AUGGAUGSHAHGHH - Blog Posts

hello! your post about Giyuu's and Sanemi's emotional needs in a romantic relationship is incredibly good and accurate! I would really appreciate it if you did a similar investigation on Rengoku. if you're interested.

Aw shucks, ☺️ thank so much!! I'm going to disappoint you though, Aside from Inosuke and Haganezuka, Rengoku is the only character that I can't see in a relationship of any kind. I truly believe that he's 100% aro/ace, and I think I know why.

Delusional, bullshit theory incoming!

What I'm about to yap may seem controversial, but I think I can talk about it since I too am neurodivergent, but I strongly believe that Rengoku is intellectually disabled, I'm not sure which flavor of disability, but the kind that makes him have the mind of a child.

I have an autistic family member - Let's call him Leo, that acts similarly, although he's not as loud as Rengoku, but the similarities are there. Here are some things that I noticed that led me to this theory.

His straightforward and literal type of thinking. His inability to clock complex speech patterns like sarcasm and such, which could come across as him being thick, as noted by other characters. I mean, blud didn't even realize that Akaza was straight up flirting with him 😭

His has a fixation with food, Rika's words and becoming a Hashira.

His wide-eyed, one thousand, almost catatonic stare.

His lack of interest in romantic or sexual relationships.

His direct fighting style which doesn't really have any strategy other than just spamming his breathing style attacks, at least compared to the other Hashira's like Tengen, Sanemi, Shinobu, and Mitsuri. Notice how we don't get to really hear his thought process while he fights. Even in the Gaiden, his solution to defeating that demon was to deafen his ears, it's so straightforward like; sound = ears = bad so, sound = ears = no bad.

His cracked core. That part of the story always confused me because if anything Kyojuro has one of the strongest of spirits, then I figured that the core doesn't just represent his soul but his mind as well. So it was cracked not because his soul was fragile or weak, but because his mind was.

But what really cemented my theory is his relationship with Rika and Shinjuro - I think they both knew that Rengoku was special.

For Rika, I clocked it from the way she spoke to him. It was slow and very...deliberate, as if she wanted to make sure he properly understood what she was saying.

Even the tears that she shed, it was like she knew that life was going to be difficult for them, especially for Kyojuro because we all know that the world isn't kind to people who are different, but she trusted him to be strong, and she believed in him regardless.

For Shinjuro, his animosity towards his son's could be read as him being embarrassed by them, Senjuro that has a weak body and Kyojuro that has a weak mind. That's probably the reason why he made these statements when Tanjiro came to their household.

That's probably also why he didn't want Rengoku to join the Corps because he was worried that he wouldn't be able to cope, and I think he didn't want the Corps to know that the new Flame Hashira was simple-minded. Think about it, The Rengoku's are a legacy family, they existed even before Yorichii joined the Corps and taught them the breathing techniques.

I'm sure that aside from demon slaying, they are an actual Samurai clan, which would explain Rengoku's 'UMAI' thing and how his actions and beliefs mirror those of the Samurai.

I think Shinjuro's pride as a Rengoku came before his duty as a father, and after Rika died, he just couldn't cope. I'm sure the thoughts of what others would think and how they would mock him overwhelmed him, 'Look at him, a descendant of the great Rengoku clan who lost his wife and is left with two sons that aren't normal.' I think Kyojuro and Senjuro know this too, they are aware of their shortcomings and how it embarrasses their father. Which is what makes Kyojuro's words to Senjuro even more heartbreaking.

So he turned to alcoholism to cope because it's better to be drunk than to face the painful reality that he failed as a Rengoku, a husband, a father and a man. I believe he actually loved his sons, but his pride and his fears about other people's opinions clouded his mind. For all his hostility, Rengoku and Senjuro were still taken care of; he didn't chase them away, or neglect them (physically anyway), which tells me that he cared for them in some way and that's why they couldn't hate him and why Rengoku loved him till the very end.

Even their last interaction reads like Shinjuro can't face Rengoku because when he looks at his son all he sees a literal spitting image of himself but a failed image, and it will especially hurt because Rengoku is the first son, like in my home country firstborn sons are a big deal in some tribes, and it's hard when the son happens to be different in some way, especially when the son is disabled. My family friend is treated the same way by his dad, sadly.

After Rengoku's death, he tried to drown himself in alcohol to numb the pain and instead focused on his Rengoku pride he probably thought 'that stupid boy, his dumbass got himself killed' but Tanjiro's visit and hearing Kyojuro's last words from Senjuro brought him back to reality. He lost a child, weak-minded or not, that was his baby boy.

That's when he decides to put down the bottle and face reality that he failed his first son and if he doesn't clean up soon he'll lose the second one. This might seem controversial, but I love that Gotogue-sensei shows us that parents are people too. They have their hopes, dreams, struggles and demons, and they are just as complex as any one of us. And I say this as a child abuse survivor, it's not easy to see it when you live with them, but when you're safely far away you can in a way sympathize with them as fellow human beings.

Sorry for the yap, just had to get this out of my system. I'm sorry I don't have any relationship analysis of Rengoku, but I will say this:

Rengoku's disability is what makes his character so brilliant, in other media characters with similar disabilities are often relegated to the sidelines and are only focused on for the audience and other characters to mock them but to make an intellectually disabled man the most impactful character in the story after the great Yorichii is nothing short of masterful on Gotogue-sensei's part. Rengoku was the heart of the Corps, he was THE Pillar of the Pillars, which was why his death was so impactful and why we can still feel his influence even up to the latest season.

Even though he's well-loved within the fandom, I still see some people who think Rengoku is overrated because he's a simple, straightforward character, but here's the thing - that's what makes him so great. The beauty of his character IS in his simplicity. He could have allowed the treatment by his dad to turn a bitter edge lord, but he didn't, instead he worked hard and tried his best to be a mentor, role model and a beacon of light people could look to when it gets dark.

I also love the fact that despite his cheerful demeanor, you could still see that Shinjuro's words still hurt him.

But despite his pain, he always put on a brave and cheery face with everyone, especially his brother, and worked hard to give Senjuro the encouragement and love that he never got. I don't think he knew how loved he was, which was probably why he was surprised by Tanjiros words at Akaza.

Even though I mourn his death, I'm glad that he died knowing that he made his colleagues, his friends and most of all his mother proud and got the validation needed and rightly deserved.

tldr: Kyojuro don't need no hoes! 🙏🏼

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