During his training with Sakonji, he demonstrates the ability to smell traps, and when he defeats the Hand Demon, he’s able to actually smell its emotions. As Tanjiro’s skills improve, his sense of smell also enhances from its already impressive default state.
As Tanjiro’s skills improve, his sense of smell also enhances from its already impressive default state. As a demon slayer, he’s capable of tracking demons with his nose like a bloodhound, following their scent over vast distances and even anticipating their attacks with his sense of smell when they try to fight him.
Perhaps the manga sheds a bit more light on Tanjrio’s powerful sense of smell, but as far as the anime canon goes, it makes very little sense. Tanjiro’s water breathing technique offers his combat a visual flair. It also gives viewers an explanation for Tanjiro’s fluidity in battle.
Tanjiro’s olfactory abilities are so advanced that he’s able to use his nose to interpret his surroundings to a staggering degree. During his training with Sakonji, he demonstrates the ability to smell traps, and when he defeats the Hand Demon, he’s able to actually smell its emotions.
This of course begs the question “Can Tanjiro’s sense of smell work against hashira?”
One way to consider this is when Tanjiro is put on trial in front of the Hashira for sheltering a demon his sense of smell is one of the factors considered when deciding his fate. The fact that Tanjiro was able to track Muzan Kibutsuji with his sense of smell seemed to be a small thing until viewers found out that nobody has been able to find Kibutsuji in years.
This gives Tanjiro speed, power, and resilience that far surpass ordinary human beings. It’s an extremely important part of his power set because using his various combat breathing maneuvers is very draining and can leave him completely exhausted if he’s not careful.
Does Tanjiro’s character make sense in Demon Slayer?
In a lot of ways, Tanjiro’s character makes no sense. His innate strength and canine like sense of smell are just a few of the things viewers have struggled to make sense of from the first season of Demon Slayer. But there are a lot of things that surprisingly do make sense about him.
What are Tanjiro’s special abilities in Demon Slayer?
The first special ability that Tanjiro demonstrates in Demon Slayer is his incredible sense of smell. Even before being recruited by Giyu Tomioka and training for the Demon Slayer Corp’s final examination, Tanjiro demonstrates a sense of smell that rivals a canine.
How did Tanjiro get his mark?
On how Tanjiro receives this mark, the interesting fact is that it originally wasn’t a mark. It was merely a scar born out of an accident where he saved his brother out of the way of a falling brazier. But soon, as Tanjiro ventures into his journey to become the strongest Demon Slayer, his scar transforms into a mark.