of References for KnY Fic Writers.

Background info: The Taisho Period (1912-1926) a bit of an in-between period in a lot of ways, with Westernization already several decades underway, but with many new policies not yet uniformly enforced in the countryside. In some ways, rural life went on like it did in the late Edo period. The majority of Kimetsu no Yaiba most likely would have taken place in 1915. This means that it's still a little early for the full-on "Taisho Roman" fashions, but the groundwork was there.

-Notes on Corp salary, simple conversions into Taisho currency, as well as other monetary details -Taisho Period overview of the Yoshiwara Pleasure District -Photos and details of preserved Taisho Period brothel -How a Taisho Period birthday may be celebrated -How a Taisho Period New Years may be celebrated (in the case of the Kamados) -How keeping track of one's age was different in the Taisho Period -Photography and education in the Taisho Period -More on Taisho education and literacy rates -Marriage and being a girl in the Taisho Period -Polygamy and the Meiji Civil Code -Dating and wedding night protocol -Being queer in the Taisho Period (and beyond) -A few real life folk songs featured in KnY -Taisho Period undergarments -Taisho Period beverages and drinking age (separate masterlist of KnY-related food here)

-Flush toilets were a thing (and there are toilets in the Infinity Fortress)

[simplytemonade]

When Obanai isn't hiding, he's pretty elegant

[deathly-delights]

My addition to this meme, lol 👽

[dwellsinthebog]

if you're still doing doodle requests, how about fem renkaza?

ok so this took me forever to finish bc Life got in the way but safe to say I am fucking OBSESSED with what i've created

akaza's tats are a mix between her canon demon tats + hakuji's tats. speaking of hakuji, i've always had a pretty neutral stance on the "hakuji & akaza are twins" thing that people sometimes do in modern aus, but i think the idea is growing on me. they're fraternal twins of the opposite sex in this, but they still look pretty damn similar.

akaza i imagine dropped out of college bc she got caught up with muzan (organized crime yippee!!). hakuji, meanwhile, is in his first year of med school. kyojuro's a college junior but she started late bc she spent a few gap years working at her family's company, decided she kinda hated it, and is now going to do corporate law (on the side against corporations. shinjuro is predictably unhappy). they're both in their mid-20s.

surprising literally nobody, they met at the gym. kyojuro was the one who made the first move (akaza would've been perfectly happy to pine from afar forever lol).

i've always imagined fem renkaza as butch4butch (which i still 100% stand by, don't get me wrong), but something about butch4femme renkaza was hitting when i drew these <3

also there was more than these 2 pages but i thought it was a little too spicy for a reply to an ask teehee

[darlingcloudie-9]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANAO TSUYURI I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!!! :heart: