Kagurabachi’s manga is now working its way through the early stages of the Sword Bearer Assassination Arc, and the newest chapter of the series absolutely went for broke with Chihiro Rokuhira’s most violent and bloodiest moment in the series thus far. Kagurabachi has quickly become one of the standout hits of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in only the first year of its official serialization. In fact, Shueisha’s looking to the series to potentially lead the magazine into the future now that franchises like My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen have reached their respective ends. So the real test for the manga has finally began.
With Kagurabachi now in the midst of its fourth major arc (third if you count the introduction and the vs. Sojo arcs as one continuous arc), the manga has started to push Chihiro more than ever before. He started out the series on a solitary path to vengeance, but the battles since have seen him open up more to those around him and potentially maybe even loosen up on those hardened edges. But as the newest fight pushes him to a new limit, Chihiro’s more steadfast in his desire to kill his enemies regardless of the monster he’ll become as a result.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Chihiro Finds the Killer Within
Kagurabachi Chapter 53 picks up shortly after Chihiro’s fight against Hirohiko begins. The Hishaku member is trying to get under Chihiro’s skin by noting that the two of them really should get to know each other and be friends. Chihiro has begun to surprise Hirohiko, and the Hishaku member in turn thinks that the only way that the two of them could become friends is through this desire to kill one another. Hirohiko is trying to then buy time by flooding the area with his paper sorcery, and keep Chihiro pinned down by the fact that there are innocent bystanders in the area.
Wanting to appeal to the killer within him, Hirohiko is doing this with the hope that Chihiro will be forced to use his abilities to cut through the innocent bystanders in order to catch up to him. He knows that the two of them are seen as monsters by the general public, and wants to draw it out. But Hirohiko’s soon disappointed as he sees Chihiro instead taking on Hirohiko’s paper attacks head on while sacrificing himself. Disappointed in the fact that Chihiro won’t just cut through the people instead.
Chihiro Gets Bloodier Than Ever Before
As Chihiro starts to take all of these attacks head on, he thinks back to a conversation he had with one of the Enchanted Blade wielders, Seiichi Samura, years before. Samura tells Chihiro that he shouldn’t be aspiring to be like the wielders because of what they’ve done. They each know they’re going to hell, and Samura and Chihiro’s own father want him to avoid that same kind of future. But through Chihiro’s eyes, they’re still very much the heroes that they try and argue they’re not. It’s because of this that Chihiro is still willing to walk down the path of a monster.
Using Kuro after taking all of those hits, Chihiro envelops the entire area in black and blood as Hirohiko is completely taken by surprise. Pinning down the Hishaku member, Chihiro declares that the first time he killed someone, he knew he was a monster. But rather than sit in this feeling, Chihiro is moving forward regardless with the desire to also take as many of the Hishaku down to Hell with him along the way. So while Chihiro might have been moving away from the cold blooded killer that kicked off the series, it’s clear that this darkness is still deep within him as he still vows to get his revenge.
