‘귀멸의 칼날’에 나타난 내셔널리즘-일본서기 신화와 욱일기

Abstract

Demon Slayer is a serialized manga that appeared in WEEKLY JUMP from 2016 to 2020. Parts of it were aired as an animated TV series in 2019, followed by its release as an animated feature film in 2020. This film, which was so popular that it set a new all-time box office record in Japan, received an enthusiastic response in Korea, but also caused a boycott due to claims that the work reflects Japanese nationalism. The controversy is triggered in the scene where the main character, Tanjiro, wears earrings with a pattern similar to the Rising Sun Flag, which has long been regarded as a symbol of Japanese imperialism. This paper seeks to break away from a focus on linking the main character's earrings to the Rising Sun Flag and further to Japanese imperialism, and examine instead the perspective towards the world reflected in Demon Slayer along with what the earrings represent in the work. It cannot be said that Demon Slayer is free from Japanese nationalism. The fact that the background of the work is the Taisho period, when Western customs and Japanese traditions coexisted, and that the main character Tanjiro in Kimono uses a sword to fight the axis of evil, while Muzan is portrayed in a suit and shooting a gun can be cited as evidence to support the argument. Here the imagery of Samuraihood and a sword pitted against a gun shows the composition of the conflict. However, Demon Slayer also represents a worldview that imitates Japanese mythology. The image of Yamato Takeru who subjugated Kumaso and Emish was projected on Tanjiro and he defeats evil spirits with the protection of the Sun God, Amaterasu. The role of the earrings resembling the Rising Sun Flag symbolizes “the protection of the Sun God,” and Tanjiro wearing the earrings is modeled after the figure of a hero in Japanese mythology. The “Pivot to Japan” theme in Demon Slayer exemplifies the type of Japanese nationalism which is on-going in the 21st century.