Highlights

• Demon Slayer's popularity is due to an excellent manga and stellar animation making it a massive phenomenon.
• Water Breathing technique in Demon Slayer is elegant and powerful, with various forms evolving in battle.
• Tanjiro's mastery of Water Breathing showcases his talent and potential for further growth in the series.

Demon Slayer is one of the most popular shonen series right now, and it's easy to see why this is the case. The combination of an excellent manga coupled with the anime's stellar animation has helped Demon Slayer become the hottest shonen property right now. The fact that Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has become the highest-grossing movie ever released in Japan is a testament to how much of a massive phenomenon this series really is.

Watching Tanjiro and Giyu utilize their Water Breathing techniques is quite a blast, and one can't wait to see how this amazing sword-wielding technique will evolve over time. Keeping this in mind, here are all the forms of Water Breathing and their potential in battle.

Updated on April 8, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: Water Breathing is the first breathing style that viewers are introduced to in Demon Slayer. After witnessing the brutal death of his family and Nezuko's transformation into a demon, Tanjiro decides to move heaven and earth in a bid to fight back against the threat of demons and take out Muzan and his lackeys once and for all. As luck would have it, Tanjiro ends up under the wise tutelage of Sakonji Urokodaki, the former Water Hashira who trains Tanjiro in this breathing style and helps him fight back against the demons who stand in his way.

Water Breathing 101

Most people consider Sakonji Urokodaki to be the master of the Water Breathing technique, having taught many notable students including Tanjiro and the current Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. The technique is the most beginner-friendly, which is perhaps why Tanjiro was able to pick up this breathing style without having any knowledge of fighting beforehand.

Tanjiro relies almost exclusively on Water Breathing for the majority of Demon Slayer's first season, allowing him to take care of most tough demons by remembering his teachings and understanding when to pull off the techniques he's learned. While Water Breathing does help Tanjiro out in the early stages, he reaches his limit with this style during his fight against Rui, where the Lower Rank Four demon shows just how hopelessly outclassed the protagonist really is.

While this is indicative of the fact that Tanjiro will shift to his Hinokami Kagura style sooner rather than later, it in no way proves that Water Breathing is going to become an obsolete breathing technique. If anything, Giyu Tomioka's imposing presence in the series has made it clear that this Demon Slayer will be utilizing the full potential of the Water Breathing technique further down the line.

11 First Form: Water Surface Slash

A Powerful Concentrated Slash

The first form of Water Breathing is also the most simple of the lot. This is the case with most breathing techniques, whose first forms tend to be simple attacks meant to kickstart a tidal wave of onslaughts.

First Form: Water Surface Slash is a simple yet powerful move that can serve as a great opener in battle. The user puts all his power into a single concentrated slash that easily decapitates most lesser enemies.

10 Second Form: Water Wheel

A Spinning Vertical Sword Slash Midair; Improved By Incorporating A Horizontal Sword Slash

The second form of Water Breathing is a pretty smooth and devastating attack that is a perfect tool against a powerful demon. It involves the user jumping and spinning in the air, carrying out a vertical sword slash in the process.

Not only is this move quite effective, but it also looks pretty dazzling in execution. It's a taste of how graceful and amazing Water Breathing really is.

Second Form: Improved, Lateral Water Wheel

Tanjiro expanded on this move to make it more usable in battle. Instead of a vertical slash, Tanjiro uses a horizontal one instead to attack an enemy from a totally different angle.

It's indicative of how talented Tanjiro really is and displays his latent potential. If he's already this adept at using Water Breathing, then he can shine even brighter with a breathing style that comes naturally to him.

9 Third Form: Flowing Dance

The User Moves And Bends Their Body Like A Dancer While Attacking With Their Sword In One Fluid Motion

From the third form onwards, people will notice just how smooth and beautiful the Water Breathing technique really is. It's fittingly called the Flowing Dance and looks absolutely beautiful in motion.

In this form, the user twists and bends their body like a dancer while unleashing a powerful attack with their weapon. If executed properly, it can slice and dice through most enemies with relative ease, while also looking fairly graceful to boot.

8 Fourth Form: Striking Tide

Multiple Consecutive Slices; Improved By Unleashing More Strikes With Greater Accuracy

The fourth form of the Water Breathing technique can be considered to be an extension of the Flowing Dance. However, instead of a solitary attack, the fourth form involves a multitude of blows instead.

Unleashing consecutive attacks in this motion requires immense mastery of Water Breathing as a whole. Tanjiro clearly put in a tone of work to hone his swordsmanship skills so he could fight against the demons who took his family from him, preventing other innocents from sharing the same fate.

Striking Tide, Turbulent

There's an improved version of this attack that sees the user increase the number of slashes while simultaneously maintaining a greater degree of accuracy. This technique is perfect for fighting in a chaotic battle.

A ton of focus is involved while increasing the ferocity of this attack. A single lapse in judgment can lead to users getting lost in the chaos and leaving themselves wide open for a fatal hit.

7 Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After The Drought

A Painless Attack Meant To Decapitate Enemies, Giving Them A Graceful Death

The Water Breathing technique is known for being elegant and graceful. This extends to its moves and the mercy that can be given with the same.

The fifth form accomplished exactly that. Called the Blessed Rain After the Drought, it's an attack meant to decapitate enemies without causing any pain, which allows enemies who have surrendered to die a graceful death without feeling any unnecessary pain.

6 Sixth Form: Whirlpool

A Twirling Strike Where The User Spins Their Entire Body Like A Whirlpool

Given the name of Water Breathing's sixth form, its function should be pretty obvious. The user of this move twists their body around and creates a whirlpool that would lacerate anyone within range.

Obviously enough, the efficiency of this move is further enhanced if the user is underwater. It's one of the most thematically fitting moves in this Breathing Style.

Whirlpool, Flow

Just like the Water Wheel, this move was also innovated and improved upon by Tanjiro. He combined the footwork of Flowing Dance along with the twists and turns required to execute the Whirlpool technique in order to perform a devastating attack.

This move is so powerful that it can even deflect projectiles! Only the most skilled Water Breathing users have the faintest chance of pulling this advanced technique off.

5 Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust

A Quick And Accurate Stab Meant To Slow Down The Momentum Of Anyone Or Anything

Given all the fancy move sets that have been discussed above, the seventh form of Water Breathing seems rather tame in comparison. It's basically a quick and accurate stab that is able to reduce anyone's — or anything's — momentum if they're hit by this move.

There's another upgraded version of this form called Drop Ripple Thrust, Curve. Here, the user must nail the angle of the stab so that they can completely stop the momentum of a moving object.

4 Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin

A Downward Slash That Is More Effective With The Appropriate Momentum

The eighth form of Water Breathing uses an opponent's momentum against them. It releases a downward slash that can very easily decapitate enemies if executed properly.

Waterfall Basin is particularly effective when the user is falling downwards. This allows them to generate maximum force behind their attacks for a truly devastating slash.

3 Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent

A Footwork Technique That Allows Users To Land And Launch Off Surfaces Without Taking Too Much Time Or Effort

During his fight against Kyogai, Tanjiro found himself at a disadvantage due to the revolving room where he had to fight this powerful demon. However, in a bid to work around this lack of footholds, Tanjiro unleashed a devastating attack that took advantage of Kyogai's power.

He unleashed the Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent technique, which allowed him to deliver powerful slashes without having to stay still on the ground for too long. This complex footwork is hard to execute, but Tanjiro's zeal allowed him to get the better of his foe and deliver a fatal slash that decided the victor of this battle once and for all.

2 Tenth Form: Constant Flux

A Continuous Flowing Attack That Becomes Deadlier By Generating More Speed And Momentum

One of the coolest Water Breathing techniques was pulled off by Tanjiro in his fight against the psychotic Rui. After being pushed to his limits, Tanjiro unveiled his powerful Constant Flux technique.

This tenth form allows users to execute a continuous flowing attack, taking on the form of a water dragon as they do so. Each consecutive sword slice became more and more powerful due to the force of the momentum that increased with each rotation.

1 Eleventh Form: Dead Calm

The User Becomes Calm As Water While Countering Any Attack With Incredible Speed And Finesse

This unique Water Breathing technique is the original handiwork of the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. Watching this eleventh form in action against Rui was a visual treat for the ages.

In this technique, the user becomes unnervingly calm as they minimize any unnecessary body movements in order to ensure the highest speed possible for each and every attack. It also allows them to deflect attacks regardless of their speed or ferociousness, although a powerful barrage of attacks can still penetrate Giyu's defenses.